Sexy Fish Manchester — Restaurant in Manchester

I did not want to go to Sexy Fish, after reading the reviews! Ha ha! It's far too spendy for me, and I am vegan and a casually dressed person, so why bother?

As we had just been to see Swan Lake, were in our finary and with a generous friend visiting Manchester, in we went, gulp!

As SF has only been open for 3 months, I would say they are doing fantastically! Coats checked, we enjoyed drinks at the bar. The decor is lavish and loud, giant mirrored whales, golden crocodile, flying fish on the ceiling and aquariums, boo. The associates wear zany suits with a fishy themed brooch. All the staff was brilliant and excellent, we were the last out after midnight.

First, a menu hander, then the wine expert, then our server, Olu (?) from Poland. The great news is that she knew exactly what vegan options they had, the bad news is, they were out of the two I wanted to try, the crusty tofu and sweet potato cerviche. Not one for enjoying sushi, even though they had vegan options, I went for the steamed edamame, sweet corn rice and broccoli. Meh! My friends has chicken skewers, sushi (see pic!) and a giant fancy shell with 5 different raw items, scallops, salmon, wasabi, other creatures. While looking for the name of this concoction on the menu, I saw that Sexy Fish sells foie gras!!! Noooo.

I digress, we stayed so long that our server changed to Iman from Denmark who was also beyond attentive and thorough, sooo sweet. It was explained to us that there are 3 different kitchens and that the food comes out as it is ready, so can be staggered. Some of our food took so long (we were there 2.5 hrs total) that we were over it, by the time it arrived. Cold broccoli. The most delicious meal for me was the sweet corn rice with tofu! Delish! We had sake, my friend had an espresso martini, I had decaf coffee with oat milk and THEN, the best part...even though the 3 kitchens and the bar had closed, there was still dessert AKA pudding and that made the whole evening worthwhile! A gorge Turkish man brought us the vegan chocolate pot and a "sexy treats" candle stick with gold chocolate fish with red lipstick, teeny doughnuts, vegan jelly blocks and get this, my chocolate pot was a glass bowl with chocolate lid, and our server poured hot caramel from a shell, to melt the chocolate lid and reveal crackers, mousse and chcolate beneath. Wow. Our chopstick holders were matching metal fish, to those on the sexy treats dessert.

So that is my round-up. Sexy Fish is fantastic, if you have cash to blow, are into luxury, not for "granolas" like me, want a real treat! I hardly imagine I will return, but you should!

The crowd was young, trendy and all colours! The bathrooms are down a lift, and the ladies' room is pink and not unlike the inside of a dream I had once. The servers walk you to the lift, very civilized.

One more note, the servers were so sensitive to my veganism that they even understood why I would not want truffle oil....

I'm going to start on a positive note. Me and my girlfriends were so excited to visit as it's been so hyped up over social media and new 'must-go' venue. We have 20stories, tattu, ivy, managerie and this one was meant to be another gorgeous place added to the list. Our expectations were through the roof.

Hat down to their PR team. On the photos and videos, it looks like a very large venue. But in reality, it's rather small. I still haven't worked out the desired 'vip' area. Managerie has the 'cage', Sangam had the 'domes', in this place there are tables in the main area, and then there are few at the back by the fishtank. I guess it must be the fishtank ones as there's nothing else. We even walked around the back of the bar to see if theres anything there, but that just seems to be a forgotten area (as one of the previous reviews suggested with min footfall).

The staff has absolutely stunning uniforms and they are so friendly and attentive. The menu is gorgeous, the design is absolutely stunning, as it's the tableware.

When it comes to food and pricing, the prices are eye-watering, esp the drinks. I would not mind paying high price if the food is delicious and totally worth it. I was so disappointed. We ordered lot of different dishes, but I am sorry to say, it was bland. Beautifully presented, had all the charade going on, but bland. Not a lot of it either. I left more hungry than when I came in. I had to have a takeaway when I got home and shockingly, I found out next day that the girls I was dining with had to have some food afterwards as well. Something is not right when you have to buy food after you've just been to a dinner and spent a hell of a lot of money for it.

After the food 'experience' I settled on the idea that this is one of those 'Instagram' places, where you go and take a lot of photos to show you've been and got great pics for socials. We really struggled to find backdrops for the photos. Except ladies toilets and the 'wall' in front of the toilets, there's really nowhere else you can have pictures done. All the 'decor' is 4m high and the rest is wooden panels with lot of tables next to each other.

There's a cute mermaid statue but then again it's right at the entrance and awkward to be taking pictures there where people are trying to eat their food or walking in or out of the restaurant.

Oh well, we've done it. It's off the list. When I spoken about my experience, I was saddened that people I know and friends who already been had the same feedback, lot of money for a very little taste. I personally won't be going back on my own initiative. I feel sad as really thought it would be another place to go out to as love spiningfields.

Oh well, we live and learn. At least we've got a decent photo...

Sexy Fish...its a difficult review to make for several reasons...but take my comments as you wish.

Anyone familiar with the original Sexy Fish in London will know that it's a 'location' restaurant aimed at the glitterati. The same applies to the Manchester venue...except that Manchester has less glitterati than London...and so the clientele are a mix of large bald older men with big watches l, combined with young women in skimpy outfits and varying amounts of surgery and botox!

I know this sounds like I'm being snobby...but honestly I'm not (well maybe a little!). I'm just trying to put across what to expect.

The place itself has obviously had serious money spent on it...from the life-size mermaid sculpture you encounter when you enter to all the various artworks that adorn the triple height windows on the ground floor.

For me though...the place is so big that it seems a bit soulless. It looks more like a high-end club that serves food as an afterthought...and it actually becomes a nightclub by around 10pm with its extremely loud music and dancer-led entertainment with fire-eating etc!

That being said...the food is top notch. We were a party of 3 and we ordered a variety of dishes - including o-toro nilgiri and shashimi - along with cocktails and 2 bottles of sake (the cheapest they had at around £100 a bottle).

As I say...the food was impeccable in quality. As good as I have had at any sushi/Japanese restaurant in the world. And as you would expect...it was very very expensive! Our meal (which included no main courses) plus drinks came to over £500.

The price didn't surprise me...it's what you expect to pay for this quality of food. But the service was nothing akin to a high-end restaurant. The waiter we had - although polite - went missing for large parts of our meal and was no more than someone who took our order and brought it to the table.

That being said, the rest of the staff...from the guys on the door to the ladies at coat check...were very polite and hospitable. But I did have a very bad experience with a member of the bar staff.

As we were at Sexy Fish for a Xmas celebration we decided to order some shots after the meal. Our waiter was nowhere to be found so I went to the bar myself and asked for a round of baby guiness'. I was told they didn't do shot cocktails so I asked what they did provide. The barman replied that they "only do spirits" and then walked off before I had a chance to order anything.

So...that was pretty rude.

Overall, if you want to push the boat out and have a party, Sexy Fish is a great place. If you want to go to a good sushi/Japanese restaurant then I'd either visit for lunch or go down the...