Manchester’s King Street is rapidly becoming known for its European café culture, and its latest arrival, Suri, only builds on that reputation.
Although it doesn’t offer typically European cuisine, Suri boasts a menu of exciting Mediterranean meets Middle Eastern sharing plates. It’s both a bar and a restaurant, and, on the Wednesday night, when my friend Munaza and I visited, both areas were lively!
The interior is modern, swish and bright and looks out on the stunning Tudor buildings of King Street. Suri is spread over two floors, with a mixture of inviting booths and more traditional dining tables.
If gin and tonics are your thing, you’re in safe hands at this establishment. Suri offers 9 varieties of the UK’s favourite drink combination, as well as an extensive wine, beer and cocktail list. On this occasion we opted to drink a variety of wines to get a flavour for their menu – nothing to do with our love of wine, honest!
Suri prides itself on using small scale, independent wineries and this is reflected with their diverse list. First up was a glass of Little James Basket Press, which is a blend of Viognier and Sauvignon; as the name suggests it was a fun wine with tropical fruity flavours.
Second, was a glass of Vinho Verde by Conde Villar- this Portuguese white was our favourite. Like the Little James, it was again very light but with floral scents, complementing our fish dishes beautifully!
The food menu is divided into field, farm and waves, with an additional grazing section, which is the equivalent of nibbles. All plates are designed to share, but if sharing isn’t your thing, the menu can also work more traditionally.
The kitchen is headed up by Guy Callister, who has carefully crafted the menu to ensure dishes feature fresh, seasonal produce from local suppliers. The menu is packed with bold spices which fuse typically Meditterean ingredients with the Middle East.
To start, we grazed on rosewater-soaked olives and Suri’s freshly-baked Persian spiced bread, which was served with their humous of the day. We were lucky enough to sample the rocket and kale dip, which worked beautifully with the flavoursome, tearaway bread.
Next up, we shared a selection of sharing plates including chickpea croquettes with a spiced yoghurt dip, roasted aubergine topped with a citrus yoghurt and pomegranate seeds, cauliflower with a tahini dip, a whole white fish with mussels and honeyed salmon served on crushed avocado.
There are too many dishes to compliment, so I’ll pick out our favourites! The honeyed salmon was a joy to taste: it was packed with flavour and flaked beautifully – we literally couldn’t get enough and were very close to ordering another.
I’d also highly recommend the roasted aubergine. The zesty yoghurt it’s drizzled in was simply stunning and a beautiful contrast to the smoky vegetable. Another highlight was the whole fish, which was served with mussels and fennel. Like lots of dishes on the menu, the fish was cooked over charcoal which gave it a gorgeous, smoky flavour, without drying it out.
If you prefer meat to fish/vegetarian dishes, rest assured the menu offers several meat plates including Lebanese lamb with roasted garlic tzatziki and sherry braised ox-cheek.
All of the dishes we opted for were light and healthy, yet didn’t compromise on taste – something which is rare in fine dining! Fortunately, this also meant we had room for dessert…
Munaza opted for the cardamom and vanilla cream panna cotta and I tried the roasted stone fruit, which was served with crème fraiche ice-cream.
It would be an understatement to say the panna cotta was flavoursome: in addition to vanilla and cardamom essences, it also boasted subtle rhubarb and rose aromas. Crispy, ground-ginger nuts added a welcome crunch.
The roasted stone fruit changes from season to season, and, in March, the fruit of the month was pear – my favourite! Warmed over charcoal, it was soaked in cinnamon and melted in my mouth. The accompaniment of velvety-smooth, crème fraiche ice-cream was perfect and the lightly-toasted oats completed this delicious dessert.
When it came to pudding we moved onto red wine. Our lovely waitress advised we try the Greek ‘Paranga’ Merlot. This aromatic wine had a distinctive fruity bouquet and was the perfect accompaniment to my roasted pear.
In a nutshell:
At the time of this review, Suri had only been open three weeks, but you wouldn’t have known this; the service was seamless and the food delicious! If you enjoy light, fun Middle Eastern dishes in a relaxed environment, Suri fits the bill! Alternatively, if you enjoy a G&T that plays around with flavours, Suri is also the spot for you!
Contact:
A: 22 King Street, Manchester M2 6AG
T: 0161 641 7700
E: reservations@surirestaurant.co.uk
W: surirestaurant.co.uk
