"We specifically booked at Ithaca for the £16.95 Early Evening offer shown on both Restaurants Of Manchester and the menu board outside the restaurant, but this wasn't avaliable when we arrived despite arriving with an hour to spare. The main dish we both wanted from the £16.95 menu was £21 on the al a carte and I had to demand that the waitress ask the manager for the discount, even then we were charged for vegetables which were included on the offer menu. This should have been offered up front in my view. The food was outstanding but the service left a lot to be desired and badly let the restaurant down. The staff weren't as attentive as they should have been, they seemed to have a 'don't care' attitude, which is a real shame as this could be a fabulous little restaurant." - angela, altrincham - Member since Mar'09 (29/10/09 - visited on a mon evening)

"We visited Ithaca on a very quiet Sunday night as a party of 6. There was only one other table occupied in the 2 hours we were there, which was maybe a strong indication that the prices on the menu are certainly too high during these difficult financial times. But fear not, Ithaca have listened to the reviews (and possibly empty seats) and will be launching a brand new credit crunch friendly menu in September. Hopefully that doesn't affect the food - which is so good it's certainly up there with the best in town!

Taking advantage of the last day of the 50% off deal on Restaurants Of Manchester, we explored much of the menu and were utterly blown away by the quality of the dishes served. The Spider Crab Sushi Roll (normally £8.15) were delicious, if somewhat expensive, and the Sashimi Set (£34.50), were also popular and incredibly photogenic. It has to be pointed out though that, although ordered to share between two, the set only comes accompanied by one bowl of Miso Soup, which tests the politeness of your dining partners. All six of our main courses were out of this world despite being on the small side. If rice and vegetables had been included and delivered on the same plate, you'd be less likely to notice the petit nature of the expertly executed servings but, as it was, the stylish plates highlighted the portion size. One bite though, and all complaints were forgotten.

The Black Cod (£22.45), marinated for two days in sweet Shiro miso prior to being roasted and glazed, was certainly the stand out dish and that's saying something as the other dishes were also top drawer. The Ithaca Duck (£20.15) was cooked to perfection. The sliced duck breast with spiced carrot and raisins, nashi pear and sake soy sauce worth the visit alone. The Aka Miso Lamb (£20.70), marinated with grilled erangi mushrooms and courgettes, also comes recommended. And even with the required bowl of steamed rice (£2.90), the prices of each main course were still acceptable under normal economic conditions.

The decor of Ithaca is one of personal taste - more bling than understated class, they've certainly spent some money on the place. The choice of non-hard wearing glass tables is probably as ill advised as the huge square chairs that prove impossible to get into when sat next to somebody else. It's obviously been designed by an artist or interior designer without much thought for it's purpose.

Service was very friendly and informative throughout, although, at one point, we had to go looking for attention when we'd finished our excellent cocktails in the upstairs bar. The only staff we could find on all 3 floors were the chefs in the kitchen - the rest possibly meeting for a chat in a secret room on this quiet Sunday evening. After this incident though, we were thoroughly looked after.

Overall, Ithaca is a tough one to call - the food is certainly up there, if not the best in town. The service is friendly and, for the large part, professional. The decor is down to personal choice but either way, expensively plush. The prices are the main stumbling block. With 50% off, it was amazing value but, at full price, it's probably too expensive for Manchester's small population. That's not to say it's not worth it - At £400 (with drinks) for 6 people though, you'd be happy to visit for special occassions. It will be interesting to see how the new menu fairs. Ithaca is certainly a place everybody should visit at least once." - restaurants of manchester (20/8/09 - visited on a sunday evening)

"I had friends visiting from the South and the six of us dined at Ithaca. We ate at 8pm and I can honestly say that I have never felt more like a king! Every need seemed to have been pre-judged by our waiter (who also seemed to be senior, as he was directing the other waiters around). We were greeted by a hot blonde Eastern European girl to the delight of my guests, and from that moment on we were almost pampered. Now, on this occasion, money was of no issue for us although usually I would have been more conservative with my choices due to the price (our waiter later informed us that as of September the prices were being permanently reduced to make them more competitive in this credit crunch).

We went all out ordering more than enough sushi for our starters and again ordering 8 small plates as our intermediate course, but as it all came tapas style we never felt over faced. At this point, I must mention the soft shell crab... mind blowing! Crunchy, meaty and with a delicious dipping sauce. Then onto our main courses, Wagyu steaks, lobster, tempura prawns and, my personal favourite, the Sea Bass. Never before have I seen such a large succulent fillet with flavours to once again blow your mind!

As for our waiter, as I already mentioned, he seemed to know what I wanted before I did. Not only this, but throughout our ordering he advised us when we had ordered too little and also when we were ordering over the top. I found this an unusual approach but pleasing to know he was on our side and not just trying to take as much money from us as possible! He continued with this style when diverting us away from dishes he thought below par on that evening, instead advising us on the best dish of the day and in fact down selling and reducing our bill with his input. This I found to be a real breath of fresh air and served more to the feeling that our overall enjoyment was of paramount importance!

