PICTURED is a Parrilada de Carne, summit of Lunya’s pandering to carnivores (leaving aside the pre-ordered suckling pig for £199). It means barbecue in Spanish and for £22.95 a head, minimum two folk, you get a platter of lamb chops, beef sliders, chicken thighs, steak kebabs, chicken kebabs, chorizo and morcilla plus, for a balanced diet (sic) patatas bravas and salad.
ToM declined the offer since we had already sampled several individual components on a run-through of the new summer menu at the Catalan-inspired restaurant/bar/deli in the Barton Arcade.
Owners Peter and Elaine Kinsella are avidly arisanal in choosing their Iberian produce with a nod to the English seasons. Spring lamb was locally sourced before being marinated in za’atar and served with crushed minted peas and piquillo pepper hummus, demonstrating the hybrid Arab influences on Spanish cuisine to this day.
We’re a sucker for salmorejo – traditional Andalucian chilled soup with tomatoes, topped with ham tacos, croutons and egg – and romesco, that almond and red pepper sauce from Catalonia. Here Lunya’s intense home-made version is served with herb marinated and grilled chicken thighs.
Baked for a smoky stew called Botifarra amb Mongetas, white beans from Navarre accompany chunks of Catalan sausage, then reappear creamily with chorizo to make a less hearty marriage with pan-fried Menai sea bass.
An even more inspired example of the creative fusion in the Lunya kitchen is pan-fried bacalao (salt cod) topped with a toasted garlic mousseline and served on samfaina (Catalan ratatouille). All this and the Kinsellas promise a strong vegan presence on the new menu, too.
Matches aplenty from the 130-strong Spanish wine list, 26 sherries (check out the uktra0-fresh Tio Pepe ‘En Rama’ fino, 26 mainly Spanish gins and an equally Spanish beer list.
We were much taken with their latest white Vermut (vermouth) from Galicia, Nadesia Blanco, teeming with exotic botanicals.
Lunya, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BB. 0161 413 3317.