FAQ'S
Q: Who is behind MosoMoso Chinese & Thai Restaurant Bar?
Q: Why Restaurant Bar?
Q: How long has the MosoMoso Restaurant been opened?
Q: What does MosoMoso mean?
Q: What does MosoMoso has to offer?
Q: How much did it cost to put the concept of MosoMoso together?
Q: The design is contemporary but is your cooking authentic?
Q: What is/are the philosophy behind MosoMoso?
Q: Apart from the design & cooking, what makes MosoMoso so different from other Oriental restaurants?
Q: Can everyone choose from both Chinese & Thai?
Q: Does MosoMoso provide diners with a non-smoking area?
Q: Most restaurants with the so-called non-smoking area aren't really segregated completely from the smoking area & somehow tobaccos smoke flow through. How does it work in MosoMoso?
Q: Does MosoMoso provide for the disable guests?
Q: Does family with infant or small children welcome?
Q: Is there a dress code?
Q: Is there any special savings during the week?
Q: Do you use MSG in your cooking?
Q: Are you aware of different dietary requirements?
Q: Do you serve Halal meat?
Q: Do you serve buffet?
Q: Do you still open early in the morning for Dim Sum breakfast?
Q: What about Salsa dance classes?
Q: What are the costs for Salsa classes?
Q: Is there any special party night?
Q: How can we get in touch for all the events?
Q: What about parking?
Q: Do you do take away food?
Q: Do you do home delivery?
Q: Who is behind MosoMoso Chinese & Thai Restaurant Bar?
A: Raymond was working for other restaurant & the brainchild behind the well known ground breaking Pacific Restaurant in China town back in 1999 (winner of best newcomers restaurant awards 1999) and also the fashionable eateries East on Faulkner Street.
Now working on his own with his partners, his hands are no longer tied & he can archive even bigger goal in giving the best and moving the standards of his restaurant a step closer to ‘perfection’!
His commitment was acknowledged by then the Health Minister Edwina Curry for advising & providing healthy eating to his guests. Featured by Granada reports and also documented by BBC’s ‘Dim Sum & the Dragon. He is firmly supported by Luke Bainbridge, ex-editor of City Life Magazine & by the ‘ALL TIME KING’ of food critics, Ray King of Manchester Evening News. His comments on MosoMoso: -
Friday, 2nd April 2004
M.E.N Review: Moso Moso
Ray King
RAYMOND Wong famously changed the face of Chinese restaurants in Manchester. Best-known as the begetter of the groundbreaking Pacific in the heart of Chinatown, which not only broke tradition in terms of its radical contemporary design, but by effectively creating two restaurants in one - China and Thailand, each with its appropriate menu - on separate floors.
From there the design graduate, who's coming up for his 30th year in Manchester, moved on to launch East in Faulkner Street, another fine dining space devoid of the clichéd Oriental trappings. And now he's opened The Big One - the 250-cover Moso Moso at the meeting point of Manchester University's sprawling campus and the growing medical complex centred on Manchester Royal Infirmary on the edge of Rusholme's "Curry Mile".
Once again there is little to suggest from the ultra-modern look of the place, comprising a large no-smoking ground floor area seating 200 and a mezzanine above with room for 150, that this is actually a Far Eastern restaurant. Why not, I wondered.
Impressive
Actually Moso Moso would be an impressive design statement whatever its genre. Ranks of blond beech wood tables are set on a highly polished, two-tone wooden floor, the larger ones inset with glass turntables. They are either surrounded by attractive modern seating or arranged into smart booths which lend a touch of intimacy despite the sheer scale of the surroundings. There's inspired use of bold, warm colours, yet there's an airiness about the whole place. Very clever.
The menu...well the menu is something else. And then some. Imagine the longest Cantonese bill of fare you've ever encountered - then double it. For as well as the infinite variety of Chinese dishes on offer, from dim sum to lobster banquets, there's a vast array of Thai choices listed too.
