Australasia

It’s an all-new Australasia for Manchester, thanks to a recent fit-out that transforms this subterranean venue into something brighter, breezier and more suited to the Pacific Rim theme. 

This means plenty of lush foliage and relaxing beach-style decor – an impressive feat considering the very beach-free Deansgate is mere feet above our heads. It’s polished without feeling stiff, and fabulous without trying too hard. 

The overall feel is up there with Manchester’s most stylish, such as Tattu and Maya, or even well-groomed newcomers to the field such as The Cut & Craft or Fenix.  

And it works. It’s a hand-in-glove match for the food – a high-end but non-fusty array of dishes from the Australia-slash-New Zealand side of the world, with a few well-placed ideas from Indonesia, Korea and Japan. 

It’s that rare kind of place where you can go all-out on the dress-up front if you like, but won’t feel too out of place if you want to keep it simple. 

Plus, the staff are a treat – friendly, warm and welcoming, with a great line in recommendations from the new additions to the menu. 

One of which is the magnificent beef short rib: a big sticky slab of fall-apart-on-your-fork slow-cooked meat. It comes topped with vegetable crisps, for texture, and lies on a big swoosh of wasabi mash, for a very different texture. It’s a masterful combination, full of powerful, hard-hitting flavours. 

Another highlight is the gochujang miso black cod. It combines Japanese and Korean elements to create a pitch-perfect sauce for the most delicious piece of white fish this side of the North Pacific. 

Desserts are equally impressive. The churro s’mores gives the churro-style fried pastry a cute little hat made from torched Italian meringue, plus a bowl of rich hot chocolate for dipping. Meanwhile, the ginger crème brûlée comes suspended in a glass, accompanied by a small mound of zingy lemongrass sorbet on the side, along with some fresh berries. 

Australasia teams high-grade quality with a vibrant atmosphere. It has a well-deserved reputation as one of Deansgate’s best restaurants, and this new look (and menu) simply rubberstamps that.