itsu

I am so happy this place has opened! I’m a huge sushi fan, and have spent the last two years since arriving back in Manchester after a stint in Australia, slating Manchester for it’s lack of sushi. There is still no where near enough of these places around, but it’s nice to see the city try…
It’s very tucked away at the back of Spinningfields, meaning those who work nearby benefit from this place, as shoppers wouldn’t really come down this way. However, all the delights of sushi rolls, salads, soups, rice snacks etc are available in this eat-​in or take-​out place, providing a healthier lunch time option.
Nice interior, quite clean and spacious, with it’s usual bright colours.
Very happy to see this place open and wasn’t disapointed at all by my visit. I picked up the crab and avocado maki rolls and dark chocolate rice cakes for my lunch, along with coconut water, and got both my savoury and sweet fix without guilt.

I called in Itsu today while in Spinningfields, looking to check out their stores. Having seen a large number of them on my trials, especially in London, I decided to finally check out a store today, having previously been aware of their gluten free noodles, and their full range available in supermarkets throughout The UK, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
I’m reviewing this store from an allergy point of view, and although it is quite a nice store it still remains quite poor for allergies, which for a company who are a growing name throughout The UK, and a household name now in London, I expected better, as Manchester United expected when hiring Louis Van Gaal, only to win nothing, and although it might be great for one without any allergies, and a big fan of this sort of cuisine, it simply isn’t for allergies, which means sadly the low one star rating.
This is one of the newer «Itsu» stores, opening in 2016 if I recall, and is actually one of the stores featured on their website alongside other branches in more «northern» locations such as Leeds, as they look to expand out of the British capital, even into Reading.
Enough about the Itsu brand in general, and back to this store. Most of their range are in the fridges, selling mainly fish based products, sushi and «salad» meals with both «low fat» and «regular» dishes, the food mainly is what is in these fridges, with other than frozen yogurt and a few other minor things being in store, and that’s just a machine anyway!
The staff seemed nice enough, they helped me with the doors on the way in and out, although it was quiet and I seemed to be the only one in their, so I doubt I would have got this level of service if it wasn’t as quiet as The DW Stadium home end at a Wigan Athletic match.
The woman who served me, helped show me some products that were gluten free, which were few, they were dishes that had soy sauce containing gluten, which was nearly all of them and for a contamination issue perhaps in the manufacturing sector, I wanted to avoid them. The allergy information on dishes was slightly blocked off due to the tags they put on. The server seemed to be keeping the list to herself, like she thought I was going to run off with it, and she didn’t seem to be helping to find something I’d want too much, she constantly went over the same few dishes and the level of service didn’t seem engaging, to get me to find something I’d want to eat, feel safe eating and enjoy. I didn’t even know which dishes were gluten free without the soy sauce sachet, and which didn’t have it due to how she explained it, which considering it was quiet, she had the time to put the effort in and make it a good experience for me.
The prices on what I did see, were quite high end, although I’m not really used to these type of restaurants, with Itsu mainly specializing in Japanese /​Fusion, most of the dishes looked like a bit of a mess, and all piled into one which was unappealing, especially for the price.
Another reason for low satisfaction with this store, is their opening hours, they are in a central location in Manchester but still they are not open Saturday’s and Sundays, I find this rather absurd and stupid, as most tourists and visitors will be visiting on a weekend, and to not open then is basically deeming yourself to failure, and I feel they would probably get more visitors on those days than mid-​week, with the only people mainly visiting Monday — Friday being those who want to grab something to eat on the way to work.
In the end, I decided to walk out without buying anything, as I felt the selection of gluten fre was poor and due to her poor dealing of the situation I didn’t feel confident eating the products, as well as considering poor presentation and high prices on most dishes. This does look like a nice store, yes, but if you have allergies, it probably isn’t and if you are gluten free and wanting an Itsu product, you are probably best going to Sainsbury’s and picking up a noodle pot there (even they are quite poor quality), which would also be much cheaper!

itsu is Spinningfields’ latest addition — on opening day they gave out free lunches and snacks and, understandably, the queue snaked all the way down to Leftbank. Forgoing that opportunity, myself and some colleagues returned two weeks later for a quick lunch and catch up.
It’s located in the old Samsi unit and it’s a huge space, with lovely large floor to ceiling windows which let in lots of natural light (a nice change from the moody ambience of the likes of Artisan and Neighbourhood). Their array of salads and sushi can be found in the cooler units, along with their drinks selection, and hot pots can be ordered from the counter. They also have frozen yogurt which, come summer, I’m sure will be a much welcome addition to the area.
Now, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed in this situation; there’s so much choice! Not wanting to hold up the busy lunch queue, I decided to pick up a chicken teriyaki rice salad, though the hot pots looks delicious. Staff were very efficient and worked well to keep the queue moving.
You pick up your cutlery or chopsticks from a side unit, plus any additional sauces you may want, including hoisin and itsu’s own hot sauce. These are also on the table if you eat in.
We had a good experience and it was great to see the area so busy, a trend which will only continue with the opening of XYZ. However, their price point is enough to put me off returning — £5.99 for a salad which didn’t fill me up, and roughly the same for a hot pot, simply seems too much. If you were to add snacks and a drink you could easily spend £10+.
Somewhere to keep in mind for quick lunches in the future, but only near pay day.