Dinner at Vapiano

Last Friday evening Sam and I were lucky enough to visit a new restaurant which has recently opened in the Corn Exchange in Manchester- Vapiano. I loved this place so much that I just had to share it with you all!

THE RESTAURANT

As I said, this is located in the Corn Exchange in Manchester City Centre, which is really easy to get to from the train stations and by bus if you don’t have a car. The building itself is really impressive and very inviting, and I can imagine sitting outside on a hot day would be a really great experience.

The decor inside is simple, light and fresh- with all the tables being either wood or white marble. The thing I really love about this places is that they have fresh Basil and Rosemary plants EVERYWHERE. Even on our table they were there, which I think just brings that homely and relaxing feel to the place.

The walls are full of cute little quotes and beautiful signs, you can see that a lot of work has been put into the decor of this place.

The Experience

The theme of this restaurant is ‘open bar’ which means that you can take a seat at any table you want and move over to the bar area whenever you like without having to be moved. I like this idea a lot because it meant that we could eat our dinner and then go and sit on the sofas and have a couple of drinks together. When you first walk into the restaurant you are given a card, and whenever you go to the bar or the kitchens, you just order what you want and scan it onto the card, and then as you leave you hand the cards back in and pay.

When ordering food, they have a pasta kitchen and a pizza kitchen both located at the back of the top floor, and all you have to do is tell the chef what you want and he will scan your card, then give you a buzzer. When the food is ready the buzzer goes off and you go and pick it up. I love this idea, and I think it gives the whole restaurant a more chilled out and relaxing feel.

The Food

Both Sam and I opted for Pizza, and I ordered a Margarita while Sam went for the meaty option. This pizza was honestly one of the best stone baked pizzas I’ve ever had in my life. It was thin, crispy, juicy and cheesy. I couldn’t ask for anything better!

Once we’d finished our food we went over to the bar area and took a seat on one of the sofas, our train wasn’t for another hour so we made the most of having a few quite drinks and enjoying each other’s company.