Sarah Holt went to new restaurant Cosmopolitan in Cheshire to size it up for groups.
The course of group organising doesn’t always run smooth. Especially when it comes to dining. Even when a restaurant says they can accommodate a big party, sometimes it’s just lip service.
When your group has something to celebrate the stakes are even higher. That bland bowl of pasta or missing order can break a great group outing.
So when my own group of 26 booked into a brand new restaurant for my birthday, it could have been a gamble.
But the recently opened Cosmopolitan in Altrincham proved to be as popular with my party today as the pink cocktail it shares its name with was in the early noughties, when Sex and the City was still on our screens.
Cosmopolitan is located on Stamford New Road in Altrincham – a town on the outskirts of Manchester that’s having a halcyon at the moment.
Inside, a bar and seating area, with classic chesterfield sofas and low wooden tables, wrap a wing around the dining section. The colour scheme here is an elegant crème caramel.
It says on Cosmopolitan’s website that the menu was created with the help of Masterchef winner Simon Wood and I can believe it.
Attention has been paid to the detail of these dishes. On the starter list there are choices like green lipped mussels gratin and timballo al salmone – Scottish smoked salmon, prawn parcels filled with mascarpone cheese, served on a bed of salad dressed with olive oil and lime juice.
The mains list, meanwhile, features the likes of duck breast in forest fruit sauce and t-bone steak Mexicano, served with chilli, roast peppers, olives and tomato sauce.
Pictured: Steak Bearnaise.
One thing that often irritates me about group dining options, is the set menu. Large parties are often told what they can eat rather than given a real choice.
At Cosmopolitan that’s not the case. Our party had to order our dishes a week in advance, but were given free rein of the menu.
My group chose some pretty tricky dishes to get right en masse. We picked steaks, done all sorts of different ways, and one of us even had Steak Bearnaise – a steak and lobster combo.
When the food arrived, you wouldn’t have known we’d given the chefs a challenge. My starter – king prawns wrapped in Parma ham, pan fried in garlic, chilli butter, white wine and parsley – actually made me stop talking for a few minutes.
My main meal, fillet steak wrapped in fresh sage leaves and pancetta, served with marsala sauce, had a perfect blush of pink in the middle.
We weren’t the only group in the restaurant on the night we dined. There was another party celebrating a 50th birthday, too. And, if my experience is anything to go by, we certainly won’t be the last either.
What’s for groups nearby?
Cosmopolitan is close to the following attractions…
Dunham Massey
National Trust's Dunham Massey is a Georgian house with a garden for all seasons and an ancient deer park.
Tatton Park
Tatton Park is one of the UKs most complete historic estates. It is home to a Tudor Old Hall, Neo-Classical Mansion, 50 acres of landscaped gardens and hosts an annual flower show.
Quarry Bank Mill
Quarry Bank Mill is thought to be one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution and is now a museum of the cotton industry.
To find out more about Cosmopolitan visit www.cosmopolitanaltrincham.co.uk.
