Marmara Grill

Clean and modern restaurant on wilmslow road. They foods amazing. Specially steak and chips wow.

I get the feeling that Marmara Grill is an emergent Arab student hang-​out and date venue — along the lines of nearby Jaffa, but this time with perfect décor and layout. (Although, as with Jaffa, Marmara is another really approachable venue so there is a bit of a mixed crowd, really).
Let’s talk about the décor — really fresh and modern, glass front, lime banquette seating, walls painted in wide horizontal bands of lime and cream with a striking full-​size twiggy tree silhouette stencil in brown. There are about 25 covers downstairs, with another dozen or so on a mezzanine. The mezzanine looks just that bit more intimate, although if your party don’t fill the whole thing, you might be better off downstairs!
The menu reads a lot like Jaffa’s — kebabs, fatayer/​pizza, falafel, cold mezze, plus a couple of non-​veg daily specials like lamb with white beans and rice or some such. (Please forgive me as a vegetarian for lacking a memory for some of those options!)
So far, I’ve stuck to the mezze plate. You decide your plate size (Small — £2.50 or Large — £3.50) and the server fills it up with your choices from twenty or so cold mezze visible in the display fridge — all of which are vegetarian, as seems to be the norm. See the photo of my small mezze plate — the combination of fresh tastes of lush, green tabbouleh, tomatoes, cucumber and all sorts of creamy, mild, yoghurty and hummusy options are a winning combination! Plus, the large mezze plate is a lot of food — unless that is all you are having, you probably want to stick with the small. The home cooked ethos which typifies the Middle East seems to be strong here. The food tastes really clean, and the server tops off the plate with a dash of olive oil before handing over. If you want fresh breads, Marmara don’t do them; however, my server told me I was welcome to pick up 4 naan for £1 from Atlas next door — which I did, sweet!
Four naan is too much for one person, so one time I had falafel wrap at Atlas, then walked next door for the small mezze plate at Marmara. £4.50 all in — not bad at all for a satisfyingly healthy vegetarian lunch! This aforementioned combo is now officially my favourite lunch option on Rusholme — so much for Curry Mile!