On Saturday I took a lovely girly trip over to Manchester. I met up with a friend (Manchester is a kind of in-between point for us) and we spent the day chatting over lots of gorgeous food, cocktails… and mainly desserts.
First up, we checked out the newly opened Grand Pacific; part of the Living Venutres group that brought us Australasia, this restaurant follows a similar asian-esque menu. The menu is quite small, but brings with it lots of variation. I went for a tapas style choice of three starters; the chirashi sushi bowl; pork balls with harumaki dipping sauce; and the chicken & spring onion gyoza. This was accompanied by the Grand Pineapple cocktail – the restaurants signature drink offering, with the option to keep the pineapple it’s served in, or return it for a refund.
We then headed over to Tattu. Now this place is something else. First of all, there’s a huge cherry blossom tree in the middle of the restaurant, it makes the room look stunning – and also makes the perfect backdrop for your evening out selfies, girls – another asian themed restaurant, you walk in and are instantly greeted with the scents of burning incense. This one was a dessert only stop off, but my friend and I both agreed that we would love to come back and try the mains next time we are in Manchester. I found the service pretty unbeatable here too.
Anyway, onto the food… so this was a desert only stop off – but wow what desserts they were. I opted for the Β Cherry Blossom dessert and my friend the Winter Silk Road; now I kid you not, it was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. Complete with lots of chocolatey additions, cherry (obviously), candy floss and edible flowers, it wasn’t just a dessert – it was an experience, and a brilliant one at that. But what made it even better, was my cocktail of choice… a NUTELLA espresso martini. Yes, my favourite cocktail ever, with a Nutella twist. This place is 100% a new favourite of mine, and even better, they’re just about to open one in my hometown of Leeds too. Bonus.
A couple of hours later and it was on to Menagerie, another one of my all time favourite haunts in the city. This place is so beautiful, quirky and unique; and I always try to make a trip here when I’m in Manchester.
Today we chose to indulge in their new funfair afternoon tea, and accompanied it with cocktails again; I went for the French Kiss (the one with the raspberry) and my friend the Queen Bey. I think we overestimated ourselves however, as we could barely get past the scones (due to still being full from earlier), but our waitress was more than happy to wrap our desserts up for us to take home.
We had such a lovely time in Manchester, made even better by the beautiful Spring weather we were treat to on Saturday. Highlights were definitely Tattu and Menagerie (as always) and I can’t wait to return on my next visit.
