On Thursday, friday and Saturday nights Manzes, a 19th century pie and mash shop in Islington, is taken over by The Seagrass restaurant.
Focusing on game and seafood the deal is £30 for three courses - and it is BYOB.
We were lucky enough to go on the Friday of the Jubilee weekend. Manzes is in Chapel Market - not the nicest part of Islington - but as soon as you step through the door everything else is forgotten. A really warm welcome - into a very traditional looking pie and mash shop - all tiles and marble - with additional bunting the night we went.
We were met by Ashley - a really warm welcome, and he ran through everything with us, and opened the wine (warning BYOB can be dangerous..........)
The menu was a really interesting mix - I could quite happily have had all of the dishes! Whilst we were deciding there was an additional amuse bouche of King Scallop - served pan fried with the coral - a beautiful start to the meal.
A selection of three starters, three main and three deserts - we went for the west coast mussels, horseradish and dill - and the pan fried wild duck, chorizo and sweet potato hash to start, and the Chargrilled sirloin with shallot and cracked black pepper, and the whole cornish crab for mains.
I could not resist the triple cooked chips as a side with the crab - and they were a masterclass in chippery!!
The mussels were as fresh as can be, and cooked to perfection. The steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned, one of the best I have tasted in a long time - and it wasn't even my order...
The crab was lovely - but I always find that crab and lobster look tempting on the menu - the wrestling a involved in eating them takes away some of the enjoyment.
As I said the BYOB can be a bit deadly - apologies to anyone who got in my way as I ran down Chapel Market to get another bottle in before Waitrose closed......
All in all a great night, a really warm welcome with good service all night, great food - long may it continue!!
