The food critic Grace Dent has published a rave review of one of Manchester’s new restaurant openings, Musu, bestowing national kudos on the Bridge Street eatery.
Referred to by the Guardian reviewer as ‘very possibly the most expensive restaurant in Manchester’, in a glowing write up she compares it to ‘the Starship Enterprise, albeit one with geishas on the walls and a £110 seven-course menu’.
Already a favourite of Ilkay Gundogan’s notoriously hard-to-please wife (it’s the only eatery she’s praised since famously saying that the Manchester food and drink scene was ‘horrible’), thankfully, Musu has now found a more discerning reviewer to recommend it.
Dent opens by advising ‘all who have already taken terrible umbrage that Musu even exists’ to ‘abandon reading this review here’, before going on to say she, personally, is ‘rather cheered that there are still people north of Watford who have the faith and gumption to open places as pointedly bonkers as this.’
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
The 55-cover restaurant is described as being ‘as dark in places as Adrian Mole’s bedroom’, with plenty of attention paid to its ‘theatrical’ detailing.
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A glass-fronted private dining room that, ‘at the touch of a button, turns frosted’, gets a special mention, as does Musu’s bold ‘Japanese murals, globe lighting and […] nakedly open kitchen’.
But the real praise is reserved for the cooking of chef Michael Shaw, formerly of Gordon Ramsay Inc and Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, hailed as ‘minuscule portions of exquisite pleasure that linger in your mind.’
As she reels through the seven-course tasting menu, praising each dish as she goes, things go from great to excellent.
At one point, after digging into Musu’s sashimi (described as ‘ three of the finest pieces of sashimi imaginable’) she proffers: ‘I felt like handing my badge back there and then – it’s over; I won’t ever taste better’, before moving on to another ‘outstanding’ dish.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
If there is a criticism, it’s that upon finishing the seven courses she still finds herself hungry – commenting: ‘Very rarely – in fact, never – do I wish I’d chosen the longer tasting menu, though at £150 plus drinks, that would have been guaranteed to cause a reader revolt.’
This, in turn, leads to some good-natured musing on just who all these people are spending hundreds in ‘mobbed’ Musu on a Friday night, with Dent asking pointedly: ‘Where are they getting their money? None of them seemed to be the type to have Brink’s-Mat gold buried at the bottom of their garden.’
Summarising, she writes: “If you’ve already decided to boycott Musu over the sheer cost, the din and the small portions, I must at this point stress that the food is outstanding.
“Sure, Musu isn’t for everybody, but if someone else is funding your wanton extravagance, then drag them there. It’s unforgettable for many reasons: some of them are hilarious, yes, but mostly they’re just plain good.”
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Read more:The best restaurants and bars to open in Manchester in 2022
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Loafi – The Ramsbottom bakery thrilling customers with its old-fashioned northern bakes
Daisy Jackson
There’s a bakery in Ramsbottom that’s been making waves since it opened last year – but it’s not for cutting-edge bakes or trendy desserts.
Nope – at Loafi, it’s all about stripping things back to basics, with a properly northern menu of old-school bakes.
The bakery may be new, but the baking is not. You’ll find nothing but traditional favourites, including Eccles cakes, shortbread, and cornflake tarts.
And then as your eyes rove across the counter, you’ll land on the star of the show, and the one that’s got everyone (us included) travelling all the way up to Ramsbottom. The custard tart.
Loafi’s custard tarts are tall, like a pastry shot glass filled with just-set egg custard filling.
You can get them classic, or in a Manchester tart format with coconut and raspberry jam, or catch occasional specials when they have surplus ingredients to spare (we got lucky with a lemon meringue custard tart).
None of us should be surprised to find that this bakery is excelling in this particular field, because the man behind it is chef-turned-baker Rich Sharples, who was previously the executive chef of Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros restaurant group.