All told more than 420 dishes over 20-odd pages. It's a Russian novel of a menu which I'm pretty sure will find many customers opting for the banquets. And on top of that there's a separate dim sum menu offering a "rise and shine" Chinese breakfast with hefty discounts between 8.30am and 11.30am.
How's that for an incentive for late-rising students to get out of bed in the morning?
We started off with bowls of real seaweed soup with minced pork and bean curd (£8 for two), which won't be to everyone's taste but slithered down a treat with the fresh tang of the seaside. Then we got stuck in to some seriously delicious dim sum from a comprehensive list of steamed, deep-fried and pan-fried items competitively priced at £2.20-£2.50 a go.
Minced spicy pork and nut dumplings were superb; steamed prawn dumplings and pan-fried prawn and garlic chive parcels ditto. Then we had plump, creamy, steamed fresh scallops on the shell with soy sauce (£6 for two) and still had almost another 20 pages of the menu to go.
Fish and shellfish choice is enormous, ranging from lobster and sea bass (not often seen char-grilled on a Chinese menu) to Dover sole, monkfish, cuttlefish and squid as well as the more familiar king prawns, crab and scallops. And vegetarian dishes - Chinese and Thai - run from items 379 to 429.
We main coursed on another rarity in a Chinese restaurant - salmon - listed among the "Thai Chef's Specials". Deep-fried salmon with sweet and sour chilli sauce (£9) was a revelation, the generous fillet caramelised on the outside with a clean chilli bite and dividing easily into delicious moist flakes below; perfectly done, in fact, on its colourful bed of stir-fried mixed peppers. We partnered that with pan-fried minced pork cake with salty fish (£8.50), one of those classic "how the hell did anyone ever work out that this combination would work" dishes, which provided an ideal counterpoint to the piquant sweetness of the salmon.
The wine list, as was the case at Pacific and East, is a tribute to Wong's enthusiasm for the grape. It also runs to several pages, the first two of which list prestige selections with, in particular, some serious burgundies. There's attention to detail in the listing of wines that can live with spicy dishes, a good raft of French vins de pays, Italian and New World choices. Argentine Torrontes, perfect with seafood, is £12.50.
COOKING: Top notch Chinese and Thai cuisine with unprecedented choices.
Other comments:-
Manchester Online Reviews
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews80068.html
http://www.reviewcentre.com/review137353.html
http://www.reviewcentre.com/review_comments137353.html
http://hwaet.typepad.com/emptyfridge/2004/09/moso_moso.html
http://www.manchester-eating.com/66.htm
Sugarvine Reviews
Also
Nominated for the Hi-Life Diner Magazine Best Oriental Restaurant Award 2004
Nominated for the City Life’s Magazine Best Newcomers of the Year Award 2004
back to top
Q: Why Restaurant Bar?
A: Restaurant Bar may be a name worried by many discerning diners, but at MosoMoso we encourage out guests to relax & enjoy the surroundings at MosoMoso and to participate in extra activities such as Salsa (dance classes) at our club MosoLatino. On top of that, we also have wireless internet access so you can choose to have just a coffee and do some work away from it all!
back to top
Q: How long has the MosoMoso Restaurant been opened?
A: MosoMoso Restaurant has been opened to serve the general public since 18th March 2004 after an extensive six months refurbishment.
back to top
Q: What does MosoMoso mean?
A: Moso (Mao Zhu) is the name of a giant bamboo – PHYLLOSTACHYS HETEROCYCLA PUBESCENS (http://www.bamboogiant.com/html/Moso.html for more info.); heavily cultivated in China for bamboo shoots and their woody parts are used in building materials, furniture, walls and floorings. Moso Bamboo is widely adapted by different countries like Japan (landscaping), Jamaica (river rafts), certain parts of Europe and USA (plantations) for its multi-roles in providing a very decorative landscape garden (perfect wind shield & boundary partitions) or furniture making materials. It is such a beautiful plant and I have to name it twice!
back to top
Q: What does MosoMoso has to offer?
