Category Archive: Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant reviews

Review: Mana, Manchester

My favourite thing at Mana. They made a fudge by reducing down 120 litres of cucumber juice to a mere dollop. It no longer tasted of cucumber exactly, but still had a green note along with a deep sticky-sweet flavour a bit seaweedy. This blob made a superb relish for some insanely well cured sea …

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Review: District, Manchester

It’s all about the vibe at District, a modern Thai tasting menu place in Manchester. Seriously. If you’re not into the vibe, you’ll hate it no matter what the food. And if you’re into the vibe, you’ll love it and maybe overlook the odd missed beat in the cooking. The vibe is cyberpunky. You’ve got …

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Review: Paradise, at home

After perhaps a dozen different “posh takeaways” across lockdown, I’ve now got an absolute red hot favourite to recommend. It’s perhaps not a surprise; if I ponder my way across the cuisines of the world, this one stands out for having an astonishing range of bold, bright flavours and a diverse mixture of flavours and …

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Review: Pidgin, at home

They call it “Homing Pidgin” which is quite clever. The menu for Pidgin at home is also clever, full of delicious things that don’t take much prep but pack and impressive punch and make you feel like you’re dining pretty darn fine at your own dinner table. Mini-starter was an excellent game sausage roll, 6 …

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Review: Nanban, at home

I love the menu at Nanban. It says something very true to my heart: that there is no “right and wrong” in cuisine, there is just stuff that works. And when stuff doesn’t work, it’s not usually because there’s something inherently wrong with the combination; it’s just been done poorly. So Nanban is quite clearly …

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