The downstairs restaurant in all its glory, where you can see the counter dining to the right.
What can you tell us about Manzi's?
This is a restaurant from the Wolseley Hospitality Group, its first new restaurant in the post-Corbin & King days. Originally conceived of by Jeremy King back in 2019, it's actually a revival of a classic restaurant. The original Manzi's was on One Leicester Street, just off Leicester Square. And while this new restaurant retains the focus on seafood, a great deal has changed from its previous incarnation.
How so?
Other than location, the change is mainly in look and overall size. Hidden down a Soho Alley, Bateman's Buildings, it's a beast of a restaurant (albeit still a small fry next to the group's Brasserie Zedel). There are large dining rooms across each of the floors, not to mention a decent-sized bar. There's a certainly whimsical nature to the decor too, with a large Poseidon hanging over a table downstairs and mermaids propping up a bar upstairs. It's not quite Bacchanalia levels of kitsch but it's certainly gesturing in that direction.
Right down the back of the downstairs restaurant, Poseidon looms over one table.
Where is it?
While only about a five-minute walk from Tottenham Court Road station, it's slightly off the main Soho drag and really is the only reason you're likely to go down Bateman's Buildings off Soho Square. But take a glance down the alleyway and it's pretty hard to miss it.
Manzi's is the sole restaurant on Bateman's Buildings, taking up a huge space. They've a very handy terrace away from the Soho crowds.
Where should we go for a drink first?
There are obviously a number of bars and pubs around this area, but our current personal favourite is The Black Book which is very handy for a quick glass of wine in a slightly relaxed environment, right in the middle of an otherwise heaving Soho.
But the bar here at Manzi's is also a very useful thing to know about. Seating about 20 people, either at the bar or in two-person booths, this will be a very handy spot to remember for a quick drink in Soho, regardless of whether you're eating or not.
The bar upstairs. And yes, those are mermaids holding it up.
And then, where should we sit for dinner?
This is an ever-so-slightly difficult one to judge. Both the ground floor or first floor dining rooms have their charms so we're genuinely not sure which one we'd choose. There's a fair bit of counter dining space downstairs which could be handy for solo diners, and a massive terrace outside. That wasn't heated at the time we went in, but in mild or warm weather it could prove to be a very tempting place to eat.
There's also a curtained-off private table inside an alcove which looks particularly lovely:
A private room, hidden in an alcove.
And what about the food?
It's primarily a seafood restaurant so you're really going to want to commit to a seafood-heavy meal if you want to get the best out of Manzi's. There are a couple of vegetarian dishes and steak, chicken or lamb as a main course option, but if you go for that, you're really missing the point of the place.
The menu itself will be somewhat familiar if you've been to another Wolseley Hospitality Group restaurant like Zedel or Bellanger. It's a large oversized one-pager, split into key offerings. While there are standard starters and mains, there are also quite a lot of extra sections to take in.
There are oysters (three types), individual shellfish selections (clams, prawns, whelks) or a big seafood platter full of all of the above. There's also a moules section (available as marinière, basquaise or Aromatique), seafood cocktails and finally a sandwich section which features a lobster roll (of course) and a fish finger sandwich that seems to be getting some high praise.
So there's an awful lot to choose from. With that in mind, here's a selection of what we went for.
Dressed Dorset crab with brown crab mayonnaise (£22.50) - definitely one of the most innovative ways we've seen it served.
A very good ‘Arbroath’ souffle Suisse with smoked haddock and gem heart salad (£21.50)
Monkfish Wellington (£37.25 per person) - this is probably the must-have dish. It's very good indeed and works well as a Wellington alternative. This is for two, so it's a pretty generous portion.
In addition to the above, we also had a lobster cocktail (£29.75) with a huge lobster claw placed on top (which we took a terrible photo of, so you won't be seeing that here). In all, we're very much scratching the surface of what's available here but we enjoyed everything we had. And in addition to the main menu, there's a set menu of three courses for £19.50 which is great value for the area. It's served up until 6.30pm so I'll be very handy as a pre-threatre spot.
And dessert?
Desserts are decent, while not quite living up to the main seafood section of the menu. We'd say go strong on seafood, and share a dessert.
Pineapple upside-down cake with rum & raisin ice cream (£10.75) - a decent dessert, but not quite hitting the levels of the seafood courses.
Peach melba -vanilla ice cream, poached peaches, raspberry purée, whipped cream and flaked almonds (£12.50)
What about drink?
Starting off in the bar before the meal is a good idea and their cocktails are great, particularly the celery gimlet (£15.50) where the celery flavour really comes through and works surprisingly well. As for the wine list, prices start at £32.25 for a 2022 Macabeo, which is not bad value at all for the middle of Soho. Prices do escalate from there, but you'll have about 10-15 bottles to choose from under the £50 mark.
Overall thoughts
It's been a long time coming but Manzi's offers something genuinely new for Soho. The seafood dishes are very good and pretty decently priced, and while the decor treads a fine line between fun and gauche, it generally stays the right side of that line. All that and a very handy new bar make this a valuable addition to Soho.
More about Manzi's
Where is it? 1 Bateman's Buildings, Soho, London W1D 3EN
How to book: Book online
Find out more: On their website or follow them on Instagram @manzissoho.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Manzi's. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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