Yuzu

When planning my trip to Manchester, I thought it would be interesting to ask what places people would recommend for food. The universal opinion was that Yuzu in Manchester’s Chinatown was a must-visit place. Equally prevalent was the advice that you should book and when you step inside it’s obvious why. The tiny dining room has little space to spare beyond the counter dining, two larger communal tables and one more table against the back wall. I luckily stumbled upon Yuzu on a Saturday lunchtime while getting my bearings around my hotel so it seemed wise to take advantage of the chance to book a seat for the evening. 

Later, when it’s time to eat I’m shown to a corner table that gives you a view of a corner window display and you have no choice but to turn your back on the goings on of the restaurant.  Although that’s not much of a loss, the chef is barely visible behind the high counter and the décor from the tiled floor to the plain walls is nothing to get excited about.

The menu offers 9 appetisers and then choice of mains is between sashimi, tempura or udon. There are also nightly specials and they’re definitely not to be overlooked. The Hitachino Nest amber ale is also on the specials board and is a great way to start things while I’m figuring out what I want to eat.

I start with gyoza, freshly made prawn dumplings served with soy sauce & Japanese chilli oil. The dumplings are stuffed full of juicy shrimp with a satisfying crispy crunch to the wraps. The touch of chilli oil in the sauce gives an understated lingering heat. These are really lovely. 

Kara-age is chicken thighs that have been marinated in Yuzu’s own sauce blend and then fried. The chicken is accompanied by a bowl of ponzu sauce. The deceptively light crunchy crust gives way to surprisingly juicy meat in the centre. The sauce has an acidic citrus counter that keeps the dish light and very, very moreish.

The sashimi-mori is a platter of assorted scallop, tuna, salmon and sweet prawn sashimi served with wasabi & soy sauce and can be ordered as a small or large plate. The tender slivers of fish are wonderful with the salmon and scallop the standouts. The shrimp suffer from having a cloying texture that I’ve seen with other raw shrimp at other restaurants.

Choosing a small plate of sashimi means I can order one of the nightly specials, pink bream sashimi. This is fantastic, totally outshining the elements on the sashimi mori platter, good as it was. I've always been a big fan of bream but this is my first time having it raw. The flavour of the bream is top notch and the addition of salmon eggs is a nice touch. I'm in heaven.

Manchester has a genuine gem in Yuzu. There’s nothing, with the exception of the shrimp, that I wouldn’t happily eat all over again. The net effect after this meal is that I have now joined the chorus of people who when asked for advice where to eat in Manchester rush to recommend Yuzu.

Overall Rating – 4/5


Date Visited - 24-Jan-15