Cottonopolis

So so so I’m back!!! This is the first 2016 review and there is many more to come. So sit back relax. Prepared to be entertained.
So I do like the latest addition to the Northern Quarter Bar and restaurant scene. We frequented this little gem before Christmas for my friends birthday. When i called to book the staff where very accommodating and worked a little magic to get me the corner table that has been recommended to me.
I got there slightly early to decorate with balloons etc and to my horror the table was full. The poor waiter must have seen my face and with a waft of his tea towel the group before us vanished. Literally.
We had waiter service and I can certainly recommend a good peruse of the cocktail menu and be adventurous. The bar staff are attentive and handsome in an asos indie grunge model way, ink, athletic muscles, take me to bed simile you catch my drift. They were a little slow but compensated with some shots to apologise so all good.
The food is a absolutely gorgeous. An eastern and exotic explosion of amazing flavours and spices. It will defo give those tastebuds a sensational wake up like a power spray first thing in a morning! We tried lots of little sharing bits. There are these pork dumplings. Oh my days. My mouth is watering now thinking about it.
Again the service was slow but the waiter certainly made it up for it. Great communication. Apologetic. Considerate. He got a huge tip. Wink wink nudge nudge. I do actually put it down to not being open that much however it’s was a very pleasurable experience and i would certainly recommend it

When I arrived at Cottonopolis I started to familiarise myself with the ‘Ice, Fire, Steam and Oil’ sections of their Japanese inspired menu. All reasonably sized dishes, they’re priced anywhere between £5 and £9.50 and only 2 or 3 are needed per person for an ample sized meal.
The Loch Duart Salmon Maki and Beef Tataki from the ‘Ice’ section are both great dishes.
The fire section served up some Pork Belly Yakatori — a fatty, delicious cut of meat that fell to pieces at the slightest touch. The Blackened Mackerel was cured with treacle and blowtorched to create a crispy surface whilst leaving the tasty flesh succulent underneath.
The final plates sent our way to be devoured were lightly battered wild mushroom tempura and outstanding Kara-​age chicken wings with kimchi coleslaw. The miso marinated tender cutlets of the Lamb Nasu ensured that I left with a smile on my face.
What Japanese meal would be complete without a small ‘ochoko’ of sparkling Sake. Keeping to tradition, the Sake was served in a Masu and was sweet and fruity. I sipped with instant regret that I did not order the full bottle.

I really like this new addition to the Tariff Street, Dale Street area of the Northern Quarter, It has a really nice modern feel to the place and has some great beers on tap. It feels like a great place to be. Perfect for catching up with friends in this really trendy bar!

After a couple of days of pure indulgence, I’m glad to have topped it off at Cottonopolis. Located on Newton St in the Northern Quarter, I walked past it twice and had to open my maps to make sure I was in the right place.
We had a table of four booked at 7.30 and having got there around 7ish they were more than happy to bump our reservation up. That being said, I could have easily spent 30 minutes at the bar taking in the surroundings sipping on my gin.
The dining area is quite small in comparison to the bar. When I got there they were setting up a dj section so I’d imagine as the night goes on the dining area gets smaller as the bar grows.
The menu is split up into four sections; Ice, Fire, Steam and Oil. It’s basically Japanese/​Asian inspired tapas much like Australasia. I helped myself to yellow fin tuna nigiri (ice), pork belly buns (steam) and some crispy chicken wings (oil). The food doesn’t come in any order and can come all at once. This wasn’t a problem for me as it varied up each bite.
I thought that the bar was really well set out, staff were great and the food was amazing. As for price, I’m not totally convinced it’s great value for money (£9 old fashioned cocktail) however as an alternative to Australasia, I’d recommend going.

Cottonopolis is way too loud for any kind of group chatting on a Friday night, in fact I could barely hear the person sitting right next to me. For that reason alone I probably wouldn’t come back — I just don’t see the point in places like this where I can’t have a good time because talking with my friends involves hours of shouting and repeating things. If I wanna dance I go to a club and if I wanna listen to music i go to one of Manchester’s awesome live venues. Plus, the music was crap (cf Albert’s Schloss, which is also stupidly loud but at least plays decent stuff).
The décor is nice and kind of similar to nearby Tariff and Dale. Service was good with one waitress in particular making an effort from my arrival to take care of our table. She was patient with half our group being about 45 minutes late — in fact they’d walked past twice but it’s very hard to spot (it’s basically on the south east corner of Dale & Newton, diagonally across from Tariff & Dale)
It’s very expensive to eat a full meal here as each small plate is at least £5 and a lot are more like £8 — £9. I ordered the soft shell crab tempura (this being a favourite dish of mine at Bonedaddies), the blackened mackerel treacle (thinking it might be like the sensational eel at Umezushi) and the pork bao buns (which I recently really enjoyed from Tender Cow at Altrincham Market). All of those places do these dishes a lot better — the soft shell crab needs a better (spicier) dip and the pork bao buns were particularly bland. Granted mackerel and eel aren’t the same but the chilli jam is just one-​note sweet. Combine this with the noise problem and the fact the food came out in stages so I had to start eating before my food got cold while my friend sat there for another 10 minutes and I just wouldn’t bother eating here — I don’t know whether they see themselves as a restaurant but they are not acting like one. I should say however that the prawn gyoza were great!
The wine we had was a favourite of my friend’s — a gewurtztraminer. I thought it tasted a bit like elderflower — in fact the menu says it’s a lychee flavour. A very nice change from other white wines and worth a try.

