Zouk Tea Bar & Grill

Ending the year 2019 with a restaurant review at Zouk Tea Bar & Grill.

I visited Zouk Tea Bar & Grill as part of my mini trip to Manchester. This was the perfect opportunity to pop down for a lunchtime meal. I went on my own, and I was pretty amazed by the interiors looked really nice, especially the entrance. The entrance had a huge Christmas tree, and as you enter, you see the 'Zouk' sign filled with decorations.

Luckily, there were not many people dining at this time, so I had space for myself, as you could see from the image. This place does get very busy during nights and weekends, so you may want to reserve your spot if you want a good seat since I visited during a working day it was pretty calm.

The majority of the people were sitting on tables behind me, hence I had the whole row to myself. Once I was seated and settled, I had a look at their menu and decided on the dishes which looked nice by checking out their page online. Then it was time to opt for those items along with a delicious-looking strawberry daiquiri mocktail. All the mocktails here are priced at £5.50, but the choices are yours.

Food at Zouk

I decided to go for the starters and mains, and that filled me up with the portion size they provide. For starters, I ordered 'Dynamite Shrimp', priced at £7.50. The shrimp looked so good, probably the best part of the meal for me, as it was colourful and tasted so good. Finally, for the mains, I decided to go for 'Butter Chicken', priced at £9.95 and 'Lamb Sultani', priced at £11.95.

The butter chicken was very bland with no spice at all. Usually, it's a good choice to opt for at other restaurants, but this time it wasn't. However, the portions are huge, so they can easily feed two people. It was made from barbecued chicken breast cooked in a buttery sauce with gentle spices and cashew nuts.

The Lamb Sultani was huge as well, and I think that alone would have been enough for me as I could not finish either dish even though I tried. This dish I found pretty spicy and probably one of the reasons I couldn't finish it even though it tasted good since it was too chilly for my taste buds. This is a tender lamb shank marinated in aromatic spices and slowly cooked until the meat just falls off the bone.

Finally, the naan I tried were two different types, one was Garlic Naan & Peshwari Naan. The garlic was nice but the Peshwari naan was sweet, I definitely was not a fan of it, I don't know what made me opt for it but worth a try I guess.

Conclusion

Overall, I was impressed with the interiors and the entrance, one of the main attractions which attracted me to visit and check out. I thought the starter I ordered and the mocktail were good choices, as the mains I chose had me overdose. The service here was pretty good. I got to sit where I wanted to and was asked if I required anything when they walked past.

The prices were like London prices, as most of the dishes were beyond £10. The experience and atmosphere were reasonable. They were a group of people dining, but it was fairly quiet, seeing as it was 2 o'clock and on a working day. I thought the presentation was good, as all the food and drink looked good. I may have ordered more than I should have, as I felt so full and sick, which left me with nothing to eat for the rest of the day.

If you would like to learn how to cook, then there is a school running here at Zouk Tea Bar showing you how to cook their food from the choice of menu. Any foodies out there looking to try out something new, this is the place to try out.

Food: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 6/10
Experience: 8/10
Presentation: 8/10

Overall: 7.4/10

Address: 5, The Quadrangle, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5QS
Telephone: 0161 233 1090
Website: https://zoukteabar.co.uk/menus/manchester/
Nearest Station: Manchester Oxford Road Station