Manhattan meets Disneyland: Menagerie restaurant & bar opens at New Bailey M3

Just down the road from Spinningfields, you will find the new state of the art office and leisure development that is One New Bailey.

Half of the ground floor is occupied by Menagerie, a restaurant which combines art, gastronomy, and theatre and aims to take immersive dining to the next level – or ‘Manhattan meets Disneyland’ in the words of owner Karina Jadhav.

“I spent a lot of time travelling around the states,” Karina told me. “Miami, New York, Disneyland, Harry Potter World… I just love their creativity out there and the way they present things. It’s like an amalgamation of high end concepts but with more quirkiness and fun. I wanted to recreate that feeling with Menagerie, where you can experience a bit of theatre every day.  A menagerie is a collection of the enticing and exotic – which is exactly what my concept will bring to Manchester.”

Karina is the former co-founder of Neighbourhood but this is her first solo venture – and she certainly hasn’t done anything by halves!

We arrived to find the £1.5 million venue packed from wall to wall. It has been designed by Joel Barker and features catwalks, cages, sculptures, big gold plated bar, neon lights, disco lights and lots of animals – including thousands of flying birds!

Champagne was in abundance with loads of tasty nibbles doing the rounds, our favourites being the cheesy balls and crab on toast. They gave us a bit of a feel for the international menu Karina has put together, mixing Pan-Asian flavours with South American comfort food.

“There are some really exciting and creative parts to the menus,” says Karina. “I’ve worked closely with my mixologist Carlo Graziani and head chef Yalcin Abrahim Ali to make sure the food and drinks themselves are part of the entertainment. I’m really excited about our chocolate boxes of sushi and some of the cocktails are out of this world with touches of magic!”

We are here for the launch of @MenagerieMCR with lots & lots of other people! It’s packed! There’s even a gold swan! pic.twitter.com/XMFWrC2FDQ

— I Love Manchester (@ILoveMCR) August 11, 2016

We had a fantastic evening of drink, food, and entertainment and can’t wait to go back when it’s a bit less crazy, so we can truly appreciate the space and try the full menu.

Menagerie is NOW OPEN to the public.

www.menagerierestaurant.co.uk