I recently had the pleasure of visiting Vermilion, a luxury dining experience serving a blend of Indian, Thai & Asian Fusion dishes, with something on the menu for everyone. Opened in 2007, Vermilion has expanded from a fine dining restaurant to a banqueting hall and events venue.
The interior, designed by Miguel Cancio Martins (designer of Buddha Bar Paris) is breathtaking. There is no restaurant in Manchester, in my opinion, whose decor is on the level of Vermilion.
It was evident that dining here was a luxury experience and it felt just that due to the surroundings. The contrast of the deep red and dark wood added to this experience.
The new menu, created by Bobby Geetha, consists of a mixture of cuisines and incorporates global favourites on a varied and full menu.
While we were waiting, we had Poppadoms with a selection of sauces including:
- cherry & ginger chutney
- pickled onion
- mint & coriander
- mango chutney
These were delicious. Although not the stereotypical Indian style poppadoms, I loved the texture and colours of these. The sauces were also amazing - the cherry and ginger chutney was my favourite!
To start, we shared several small plates.
We opted for:
- scallops with merguez sausage served with tomato masala & turmeric cauliflower purée
- crispy panko coated croquettes stuffed with butter chicken tikka kofta and cheddar served with a turmeric tempered mayonnaise
- Cornish shrimp and akuri bao buns
All three of these dishes were incredible - they were full of flavour and cooked to perfection. The butter chicken tikka kofta balls were probably my favourite of the three - they were delicious. I loved the mayonnaise that was served with this dish - it complemented the flavours of the chicken and croquettes really well.
The presentation of these dishes was also on point. I loved how colourful they were - the mixture of yellows, bright pinks and reds of the ingredients contrasted against the deep blue crockery really caught my eye!
For our main course, we shared three dishes:
- Mediterranean sea bass curry served in a light Kerala coconut sauce
- confit duck leg finished in a South Indian korma sauce, garnished with Salli potato crisp
- ocean tiger prawns grilled Thai style in a Thai Nomsod sauce made with lemon, chilli, butter & milk
I’ve never tried a fish curry before, particularly a fish such as seabass. However it worked so well. I loved the coconut sauce and the seabass melted in my mouth. This is the perfect dish if you want something a little lighter.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this dish at all but I was really pleasantly surprised. The duck was so succulent and fell apart as you cut into it. The sauce wasn’t a traditional korma as it wasn’t overly sweet - it had a lot of flavour and complemented the duck extremely well.
The Ocean Tiger Prawns are a signature dish exclusive to Vermilion. The giant tiger prawns, caught by Vermilion’s parent company Seamark, are cooked on the grill Thai style.
Prawns are probably my favourite seafood, especially king/tiger prawns. However I have never tried it in a creamy butter and milk sauce before. Perfection. I absolutely adored the sauce and the prawns were out of this world. I highly recommend this dish.
First, Under The Volcano- a classic dessert of hot salted caramel poured over a chocolate lava bombe sitting on a bed of crushed cashew nut crumble with a filling of a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream.
I was expecting the caramel sauce to be quite a bit thicker than it was as the caramel flavour wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked. I loved the idea of having a brownie inside the lava bombe - I’ve never seen this done before and it added extra flavour and another component to the dessert!
We also tried the Dil to Chocolate Hai - a delicious warm chocolate fondant with peanut butter cream, served with vanilla ice cream.
The contrast of the sweet chocolate fondant with the salted peanut butter sauce was delicious. It worked really well. I also liked the warm cake with the cold ice cream - I always enjoy this concept.
I opted to try the ‘Bubble Magic’ cocktail, one of the Molecular Cocktails on the menu.
Bubble Magic is:
A fragrant smoke bubble cocktail that explodes with a single touch. Made with gin, limoncello and Earl grey tea.
This was so cool and I loved the fact the bubble was added at the table in front of you, making it more of an experience rather than merely a drink being served. The bubble pops into dry ice when you touch it.
It tasted amazing. It was fresh and fruity but very light at the same time. You could taste the limoncello but not so much the early grey tea which suited me. I would definitely recommend this cocktail!
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Vermilion is located at:
Lord N Street
Hulme Hall Lane
Manchester
M40 8AD
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Thank you so much to Vermilion for having me. The most beautiful food, decor and service. Thank you also to Harry & Ravi who served us throughout the evening- your hospitality and friendliness did not go unnoticed.
I will definitely be back very soon - easily one of the best restaurants Manchester has to offer. If you haven’t been yet then you NEED to go!
*Please note that although this post was sponsored, all views and opinions are my own.
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