Manchester based writer Dave Marsland makes landing at Dear Sailor in Spinningfields for his latest review.
Manchester’s Spinningfields isn’t a place you’d expect to find a venue that isn’t food-focused, or indeed without a famed London name.
Dear Sailor, though, looks to be breaking that trend. Inspired by the speakeasies and jazz bars of 1930s Tokyo, Dear Sailor comprises a covered outdoor terrace with long banks of seating, and a main area with a towering, illuminated bar at one end and a golden ‘wave’ of fabric hanging overhead.
With blue walls and brown leather seats, the setting is sleek and the welcome relaxed and warm.
Classic serves adorn the menu, with subtle twists that catch your eye. Negroni Shiro is with clarified grapefruit, and Grasshopper 2.0 with Fernet Menta and vanilla cream, while the Mai Tai has an in-house heavy rum blend that shows this place is about substance – and detail – as well as its more obvious style.
SCORE: 7/10
» 1 Spinningfields Square, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3AP