Pesto – An Italian with a Spanish twist

Pesto on Deansgate, Manchester

Pesto is a small Italian food chain with only three restaurants located in the North West of England, one of which is along Deansgate situated just next to Bridge Street. 

The first thing that I noticed walking into Pesto was how busy it was, we had a table booked for 8.30 and were shown to the crowded bar with no free seats, 30 minutes later we were shown to our seats.  After the fiasco of being shown to our seats we were politely told the process of ordering our food, which was very similar to that of La Tasca, around 3 to 4 dishes per person.  Due to our wait we were offered a complementary portion of breads and vinegars to enjoy while we waited for our food after we had ordered.    Our food arrived promptly and we tucked into a Asparagus con parmigiano (pan fried asparagus with parmesan), Insalata Caesar (Caesar salad), Pizzetta pepperoni, Salsiccia peperonata (a spicy Italian sausage with sautéed peppers and new potatoes), Ali di pollo al formo (Tuscan style chicken wings) and a Fettuccine alla carbonara (Fettuccini tossed on Pesto’s carbonna sauce with pancetta and parmesan).  I have to say that after the food arrived we had forgotten about how busy the restaurant was and the problems with waiting for our table at the over crowded bar, the food was amazing.

To top that there was a buzz within the restaurant as more tables received their food that wasn’t obvious before, but it created a great dining experience and somewhere that I will definitely going back too soon. 

Now as I am sure many of you are waiting for, the price.  This can be a touchy issue, especially for students, but I found it to be very reasonable.  All together the food with wine, for two people dining came to under £50, to me, not a bad price at all.  The only way Pesto let me down was the waiting at the bar for 30 minutes while we had to wait for a table that we had booked before the evening, other than that I could not fault the food or service and as a result I am giving Pesto a very respectable 4 out of 5.

Don't forget to let the dmcm team know your experience at Pesto!

115 Deansgate,
Manchester
M3 2NW