Dinner at Suri...

Last night I went along to dine at the new Suri* restaurant in Manchester, which recently opened on King Street. I love this area of Manchester and I liked the sound of Suri as soon as I heard that they serve contemporary Middle Eastern and Mediterranean inspired dishes. 

The stylish design features a long bar area downstairs, flanked by booths with plush cream upholstery, while upstairs there is another floor of the restaurant with large windows and an open kitchen where you can see the chefs hard at work. 

We were warmly welcomed and given a choice of tables; we chose to sit by the window and we consulted the menu which consists of a sharing style concept with dishes split in to graze, field, farm and waves sections. We were treated to sampling an array of wines, before we settled on glasses of Merlot Xinomavro, ‘Paranga’ Kir Yianni from Greece and Minervois, ‘Les Plots’ Chateau Coupe-Roses, France. The wine menu at Suri is impressive and the team are extremely knowledgeable in terms of recommending wine choices. 

The Persian spiced bread with fragrant textures and oil caught my eye immediately and it lived up to expectations with a light and airy quality and delicate flavour, it broke apart easily and tasted amazing with the chunky dip of smashed vegetables and chickpeas. 

We were advised to choose three dishes each to experience a range of what the menu has to offer. My Chickpea kibbeh, with spiced yoghurt was a great choice and the golden croquettes of root vegetable and chickpeas worked well with the refreshing citrus yoghurt. 

The Hanout split prawns with smashed avocado were equally good and the meaty seared king prawns were complemented by the ras al hanout spices, while the crushed avocado, sesame and coriander added a lighter balance to the dish. 

The Sumac chicken with white beans and chorizo was tender and delicately spiced, I hesitate to resort to the old cliché of ‘melt in the mouth’ but needs must in this case as it certainly did and the roasted fennel wedges and rich tomato, butterbean and chorizo ragu were all the adornment this simple yet outstanding dish needed. 

I was treated to a current special of sea bream kebabs, which were crispy and satisfying with a mild sea bream flavour.

A summery salad of vine tomatoes, rocket and crumbled Wensleydale provided a combination of bright flavours which was ideal with our other dishes. 

My dining companion was dazzled by his choice of ox cheek with cumin and Pedro Ximenez. The slow cooked ox cheek was succulent and the sherry added a sweeter depth while crushed potatoes, flash pickled red onion and citrus yoghurt allowed the flavour of the ox cheek to shine. 

Spiced pork belly, with a crackling mustard sauce was another inspired dish and the pork belly bites were delicious with the zingy mustard and crackling yoghurt sauce.

A large portion of Za’tar fries were perfect to share and the spicy seasoning and fiery sliced chillies made these fries a tasty side order.

On to dessert and would you believe I just about managed to find some room when I saw the tempting options such as cardamom vanilla cream, rhubarb, rose and ginger. We decided on two desserts to share, the preserved lemon curd mousse served in a rocks glass with sweet, peppered red berries and a filo and sesame shard was a taste of summer and the zesty mousse created a sensational flavour paired with the tangy peppered berries. 

The second dessert of chocolate slab with burnt orange ripple was recommended to us and I am so glad it was. The chocolate brownie was so rich that the chocolate seemed almost liquefied, I tried in vain to get the trade secrets to such a moist brownie from one of the chefs, but he explained it was down to a special combination of ingredients! Whatever the secret, this was a slab of bliss with the orange syrup and whipped mascarpone. 

Suri is a welcome addition to King Street, blending modern and elegant interior design with excellent food and service. The sharing style menu works well here, as the convivial atmosphere makes it the ideal place to get together with friends over a couple of bottles of wine and sample a variety of dishes. 

Suri Restaurant & Bar
22 King Street
Manchester
M2 6AG

 0161 641 7700

http://www.surirestaurant.co.uk/

What do you all think, do you like the idea of a restaurant with a sharing menu of dishes inspired by the Middle East and the Mediterranean and which of these dishes would you like to try? As always I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and thank you so much for reading this post. 

Until next time,

Camille 

xo 

*I was invited to dine at Suri, this meal was complimentary for review purposes. Opinions expressed herein are my own and honest.