For frequent flyers, constant trips to the airport can be a drag, but Holiday Inn Manchester Airport has a restaurant to make those early morning or late night travels just a little bit tastier. Firin is a stylish restaurant serving up modern Turkish cuisine, inspired by the many flavours of Istanbul's food scene.
The restaurant gets its name from the Turkish word for oven and the process of baking, and the restaurant offers plenty of baking to match, focusing around Turkish-style pizza called Pide, which is made with leavened dough, flattened out to give it a unique shape. Dishes from the oven and salad bar lean on traditional Pide, boat-shaped pizzas, with plenty of added toppings and ingredients to make them you're own. You can either share a few, or enjoy all to yourself, with plenty of other dishes and sides, too, all reflecting a mix of old and new Turkish cuisine.
Diners might start with a mix of mezze, such as black and green olives marinated with chilli, parsley and garlic, alongside fried Mediterranean baby squid and prawns, and oven baked-halloumi with tomato sauce and garlic. Hearty mains come from the stove and grill section, and we like the sound of the chicken shish with flatbread, grilled seabass and half a chicken, for a real show-stopper.
If steak is your thing, try the 28 day aged chargrilled skirt steak or perhaps the 8oz ribeye, served with garlic roast field mushroom, roast vine tomatoes and rocket salad. For all main dishes, sides of house salad, broccoli and skin-on fries, all make great accompaniments, too. And, as mentioned, Pide is a big part of the menu and there's several to choose from. The Afyon, for example, brings together beef sausage, kasar, mozzarella, Izmir, Baharat and red chilli, which sounds delicious.