The lemon meringue custard tart specialTraditional bakes from LoafiThe custard tart and Manchester tart
One of those restaurants he was a mastermind of was Hispi, which is known across the region for its perfect wibbly-wobbly custard tart slices.
The custard tart at Loafi feels more nostalgic and approachable though, and the stream of customers pouring through the doors clear each tray within minutes of them landing.
Beyond that, you can pick up a whole host of bakery bits with proudly northern roots, like individual loaf cakes made with Irwell Works stout, and mini carrot and walnut cakes.
There are others that will whisk you back to your childhood, such as a pineapple and brown butter upside-down cake, and a banana sponge with toffee and cream.
Plus expect treats such as bakewell slices, tiramisu roulade, and flapjacks.
A full spread of bakes at LoafiRich Sharples with the team outside LoafiA selection of butties at LoafiFresh loaves of bread
Loafi has a fabulous savoury offering too, like sausage rolls made with meat from Walmsley’s Butchers, and bacon butties on soft milk rolls.
Around four different sandwiches drop onto the counter at 11am every day, each of them guilt-free, fuss-free, and affordable. Rich believes that getting a butty for lunch shouldn’t feel like a special treat.
The fillings change regularly but are always local ingredients, prepared and made right in front of you, from cured hams and corned beef to coronation chicken.
During the weekday, you can get this as a meal deal with a sandwich drink and a bag of crisps for £7.95.
There are proper cups of soup served with a wedge of sourdough too, which changes regularly – at the minute, Rich is utilising the stock from his potted ham to make a ham, lentil and tomato soup.
Loafi isn’t setting out to reinvent the wheelhouse, but rather to wind back the clocks to create a nostalgic, quality, Lancashire bakehouse. It’s being incredibly well-received already.
You’ll find Loafi in Ramsbottom – just follow the call of the custard tart.
A new ‘secret’ cocktail bar you have to text to enter is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
A new ‘secret’ late-night cocktail bar is opening in Manchester this month – but if you want in, you’ll have to find yourself a secret entry code.
MDNT – pronounced ‘Midnight’ – will be a new speakeasy-style bar located down beneath Cross Street.
It comes from the GSG Hospitality team, who are also behind venues Salt Dog Slims and Bold Street Coffee.
If you thought the ‘secret bar’ craze had died down in 2015, you’d be incorrect, it seems…
To enter MDNT, guests will need to text the venue to receive a secret entry code, which will unlock a nondescript door inside the existing Salt Dog Slims.
Then a private walkway will lead guests into MDNT, which will have a drastically different atmosphere to its lively upstairs dive bar neighbour.
The newcomer will have a ‘more sophisticated late-night cocktail environment’, with DJs and a modern bar.
In the early evenings, guests can sit along the long bar to watch cocktails being prepared, but as the night wears on, it’s hoped the MDNT will be a space for dancing.
John Ennis, Founder of GSG Hospitality, said: “We really wanted to focus on the guest’s journey.
“If you’ve ever been to Salt Dog Slims on a weekend it’s packed and people are having a great time, so the contrast of walking through a coded door, along a private walkway and into a completely different environment is immediate.
“That moment of surprise and the mystique around the entrance is a big part of what MDNT is about.”
The drinks menu will show off both classic and original cocktails, with around 24 drinks split between reimagined classics and new creations.
That includes signatures serves like the Double Parked Porn Star, a playful twist on the classic Pornstar Martini served with a miniature bottle of Champagne, alongside a fresh Garibaldi made with freshly juiced orange and Campari.
Other cocktails will include the Nitro Negroni, Faz Mangoes, Oaxacan Nightcrawler and Jimmy Gimlet.
“With the drinks we’re taking them seriously so the guests don’t have to,” adds Ennis. “We want people to walk in, see something on the bar that makes them say ‘I want one of those’ and just enjoy the night as the energy builds.”
MDNT opens on Bow Lane on Thursday 26 March and will be open Thursday through Sunday.
Georgina Pellant -
27th March 2023 
