This autumn, one of London’s most high-end Asian restaurants will open its doors in Manchester.
Since opening in Mayfair seven years ago, Sexy Fish has made a name for itself as a glitzy celeb outpost that does glamourous dining to the max.
Here, theatre is very much the draw – so if you like a bit of flair with your dinner, we expect that come the autumn, Sexy Fish will be calling your name.
In its Mayfair restaurant, sushi is served on burnished silver sculptures and garnished with free-flowing waterfalls of dry ice, whilst whole lobsters are deep-fried in tempura batter with a smoked Marie Rose dipping sauce at £50 a pop.
It’s the sort of place where caviar sits at the top of the menu as a snack, with a choice of three styles no less – Siberian (£60), Oscietra (£115), and Beluga (£215) – where you can indulge in mandarin ponzu-drenched yellowtail sashimi (£19.60) and a crispy duck salad dressed with deep-pink, identikit cubes of watermelon (£24.10), all whilst staring at millions of pounds worth of bespoke artwork.
Simply put, it’s pretty sexy. Sexy if you like to eat fish, and also sexy if you don’t.
The ceilings, the art, the lamb (a caramelised lamb rack with red kosho, anchovy, and herb features on the Manchester menu, and is well worth an order), and the truffled wagyu sushi, are just a handful of things that would pull us back here for a special occasion.
And that’s before we even get really stuck into talking about the fish.
The impressive showstopping sushi and sashimi platter at Sexy Fish. / Image: The Manc Eats
Lobster tempura at Sexy Fish. / Image: The Manc Eats
Must-tries include a dish of caramelised black cod, which sits atop a smear of spicy miso and flakes apart at the merest hint of a fork, and the ultimate sexy fish showstopper – a mega sushi and sashimi platter with seemingly infinite rows of sashimi, maki, and nigiri.
Elsewhere, a fluffy cloud of waving bonito flakes sits on top of a troop of asparagus lined up straight as soldiers, whilst foie gras and truffle add a touch of the lascivious to the humble gyoza.
One of the most hotly anticipated openings of the year, when it lands in Manchester this autumn, the restaurant will take over the former Armani shop in Spinningfields – right above Manchester’s original sexy sushi spot, Australasia.
The team at Sexy Fish have purchased the second floor of the building, simply to knock it through and create and impressive double-heigh ceiling, and say that the Spinningfields’ site will be more akin to their Miami venture – full of bright colours, as well as spectacular artworks from international artist, Damien Hirst.
These will include three giant sculptures incorporating creatures from under the sea that have specially created for the space, iconic ‘Fish Lamps’ from world-famous designer and architect Frank Gehry, a beautiful Verde Esmerelda stone floor, and a series of bespoke glass columns created by master Venetian glassmakers on the island of Murano.
The dessert board at Sexy Fish features a whole cheesecake. / Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Sexy Fish Manchester will also feature a one-of-a-kind destination bar of glowing pink onyx and glass, set against a backdrop of a cascading waterfall, with its own laboratory on site where the bar team can create their various tinctures, shrubs, sprays, and distillates.
From the autumn, Sexy Fish will be open for lunch and dinner, offering delectable a la carte options, Omakase tasting menus, and late-night dining options.
Devised by internationally renowned and acclaimed Chef Director, Bjoern Weissgerber, the menus will also include unique recipes exclusive to Manchester with four bespoke dishes and four cocktails inspired by the city.
The restaurant will house a large Champagne collection with a selection of the world’s top vintages from leading estates, and an excellent sake wine selection.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Guests will also be able to enjoy creations from the innovative Trinity Menu, a collection of award-winning cocktails from London and Miami, alongside four bespoke serves curated specifically for Sexy Fish Manchester.
These include the likes of Strawberry & Grapefruit, featuring Hibiki Harmony Japanese whisky, strawberry, grapefruit, black pepper, lemon and soda, and Tonic & Mango, created with Manchester’s own Thomas Dakin Gin, aromatic tonic water, mango, coconut, and pandan.
Sexy Fish Manchester will also feature a stunning private dining room, The Tropical Reef Room, with a picturesque aquarium filled with a magical cacophony of exotic fish. Its private dining room in Mayfair is currently home to one of the biggest coral reefs in Europe.
Sexy Fish will open its doors in Spinningfields on 12 October 2023.
Featured Image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Lupo Caffe Italiano – a taste of sunny Rome on a Prestwich industrial estate
Daisy Jackson
The sun is beating down on you, there’s a couple of luminous orange Aperol Spritzes on the checked tablecloth, Italian pop music is trickling out over the speakers and you’ve got two heaping bowls of pasta on the way.
The setting could easily be a cobbled street in front of the Colosseum in Rome. But it’s not. It’s an industrial estate in Prestwich.
Lupo must be one of Greater Manchester’s most hidden gems in a very literal sense.
To get here, you have to drive or walk a strange looping circuit around industrial warehouses peddling everything from splashbacks to burglar alarms to grow tents.
One of these warehouses, located in the very furthest yard, looks a little different to the others, festooned with bunches of garlic and dried herbs strung up from the ceiling.
