Steak cocktail trend arrives in Manchester

A Manchester Hotel has re-launched its restaurant with the introduction of a steak-infused cocktail menu.

The Macdonald Manchester Hotel’s steak cocktails

The four-star Macdonald Manchester Hotel & Spa has introduced a series of drinks to its new Scottish Steak Club restaurant cocktail menu to complement a steak dinner.

Among the drinks on the menu are the Whisky Steak, a mix of Monkey Shoulder blended Scotch, black pepper and homemade rosemary syrup with a 21-day aged sirloin steak on the side for “soaking or dipping” in the drink.

Also available is a Rosemary Gin Steaktini, featuring gin, dry vermouth and rosemary syrup that is designed to complement an accompanying steak.

Paul Bayliss MBE, general manager at Macdonald Manchester Hotel & Spa, said: “Savoury cocktails have grown in popularity in recent years as mixologists across the world have experimented to add a savoury flavour to spirits.

“The Whisky Steak and Rosemary Gin Steaktini offer guests something completely unique to other cocktails in the city and combines amazing flavours. We’ve mixed the richness of salty steak with the sweet, subtleness of malt whisky or dryness of gin.

“The warm, well-balanced nip of the whisky or delicate flavours of vermouth always shines through. Our bar team describes them as ‘dignified drinks’ and definitely something different.

The refurbishment of the hotel is part of the Macdonald group’s £2m strategy to re-launch food and beverage operations across 16 hotels.

The trend of infusing meat and cocktails has been doing the rounds in the UK for the past few years. In 2012 JW Steakhouse introduced a meaty cocktails menu with Jack Daniel’s, while London’s Shaka Zulu launched its own Meat Bar featuring a selection of carnivorous drinks in the same year.