“Food served until late”, was music to my ears, after trapsing round the soggy streets of the city centre. Static traffic due to the curiosities of the exclusive Chanel show had made uber and public transport obsolete.
Third times a charm, was certainly the luck we experienced at Lücky- Ramen +sushi, after trying two larger venues nearby, which left us seeking refuge due to too many bodies and deafening music. What we were looking for was a cosy corner to have a much needed catch up over a soothing drink and bite to eat.
Neatly nestled in the heart of Ancoats, Mule’s inviting lightbulb fairy lights pulled us to go inside. The almond colour scheme throughout the interior, and the warm low dangling lamps, immediately imposed a calming effect, and along with the open kitchen window, it felt as though we were about to be cooked up some wonders in some sort of fancy grotto.
The menu had two sides, the sushi and starters or the ramen. On this occasion we felt like tantalising our tastebuds with an array of Asian flavours, so starters and sushi it was.
Service was speedy, I’d barely been seated for 5 minutes before the dishes started pouring out. First up, the Tuna Suraisu, arguably my favourite dish of the evening, a gernerous portion of thick tender slices of slightly seared tuna, but more on the raw sashimi side, with crunchy garlic pieces and a tangy goma sauce, all washed down with a glass of contrastingly dry Pinot Noir.
Next up was the crab tempura, two pieces of dense crunchy battered crab with a generous dollop of spicy mayo, followed by the delectable dragon rolls- which certainly didn’t disappoint. A lavish portion of 8 pieces of perfectly cooked sushi rice, filled with crispy prawns and topped with fresh avocado and tobiko. Finally out came our veg dish of the day, the miso cabbage, which despite being a bit of a take or leave dish flavour wise, made a useful utensil for scooping up the last remnants of succulent sauce from the other dishes.
All of that, washed down with two drinks came to the tender price of £61, which for the amount of food between two, the palatable flavours and two drinks was great value for money. Particularly in comparsion to some of my most recent visits to other Asian restaurants in the city centre, such as the likes of sexy fish, which left me with a £100+ dent in my pocket, and a sour taste in my mouth due to the lack of quality which accompanied the hefty price tag.
Disparate from the calibre of the aromatic flavours, the chop sticks were the shoddy kind you have to snap apart, which I somehow always manage to do unevenly, which left me eating a classy meal with splinters sticking up in lieu of my little pinky. Regardless of my inapt chopstick experience, I will be back at Lücky soon to try the ramen, as the tranquilizing undertone of the room and the sensual flavours has placed them high up on my list of my favourite places to eat in the city centre.