A luxurious restaurant in Manchester city centre has shut its doors only nine months after opening.
It appears that Ikaro, the lavish steak restaurant and champagne bar that had moved into the former site of the iconic nightclub Panacea, has already closed down.
The space had been transformed last September into a modern 84-seat restaurant, filled with black marble and dark velvet furniture, along with massive screens outside projecting colourful digital art onto John Dalton Street.
Ikaro’s menu was split into two portions – fire and ice – and included dishes like grilled lobster tails, Japanese A5 Wagyu steak, torched hand dived scallops and bluefin tuna otoro.
There also used to be a huge selection of champagne, including frequently-changing selections of rare bottles available until 2.30am.
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Company director, Zack Issak, said at the time of the Ikaro opening: “It’s long overdue that this popular space opened its doors once more and we’re thrilled to be able to do that.
“IKaro will create an unforgettable experience from start to finish. Guests will enjoy a choice of the world’s finest Champagnes, paired with the best Wagyu steaks and seafood on the market.”
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Inside Ikaro, which opened in the former Panacea site in 2023.
But despite such lofty ambitions, it does seem that Ikaro has gone for good.
All the social pages for the restaurant have vanished, it’s listed as permanently closed on Google, and emails to book a table now bounce straight back.
Ikaro was opened by the same team behind SakkuSamba and the brand-new Habbibi, a decadent Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant in Spinningfields.
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SakkuSamba closed at the end of May for ‘an exciting refurbishment and upgrade’ but hasn’t yet reopened.
One of Manchester’s grandest restaurants has finally reopened TWO YEARS after fire
Daisy Jackson
One of the most historic restaurants in Manchester has reopened at last, two years after a fire forced its closure.
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar – which many of us may remember as Mr Cooper’s – stands within the Grade II-listed Midland Hotel.
The grand dining room dates all the way back to 1903, when it opened with the hotel as the Grill Room.
The restaurant was at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution and was frequented by railway travellers, perhaps best-known for hosting a lunch between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904, who went on to form the world-famous Rolls-Royce brand.
The Midland’s restaurants has gone through several changes in the decades since, undergoing a major £14 million refurb in 2020 to relaunch as Mount Street Dining Room & Bar.
Its interiors are inspired by the hotel’s early 1900s art deco and railway heritage, with a menu that focuses on locally-sourced British produce.
But the restaurant has been shut since early 2024, when a fire damaged the entrance and trellising around its main entrance on Mount Street.
The beautiful bar areaA glimpse of the menu at Mount StreetCocktails and British food
The Midland has finally managed to get the restaurant back open again this month, with a new food and cocktail menus, which aims to offer refined but simple British dining.
Expect dishes like pork and black pudding bonbons, white onion soup with crispy potatoes, smoked British salmon with lemon gel and dill mascarpone, and slow cooked beef daube with confit garlic mash.
Plus desserts such as rice pudding with Anise glazed pearsand Bakewell pudding with cherry syrup.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen inside this beautiful, storied dining room – and it looks just as beautiful as we remember.
Daisy Jackson -
27th June 2024 
