One-Minute Restaurant / Manzi’s of Soho, London
Soho is jumping again thanks to a little hidden gem from the people who brought you The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Fischer’s. All aboard!
So, where are we?
Down a once-bleak back alley that joins the southern side of Soho Square to Bateman Street. A few years ago, you’d have only come down here for an illicit wee but now Bateman Buildings is the place to be. They’ve even built out so there’s a terrace in that alley.
And where we’re eating...?
It’s called Manzi’s, a newly cut jewel from The Wolseley Hospitality Group - formerly Corbin & King - the team that brought full-force glamour back to the London restaurant scene with the likes of Bellanger, Colbert and, of course, The Wolseley.
What’s the style?
Well it’s sure as hell not minimal. Seeing as it’s predominantly a fish restaurant, designers Fabled Studio have gone for a marine vibe throughout from the tasteful - nautical rope covering walls and beautiful lit scallops around the sunken ceilings – to the theatrical: full-size mermaids holding up the bar and a giant Poseidon holding a fisherman’s lamp over one of the booths. The whole effect is totally glamorous, cheeky, funny, frisky (a blue camouflage carpet up the stairs?)… basically, it all just promises the best night out. Martinis will be drunk!
And the food?
There’s something retro about the menu at Manzi’s but in a totally good way. As it’s a fish restaurant, there’s no shortage of oysters and crab and lobster and well, everything. And not all totally fancy either: there’s a shrimp burger and a fish finger sandwich, then there’s the monkfish Wellington, which looks too beautiful to cut into. For vegans there are options and they’re happy to veganise some veggie treats like the aubergine and there’s a special gluten-free menu and roast lamb and chicken, so they have the waterfront covered. As for puddings, they are wilfully old-school along the lines of Black Forest Gâteau and Summer Pudding.
Is there a story?
Most definitely. The original Manzi’s was a legendary off-Leicester Square spot attracting everyone from Joan Collins to the Krays since 1928. Its demise was generally lamented but, to be honest, occasionally it’s just time to go. This reinvention has little to do with the original in terms of look – this is lavish and camp and delicious – but the sense of good old-fashioned Soho fun has been very much retained.
So, to sum up...
For big, fancy nights out, you will find nowhere more fun than this. Yes, it’s a tad ridiculous (even the taps in the bathroom carry on the marine theme) but that’s kind of the idea. The food is proper and plentiful and if you think that is Joan Collins in the Poseidon booth with a gaggle of gays, then it most probably is.
