My Birthday Part 2!

Bistro 156, Didsbury

It was my actual birthday yesterday, and so I went with Sam and four friends to Bistro 156 in Didsbury for a meal in the evening. It was somewhere Sam had suggested, and I literally knew nothing about it, and have never been to Didsbury, so was majorly trusting him!

When we walked in I instantly liked the atmosphere. It is quite small and quaint, but is decorated in deep purples and olive green and gold, so it has a more luxurious, plush feel to it. There is probably space for 26 people to eat in there, so it is quite cosy, and I liked that you could see into the kitchen so you could watch the chef at work.

They had a set menu on, where it was £18 for two courses, or £20 for three, and the variety was good - there were five choices for each course, plus a couple of specials for each. I chose the pate with bread and chutney for a starter, it was gorgeous, and the portion was very generous, I could have had that as a main! Following that I had prawn, mussel and chorizo paella, which was served with a whole chicken breast on top. It was very flavoursome, you could tell it had been bubbling away for a while. I couldn't finish it all, as to be honest I don't think the chicken was needed as well as the paella, perhaps if you were just opting for the two courses it would be less daunting!

To finish I had a trio of desserts; there was a raspberry crème brulee (my absolute favourite!), amaretto ice cream and a Spanish style orange cake. It was served in little tea cups on a platter which looked so sweet, and was the perfect size to end a lovely meal. We had a couple of bottles of wine and with a generous tip it was £80 for the two of us, so was a bit more than usual but still not too extravagant. It was my birthday after all!