Sandinista — Restaurant in Manchester

It saddens me to leave a two star review for Sandinista as it was previously one of my favourite restaurants in Manchester, however having attended tonight, I was disappointed to see that the once large menu has been replaced with a considerably condensed one for what was the "temporary" Peruvian one that used to be in the basement.

I have no complaints about the food itself, it was very nice so if you're looking for Peruvian tapas I do recommend trying it. But as I've previously experienced the old menu, it is a shame that many of the dishes that used to be served in Sandinista are now gone.

Lastly, health and safety seems to be an issue, we booked in advance, and were given the option of two tables. We chose one at the end of the room, not quite realising the proximity of the stairs, as you don't assume restaurants would situate tables in this way. The chair was very close to the steps behind me, if someone were not paying attention it would be very easy for them to push their chair backwards to get up, potentially falling backwards. I pushed the chair as far as possible towards the wall to try to have the wall overhang support part of my chair. Working for a company where one trailing wire is a capital offense, this was really quite shocking to have not been picked up in a...

I got searched in the mens for what I assume drugs by a very terrifying meathead in a beanie. After realising that he couldn’t find anything on me he made no effort to lighten the atmosphere or be a bit humane towards someone who was visible extremely panicked and scared. This took place in-front of other people who happened to be in the toilets at the time which clearly damaged his ego more as everyone witnessed his bully behaviour towards someone who is clearly neurodivergent. I walked away without saying anything which made the rest of the night even worse. He spend the rest of the night standing 10 feet away from our table staring at me with pure hate.

Everyone who work in that venue could benefit with getting training in spotting the difference between drunkenness and any sort of disability. If you are neurodivergent, don’t have English as your first language or tired after an 8hr bar shift this is NOT the place to be. Probably the most hostile venue in Manchester...

Overall great food and drinks. Very friendly staff but waited quite a long time for food, even the olives and chips and dips we ordered with first round of drinks - and service a bit chaotic generally even though not overly busy. Particularly enjoyed the Bhuna Burrito, Heat your Greens and massive portion of nachos altho - downside of ordering at table using QR code - they hadn’t read our note about having the chicken on the side - but very apologetic and provided second portion so our veggie was happy. ‘Chips and dips’ could have come with more than one small portion of salsa - but again this was topped up when we asked. Really good olives. Nice selection of beers and enjoyed the margaritas. We had a great time but service could just have been a bit more ‘on it’ - one guy working hard in the kitchen but the rest seemed to be having their own party at the bar - they were really nice and friendly, when you could get their attention - just hard to do...