New Tastes...

Australasia, Manchester

Last night Hannah, Abi, Tasha and I went to Australasia in Spinningfields in Manchester. I have wanted to go for ages, especially as Aum has been a few times and told me about some of the tasty things he has had there. It is a bit more highly priced than a standard restaurant so we wanted to go for a slightly special occasion. Abi is about to move to London for a while, so we thought a 'last supper' would be an appropriate reason to venture there.

We booked a table a week in advance (places go quickly) for 8pm, and got the metro there as it is a short walk from either Deansgate-Castlefield or St Peters Square. The doorway is a glass pyramid that opens to reveal a stairway down underground, and we had our coats taken and were given a table at the foot of the stairs, right in the centre of the bar and restaurant areas, which was a great position. The table and chairs are in quite a relaxed, almost outdoor style, with pale wickerwork and big squishy cushions to sink into.

We were given the food and drinks menus, and shortly afterwards brought an iPad to show us the expansive wine and champagne list, which could be organised by price, region, or colour. This was a pretty novel idea and at first I thought it seemed a little show-offy, but when I saw the amount available it did make sense rather than printing a 20 page menu for each table. We opted for a bottle of an Italian white, which was one of the cheapest, but not the house, priced at £20. It was medium dry, and had a really lovely subtle fresh taste that was perfect when sampling lots of different food as we were.

The waiter was very attentive, and explained the concept of the dishes to us; there is the choice of getting a small plate and a large one (equivalent to a starter and main) as in a traditional restaurant, or if there as a group as we were, it is recommended that each person chooses two or three small dishes as a main and they are brought out all at once and shared in a tapas style.

We decided to do this and get a starter as well, so chose a big sharing platter of fourteen pieces of mixed sushi, the contents of which vary everyday dependent on the chefs' recommendations. Ours included California rolls and nigiri with salmon, yellowfin tuna, and kingfish, garnished with vegetables made to look like flowers. It arrived after about twenty minutes which I thought was perfect, and was an ideal size for four of us to have a nibble yet not get too full.

About fifteen minutes after that had been cleared away our 'mains' arrived. I got soft shell crab tempura with courgette flowers which was beautiful! There were four crab legs and then a few deep fried flowers, so it wouldn't have been enough on its own, but together with the bok choi (I love this stuff!) in oyster sauce that I chose as well it was spot on.

The girls got a variety of other small dishes including teriyaki beef skewers, prawn tempura, squid tempura, spicy chicken skewers, chilli edamame beans and pork wontons. Noone had any complaints, it was all gorgeous.

The others got another bottle of wine, but I was driving so got a fruit juice instead. Not wanting to ruin my experimental streak so far, I went for apple, carrot and ginger juice, which was unlike anything I have had before. I drank it all but wasn't too sure of the taste, I think it was slightly too gingery for me.

Abi and I shared a dessert of sweet sushi which was incredible, the rice was sweetened like rice pudding and rolled with fruit in the middle, garnished with a peanut brittle type horn filled with cream and fruit. There were also two pieces that tasted like apple pie; pastry rolled with chopped apple in the centre dusted with cinnamon.

We sat and chatted for a while after we had finished eating and then asked for the bill, my section of which came to £38 with a tip, which I was more than satisfied with for what I had eaten. Unlike a few other high end restaurants I have been to, we were not made to feel like we were being rushed so they could reuse the table, they simply waited for us to go over to collect our coats and bid us farewell.

Overall this was a very pleasurable dining experience, luxurious yet comfortable surroundings, great service and delicious food, I can't wait to have another occasion to go back for. On a weekend it turns into a 'club' later on, which I can't imagine, but I am definitely willing to give it a try, especially as some of the cocktails on the menu looked very tempting!