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 trout that had managed to become both soft and meaty at the same time. The light fermented rice sauce balanced this out very neatly.

That’s a good summary of the cooking at Mana: powerful flavours, splendid ingredients, great balance. Nervous eaters need not apply! So let’s recall some other highlights of the meal…

Lots of stand-out canapes but I really loved the crispy potato cones stuffed with a yeasty mousse and dusted with seaweed powder. It really was umami5000 and I could have eaten a dozen! Crispy carrot skin loaded with tartare of ex-dairy cow, smoked eel and a bit of coal oil was just filthy good.

At the other end of the meal, rose ice cream was like a summer garden with bees droning quietly around the heady scent of big blousy rose blossoms. Fermented honey added something more punky to the amazing bouquet. I also very much loved the slim tube of caramelised apple with woodruff that rounded out the affair.

In the middle were a whole fantasia of courses, strong on the seafood. Unpreserved caviar was a special treat atop the most chilled savoury milk curds and citric sorrel, real magic. Equally magical was the single perfect mussel, cleverly filleted and filled with a garlicky mince of its meat and served in hot butter. Oh, oh, and the small but sweet scallops served raw with a savoury fudge and a broth of bright Thai flavours. Oh, and the nice piece of sirloin accompanied by celtuce. Celtuce. Expect it to be in Waitrose in a couple of years, as it’s a deeply delicious veg stalk when sliced and char-grilled like this.

The dining room at Mana is very chic, with a big open kitchen for you to watch the team at work. The chefs present most of the dishes themselves. Great wine list. It’s very easy to be charmed here, and it’s very easy to be deeply impressed by the food. Obviously at £155 each it’s the higher end of tasting menus, but this is a meal I’ll remember for a long time. I recommend you go.