This Manchester Lebanese restaurant is putting secret spice blends into its Christmas dinners – and we’re in love

Tucked down a side street in Manchester’s Gay Village is a little-known Lebanese restaurant where the chef marinades his meat in fruit for tenderness and perfects his own spice blends by hand.

Typically the menus here centre around Lebanese and Turkish cuisine,  offering diners a healthy selection of casseroles and grilled meats alongside a range of traditional hot and cold starters.

But that’s not all that’s on offer. Throughout the year Jasmine also do a range of pizzas and burgers, where chef Alex spices up modern American favourites using his own secret spice blends.

Now, as Christmas approaches, he’s turned his hand to the traditional roast dinner, putting together exoticly spiced gravies to top plates of delicately roasted festive favourites like turkey, chicken and beef.

Trust us when we say it’s like no Christmas dinner you’ve had before.

The plates alone are a thing of beauty. Huge and artfully dressed, our turkey is rolled onto blingy cocktail sticks before being topped with a sweetly spiced, herby dressing of rosemary and honey.

Each dinner comes accompanied with all the trimmings, from crispy Yorkshire puddings to roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, green beans and mushrooms before being topped with a sprinkling of herbs and edible flowers to give it that picture-perfect finish.

They are catering to veggies too, with a plant-based alternative dinner where you’ll find mounds of rice filled with tasty veg and neat little veggie meatballs plopped into fluffy Yorkshires.

A healthy dose of vegetables comes on the side, from baked celery to perfect crispy roasties, mushrooms and green beans.

Dessert, meanwhile, comes as either a classic Christmas fruit cake or trifle. But again, there are some surprises in store here.

Our Christmas cake comes topped with blue bubblegum ice cream and chocolate syrup, whilst the trifle appears in a tall glass – overflowing with cream, fruit and chocolate.

This Christmas he has pulled out all the stops to create a Christmas dinner with a difference – fusing traditional Eastern spices into a traditional Victorian roast dinner.

Priced at just £24.99 each, not only does it offer an unusual twist on a Christmas classic, but it’s great value for money too.

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