so i am on my travels, which brings me to manchester over the holiday season. and in turn to a dinner at tattu.
a big fan of asian cuisine i was very excited to try out what has the reputation of being one of manchesters unique and most reputable asian dining experiences. but after leaving i was left a little underwhelmed.
so it's the last weekend before christmas so as you can imagine the place is packed. my partner and i are promptly seated in the upstairs area which is stunning. the blossom tree situated in the centre of the upstairs dining area which changes colors is the main feature and is one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.
the hostess brought us our menus and it was then we waited 30mins for a waiter to even greet us. if i knew manchester better and knew somewhere else to go i would have normally walk out at that point. anyway the waiter apologized for the delay and took our order.
to start with we had a selection of dim sum. each parcel a delightful fusion of east meets west. we chose the wagu beef, seabass and foie gras. each one delicious. our personal favorite was the foie gras.
we then ordered from the small plates. a chicken salad and crispy chilli squid. the latter was very disappointing. i can only assume the calamari wasn't fresh but frozen. it held a lot of water so the batter could not stick, so the bowl was a separated combination of sloppy batter and calamari. there was nothing crispy about it and no flavor either. however the salad was very nice. full of flavor and very fragrant. the combination of coriander leaves and mint were a great and flavorful base to the salad.
now at this point i want to mention the service of the waiter. he was very knowledgable of the menu, well presented, but my issue lies with the pouring of our drinks. we ordered a nice bottle of wine (grape for my dubai readers) and it seemed that we were in a race to finish that bottle. now i know restaurants and bars keep your glasses topped up so you will purchase another bottle. but this was being so obviously done even my partner noticed!!!
our glasses were being filled within and inch of the top of our glass. we were drinking white wine. so what was happening was the wine in the glass was getting warm. any wine drinker knows with white wine especially you do not fill it above the line of the bowl of the glass. there is no need for a wine glass to ever be that full!
i enjoy my wine and when purchasing a nice bottle i don't want to feel like i have to gulp it down before it reaches room temperature. because if this we finished our first bottle just after the dim sum.
so on the second bottle, the manic pouring continued so i tried to explain the the waiter that the wine was getting warm and not to pour so much. so he put what was now half a bottle of in a new bucket of ice ( he clearly misunderstood my point) we carried on drinking the wine in our glass, which of course took some time due to the fact it was so full. when our glasses were low went for a top of the wine. but then our waited told us it was finished. my partner literally laughed in his face. this was a deal breaker for us. we weren't drunk. we were enjoying a nice meal together and there was two of us so it was highly noticeable that the wine had disappeared. of course the waiter asked us if we wished to open a 3rd. but we had finished at this point.
anyway back to the food. for our mains we opted for the wagu beef and a chilean seabass along with a serving of the green beans.
both were delightful the wagu beef was cooked to perfection fantastic flavor, and chilean seabass was tasty and cooked beautifully. the seabass had divine broth that truly complimented the fish.
so to evaluated my tattu dining experience. the venue is beautiful, a youthful energetic vibe, great music and beautiful decor.
the food is very nice. apart from the chilli squid the food really is outstanding. presentation is good. the portion sizes are great. the food is very enjoyable.
service...well we got off to a rocky start but the waiter made up for it. apart of course from the "wine bullying".
i would most definitely return. the food and decor are the two things that will be bring me back.