The one downside to this evening came at the very end when attempting to order coffees. At this point the waiter apologised profusely that their machine had broken and been taken away for repairs. Although disappointing, this one snag could not wipe the smiles from our faces.

Finally the bill, I feel I need to mention this only because of the Daily Mail campaigned to get fair wages for people working in the service industry, 10% had been automatically added to our bill and upon questioning our waiter as to the destination of this service charge he politely replied 'no comment'. At this point I requested that the service be removed so that I might leave a cash sum directly to the people that had looked after us so well. All in all, I'd give Ithaca a 10 out of 10 despite the high prices, it's the best restaurant I've found outside of London." - david barber, manchester - NEW MEMBER (20/8/09 - visited on a thurs evening)

"In advance of visiting this kind of place, Im never quite sure what to make of it, or quite what to expect. By that I mean places which throw lavish media opening parties, spend masses on the décor (£4 million), along with a menu which for some reason, mentions Bentley cars and Vertu phones at the footer? Both prestigious brands for sure, but how this or any of the other factors above are in any way related to the dining itself, Im not sure. I guess that prestige and glamour are the terms here, so perhaps this would turn out to be the unrelated restaurant cousin of Panacea, yet the food did look and sound far more than just pretence and image? Anyway.

Despite the glamour, the Ithaca set lunch menu was reduced to a tiny, un-Bentley like £8.50, until mid February, so it seemed a waste not to give it a try at these prices. Id heard whispers of canapé sized portions at Michelin sized prices, but at £8.50, it sounded ideal for lunch and to get a feel of the place. Also, they do add 10% service charge.

I guess that since it supposedly cost 4 million quid, you have to mention the décor, as it does grab you upon entry. Well, its not totally to my taste for a restaurant, and feels more like a bar to me, but it is very striking. Its smaller inside than I expected, but kind of reminds me of my favourite bar in Dubai, called Neo's. Very dark, yet shiny and modern. The chairs are a real case of style over substance, and I wouldn't like to sit in them for long. The music is a bit loud for a restaurant too, again, adding to the bar feel. I'm a strong believer that a restaurant should be mainly about the food though, not the décor to distract you from it, which strangely, makes the food taste better to some people, so onto the important part...

We both started with the obligatory appetiser of Miso soup to get things going. It had plenty of flavour depth, and was surprisingly, the best miso Ive had in a long time. After this, we went for Salmon and Avocado, and also Spicy Tuna maki rolls, both of which were very high quality indeed, with good condiments to accompany. For the mains, I had the Black Chilean Sea Bass, which came as a huge portion, was perfectly cooked and incredibly moist, and my better half had the Black Cod which was similarly well cooked, although the marinade masked the flavour of the fish itself perhaps a little too much. All in all though, a very well cooked and executed meal, and it s a nice refreshing change to eat Japanese themed food, done in such a modern way.

Service was reasonably prompt, semi formal, attentive and informative, perhaps too much so for some. The waiter seemed intent on offering various dishes and reading out what was on offer, almost in a tone which told us what we should have, when we had already read the menu. He was nice enough but, also warned that the wasabi was hot, asked if we had tried Miso soup before, checked if we were OK with chopsticks, and seemed to behave in a way which hinted that the vast majority of the people he dealt with, don't know much about Japanese food. After the meal, we had to remind him about the bill, but all in, decent enough service.

If you're not a tight fisted so-an-so like me, the a la carte menu has a large variety of sushi, so it would be a fantastic, yet expensive place, if you fancy something a bit fancier than a sushi train. Also, theres a large variety of Japanese yet Euro influenced main courses if you want something more elaborate than maki rolls! If you're not feeling overly daring and want something relative predictable and simple, yet still luxurious, they even serve Kobe steaks, in a choice of 3 cuts.

I'm very happy to say that overall, the food here definitely defies the pretentious image, and backs itself up with some very good quality modern/pan Euro Japanese fare. It's just a shame that they feel the need to attach all the glam labelling to it, which inherently attracts a pretentious crowd. It's a bit expensive on the whole, definitely overpriced, and you do indeed pay for that £4 million fit out, not just for the food. I very much doubt Id be going back for the RRP prices to be honest. I'd rather eat at a top class European place, or a top class Japanese place, rather than a fusion of the two, but each to their own. Maybe its just me, but does Manchester really want a top priced Japanese fusion eatery, and is it just trying to be fashionable? Maybe being so close to Panacea wasn't an accident, and the intention is that you can wine and dine in your private booth on the 3rd floor in the Ithaca VIP suite, then stroll around the corner to knock back your Cristal Rose at Panacea, and admire Micah Richards' diamond studded slippers? As good as the food is at Ithaca, these two places will inherently attract the same kind of crowd, simply due to the price tags, and ironically, nothing at all to do with the quality of food, which is a shame. Im just not sure how this kind of place will go down with the majority of people, and a sushi train or Teppanyaki may well be a little more appealing to most when eating Japanese?

