Now it’s even easier to take a speedy daytime food trip to the Middle East
KING Street’s gorgeous new Mediterranean restaurant Suri, has just launched their express menu, allowing weekday visitors between 12-6pm, the opportunity to try three of the ten dishes for £15. Service is efficient, so the dining experience will fit conveniently into your lunch hour or will make the perfect easy-going working lunch.
Named after the Persian word for rose, Suri is all about elegant and casual social dining. Dishes are designed for picking at or sharing with friends together with a drink or two from their fantastic wine list and cocktail menu. Suri’s main menu is divided into four sections; Graze, Field, Farm or Waves –and the express menu is a carefully chosen selection of ten dishes from across the board.
Vegetarians are well catered for with homemade chickpea kibbeh; warm balls of velvety pulses and root vegetables served with spiced yoghurt. These are a perfect partner for Suri’s roasted and delicately spiced cauliflower florets dipped into tahini and ajvar, the rich roast red pepper condiment. We also loved eating halves of smoky aubergine with sesame, sumac and za’tar (both delicious Middle Eastern spice blends) barbecued on the Josper Grill before being drizzled with citrus yoghurt.
The classic prawn and avocado combo has been given a Suri-style Mediterranean makeover; tiger prawns have been dusted with ras el hanout spices; the North African blend of fragrant spices before being placed on a bed of smashed avocado and sesame.
One of the most popular dishes to be served from the open kitchen is slow cooked ox cheek with cumin and rich, dark Pedro Ximenes sherry, served on a bed of smashed, warm new potatoes. It’s one of the more the meaty dishes on the express menu, together with Hawaij pork rib eye steak with a smooth chickpea dahl.
This turned out to be one of our favourites and one we recommend as a ‘must order’ dish. Hawij is a traditional spice mix from Yemen (freshly ground black peppercorns, cumin and coriander seeds, cardamom pods, whole cloves and turmeric) used mainly as a rub for grilled meat, fish and vegetables. Orange blossom water gave the charcoal crust a slightly sweet edge which complimented the natural flavours of the pork.
A Suri summer salad of dressed mixed leaves and seeds added an element of freshness as did a hearty platter of delicious shredded seasonal greens which included some of the biggest peas we’ve ever seen. We couldn’t decided whether to get a portion of herby spuds (the same ones that are served with Suri’s special sharing Sunday lunch platters), or a seemingly never ending pile of Za’tar fries – so, of course we got both.
We only just had room for pudding, but couldn’t resist adding one from a choice of three for £5 – especially as the express menu dessert menu includes what we think is arguably the best chocolate brownie in Manchester. Suri’s Epic Brownie manages to bridge the perfect gap between moist fudgey and cakey and comes drizzled with burnt orange syrup and whipped mascarpone. Non-chocolate lovers (whoever they might be) might prefer the polenta baba – a light but indulgent way to round off a Middle Eastern meal with cinnamon syrup, fresh figs and whipped mascarpone.
Suri’s homemade ice creams and sorbets are also well worth a try; creamy vanilla, pistachio which tastes like soft, creamy marzipan, and the more unusual barberry sorbet which tastes fruity but sharply sour with a satisfying chew coming from the skins.
So if you haven’t managed to pop over to Suri yet to sample their Middle Eastern menu, we recommend you give their express menu a try.
Suri’s express menu is available from 12 to 6pm Monday to Friday. 3 dishes for £15
Suri, 20-22 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AG Tel: 0161 641 7700
