Manchester's hospitality scene has flourished over the last decade, during which time we've seen a huge boom in the quality and number of Spanish restaurants in particular.  It's one of the things which as a city we do well, which 100% works for me as a Spanish food obsessive above any other cuisine type.  It's a food culture which for me is absolutely unmatched anywhere in the world.

Now one of Manchester's most firmly established Spanish favourites is El Gato Negro, down near the Deansgate end of the prestigious King Street.  El Gato, as we affectionately truncate it to here in the RoM office, has been operating in the city for a decade now but it scarily feels like yesterday since they first swung open the doors.  We were invited down to sample their new menu, which contains a host of new additions to complement those tried and trusted classics that we've enjoyed so many times over the years.

If you've not visited before, then it's a lovely space, set across 3 levels.  The ground floor is perhaps more suited as a bar offering as much as you can eat there, and the upstairs first floor 100% feels more restaurant, with lovely views over King St if you're lucky enough to snare one of the prized window seats.  Aside from that there's some equally as lovely booth seating plus a Chef's counter to the left as you enter, for those who have a serious interest in watching the kitchen work their magic whilst eating.  But we were sat upstairs on the roof area, which sports both a lovely open topped ceiling for when that infamous Mcr weather allows, but also has some great window seats, which is where we were based for the evening!

We started with a couple of drinks from El Gato's more than comprehensive list, opting for a solid pint of Victoria Malaga plus a more boujee feeling copa of Cava.  Browsing the menu to pick out our favourites from the new offering didn’t take too long and we decided on our picks.  Our lovely server, a lady named Sham, advised that the beef ribs (which I'll come to shortly) are a must order, so we trusted her and didn’t argue one bit!

El Gato's Tortilla comes in a choice of either natural, or with chorizo and Manchego (£11), which is the route that we picked.   I'm a proud tortilla snob but this left me feeling very happy indeed.  Cooked to the point that it still had a touch of wobble inside, topped with a lovely chorizo infused alioli, chorizo crumb and an arty dusting of pimentón.  A truly solid start to the procession which followed.

Octopus (£14) lay next, served on skewers, and is a must order protein with any Spanish feast.  The octopus was accompanied with potatoes, grilled to perfectly accentuate those smoky aromas which octopus loves, as per tradition. The plate was sauced with a Canarian style herbaceously green mojo, and some lip smacking romesco.  Delicious but also great value for what's sadly such a pricy seafood here in the UK.  If only we had a Mercadona in Manchester city centre.

Valencian Shellfish Rice (£12) is a new offering on the menu and was unquestionably one of the evening's highlights.  Perfectly cooked grains in a punchy stock, simmered until the rice is cooked, leaving enough unevaporated stock to add a creamy sauce to the dish.  It was plated with a generous serving of wonderfully cooked tempura salt cod cheeks, with some zippy lemon alioli on the side to balance everything out.  Sensational.

The fresh menu also features a few specials, so as consummate pros felt it necessary to pick one of those too.    We eventually settled on the Lamb Cutlets (£25), which came as a hefty, thickly cut pair, cooked amazingly well and served with tumbet, a spicy tomato sauce, along with coriander & lime dressing.  Splendid work.

Now as briefly mentioned, our host for the evening was a lady named Sham, whose service was stellar for the whole night.  Warm, friendly, helpful and generally a true pleasure; her finest piece of advice was suggesting that we order the Beef Short Rib (£20), which we did.  In a world of excessively biased praise from people on invited visits, we still say it like it is, and this was one of the best plates that we've had in the city all year.  Exceptionally good.

The meat left its bone without any resistance at all and was as soft as you'd wish for a piece of  meat to be, whilst retaining some all-important chew and texture.  The sauce however was what brought the whole thing alive.   A sticky/sweet ginger infused sauce, which when paired up with that uber rich/fatty beef, worked wonders together.  A visit to El Gato for this alone would be more than justified.

But in a hard act to follow, our main course was the Tomahawk Steak (£70) which is a new addition to the sharing dishes section.  As always, such steaks are visually impressive for Instagram and showcased the Spanish love for bone-in steaks, or chuletons as they are called in that part of the world.  The bone looks great of course, but its actual purpose is practical; to impart more flavour into the meat, in this case a rib eye of superb quality sourcing.  It was cooked wonderfully well, served with a zippy chimichurri, which partnered predictably well with that fatty, rich protein.  Id possibly serve this cut into thinner slices rather than the sturdily thick pieces which we received, but that's a massively privilege 1st world problem, I know.

And you need a side dish with any grilled meat, so we opted for a portion of the similarly Chargrilled Cauliflower (£9) which added some lightless to our array of plates.  It was cooked to the right level of toothsome, then finished under the grill to slight char, dressed with a lovely ajo blanco, flaked almonds, and some caper gremolata for that all important acid element.  The perfect sidekick to the steak.

Rounding things off with one last tipple whilst mulling over the evening, as the general vibe of the dining room wound down, we felt content that one of the city's most popular and well regarded operations was still firing on all cylinders.  After 10 years, El Gato Negro is still pushing hard and continues to thrive, bringing solid quality Mediterranean cooking to the city.  The new additions to the menu add some variety to the tried and trusted classics, and give you an excuse to return even if you're a regular.

Book your own table today, and 100% make sure that you order that beef short rib!

** Our experience was gratefully comped **