Using one of Manchester’s nicknames for an Asian-​influenced eatery and bar may have raised a few eyebrows at first, but I have to say the beer, service and overall experience here was really good.
It’s a former textile warehouse, from back when the city was pretty much in control of the cotton industry, so the name’s appropriate. The designers have also been very sympathetic to the original features — the cast iron columns are pride of place, as are the wooden floors. From memory there may have been some old sewing machines on the walls.
Their large bar has a wide range of beers, but their tank beer is delicious so we stuck to that (apparently it’s the same as is delivered to Albert’s Schloss on a weekly basis from the Czech Republic).
The staff here (all who seemed to be tattooed to the max) were friendly and efficient, in fact, the service was probably the best I’ve had in the NQ for a long while. They’re a credit to the place.
Fancying a light-​ish bite, the four of us ordered a range of dishes to share between us. Everything was good, but it was the pork belly skewers that stood out by far. Juicy and flavoursome — we should have ordered a portion each! Prices are a tad on the dearer side here, so be aware though.
It’s a lively, striking and exciting spot in a rapidly growing section for the city. Would definitely recommend a visit.

Cottonopolis is a relatively newly opened restaurant/​bar in Manchester and I had heard about food being «modern Japanese». I came here the other week on a Friday for a drink and bite to eat — it was relatively early but getting busy. Probably busier than would be on a normal Friday at that time being Christmas.
(One thing to mention actually was that I walked right passed it before I found it! There is not really an obvious sign — or maybe (probably) just me not being observant??)
I was meeting a few friends there and they were arrived before me and were looking at the menu — I arrived just in time before they ordered. We ordered 4 different dishes (plus some prawn crackers). I also had a tank beer which was really good.
For the food, we shared tuna sashimi (which was served on literally a block of ice), prawn gyozas, prawn tempura and the grilled belly pork (pork yakatori).
It sorted of reminded me of Tattu and what they do for Chinese food and how its more «modern/​hipster» and how it was a bit on the expensive side for what you got — and can get elsewhere. The tuna sashimi was nice, the gyoza and prawn tempuras were not bad. Nothing special. However, the pork belly was incredible! I could eat A LOT of it — so good! Lovely flavour, moist, juicy and then the nice crunchy crackling.
For drink, I had the tank beer — which is called Krusovice — from the Royal Brewery of Krusovice near Prague. Its delivered straight from the brewery to their taps so the freshest possible beer. I really liked it.
You can see the kitchen at the end of the bar which is all completely open. I like the interior of the place — very NQ. The big mirror did fool me though as I thought the place was even bigger!

As I work directly opposite this bar, I’ve been watching the development over the past few months with keen interest. I was itching to go from the second they opened their doors and then when I did go, I ended up there two nights in a row.
It’s really attractive and spacious in here. Low lighting without it feeling like you’re sitting in the dark, and good music without it being so loud you can’t talk to your companions.
On both my visits I had the tank beer, which is Krusovice and is very delicious — equally as good as the tank Pilsner Urquell at Albert’s Schloss. If any other Manchester bars wanna get tank beer then I suggest Zlatý Bažant. A pint was £4.80 and was served in a frosty glass. However they don’t have bar mats (and were quite adamant about not having them when I asked) so expect your table to get really wet from the condensation off the glass. The staff come round every now and again to wipe your table though.
There’s plenty of seating for big groups. Unfortunately on my first night here we were moved from our table to make way for the DJ. I get that the DJ needs to go somewhere but it would have made more sense for there to be a ‘reserved from x o’clock’ sign on the table when we sat down. The friendly staff helped us move all our stuff to another table though which was nice.
From their menu I have sampled the pork bao buns, the duck bao buns, and the chicken kara age wings. All was really tasty. I’ve got to say it’s not cheap — £8 for two buns. I won’t be making this my regular lunch place, let’s just say, but if I’m in here drinking I’d be happy to have some snacks to tide me over.
Overall I’m very impressed with this place and I’m happy it’s a new addition to the post-​work drinks options!