Food 8/10 - Service 6/10 - Ambiance 6/10 - Overall 7/10 (3.5 stars)" - chris handley, salford (12/2/09 - visited on a weds lunch)

"I took advantage of the 40% Off Voucher on the Restaurants of Manchester site and have to say, it was a fantastic saving on what would normally be a pricey meal. I adore Japanese cuisine but couldn't agree more with the comments in your review below. Even for a lover of the Far East like myself, the menu at Ithaca is extremely confusing if you don't have a Japanese dictionary with you! Worse still, it's not clear how big the portions of each dish are, and guessing the size, based on its price, doesn't necessarily reflect the truth either. As it turned out most of the dishes were almost chosen for us by default as they were all out of my first two choices. Whilst it was only 9pm, it was clear the 40% offer had been maybe too popular by the number of full tables - all continuing to be occupied throughout the night with new diners learning the menu was becoming ever smaller by the minute.

The winelist should be renamed 'wine brochure' it was that big and glossy, with colour photos of each somewhat pricey bottle. The Nigiri & Sashimi Sushi Set was excellent and amazing value at the discounted rate of just £15. The sea bass, salmon, tuna and prawn sushi and sashimi cuts melted in the mouth and the presentation was amazing - which explained the somewhat slow delivery. The Ithaca Duck at £10.50 was priced just right for the size. Whilst it was cooked to perfection and possibly the best duck I've had in Manchester, the normal £17.50 price tag seemed too high. We also opted for the Mushroom Robata (discounted to £2.70), which was little more than an appetizer as was the Chicken Robata (reduced to £3.57), which consisted of two small pieces of chicken satayed on a stick. These also would have been far too expensive at normal price. The waiter advised the Steamed Rice was big enough enough to share between two, however again this too was small.

All in all, Ithaca is a hard one to call - it doesn't come across as a £4 million place - the decor, especially the glass table tops, is already starting to look a bit worn. The food is (normally) priced at a level to try and pay back the cost of building the place, however they eventually opened at the worst time possible - when a credit crunch means people are spending less. The food is fantastic and I would happily return again and again to experience the mouth watering artistic creations, but only at the revised prices. They should look at knocking 40% off permanently if they are to survive. The promotion certainly filled the place during our visit, at a time when everywhere else in town was dead. Either that or I got the wrong impression and Ithaca is always busy with repeat trade. The food is certainly worthy of that." - matthew, manchester (4/2/09 - visited on a tues evening)

"Now I'll be honest here, we tend to shy away from places which open with lavish launch parties, PR teams working overtime to ensure everybody knows it's the best place in town because they're paid to say so. That inverted snobbery even means you're more likely to find us reviewing the restaurant next door than taking up our invite to the glitzy opening night party. Like the vast majority of customers, we always visit after the hype has died down. And so it was Ithaca - the most expensive restaurant opening in Manchester city centre ever.

First impressions of this lavish affair were not as we expected - it's primarily a restaurant aimed at lovers of Japanese and Pan-Asian fusion fine dining, rather than the Panacea-esque poser's bar we expected it to be (and how it was on the launch night). The restaurant, set over the first two floors of this John Dalton Steet residence is indeed as plush as you'd expect for one costing over £4 million and over 2 years to build. Although it has to be said, the huge comfy chairs are so big and square, they're alsmost impossible to get into and knowingly watching others have the same problem brings a cruel smirk to your face.

The food is equally as fantastic, presented like a work of art, although the menu may baffle you a little if you're new to Japanese cuisine. I'm proud to boast two of the finest sushi chefs in Switzerland as my best mates and I probably eat more sushi, sashimi and teppanyaki than any other cuisine however I feel Ithaca will have a problem if it wants to survive. Japanese food unfortunately isn't as popular in England as at is around the globe and this is largely due to ignorance. The menu at Ithaca does nothing to solve this problem. If anything it makes it worse. Dishes like Chu-Toro, O-Toro, Akami, Unagi Teriyaki, Ikura, Amaebi, Tamago, Wagyu, Aka Miso, and maybe even Tempura, Robata, Edamame and Pak Choi, will have customers reaching for their Japanese phrase books rather than their wallets. There has to be more insight into what each dish offers, and sadly it needs to be in plain English. Fortunately, when asked, the staff are very helpful in explaining the ingredients of each dish on the menu, which is best served like tapas, with each dish shared as they arrive one by one.

As is often the case with quality Japanese restaurants, prices can also be off putting, and this is certainly the case with Ithaca. That said, there is plenty of choice on the menu if you're on a budget or if you wish to try a few different dishes, a la tapas. Sushi starts at just £3, Sashimi (raw fish) at £4, Main courses at £8.50 and Robata (grill) at £4.50. Of course, to keep the food connoisseurs and the 'in-crowd' happy, there's Grilled & Tempura Lobster (£32-£35), Wagyu Beef (£50-£54), and plenty of champagne to choose from.

Great for romantic occassions, healthy business lunches or a pre-theatre meal, with all of Manchester's theatres and the MEN Arena being a short walk away, there can't be many better places in town to enjoy a fine-dining meal in luxurious surroundings and we will certainly be returning to Ithaca on many occassions to sample some of the finest food available in Manchester city centre." - restaurants of manchester (dec 2008)