NEW York never loses its cool allure, but ToM always greets the arrival of another Big Apple inspired bar with a suspicion of… not another Manhattan skyline on the wall and a cocktail to match.
We’ve seen ’em come and we’ve seen’ em go. For every Neighbourhood in Spinningfields and the NQ’s Pen & Pencil going strong we’ve seen an Urban Cookhouse going under. Authentic? Well, newcomer The Bagel Shop by Eat New York certainly gets the core food offering just right without resorting to ersatz shmaltz.
What to male then of Manhatta, promised for next summer in Deansgate’s Royal London House next door to Hawksmoor (which ironically still has its own plans to take New York). The brand comes from Arc Inspirations, the group who brought to the Corn Exchange Banyan (inspired by the cumbersome Indian fig tree).
On the evidence of the two Manhattas in Leeds, it’s probably closer to the Neighbourhood model, offering 230 covers, cocktails, bottomless brunches, steaks, burgers, Pan-Asian and small plates. Or the Mad Men among you, loosening up in a leather booth, might put the money on the ‘Manhatta Platter’, a £19.95 sharing board of crispy duck moneybags, salt and pepper calamari, bang bang chicken skewers, mini Caesar salad with crispy bacon, nachos with salsa and guacamole, tempura asparagus and prawn crackers.
Opening 2018, Royal London House 196 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WF.
