New Tastes...

Zizzi - Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester

This weekend my friend Laura came up to stay from Surrey, and on Friday we went to the opening of the newest Zizzi restaurant, as she works for them. It's in a really good position in Piccadilly Gardens, right next to a Travellodge and a few minutes walk from the train station so I think it will do really well.

We got prosecco when we first sat down, and red wine with the meal, then continued with the prosecco for the rest of the night - it was all paid for so we thought we'd make the most of it! The starter was set for us; a platter which we ordered for 3 people between five, and there was ample food for us all. It had loads of yummy treats on it, including a variety of meats, olives, calamari and two different types of bread - one with pesto and tomato, the other with garlic, caramelised onions and balsamic vinegar.

For main course I went for the chicken and prosciutto salad which had mixed leaves including spinach and rocket, tomato, grana pardano, avocado and was dressed with aioli. It was a good size after the large starter (and knowing we had dessert to come as well!). The dessert was another platter with three different mini favourites - a tiramisu, chocolate tartufo (mousse with hazelnuts and frangelico liqeur) and a deconstructed lemon meringue, which was by far my favourite.

During the meal there was a singer who was really good, and later on people got up to dance and do karaoke (this was much later on!). We left at around 1am and ended up in China Town in a karaoke bar that was super cheap! It was such a good night, and even better that it was all free!