New Opening: Seafood lovers pull over – Manzi’s Soho has docked on Bateman’s Buildings

Our editor Kai Lutterodt aka @the.soho.girl and contributor @yensfoodstagram visit Manzi’s Soho to discover what’s on offer at this new seafood-inspired restaurant to dock on the concrete shares of Soho…

My Soho Times founder and editor Kai Lutterodt aka The Soho Girl at Manzi’s Soho | My Soho Times

Firstly, can we please talk about the launch party (which admittedly I wasn’t at, however that’s not the point). A quick stroll through Manzi’s Soho Instagram for my pre-visit research and landing on their launch event content, tells me there’s an element of ‘fun vibes’ you wouldn’t normally expect from a fine dining setting. Images by the photography legend David Bennet showed the likes of Billy Piper, Jameela Jamil, Amel Windsor, ES editor Ben Cobb, and the fashion world’s ‘Dukes of Peckham’ – The Flag Twins, amongst other celebs and influencers to grace the opening, raising over £20K for Choose Love charity.

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First-floor dining space. Photo courtesy of Manzi’s Soho

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There is a familiarity about Manzi’s, perhaps its name linked to the much-loved original, a Leicester Square institution, which Manzi’s Soho has no affliction with though pays homage to. For my visit to with Yen (I’ve dubbed this talented content creator ‘the one to watch’), a regular foodie contributor for My Soho Times, I opted for a lunch experience to double-bag my review in the New Openings and Summer Eats: Lunch series categories.

Being a Soho resident, I’m no stranger to Bateman’s Buildings. That said, there was never any reason to cut along this alleyway nestled between Soho Square and Bateman Street, at least not beyond going into RainCall (formerly the basement strip club, La Capannina). When I first moved to Soho almost twenty years ago, I lived on Greek Street and my bedroom faced Bateman Buildings. So close was the opposite building to my window it reflected as a mirror which to the amusement of the eighteen-year-old-me was an opportunity to sing and dance in front of it, oblivious to the doings in the Soho alleyway below me at night. So I’ll be totally transparent, I found it difficult to imagine any restaurant taking on the challenge of cleaning up the reputation of this often dark and dingy alleyway to make it a a destination for food.

An unexpected reunion with Manzi’s front-of-house host Rose and editor Kai. Uniform jacket designed by **Mark Marengo** of Savile Row. Photo: My Soho Times

However Manzi’s has done just that. The arrival of this sophisticated nautical-themed restaurant has given Bateman’s Buildings a fresh and clean spell! Manzi’s sits proud, long and majestic, quite like a cruise ship docked at a pillar. Upon our arrival into this theatrical pelagic settling designed by interior specialists Fabled Studio, we were warmly welcomed with beaming smiles by the front of house which set the radar for our lunch experience on auto for superb! It took me a moment to realise the smile beaming the brightest belonged to Rose, an old friend I partied regularly with in the likes of China White formally on Air Street, and twirled the dance floor with at Bar Salsa on Charing Cross Road… We’re talking over thirteen years ago, but in that moment of receiving an embrace so warm and sincere from her, it was like no time had passed at all. Rose proceeded to offer a tour of Manzi’s, showing us the expansive first floor dining area with a secret little nook for some private dining, a central open bar and DJ booth utilised on Friday nights.

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Let’s do Lunch at Manzi’s Soho

Good value: opt for the prixe-fixe menu which offers a limiting two choices for a two or three-course meal from £28.

Splurge and indulge: choose from the à la carte menu for some seafood royals such as the Manzi’s Plateau seafood platter, Roast Scallops with chilli butter, and the creamy Lobster Thermidor served with fries.

We ended our dining experience with two strawberries-themed desserts; The Knickerbox Glory sundae and a Strawberry and Cream Tart a for a rich finale.

I left Manzi’s with an uncanny feeling of déjà vu, as if this new venue has had a long presence tucked in the backstreets of Soho, and that I too had just walked the same path taken by Mike Jagger, Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd and other old time rock ‘n’ rollers to have frequented Soho, leading up to its octopus door handles pulled open by Peter the dapper-looking doorman to enter inside Manzi’s… but perhaps that’s its charm – a sense of escapism amongst the bustle of Bohemia.

Written by Kai Lutterodt *I’m delightfully dyslexic (and courageously creative) – please excuse any typos! | Photos: Manzi’s Soho / My Soho Times

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