New menu: Manchester’s tropical hideaway Australasia reviewed

Back in July, Manchester’s favourite pan-Asian restaurant had an interior revamp as well as introducing new dishes. The majority are among the menu’s small plates menu. Examples include California rolls with tuna, chilli and cream cheese or mango, avocado and broccoli – plus new tempura takes on avocado and aubergine. Mains-wise, there’s roast barramundi with a soba noodle salad and pot-roasted lobster with kaffir lime. New meats include cannon of lamb with soft, fermented black garlic, roast duck with Chinese five spice and Australian Aberdeen Angus grain fed fillet steak with sriracha pressed potato. Yet it’s hard to beat the classics at this tropical Manc stalwart. Sweet potato cooked on the robata grill, sticky but not to sweet pork belly curry, black cod and mango souffle with mango ‘soup’ that you pour over from a little glass tea pot remain among the city’s finest dishes. The other major lure is that this has to be one of the only restaurants in Manchester which makes you feel like you’re on holiday the minute you step inside. Tucked away under the forecourt of Spinningfields, pink and calcium shades remind me of a conch shell, while furnishings bring to mind a superstar DJs luxurious outdoor terrace in Ibiza. Service is impeccable: you get the impression that they really want you to have a great night. A welcome respite from the soggy English weather.

Australasia, The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3AP
Tel: 0161 831 0288, www.australasia.uk.com