A: The concept behind MosoMoso is simple!
MosoMoso is equipped with: -
1. A La Carte menu with more than 500 dishes & 4 Combination Banquet Menus to choose from (first to introduce to this country by Raymond on 1992), giving his guest a bigger freedom to choose
2. Over 150 of selected wines from different regions of the world
3. Wireless internet access
4. 48” plasma screen with video conferencing facility
5. Special sport events
6. Function room on the mezzanine level to accommodate up to 150 guests
7. Salsa Club MosoLatino
8. Food & wine matching dinner with speaker from individual domain
9. Free wine tasting events
10. MosoLatino Salsa venue
And it is: -
* The place, one of the best restaurants in UK and you can dine & choose from two of the most popular cuisines from the Pacific Rim.
* A place you can just have a coffee or tea (even English tea)
* A place you can do some work with wireless internet access
* A place you can host a morning workshop
* A place you can host a dinner meeting
* A place to celebrate your birthday
* A place to watch & support your favourite team playing
* A place to have fun & to learn to Salsa (full details under moso_latino on yahoo messenger, http://profiles.yahoo.com/moso_latino?intl=us&os=win&ver=7,5,0,333 , live video broadcast on night of event
back to top
Q: How much did it cost to put the concept of MosoMoso together?
A: Using the best of materials; solid hard woods such as oak, tulip, mahogany etc. to refurbish MosoMoso Restaurant in order to work very closely according to the Chinese ancient art of Feng Shui to create a minimalist design to maximise comfort & harmony for our guests; the project cost just under £1m.
Colour - white surrounding for air, blue offset for water, oak floor for earth, red for living. Shapes - Curves symbolise smoothness & continuity.
back to top
Q: The design is contemporary but is your cooking authentic?
A: The ambient of a contemporary restaurant does not mean fusion cooking even though the stereotype ‘Westernised Traditional’ design with the golden dragon & red carpet has always been regarded as authentic.
At MosoMoso, our aim is to deliver a no holdback, 100% genuine cooking from the regions (with the best cuts of fillets and seafood) & to provide a gateway of understanding for future travellers. Due to the lack of certain ingredients or freshness of local produces, some may say it can never be as good as from the places of origin (debatable) but at MosoMoso we make up the different with fine cooking & enthusiasm.
back to top
Q: What is/are the philosophy behind MosoMoso?
A: Foreign cooking in Great Britain, as in the rest of the world, tends to be westernised to certain extends in taste & structure. Authenticity lies mostly among decors rather than the cooking itself. Granted, quite a few foreign dishes do raise an eyebrow or two, but that shouldn’t be an excuse not to show the true side of any individual culture.
At MosoMoso, we threw away the old school attitude, we refuse to westernise our cuisine, we encourage our guests to be adventurous & try the ‘true’ cooking with a no ‘quibble money back’ guarantee so come & try it all!
back to top
Q: Apart from the design & cooking, what makes MosoMoso so different from other Oriental restaurants?
A: At MosoMoso, we house two of the world’s most popular cuisines from the Pacific Rim, Chinese & Thai
- ONE RESTAURANT, TWO LEVELS, ONE CONCEPT, TWO CUISINES
back to top
Q: Can everyone choose from both Chinese & Thai?
A: Yes. I have successfully merged two cuisines onto one menu, complimentary to each other and it is very informative. All in all 528 dishes in total to choose from and you don’t have to be parted with your love one and sit on different sections of the restaurant.
back to top
Q: Does MosoMoso provide diners with a non-smoking area?
A: On the contrary, not only does MosoMoso have a smoking / non-smoking area, it is one of the very few Oriental restaurants in UK to provide such an option with good partition. On top of that, there is a lounge area for smoker to take a 5 minutes break if his / her party is seated in the non-smoking area.
back to top
Q: Most restaurants with the so-called non-smoking area aren't really segregated completely from the smoking area & somehow tobaccos smoke flow through. How does it work in MosoMoso?
