53 new reasons to visit Manhattan Fish Market

Award winning seafood restaurant, The Manhattan Fish Market recently fished out a wide range of 53 new dishes that was made available from 18 April broadening the variety of sea food that the restaurant brings onshore.

The new add-ins are not just limited to mains; a wide variety of drinks and several starters, desserts and platters have also been introduced. 

The restaurant has strived to bring in a bigger catch by adding more choices of grilled fish such as cod, salmon, barramundi and cherry snapper to its existing favourites, accompanied with interesting new flavours and sauces such as the Volcano sauce.

First off for starters we were served the Quad delight and the Volcano mussels. The Quad delight consisted of juicy fried mushrooms, tender yet crispy calamari, tasty sautéed shrimp and scallops and some superb coleslaw. The mussels were served with diced, cooked pineapple and volcano sauce was delicious as well. 

To wash it down we had two of their iced teas, the appropriately named ‘Happiness Infusion’ and ‘Sunset by the Bay’ (both priced at Rs. 540).

The Happiness Infusion was Earl Grey tea with a lemongrass infusion, flavoured with strawberry and Lychee, not too sweet and perfect for a sweltering hot day. The Sunset by the Bay was Earl Grey tea too, mixed with peach and had a beautiful sunset orange hue, hence the name. Later on through our meal we tasted a mocktail named ‘Cala-cala’, a citrusy combination of Calamansi with lemon fizzle, which was also refreshing and had a very sharp, tangy taste yet was not so spectacular. 

Afterwards we were served the mains. First off we had the Curry Hill Seafood, a dish of prawns and mussels in curry sauce, inspired by Murray Hill in Manhattan known as ‘Curry Hill’ by New Yorkers as the area is famous for its Indian cuisine. 

The dish was served with crispy battered veggie sticks and slices of baguette. The French bread was very soft and tasted great with the curry sauce, which was well spiced and full of flavour.  

Next in line was the Flaming Cheesy Baked Rice which was a dory fillet covered in cheese, flame-grilled then and there, placed on top of a bed of well-seasoned Coriander and Rosemary Herb rice (Rs. 1,090). The cheese with fish fillet makes this a tasty dish and the herb rice was a nice accompaniment. The restaurant’s signature flaming technique right before our eyes, gives MFM’s twist to the conventional baked rice.   However the highlight of the whole meal was the ‘Fishy Chicky Bang Bang’ an interesting and innovative combo of a batter fried dory fillet and chicken fillet with a sizeable portion of Cheddar cheese squeezed in between. Priced at Rs. 1,190 it’s a little exorbitant but definitely worth it. 

Accompanied with a sunny side up nestled on a nest of fried spaghetti, chunky French Fries and house salad this dish not only tasted great, but also gets brownie points for its excellent presentation. The soft, juicy bites of fish and chicken were a delicious combination and a must have for lovers of Surf n’ Turf. Kudos to MFM’s French Fries that came along as well; they had just the right amount of salt and were not too crispy and not too soft either. 

After that we were entertained with the Manhattan Star platter which was indeed stellar. Priced at Rs. 3,590 it’s pricy but once again fully worth it. It consists of seafood cooked in five different cooking methods; Grilled Calamari, Fried Oysters, Poached Garlic Herb Mussels, Manhattan Flaming Prawns and a choice of either Spicy Baked Fish or Mediterranean Baked Fish. The Spicy Baked Fish was very soft, but not overcooked and it was extremely spicy and flavoursome. Overall this dish was a win-win. 

We ended things with a sweet finish by tasting two of the newly introduced desserts; the ‘Super Fruit Crumble’(Rs. 440) and the ‘Sizzling Banana Fritters with Ice cream’ (Rs. 590) The Super Fruit Crumble was a double scoop of vanilla ice cream with an apple sauce topping, layered with crumble and topped with raisins. This dessert was a little bit of a disappointment as the ice cream melted a bit too fast and the apple sauce was a bit too sweet. On the other hand the banana fritters saved the day as they were absolutely scrumptious. The crispy battered and fried banana was topped with chocolate ice cream and drizzled with sizzling coconut cream. The banana fritters, warm coconut cream and chocolate ice cream made a perfectly brilliant dessert which we could not get enough of and made us crave for another serving. 

Commenting on the launch of the latest menu, Manhattan Fish Market Managing Director Shafraz Anees stated: “Our food on the menu does just that, featuring wider and bolder flavours that are prepared in our signature 5 cooking methods. We look forward to all the seafood lovers visiting our restaurants and enjoying our new menu.” All in all the new additions to Manhattan Fish Market’s menu that we tried out were first-rate.  They tasted great providing a feast for the taste buds and the good presentation of the dishes, be they starter or main, the platters, drinks and desserts were a mouth watering treat to the eyes. The new dishes definitely need to be tasted and aficionados of the seafood restaurant will be happy to know that they have reduced the prices of their old dishes. (SD)