Vapiano Manchester Restaurant Review

There’s a whole new way of eating which has just hit Manchester – Vapiano is here! Based on a system of self-service using a credit card, you only pay for what you eat and drink when you leave, meaning you can spend as long as you want and as much as you want. It’s ideal for a quick lunch or a leisurely dinner with a group of friends, as you can each control your own budget and eat exactly what you want with a fully customisable menu. With restaurants in London like this, it’s about time something like this came up North and Manchester is the perfect place to trial it.

Where to start my Vapiano Manchester Restaurant Review? Based inside the Corn Exchange in the city cenre (the new up-and-coming place to eat in Manchester), Vapiano takes over two floors. The first floor is generally more quiet, before you go upstairs to the hub of the restaurant. It is decorated beautifully and simply, with live Olive Trees and pinewood. It’s also exceptionally clean. Here there’s a large bar, lots of different types of seating (from bar tables to benches to high stools) and cooking stations.

The live cooking stations are where your dinner is cooked right in front of you. For pastas, risottos and anti-pastis, customers stand and watch as their chef creates a custom dinner.Apparently their chefs are picked primarily for their personality – as well as cooking skills – as they really do act as half a waiter, half chef as they speak to you whilst they cook. Your meal can either be totally customised exactly how you like, or you can use a dish from the menu as a starting point (which is very helpful when there’s so much to choose from). The price of each dish differs depending on customisation. For the pizza station, which takes a little longer, you are advised to take a pager which lets you know when to collect your pizza pie!

Vapiano is so precise in portion control – making sure you get  as much of the same experience every time you come as possible – that they hand make their own pasta in view of the restaurant. There are tons of different types of pasta shapes to choose from (including aeroplane shapes, but when I asked for this the chef told me it was only for kids and I couldn’t try it, haha!) and each are weighed out into bags for chef to use in pasta dishes. If you fancy recreating your meal at home, you can even buy these over the counter.

So, with so much to choose from – what did I go for? Each Vapiano card is pre-loaded with £50 credit per person which you simply scan after each order you make. If you run out of credit, you can ask for another or use your friend’s before you pay on your way out, but I stayed below this limit (fifty quid per person is pretty generous). From the bar, I ordered some Italian Prosecco (of course) and I think this was about £14 for a bottle, which is a pretty decent price. I was served at the bar by a lovely lady named Florinda, who was exceptionally friendly and really helpful, a trait reflected in all the Vapiano staff I spoke to.

I shared a platter to start off, the Piatto Antipasti which was £7.75 – there is also a larger option available for £10.75 which someone on another table ordered and it looked huge! Our potion size was definitely generous though, and the platter included Italian delights such as buffalo mozzarella, brushcette, roasted vegetables, chorizo and parma. It was a great way to try lots of different items from Vapiano at once and it was really delicious – in fact, the portion size was so generous (and so good!) that I saved some to have with the main meal.

For my main meal, I went for a custom pasta dish which was cooked fresh to order, right in front of me and exactly how I liked it! This was completely custom but pasta dishes on the menu range from £7.75 to £10.25, which is a fair price. I think mine was somewhere in betweetn and I chose added bits such as cougette, mushrooms and mozzarella. It was delicious and again, a really generous portion. As a side, I also shared a dish recommended by one of our hosts, Ginnmurih, which was the Strawberry Spinish Salad. I wouldn’t have picked this on my own (strawberries and raspberry-maple dressing on a goats cheese salad sounded kinda weird), but this was so delicious. I really recommend trying this; the contrast between sweet fruit and fresh rocket was absolutely beautiful and again, a fair price at £6.95.

Finally, I finished off with a slice of cake for dessert. All desserts are served from the bar and shown in cake stands and cabinets for you to choose from – I believe mine was called Death by Chocolate Cake which was enough of a challenge to lure me in. Again this was delicious and one of the best chocolate fudge cakes I have had in a long time.

Over all, I am so impressed with Vapiano and as a new concept I am totally on board. This is the perfect place to bring friends for a long meal and drink, as with no waiting staff there is no rushed atmosphere and everything can be taken at your own pace. Some people might prefer table service (and it definitely has it’s place) but for excellent quality food at a reasonable price – in a lovely environment – this is the perfect place to come.

Thank you to Vapiano for having me, and to manager Lauris for making me feel so welcome.