The newest offering from Simon Shaw and the team behind El Gato Negro and Canto, modern Middle Eastern restaurant Habas occupies the old wine cellars of the former Manchester Club building.
Habas, which launched in 2021 and earned a Michelin listing within five months, has several spaces for dining and drinking, including a bar, a relaxed lounge, and a restaurant with an open kitchen providing views of head chef Craig Rutherford and his team.
The menu is centred around large dishes, sharing platters and mezze plates, with a £15 set lunch menu offering fantastic value. Dishes span the shores of the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf in terms of inspiration, including a mezze platter featuring harissa spiced nuts, olives and pickles, baba ganoush, hummus, whipped labneh, marinated artichokes, toasted lavosh and warm pittas.
We especially enjoyed fried potato skins filled with spiced lamb, labneh cheese sauce and mint yoghurt, and crisp prawn fritters with a zingy lime and coriander yoghurt.
Mains include meat or vegetarian kebabs as well as dry-aged beef featherblade - the curried shoulder served with harissa roasted squash, onion and almond picada - and a chicken and vegetable tagine with preserved lemon. A vegan option of chargrilled aubergine is salted and cooked on the Josper until smoky, charred and caramelised, served with white beans, chilli, mint and crispy chickpeas.
Our generous mixed grill to share featured tender beef fillet, chargrilled and juicy pink, as well as spicy Merguez sausage, Barnsley chops, harissa chicken, rice, roasted vegetables and spicy fried potatoes with dill sour cream. A vegetarian alternative includes harissa roasted squash, chargrilled aubergine and sweetcorn falafel.
Desserts include warm winter berry babka with homemade Biscoff cream, crispy fried doughnuts with orange and cardamom custard, and spiced apple and caramel ‘baked Alaska’ as well as a light, creamy pistachio cheesecake with lime and mint salsa and caramelised white chocolate.
Drinks-wise, there’s a variety of speciality cocktails, a wine list offering plenty by the glass, and beers from Manchester breweries alongside international options.
With the friendly, confident service, it all adds up to a thoroughly enjoyable yet relaxed experience.