Planning a shopping trip to Manchester, we booked this before we set off. I had reservations (no pun intended) when I saw that it was a 'mega-pub/restaurant' but soon stopped worrying. My wife liked it straight away - she picks up immediately on bad atmospheres, staff rowing, stress etc, and there was none of that, and plenty of staff to go round on a busy Saturday. We had goats cheese and beetroot tart (great) and baked mushrooms with pancetta (also great) to start; then both had steak and chips (as in the classic French combination) with a few salad leaves, and were both very happy. Everything was hot, service was very friendly - you had a main waiter for orders and drinks, but then different people actually brought the food to your table, so everything ran quickly (maybe too quickly for some) and smoothly. So, happy all round. Spectacular massive converted bank with huge and tall, intricately decorated ceilings, mahogany everywhere, and grey marble soaring columns. Not intimate, if that's what you're after, unless you find a quiet corner. We sat next to the piano (not in use at 8pm-ish). On entry, the left hand side is just for drinkers (and snackers?), and the even larger right-hand side, with hidden extra rooms, is for eaters. We went on the day that Man U and Man City had both done well, but there was no trouble inside or outside the restaurant, which is almost opposite the Spring Gardens post office, on a corner, off the main Market Street shops area. So would be good for an afternoon rest/snack, too. Note for Warrington residents - similar menus and deals to Ego, and just as noisy, but easily 10 times bigger and that's not exaggerated. We chose from the (email sign-up with printable voucher) Friends Of Browns slightly restricted menu (no time restriction) and got 2 courses for 2 people and a bottle of house wine for £29 (£14.50 each for the whole meal/drinks) and had no need to order side dishes. (I think it should have been £35 On Saturdays, but maybe we got the computer's mid-week rate by mistake. I also downloaded and used a voucher for 2 halves of free lager!) Owned now by a big brewery group, I am pretty sure, but they have done well with this site. Very, very clean for such a big and busy place. The only slight drawback I can see is that some might find it too spacious and noisy for just a quiet evening meal.