A striking new addition to Manchester’s dining scene has opened its doors this week amidst the glass towers of Deansgate Square.
With towering eight-foot-high bamboo walls, a gleaming tan marble bar, a giant (fake) bonsai and a trio of squat stone moai stationed squarely at its door, it might be called Kitten but it’s anything but cute.
Majestic, yes, and ever so slightly imposing, the restaurant’s grand interiors set the stage for a promisingly fresh and modern take on Japanese fine dining in Manchester.
All that’s left now is to try the food – and despite initial concerns it could be all fur coat and no knickers, we’re pleased to say that is not the case, not at all.
With a focus on fireside cooking, high-end sushi and sashimi, Kitten’s striking sushi bar takes centre stage in the restaurant – offering a front-row seat to all the sushi-making action to a privilieged few.
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The restaurant offers a one-of-a-kind chef’s table sushi experience with artfully constructed raw dishes overseen by Head Sushi Chef Daniel Zhou, formerly of Peter Street Kitchen.
We, however, manage to miss said sushi action – sitting away from the bar at a table overlooking a sun-lit Deansgate Square. Still, in fairness, the quality of the plates speak for themselves.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Beautiful ceramic dishes lined with snow pea and avocado maki topped with scallops and tabiko hit the table, joined by a house nigiri selection with salmon, tuna, sea bass and Japanese hamachi and squid.
Dusty pink sashimi follows, joined by lightly breaded shell-on prawns and an artfully-constructed dish of seared tuna, Kewpie, chillies and pickles – their freshness and crunch perfectly complementing the rich softness of the fish and Japanese mayo.
As well as specialist sushi, Kitten also boasts a giant Robatayak grill from which we enjoy a whole seabass rubbed in a red miso and sesame seed marinade.
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Its skin is blackened from the charcoal, giving it a smoky edge and aroma, but beneath that the flesh is soft, tenderly flaking away from the vertebra.
Image: The Manc Eats
Served solo, initially we find ourselves looking for accompanying side plates – but as we delve in, we soon realise it more than stands up on its own.
The cocktail menu is just as impressive. Midori, the luminous green melon liqueur star of many an adolescent mixer, is given a new lease of life in layered Japanese iced teas and Japanese slippers – the latter a mixture of orange Cointreau, lemon juice and melon.
Elsewhere, you’ll find a rich and satisfyingly garnishless take on an espresso martini, yuzu-laced margaritas and French 75’s, and house-infused gin made sharp and prickly with horseradish, then mellowed with cucumber.
Overall the kitchen here is led by Head Chef Josh Gabrielides, formerly of Ivy Asia, supported by a wider kitchen team that boasts experience from Copenhagen-based restaurant chain Sticks and Sushi s well as other top-ranked Pan-Asian restaurants.
Semi-open, it’s set into a fortress-like double-height wall with a second hatch overlooking the restaurant another floor above.
Further dishes from the robata menu include premium steak cuts, with veggie and vegan-friendly options available for those who prefer a plant-based diet.
Elegant and glamorous with a quality menu to boot, on first impressions Kitten looks set to be a triumph – adding another much-needed string to the bow of the city’s East Asian dining scene.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
Manchester has been ranked one of the ‘most influential cities’ in Europe
Danny Jones
As per a development that we’d consider so obvious it’s barely worth writing about (even though we are), Manchester has been ranked one of the most influential cities in Europe.
In other news, water is still very much wet.
While there’s plenty of it here in Greater Manchester, given our standard rainy forecasts, when it comes to anything besides the weather, we deliver in spades.
Let’s be honest: we know it, you do too, and apparently so do plenty of other folks – and there’s some concrete statistics to back it up.
Case in point – First Chanel, now Vogue… (Credit: The Manc Group)
You’ll find all manner of surveys, polls and studies diving into how Manchester ranks across various categories, but knowing we boast nods such as ‘the original industrial city’, the place that helped split the atom and the place that the first modern computer was born, we know all about our global impact.
With that in mind, when we saw that Sixt had recently named us as one of the most influential cities in all of Europe, we couldn’t ignore the well-deserved pat on the back.
That’s right, although you might not associate the car rental company with this sort of stuff, as part of their new exclusive ‘Sixt Ride’ offering (think a posh taxi service), they looked into which cities have the most luxuries, tourist attractions and other cultural bonuses to their name.
Per their recent research, Manchester city centre didn’t just break into the top 100 but found itself among the 30 most influential cities in Europe.
You can see the full rankings table down below.