There are shelves full of pasta, sauces and even crisps, a fridge packed with delicious Italian wines and beers, and retro football shirt-inspired merch hanging from the walls.
Its awkward location does nothing to hold back its loyal customers, who repeatedly return for the authentic taste of Rome on offer here.
Lupo is operated by Nico Pasquali, who first ran it as a tiny Italian cafe on Chapel Street in Salford (before all the high-rises appeared), then shifted it over to the odd shiny-commercial-office-land that is Exchange Quay, then took it almost entirely remote to trudge through the pandemic.
Lupo’s charming interiorsNico has added outside seating to LupoThe pasticceria selection at Lupo
At one point, Caffè Lupo existed mostly on WhatsApp, with customers texting in their orders ready for a doorstep drop on a Friday night.
But now the large-ish commercial unit is its main business, and it’s a special one.
You are greeted, always, with a friendly wave, then given the sort of service where you’re very gently guided to order all the best things on the menu that day, feeling like you’ll personally offend Nico if you order differently and stray from his recommendations. Thankfully it’s pretty easy to trust this man.
It’s extremely hard for me to see amatriciana on a menu and not order it – so I don’t try. One bowl of rigatoni amatriciana for me, and make it cheesy.
This is a textbook example of the deceptively simple pasta dish. Fatty guanciale cooked right down so that all that delicious pork fat melts into the tomatoes, then it’s seasoned with, I presume, several generations of secrets and love from Italian nonnas.
Rigatoni amatriciana, and fennel sausage orecchietteA spread of Lupo’s Italian foodPepernata – Nico’s mum’s recipeThe Pizza Lupo
The sweet, salty, meaty sauce is available on a pizza too, which will be top of my list next time I visit.
Across the table it’s a special (but it’s been on the menu for a while now) of orecchiette with fennel sausage and romanesco broccoli.
Nico tells us a customer once refused to pay for this dish because it wasn’t ‘saucy’ enough. Heathen.
That’s the running theme with Lupo – don’t come here expecting Neapolitan pizzas, or flat whites, or hot honey dips for your pizza crusts. It isn’t the Roman way, and Nico isn’t about to veer away from his proud roots to mould into any passing fads or trends.
If you’re after authenticity and tradition though, this is comfortably the top Italian in Greater Manchester.
If you can come to Lupo and walk away without ordering something sweet from the counter, you’re a stronger person than me.
PasticceriaOwner NicoLupo’s famous millefoglie
They’re famed for their doughnuts (rightly), with bouncy dough filled with flavours including pistachio cream, lemon, and homemade jams.
Also displayed in neat rows are fruit tarts with a glossy glaze, towering cream cakes in neat layers, and puff pastry cannoncini.
But Nico is adamant, absolutely adamant, that we order a slice of his millefoglie. It’s a sell-out, he says. We’re lucky he even has some in stock, he tells us. Who are we to argue?
And if you’ve made it this far, just stop reading right now, get in the damn car and go get yourself a slice before it sells out again.
Layers of lighter-than-air homemade pastry are sandwiched together with delicately sweet cream, hints of almond throughout, and it’s good enough to bring a tear to your eye.
We leave with a doughnut in a box too, so that we at least have a snack if we get completely lost finding our way back out of the industrial estate.
A bottomless brunch with unlimited lager is launching in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
A bottomless brunch with unlimited pints of lager will be launching in Manchester this month.
Forget the mimosas and warm prosecco and lacklustre portions of French toast – this new bottomless offering is all about proper pints and hefty focaccia sandwiches.
The Lager, Lager, Lager bottomless brunch is the newest fixture in the Trading Route’s roster, taking place in the lagerhouse at St John’s every Saturday.
It’s designed to be Manchester’s first bottomless tailored to those who love, tall, foamy pints of the good stuff.
Every punter will get 60 minutes of unlimited, freshly-poured foamy pints, as well as a choice of the restaurant’s focaccia sandwiches, made in-house every single day.
DJs will be spinning classic house and disco tunes as you tuck into your pints and butties.
Jamie Scahill, Trading Route Co-Founder said: “Lager, Lager, Lager isn’t an underworld event, it’s for everyone who loves a freshly poured foamy pint to come down and enjoy.
“Whether you were born slippy or not, the fun is to leave slippy, having revelled in great beer, food and company.”
A bottomless brunch with unlimited lager is launching in Manchester
Trading Route opened last year, specialising in perfectly-poured pints of Manchester Union, as well as rotisserie chicken and huge sandwiches.
As well as Lager, Lager, Lager’s launch, over the bank holiday weekend there’ll be a happy hour which will include £4.80 pints, cocktails at £8.50 and a carafe of wine for £12.50 on Thursday 21 August.
Funkademia will then take over the venue from 5pm on Friday 22 August.
Lager, Lager, Lager will begin on Saturday 23 August and will run every Saturday from 12pm until 5pm.
The Trading Route bottomless lager brunch costs £28, and you can book your spot HERE.
Georgina Pellant -
8th September 2023 
