The Middle Eastern Bar & Restaurant follows the success of Shaw’s other restaurants, the award-winning El Gato Negro and Canto, his highly acclaimed Portuguese restaurant in Ancoats.
Located in the former wine cellar of the historic Manchester Club building, the lower ground floor restaurant and bar combines Grade II heritage features with furnishings sourced from the Middle East.
A heavy wooden door, surrounded by vintage books and ceramics, opens into the bar from where a selection of cocktails inspired by the Middle East can be enjoyed. Beer from Beirut and wines from Hungary and Lebanon are also available.
The restaurant’s menu has been a real labour of love and features over forty dishes, all inspired by Shaw’s reading and travels to the Middle East.Split into six sections – mezze, seafood, meat, vegetables and grains, desserts, and sweets, it's an inclusive menu that caters well for vegetarians, vegans, and fish and meat lovers. Prices start from just £1 for homemade pitta bread to £13.50 for chargrilled monkfish fillet with tomato and tamarind sauce, and tahini yoghurt dressing.
Additional signature dishes include the spiced lamb ‘jackets’ – fried potato skins filled with spiced lamb and mint yoghurt (£8.50); spiced aubergine served with lavosh bread, tahini yoghurt and chermoula (vg) £8; and chicken schnitzel served with chilli and lime butter £11.
A generous selection of vegetable and grains dishes provide both the perfect complement and work well on their own and include Syrian lentils (vg) served with yoghurt and zhug; batata harra (v) – spicy fried potatoes with dill sour cream; and Middle Eastern raw slaw (vg) with moscatel dressing £5.50.
Desserts and sweet treats include Turkish delight cheesecake £6.50; chocolate babka ‘French toast’ and coconut ice cream (v) £6.50; and frangipane fig tart (v) £4.