#
City
Country
*Fortune 500 Companies
Fashion weeks
Film Festivals
International Airports
5-Star Hotels
High End/Luxury Shopping areas
Michelin Restaurants
1
Paris
France
10
6
77
2
122
11
134
2
London
United Kingdom
12
3
241
3
182
5
81
3
Milan
Italy
1
4
52
3
29
5
22
4
Rome
Italy
2
0
97
2
65
4
21
5
Stockholm
Sweden
0
3
14
2
12
2
13
6
Madrid
Spain
5
0
38
1
42
2
29
7
Zurich
Switzerland
6
0
10
1
12
4
18
8
Munich
Germany
5
0
10
1
16
4
17
9
Berlin
Germany
1
1
76
1
40
2
21
10
Hamburg
Germany
1
0
16
2
17
3
16
11
Amsterdam
Netherlands
4
0
24
1
29
1
30
12
Copenhagen
Denmark
1
2
12
1
12
2
20
13
Barcelona
Spain
0
0
45
1
47
1
31
14
Lisbon
Portugal
1
0
38
1
49
1
20
15
Athens
Greece
0
0
41
1
52
2
12
16
Vienna
Austria
1
0
24
1
24
3
14
17
Bucharest
Romania
0
0
22
2
12
2
0
18
Warsaw
Poland
0
0
22
2
17
1
3
19
Glasgow
United Kingdom
0
0
17
2
4
2
2
20
Lyon
France
0
0
9
2
7
0
16
21
Prague
Czechia
0
0
16
1
60
1
2
22
Brussels
Belgium
0
0
18
1
14
1
29
23
Oslo
Norway
0
1
8
1
6
1
11
24
Manchester
United Kingdom
0
0
20
1
7
3
2
25
Budapest
Hungary
0
0
16
1
24
1
7
26
Dublin
Ireland
2
0
16
1
11
0
6
27
Naples
Italy
0
0
34
1
5
0
22
28
Porto
Portugal
0
0
8
1
28
0
10
29
Turin
Italy
1
0
21
1
4
0
10
30
Sofia
Bulgaria
0
0
22
1
14
1
0
31
Helsinki
Finland
0
0
5
1
10
1
5
32
Belgrade
Serbia
0
0
32
1
9
0
1
33
Marseille
France
0
0
5
1
4
0
12
34
Birmingham
United Kingdom
0
0
12
1
4
0
6
35
Minsk
Belarus
0
0
11
1
0
0
0
Read it and weep; we Mancs landed 24th on the leaderboard, just behind Norway’s capital, Oslo, and ever so slightly ahead of Budapest in Hungary.
As you can see, to identify the ‘most influential European cities’, they broke down how the 35 most populous cities on the continent and here UK (barring Russia and Ukraine) and what noteworthy cultural touchstones they possess.
For instance, did you hear that our very own Warehouse Project recently found itself breaking into the top half of the best nightclubs on the entire planet?
Going on to analyse everything from the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city, their connections to film, fashion, fine-dining and more, they found that Paris, London and Milan were the most influential (no surprises there), but we’re glad to be keeping such good company.
After all, in the last couple of years alone, Manchester city centre has welcomed the Metiers D’art fashion show, opened one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, and still takes eternal credit for giving the world Oasis and, therefore, the Live ’25 reunion. Again, you’re welcome.
What do you make of Sixt’s study, and do you agree with their findings on the whole?
It goes without saying that we’d probably put ourselves higher on the list if anything, but then again, maybe we’re getting too used to being told how brilliant it is to live in this region.
Featured Images — Anthony Parkes (via Geograph)/The Manc Group
News
Police ‘delighted’ after Manchester man is jailed for running county lines drug operation
Emily Sergeant
A Manchester man has been jailed for his part in running a county lines drug operation that exploited vulnerable people.
Following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) County Lines Team, John Joyce, of Stuart Street in Manchester, was identified as operating a county lines drugs network that supplied Class A drugs across Greater Manchester, and was subsequently jailed for possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
The investigation – which uncovered extensive evidence of drug supply – found that Joyce was the controller of the “CEE” line – a mobile number used to distribute crack cocaine and heroin.
Among that ‘extensive’ evidence was more than 31,000 text messages and 8,700 calls linked to drug dealing activity, and ‘flare’ messages advertising drugs for sale sent in bulk, as well as forensic analysis linking Joyce to two personal mobile numbers and vehicles used during the operation.
CCTV footage was also uncovered showing Joyce purchasing top-up vouchers for the drugs line.
#JAILED | Man sentenced to over 5 years in prison for running county lines drug operation
Our County Lines Team investigation uncovered extensive evidence of drug supply & found he was the controller of the “CEE” line, a mobile number used to distribute crack cocaine & heroin pic.twitter.com/WAdej9lLxU
And the final nail in the coffin was that a search of the 28-year-old’s Manchester apartment uncovered more than 460g of crack cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia, and cash.
Joyce fled the UK and headed to Dubai in an attempt to evade justice, but was arrested upon his return at Manchester Airport in October 2025.
“This case demonstrates our commitment to dismantling county lines networks that exploit vulnerable people and blight communities,” explained Detective Constable Josh Claxton, of GMP’s County Lines Team.
“Joyce’s operation was significant and his sentence reflects the harm caused by class A drug supply in Greater Manchester.
Georgina Pellant -
14th June 2022 
