The Fisherman’s Retreat

A group of us wanted to put our gladrags on a have a posh meal together and we chose The Fisherman’s Retreat as the majority of us are based in North Manchester. The restaurant is located off the beaten track in Ramsbotton, there is loads of signs directing you in case you thought you were going in the wrong direction.
Upon arrival, we could see a party downstairs, we watched families by the trout lake feeding the trout and had a drink outside amongst cyclists who stopping for a drink. By the time our guests arrived the heavens opened and the cyclists were taking shelter. We had to ask staff if they had any large umbrellas for us to shelter and bring up guests who happened to be parked in the lower car park. they didn’t but the remaining party guests had umbrellas anyway.
We relaxed in the large lounge area waiting for the rest of our party. There were 14 of us and admired the amount of whiskies you can try and buy while we were waiting.
Unfortunately, there were a number of junior staff on that evening and a female staff kept approaching the youngest male member of our party. I therefore had to tell her who the event host was. She still seemed stressed that we were not seated at our table 15 minutes after our scheduled time. So, I made the executive decision to get us all seated. The rest of the party weren’t bothered about waiting for the rest to turn up, we were just waiting for direction.
Thankfully, the food did not disappoint, we selected a number of starters, mains and desserts from the menu. Both of my dishes (main and dessert) was from the specials. One of our guests ordered the sea bass and complained that it still had the skin and the batter was rather hard. The waitress was very friendly and took away the fish leaving the rest so she wouldn’t go hungry, gave updates on when it would be ready and explained what the chef had done with the new piece of fish.
After the meal we relaxed in the lounge area where some people sampled the whisky and had a nightcap before leaving.
Great food and atmosphere and you can see Peel Tower through the large windows. I couldn’t hear the music from downstairs until left started to leave the table but could smell smoke every now and again as the window was open and the lower decking area was right below me.
The negatives of this evening did not put a dampener on the evening. We work hard and it’s great to have the chance to look lovely and treat ourselves to a nice meal. The food was great considering there is 14 of us and the food all came out at once. We were there for over 3 hours and didn’t want to leave and go out in the rain.

The fishermans retreat is an excellent rstaurant loacted in a remote part of ramsbottom. There is a trout farm attached to the resaurant and during the summer months you maywell even see the Deer running through the adjacent fields. they specilize in freshly cooked and prepared local food. They offer a wide variety of food (steak, fish, vegetaran) and frequently have different specials.
The food is fantastic and the portions more than generous. The staff are friendly and polite and the place extremely well maintained.
One of the best restaurants in the noth west.