Manchester Seafood

I had spotted a mention of Manchester Seafood in a Birmingham newsletter (I Choose Birmingham) a few months ago and had bookmarked it as a place to visit when I got a chance. I checked my emails in April and spotted that they were doing a Wowcher deal (2×3 course meals with a glass of wine for £24), so I snapped it up and made a note to check the diary to see when we had a chance to check it out.
We (me and my partner in crime, Dan G) put a date in our diary for a Friday in June and I gave them a ring to book. Speaking to them on the phone was a little confusing… The voucher had stated I had to book, but I was told on the phone not to book as they wouldn’t be busy on a Friday at 7pm. Intrigued, we popped down last Friday to check it out and see if they were right.
First thing to note is that it’s a little hard to find if you’re not too familiar with the area around the Arcadian. The venue is located on the opposite side of the road from the Ibis and in the middle of one of the alleyways. From the outside you can see the seafood tanks (with live lobsters, crabs, fish and eels for sale to the public), but they have a sign on the floor stating that the restaurant is inside. Go through the shop and you will come to a small eating area with a few tables and a bar.
We were seated right away (they were right — there was only 5 other sets of diners when we went in) and our voucher was duly taken from us. We were asked if we would like to order any drinks (apart from our free glass of wine) and presented with their set course menus to choose from. It’s worth noting that the venue provide free WiFi, which is great as it’s a signal black hole in there.
As I love seafood, we opted for the tofu and pork soup to start and 2 different kinds of crab dish for main. Dessert normally offers ice cream or fruit salad, but on this occasion they only had the fruit. The pork and tofu soup was A OK, but it was just an appetiser. The star of the show came in the form of two huge brown crabs (one fried with chilli and vegetables and one served in a ginger sauce).
These were truly epic. You are given a nutcracker to really get into the shells, but you could taste the freshness of the crab. We had a giggle trying to not get too messy (impossible!) whilst we were snapping and cracking different bits to get to the delicious crab meat inside. I preferred the crab with chilli (although there was so many chilli flakes, the vegetables were a bit tough to eat without having streaming eyes and a runny nose).
Dinner was finished with a plate of fresh melon coated with sugar (I have no idea why the did this), but we were completely stuffed after the crab. The staff were friendly and attentive throughout (they replaced our side plates which we had put bits of disregarded crab shell about 3 times during the meal) and we didn’t feel that we were treated any differently because we had a voucher.
The downsides are the décor of the restaurant (it’s certainly not posh, but it is clean) and the fruit platter (we figured this would be more than just melon), but the amazingness of the crab easily outweighed these two negatives. If you like your seafood you can pop in and purchase crabs, lobsters and all sorts of sea based deliciousness from the shop. If you can’t be bothered to cook these at home, however, a trip to Manchester Seafood’s small hidden restaurant is highly recommended. Have the crab!

Oh my days!!!
Looking for a restaurant in Chinatown is not hard, deciding where to eat IS hard. So today we decided to try a new place, Manchester Seafood Restaurant, what’s not to love? We both love seafood, we both love Chinese food, we were in for a treat, but to dine and enjoy it here you must be willing to open your mind.
First, apart from a tiny bit of signage you’d never know its a restaurant here, second, you enter the restaurant through the fresh fish counter of a wet fish (and live fish) shop, third, the staff explained to us that «this is not a western restaurant, it’s for Chinese people. «So it’s not your usual but oh my, it’s tasty, fresh, different, generous, authentic and super tasty. I can not wait for our next visit, our waiter promised to recommend some «really good stuff for next visit»
I actually feel a bit mean because I feel I have found a genuine gem and I don’t want all the world to find it!
The toilets are in the basement and amazingly modern, spotlessly clean, always a good sign in my book. You have to enter and leave through the fish shop, I don’t like the fish shop, the carp in the tank looked overcrowded, the sea cucumber in the display cabinet looked like the dog «toffees» our dog leaves in the garden (enough said) .
Now, onto our meal: I ordered crab and tofu, Keith ordered prawns, my crab was huge, plenty big enough to serve 3 or maybe 4 people, it arrived with crackers to break into the shell, picks to pick the meat out, wet wipes. All served in a bowl of tofu and spiced sauce, it was beautiful, the tofu was fresh, soft and super silky. The huge bowl of scheztwan prawns served in a thick broth with beansprouts was way too big for two people, and very hot, making peeling of prawns quite difficult but still great food. The Singapore vermicelli was definatly the best I have ever had, once again a massive portion, genorous with prawns and meat.
I know we shall return to this restaurant, and I completely understand if you visit and say it’s not for you, it’s maybe not for everyone, if you go hoping to enjoy sweet and sour pork balls you will be disappointed. But I loved the food, it’s a nice restaurant once you have gone through the wet fish shop, I was fascinated by the £200 bottles of Chinese booze and the waiter trying to describe them to me.
To sum up, if you are open minded and like seafood, try this restaurant. If you like sweet and sour or beef in black bean sauce with peppers, you may be disappointed.