A new seafood-and-cocktail bar has opened in Manchester city centre tomorrow promising an ‘oyster happy hour’ every weekday from 4-5pm, when the bivalves are half price. Bar Shrimp is from the trio behind sustainable modern bistro Higher Ground, which is next door.
The bar will focus on British and Irish oysters and shellfish from David Lowrie in Fife, alongside their own homemade crisps and french fries with cod’s roe mayonnaise, drinks including a bone-dry martini made with kelp-infused Isle of Harris gin, and late-night DJ sets using a sound system installed by Ryan Shaw of MasterSounds in Stockport.
Founders Joe Otway, Daniel Craig Martin and Richard Cossins met working at Dan Barber’s influential farm-to-table restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns, an hour north of Manhattan, and returned to England to launch their own operation along similar lines. Higher Ground made its debut as a pop-up in 2020 and moved into permenant premises three years later. The founding trio also have a natural wine bar called Flawd at Manchester’s New Islington Marina and run Cinderwood organic market garden in Cheshire, which supplies their own kitchens as well as other restaurants.
Richard, who heads the front of house and has worked for Marcus Warring and Simon Rogan, says of Bar Shrimp: “It’s a real combination of each of our passions. My passion for music, Daniel’s passion for cocktails, Joe’s passion for seafood.
“Every time we go away travelling, we always come back and have these conversations about great bars with great sound. It’s not a sound bar, it’s not a listening bar, it’s not an audiophile bar, it’s simply a bar with good sound.”
Higher Ground wins high ratings in the 2025 Harden’s UK Guide for its “knock-your-socks-off” dishes and “a fun curated selection of wines”, “all delivered with the most charming service”.
