Maribel in Brindley Place has had a little shake up since the departure of their original head chef. The new chef, Harvey Perttola is one of the youngest chefs running a kitchen in the city, and he’s added a more accessible lunch and early evening menu to Maribel.

As well as the standard tasting menu, there’s now a more affordable option. You can get this menu for lunch between 12 and 1.45pm, Monday to Friday. During the week, order it pre-theatre between 5.30 and 6.30pm, between 5 and 6.30pm on a Saturday. Two courses will set you back £22, and three courses is £27. Laura and I went along for a fancy lunch.

All meals should start with snacks, if you ask me. At Maribel, you start with this lovely little Beer and Malt Loaf. The bread is dense and sticky, sweet and salty at the same time. It’s a great beginning!

Laura and I cannot be stopped, so we decided lunchtime Negronis were in order (I did great work for the rest of the day after this, thanks for asking). However, if you don’t want neat booze at lunchtime, there’s a sizeable, varied list of cocktails and spirits.

To start, I went with the starter of beetroot, apple and goat cheese. This light, fresh starter came topped with frozen balsamic vinegar. I’d have liked a stronger goat cheese, but this was refreshing, with plenty of crunch from the beetroot, and that frozen balsamic adds bursts of flavour.

My main course was cod, dahl, carrot and dashi. The fish was beautiful. It was soft and flaky and cooked perfectly. The dashi was smoky, but I’d have liked the dahl on the side, as dumping the dashi over it made it sort of soupy. The dahl itself also had plenty of smoke, and was smooth and tasty.