When The Martlet restaurant first opened within the historic Rochdale Town Hall last year, it was hailed for its importance in helping the town put itself on the culinary map. Within months of opening, the plan was starting to work with food critic Jay Rayner amongst those giving it top praise.
The restaurant, led by Executive Chef Darren Parkinson, brings together Northern classics with a fine dining twist and by using local produce - think proper pies, flat iron steaks from local butchers, and ale-battered haddock served with 'Manchester's caviar' (mushy peas).
I’ve actually been lucky enough to visit The Martlet, which is named after the mythological bird often seen as a symbol of continuous effort, before. As part of its opening, I was able to try a special preview menu that aimed to represent the source of ingredients and culinary expertise on offer.
But this was my first time visiting the restaurant to sample its standard, week-in-week-out menu - and I felt there was no better way to give it a go than sampling their Sunday Roast offering with my family.
The restaurant itself is tucked away inside the grandiose Grade I-listed town hall, which itself has recently undergone a refurbishment. Dating back to 1871, the gothic palace-esque hall was even once so allegedly adored by Adolf Hitler that he wanted to dismantle it and rebuild it, brick-by-brick, back in Nazi Germany. At least that’s what some of the stories say anyway.
Located on the ground floor and only accessible via a flurry of hidden corridors, the entrance of the Martlet sort of hits you with little to no fanfare, but walking into the space, I’m immediately taken back by the high ceilings and the towering windows.
The restaurant is inviting, with a mix of tables and high-seated booths to choose from, and has been beautifully decorated with art of clan and family crests - some a little creepy the more you look into them with their hybrid of creatures, some more aesthetically-pleasing on the eye.
Once seated, we’re greeted enthusiastically by our server and given our menus. For Sunday service, it’s a specific roast menu, but you can ask for children’s menus for little ones who don’t fancy going all-out.
The menu is available as two courses for £25 or a starter, main and dessert for £28. For us, we just opted for the two courses, skipping out starters on this occasion - and none of them really appealed to me personally. But the choice was soup of the day, a Bury black pudding scotch egg, a prawn cocktail or garlic and cheese stuffed portobello mushroom.
When it came to mains and desserts, though, there was loads of choice and I had lots of shuffling around to do in terms of making a firm decision on what I was going to have. Ultimately, me, my mum and my sister went for the roast leg of lamb, which does have a £3 supplement to it.
But other options were herb-fed roast chicken, roasted butternut squash, prime roast beef, or a pan-fried seabass (which also had a £3 supplement). There was also a homemade aged cheddar and onion pie up for grabs too.
The main courses are all served with a Yorkshire pudding, alongside seasoned potatoes, creamed potato, honey-glazed carrots, and seasonal greens, alongside plenty of gravy. There's a lot going on and a lot of pressure to do it right.
When our food arrived, the presentation was stunning. The big booming Yorkshire pudding stood on top of layers of roast lamb, alongside huge chunks of carrots, broccoli, parsnips and green beans alongside Hasselback potatoes and that creamy mash. The gravy, poured on top of three quarters, looked equally as satisfying.
Me and my mum had both asked for our lamb to be cooked well-done and, if we’re being honest, both could have done with being cooked a little bit longer to be so. But it was tender, rich and delicious nonetheless.
The freshness of the vegetables were immediately evident, also booming with satisfying flavours. The honey-glazed carrots were a particular highlight - a beautiful mix of sweet and earthiness to them, with a little bit of char to top things off. The buttery soft mash was also a delight.
In some cases, the gravy is often seen as an afterthought but I’m pleased to say here that it was also a real showstopper. Again, rich and full of flavour, it was a perfect consistency of not too thin or too thick, and lathered up in good measure.
When it came to dessert, I was faced with another tough decision to make. We were given the option of sticky toffee pudding, Lancashire Blue cheese with Eccles cake, ice cream, or a range of daily specials, which included a white chocolate cheesecake and a Crème Brûlée. We all bordered off into separate territories here - I opted for the sticky toffee, whilst my sister went for the Lancashire Blue and my mum went for the Crème Brûlée.
Again, the presentation was perfect when it came to my sticky toffee pudding. Lathered with a delicious salted caramel sauce on top, it was served alongside vanilla bean ice cream and a biscuit crumble, which whilst perhaps wasn’t really necessary was also very good.
It was an abundance of flavours and rich in the best way possible. The ice cream complimented the warmness of the pudding, and the salted caramel sauce added a nice tang to the palette.
There was a little confusion when it came to my sister’s Lancashire Blue dessert. Expecting a warm Eccles Cake too, the course served instead was a cheese plate, with artisan biscuits, grapes and an apple and fig chutney. Whilst looking stunning in presentation, it was clearly not what was ordered.
After a little of back and forth with the servers, we were told that the Sunday menu was currently having some changes made and things had got a little lost in translation. Her Eccles Cake arrived a short while later separately, which was described as delicious and perhaps one of the best she has ever had.
For my mum’s Crème Brûlée, it also looked brilliant when served. Whilst missing that satisfying glass-like crunch topping (the butane blowtorch needed a little longer to play with it), it was a delicious thick vanilla custard - albeit it was also a little thicker than expected.
It was served with a salted caramel cookie which, whilst also very nice, didn’t quite mix with the flavours and felt a bit out of place. But as a separate entity on its own, it was a very good cookie.
All in all, I feel like the Martlet is something that is both really unique and special. It’s doing something different in Rochdale, and it has such a fantastic opportunity set in such a historic space. There is really not many places like it.
As Jay Rayner said in his Observer review last year, ‘every town should have’ a restaurant like The Martlet. But, sadly, they are not all lucky enough to have a beautiful town hall with space for a restaurant. And the price point of three courses for £28 is certainly something not to ignore, especially when it comes to the beautifully-laid out and locally-sourced food on offer.
Sure, a little tweaks here and there would have made our restaurant experience perfect, but the service was fantastic, the staff were attentive and on their game, and, again, the setting is just unrivalled. It’s a reason in itself to come to Rochdale.
