As much as I love finding new niche dinner spots and street food stalls, I also love dressing up and visiting new restaurants. The focus of this post is Australasia in Manchester (you’ve guessed it – fusion!) which self defines as:

“A stylish but laid back slice of modern Australian life, down-under in Manchester. Modern Australian cuisine combines Pacific Rim flavours underpinned by European cooking tradition, a blend of Indonesian, Southeast Asian influences and Australia’s strong ties with Japan also help determine the taste and style.”

Don’t be fooled, the dress code is definitely smart/smart casual. However there’s something a little bit magical about descending into a glass triangle to the restaurant below. My absolute favourite part of this restaurant was that they had a tempura menu, the key to my heart if there ever was one. Our waitress was so helpful when choosing our wines and explaining our options in terms of approaching the menu (sharing small plates tapas style vs. traditional starter, main dessert). We went for the sharer option, which they call ordering local style, but this was absolutely because both of us couldn’t resist filling the table with delicious food.

We did arrive at the restaurant a little early and decided to get a drink in their Cocktail bar, which I would definitely recommend. We tried a smoking cocktail (literally infused with smoke before shaking) and an Australasia porn star martini (pictured). Both were a lot of fun and super theatrical, I have been told I should go back and try the Bush Fire cocktail, so let me know what that’s like if you try it!

We had a gorgeous evening and I will definitely be back in the summer to visit the terrace. If you do decide to visit I would definitely recommend booking ahead quite far in advance as they do tend to fill up quickly.

Kayleigh