Manzi's

Manzi's returns to Soho as the Wolseley Hospitality Group's revival of the seafood house that fed the West End for most of the twentieth century. It runs along Bateman's Buildings, a quiet alley heading south from Soho Square between Greek and Frith Streets, and spreads across two floors and a terrace. Fabled Studio built the interiors around a nautical conceit: stone mermaids, a marlin mural at the door, sea-green banquettes under chandeliers, marble and brass. The kitchen works the raw bar and the grill, from crustacea and Dover sole to moules marinière and the daily catch.

The first floor is the room for a party. A square marble bar guarded by life-size mermaids anchors a bright, high-ceilinged space, and a built-in clamshell DJ booth turns it over to music, with resident DJs on Friday and Saturday nights. Taken on its own it holds up to 100 seated or 120 standing, or seats forty around a single long table; the whole restaurant hires exclusively for 100 seated and 200 standing. Smaller groups take a semi-private section of the main dining room, and The Coral Table seats eight in a tucked-away nook.