Spotlight on... FENIX
Ange Seddon visits the best for beautiful flavours of Greece and beyond
We were invited to try some of the new summer menu at Manchester’s most glamorous-looking Greek restaurant, Fenix.
The dining room upstairs is like entering a big, beautiful Greek taverna. Huge olive trees and stone walls surround you; the colour palette is shades of a Greek holiday with sand dune beige and Ionian Sea blues, punctuated with olive wood doors. It is the tiny details too; I loved the gold cutlery, the tactile crockery that I could not stop running my fingers over and the ceilings that changed lighting with the cycles of the sun. Everything here enhances your experience.
The cocktails and their descriptors were something Homer would have been proud of (the Ancient Greek poet, not the Simpson) a great start to our culinary adventure.
The new summer menu made choosing difficult as it was packed with so many gorgeous-sounding dishes. We started with freshly made pillowy pita served with an assortment of dips. We had the spicy feta, which was smooth, rich and sweet with just the right amount of spice. Also, the aubergine and feta – which was one of the standouts. A smokey aubergine, slightly sweet red pepper, with the star of the show being the feta ice cream that topped it. The salty ice cream worked perfectly with the charred vegetables beneath.
We then had grouper carpaccio and spicy red snapper sashimi, both dishes displaying skill and a perfect balance of flavours, downright delicious. The menu was littered with many a Greek ‘classic’, but the global influence was evident. Sashimi, wagyu, cumin, sesame and even beef gravy made an appearance.
Our chosen mains arrived. My simply named linguine prawns were still in their shells, served atop a perfectly twisted tower of linguini with a rich, unctuous shellfish broth. Now I am not one who likes to fight with her food before eating it, but supplied with a finger bowl, I dived in to be rewarded with the biggest, juiciest tiger prawns. This dish was truly outstanding. Our other main was beef fillet with cumin-infused potato purée, beef gravy and dots of punchy, salty black olives, just to gently remind us we were in a Greek restaurant. The beef was so tender you could cut it with one of those beautiful gold spoons we were given. We also got to taste the red snapper dish cooked on their Robata grill, super soft flesh beneath perfectly crisp skin. I think the word ‘Wow!’ was all that was needed.
Finally, desserts. You might have thought after all of that beautiful food I would not have room, but I am no quitter. There was a chocolate dome with almond praline filled with a velvet chocolate mousse. The shell made the most satisfying snap as it broke, a sign of perfectly tempered chocolate. We also had a cinnamon crème brûlée with a cinnamon biscuit crumble, apple compote and cinnamon ice cream. It was meant for sharing; I did not hear that bit. We chose a beautiful Greek white wine, a Moschofilero. If you enjoy aromatic fresh wines like Sauvignon Blanc, you cannot go wrong with this. With the dessert we had a sweet Hungarian Tokaji Aszu wine which went brilliantly with the cinnamon crème brûlée.
The service was flawless; we were looked after incredibly well indeed. This place gave me a lovely sense of Mediterranean hospitality. So, whatever the occasion, Fenix is well worth a visit. Great food, excellent service, atmosphere, and people watching, and everything else you would find on holiday in this slice of Mykonos in Manchester.
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