Neighbourhood

Neighbourhood is a Spinningfields restaurant by the team behind nearby BBQ joint Southern 11. After bringing the taste of the Deep South to Manchester, they’ve turned their hand to recreating a piece of New York with their ‘casual fine-dining eatery and bar’ inspired by Manhattan’s definitive neighbourhoods.

Inside, the room is impressive – assuming you get past the burly bouncers on the door – with its industrial white-washed walls and exposed wooden beams. Staff wear red bow ties and the atmosphere is buzzing, thanks largely to the music, which is turned up to 11.

The menu is centred around pimped-up American comfort food – baked lobster mac ‘n’, cheese, New York pretzels and so on. There are more inventive dishes like fried shrimp with poppy candy, plus a raw bar offering oysters, steak tartare and beef carpaccio.

But Neighbourhood feels more like a drinking destination than a place to come for dinner. The impressive cocktail list contains five versions of negroni and several martinis, along with their own creations including a ‘Modern Old Fashioned’ made with ‘blazed and flambéed fruits’. The ‘Dow Jones Brief’ is an old fashioned served in a Wall Street style briefcase, designed to be stirred and served at the table and shared between groups of four.