The Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell reviewed two restaurants from a trip to Manchester, revealing two sides of the city’s “generally fabulous dining scene”. Kaji – directed by chef Steve Smith, formerly of the Ribble Valley’s Freemasons – is a Japanese live-fire venue “manned by a collection of burly lads. It’s all tummies, bald heads, tattoos and heat.”
Sadly, the joint is a travesty of “the noble name of Japanese cuisine”: William was so incensed by the “sickly sweet kimchi ketchup” and “sticky tomato ponzu” that he repeated the adjective “vulgar” in consecutive sentences. Worse still, he said, “Kaji is a Japanese gaff without sake. Which is like opening a British pub in Tokyo and forgetting to put an ale on tap.”
Pip, by contrast, is a “great-value tonic… a charmingly colourful and comfortable space” in the lobby of the new Treehouse hotel, from chef Mary-Ellen McTague, “a sort of Alice Waters of modern-day Manchester”. The highlight was a “fabulously good” Lancashire hotpot – “an elegant version of this classic dish”.
William Sitwell - 2025-05-11
