Right in the heart of the city, near central Salford station, lies The Black Friar, a welcoming pub that makes you feel right at home. The interior of the restaurant works hand in hand with the food – a modern flare is given to the classic, more traditional pub façade. The atmosphere is warm and bustling, with roaring fires creating an extremely inviting, as well as festive vibe. The furniture is tasteful and eclectic, and makes you want to clean up after yourself if you spill something on the table.
Upon arrival, our host guided us meticulously through their week-night menu, drinks menu, and more causal pub grub menu. All of which host an array of classic dishes, some with a contemporary twist, such as their smoked pork and chorizo scotch egg, as well as more innovative, playful dishes, like their fish-of-the-day main, being sea bass on a bed of 3 bean cassoulet, served with crème fraiche and house green oil.
Both dishes were executed well, though for some potentially more focus was placed on the presentation than the going-in-the-mouth part. It’s a shame how much of a difference the amount of salt put into a dish can make, as with the slightest adjustments, they could’ve all been top tier.
To begin with, we devoured their locally baked sour dough loaf accompanied by the butter of the day (£4) – a browned butter, cooled and whipped back into more butter, creating effectively a brown butter, butter. It was rich, sumptuous, and nutty, and paired perfectly with the warm and crusty loaf.
Moving onto the white bait with lemon aioli (£8). The little guys were crispy, yet melted in your mouth, and the lemon aioli paired beautifully, muting the grease with a bit of zing. But the real star of the show was the truffle arancini (£8). Garnished with a mountain of parmesan, this is not to be missed. The truffle flavouring was potent, but not overpowering, allowing the unctuous risotto to playfully come through. I speak for all of us when I say this dish won our hearts.
As for the mains, the one to devour – but certainly allow for an empty stomach before you attempt it – is their crisp confit pork belly, paired with a truffle pommes anna (a sort of confit potato side dish, baked with copious amounts of clarified butter), a black pudding beignet, and jus to serve. The way in which the pork belly is slow cooked, the fat being rendered and succulent makes it indulgent, rich, and absolutely divine.
In addition to the meal, we got to briefly experience their outback Christmas room, which was both extremely festive, and a great PR opportunity for micro influencers from around Manchester. A category which unfortunately I do not fit into.
For me, the charm of The Black Friar comes from the fact that this isn’t just your usual student hang-out spot, it’s a bit more special than that. Be it micro influencers, students, older locals or young professionals, you can find them all here. And the appeal is understandable – they have managed to fill a void in the market that I didn’t even know necessarily existed, a place with a sense of elevation, yet open to all.
Overall, this restaurant is worth a visit, but maybe persuade your parents, or someone with a thicker wallet to take you. The richness of the dishes would please my dad and probably yours too. The end of the ‘small-plates’ restaurants era is on the horizon.
The Black Friar is open 12-9pm Sunday and Monday, 12-10pm Tue-Thu, and 12-11pm Friday and Saturday
