Their description “El Gato Negro’s younger sibling; serving up fast-paced, exciting Mediterranean-inspired tapas. Using the freshest and finest seasonal ingredients sourced from both local and continental suppliers to create small plates designed for sharing and savouring, combining the vision of El Gato Negro’s Simon Shaw and Head Chef Carlos Gomes. We also offer a specially-curated selection of wines, spirits and beers to accompany their food.”

Canto Interior Image source — *Canto Interior* *Image source*

The Smartblend Guide - Canto Review Summary

First impressions of Canto are mediocre. It looks good, don't get me wrong. But there is no initial wow factor. That’s until you taste their mushrooms croquetas. Heavenly doesn’t even begin to describe them.

“Mushroom balls sent from heaven”

— Smartblend

Expect to receive a warm welcome as you first stroll up to the Canto front desk, immediately making you feel comfortable. The whole Mediterranean inspired tapas dining experience will set you back around 50-100 quid per couple. Which isn’t bad. It’s pretty decent value for money. The food is good, the wine is good, the cocktails need work, but we will get into that more in the drinks section.

Overall, the high points of Canto are easily the food and the welcoming atmosphere. Two of what could be considered the most important points for a tapas restaurant. Yes, the cocktails need work, but they specialise in food, not drinks, and food they have down. For anyone who is yet to enjoy Canto’s Mediterranean inspired tapas dining experience I urge you to get down to Manchesters Ancoats and give them a try. You will not be disappointed.

Overall, they Scored a 36/50 from Smartblend. And are currently scoring a 37.5 on the public scoring.

Where can you find Canto?

Canto is located in Ancoats. Address: Cutting Room Square, Blossom St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5DH.

You can find out more about Canto, Book a table or view their menus over on their official website found here.

The Smartblend Guide score for Canto - Manchester, Ancoats Restaurant

Food 8/10

The food at Canto is a selection of small plates ranging from £5 for Char-grilled sweet potato with tzatziki, to £12 for 6 Mediterranean tiger prawns with garlic & chilli.

First look at the menu appears to have a variety of options suited for any dietary preference; Vegan, vegetarian, pescatarians, meat eaters, people with a savoury palette or a sweet tooth.

As a guide they recommend between 5 or 6 dishes per couple. Being two of us we decided to take them up on their recommendation and opt for 6 dishes. I can honestly say we were not disappointed. 6 dishes was the perfect amount to satisfy us. I mean we could have squeezed a dessert in if we wanted to, but unfortunately the options for desserts are pretty lacklustre.

Nothing on the dessert menu seemed to scream delicious to us. It seems to me their passion lies within the main dishes. Which is just me nit picking. Because of the dishes we did have, they were all delicious.

The height of culinary genius lies within their Mushroom croquetas with black garlic mayo. Absolutely delicious. For just £5 you get 4 perfectly presented balls of mushroomy goodness. I’ve been craving them ever since. Don’t get me wrong, the prawns were delicious, the cod fritters, delicious, the Crispy fried baby squid, you guessed it, delicious. But them damn mushroom balls. They are perfect!

Drinks 6/10

The wine at Canto is decent enough. Nice tasting, fairly priced. However, in all honestly the cocktail menu at Canto could do with some more focus. It all seemed pretty safe. All the usual suspects are there; Negroni’s, espresso martinis, sours and an Old Fashioned.

The classic case of “These are really popular cocktails so we are just going to copy them and put our Canto twist on them” which just didn’t seemed to work out great. My first go to was there Negroni. The Canto twist being watermelon campari and mango. Which sounds inviting enough.

But to be honest, it just tasted like any other Negroni. You couldn't taste any watermelon or mango that’s for sure.

Ambience 7/10

Inside Canto it’s pretty enough. Hanging plants and hues of blue filling the restaurant. Recently they have thrown up dividers to adhere to social distancing. The toilets are clean and there seems to be regularly cleaning.

Which would be my top note for Ambience. The staff are regularly cleaning down table tops and chairs which in this day and age is very comforting for any customer to see.

*Canto - Mushroom croquetas, Cod fritters, Baby crispy squid.*

Customer Service 8/10

Upon arriving to Canto we were greeted by a half pink/half black haired receptionist wearing some of the most jazzy patterned pants I had ever seen. We wanted to book a table outside due to the fact it was a pleasant enough day. She took our details and promised to reserve us a table within the next 45 minutes and call us when it was ready. 30 minutes later she called us and seated us with some menus.

So far, 10 out of 10 for customer service. She was smiley, accommodating and seemed to add personality and character to the restaurant. Top marks for jazzy pants!

Looking around every other waiter seemed to have the same charm. Personality, A good attitude and accommodating. The reason that 10 is bumped down to a 8 is because of a slight issue with the bill.

We decided to opt for one of their deals “£15 for 3 selective dishes before 5” After all, we were only going to get 6 between us. And we would be paid up and leaving before 5 so it just made sense.

With that being said we made sure we ONLY picked dishes from the selective 3 for £15 options. It wasn’t until we had paid up and left that we realised we never got the deal added on. You would think these things get added on the till automatically, so sure, you could say it wasn’t the fault of the staff. However, any waiter at the top of their game would have seen the issue when printing off the bill. It seemed to us more of a case of “If they don’t mention it we won’t do it”

Value for money 7/10

The price is reasonable enough when you go for one of there two deals; The 3 for £15 deal or the Tipsy Tapas (bottomless brunch) Deal. However, we wasn’t able to take the tipsy tapas deal because we were sitting outside, fair. And they just seem to of ignored the 3 dishes for £15 deal. That coupled with the £9 charge for underwhelming cocktails is why the value for money is scored at a 7. Which isn’t a bad score, don’t get me wrong!

The Smartblend Guide top recommendations for dining at Canto

If the sun is out, and the outside seats are available go for it. You may lose your menu to the wind but the seats are comfortable and you still get served fast.
Mushroom croquetas. You need to try them!!!
Friendly staff

Have you been to Canto?

If so I would love to hear your opinion. Fill out the Smartblend Guide form here to get your Canto scores added to the Smartblend Guide to Manchester bars and restaurants.

Want to compare Canto to other Bars and Restaurants in Manchester’s Ancoats? Click here Or check out Bars and Restaurants from other parts of Manchester’s city centre or more about the Smartblend Guide here.

Canto: Manchester Restaurant Review