The "kitchen in an arch", much loved by The Observer's Jay Rayner (he called it "extremely small but perfectly formed") serves continental pasta, dumplings and spatzle.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover: hidden away in a railway arch on a dingy street” you’ll find an “unexpectedly beautiful space” serving “incredible food at a great price”. The speciality is spätzle, ‘comforting noodle-like pasta of Schwabian origin’, served in recipes inspired by central European grannies.
This “unusual and unique find” – “hidden away in a railway arch near Manchester’s Victoria Station” – offers “a wide selection of pasta and dumplings from south Germany, Switzerland, Alsace, Austria and the German-speaking parts of northern Italy”, washed down with an interesting variety of beers, wines and Japanese alcoholic drinks. Even the occasional critic who finds it “not entirely to my liking” concedes that “the very interesting menu has good and unusual food”. The same team is scheduled to open a sake bar and shop called Suzume.
Launched in 2019, this “German/Austrian-by-way-of-Japan and under-the-arches spot” near Victoria Station is well “worth the wait” (snagging a table in the pint-sized 12-seater being quite the effort) for its European pasta and dumplings, including in-house speciality spätzle alongside pierogi etc. Expect an eclectic experience that's “paired weirdly well with sake… then schnapps!”.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Tom Parker Bowles found “comfort food of the highest calibre” to soothe his soul at this hard-to-find restaurant hidden away under a Victorian railway arch – “a high-altitude, Middle-European paean to stodge, fat and unabashed delight”.
The stars of the menu are spätzle, “those fine Swabian noodles, made fresh every day. And dear God they’re good, plump and pouting, but light too, with just the right amount of bite.”
Tom Parker Bowles - 2025-01-05 Drinks |
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|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £2.50 |
 Extras |
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|---|---|
| Bread | £3.90 |
| Service | 10.00% |
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Wednesday | 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Thursday | 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Friday | 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑11 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
