Superstore, Manchester

It's funny how I have been to the store downstairs many a time but never realised that the eatery upstairs was Superstore. Situated in the Northern Quarter on Tib Street, I used to walk past it twice a week without realising it was there. 

The menu offers small and larger plates and is quite diverse with influences from a multitude of cuisines. Greedy Mr Nom decided that we should order five starters to share between three of us as it was five small plates for £20. Along with another starter from the specials board of fried pig's trotters which were very rich.

Panko coated braised pork cheeks, parsnip puree, curried split peas, coriander salad. The pork cheek was a little dry but the flavour combination was interesting.

Crispy fried squid, cayenne pepper, lemon & tumeric aioli. Ok without being exceptional.

Roast bone marrow, garlic & thyme, toast. A dish to eat whilst still hot or else it starts to set again, it was slightly over seasoned but an enjoyable dish with the garlic and thyme. I liked how the bone marrow was cut in half as it can be quite messy to dig it out from whole bones.

Curried chicken arancini, mint raita, a pleasant play on the Italian classic. Satay chicken with kaffir lime and yoghurt. It had been a while since I have ordered satay chicken skewers, shame they were burnt on top as the chicken was moist and the dip brought the dish alive.

Root veg tempura veg. Still not sure about this dish as root vegetables are too tough to be deep fried tempura style and were hard to eat.

We asked for all the dishes at once and didn't realise how much we had actually ordered until the table ran out of space when the larger dishes arrived as well!

Pulled Chicken Biriyani, grilled tiger prawn, spring onion, coriander, poppadom basket. Nicely presented and well spiced. Although the prawn was still raw.

Asian marinated hanger steak, cauliflower bhajis, szechuan pepper sauce. The dish of the meal for me, the rare hanger steak was delicious with the Szechuan pepper sauce for a slight kick.

We managed to tackle most of the dishes which surprised our friends who decided to order their own dishes, the lamb burger burger and the beef roast. Unfortunately, the Yorkshire pudding was ice cold but that was promptly rectified.

There were a few blips with the food but they were dealt with swiftly. Overall a good place for small plates with some new ideas and a very chilled and laid back eatery.