A: Not only does the MosoMoso have segregated areas, it also has one of the best air filtration / air condition system available. In all, there are:
- Two fouled air extraction systems
- One filtered heated intake of fresh air system
- One filtered recycled air system
It is such an effective system, even if you are a non-smoker; possibly you will not be too anxious if you were to sit in the smoking area.
back to top
Q: Does MosoMoso provide for the disable guests?
A: As the NHS standard, there is access & facility for disable guests.
back to top
Q: Does family with infant or small children welcome?
A: Yes. As we are family orientated & we do not believe in baby sitter. In MosoMoso, all the staff love to mingle with children & there is full baby changing facility as well.
back to top
Q: Is there a dress code?
A: Yes. Smart casual is appreciated.
back to top
Q: Is there any special savings during the week?
A: At MosoMoso, there are on going promotions throughout the week (as with all promotions are subjected to changes so please check for updates)
1. Lunch time savings - 20% off A La Carte from 11:00am to 2:30pm Monday to Saturday
2. Pre-theatre savings - 15% off A La Carte from 4:00pm to 6:30pm Monday to Saturday
3. Sunday family savings - 20% off A La Carte from 11:00am to 5:00pm Sunday
back to top
Q: Do you use MSG in your cooking?
A: No! I am strongly against food enhancer & especially food preservatives! At MosoMoso, we cook fresh direct from the market. In full, MSG stands for monosodium glutamate. Type of food enhancer widely adopted in bad Oriental cooking. Different food enhancer can be found in baked bean, ready-made sauces etc. in local supermarket. But unfortunately, there is a small trace of MSG present in the soy sauce we cook with & at this moment in time is unavoidable.
back to top
Q: Are you aware of different dietary requirements?
A: Yes. We respect & understand the need for special diets such as allergies, gluten free, Atkins, South Beach but please let us know so we can go through with your orders & not to miss out on any issue regarding any particular diet.
back to top
Q: Do you serve Halal meat?
A: Not generally. But in the past twenty years, I come to know many Muslims friends who require special Halal meats. At MosoMoso, we serve certified Halal chicken & duck if require as an alternative.
back to top
Q: Do you serve buffet?
A: Yes. On the condition we only serve buffet from 12:00pm to 1:30pm Monday to Friday (so that the buffet can be served as close as A LA Carte quality, since you’ll find a lot of buffet style restaurants keep their food heated too long due to their long serving hours).
I personally do not endorse buffet, but since MosoMoso is located in such a ‘rush-rush’ area with all the students & professionals from the nearby Universities & Hospitals, it is a good alternative for them to just come in during their short lunch break & enjoy an array of food all ready for them.
Or how about just grab a ChopChop lunch box if you are really pushed for time?
(Available 7 days a week from 12:00pm to 5:00pm)
back to top
Q: Do you still open early in the morning for Dim Sum breakfast?
A: Not anymore, with the cultural differences I am afraid my second attempt to serve Dim Sum breakfast in UK had failed & I have to admit defeat to cereals. However you can still enjoy a late breakfast or early lunch at 11:00am at MosoMoso.
Our opening hours have been changed to: -
11:00am to 11:30pm Sunday to Thursday
11:00am to 01:30am Friday & Saturday
back to top
Q: What about Salsa dance classes?
A: At the moment MosoLatino is running a Thursday Salsa dance classes it starts at 7:00pm. You are welcome to stay behind after lessons & practise your steps! And it is hosted by the well known & reputable Juan & Susan of Cuba De Salsa: -
Lunch time Salsa from 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Evening Salsa from 7:00pm to 8:00pm for beginners
8:00pm to 9:00pm for improvers
9:00pm to 10:00pm fro intermediates
The 3rd level, Intermediates, is for accomplished dancers to learn more complicated turn patterns and routines in Cuban style, some La Rueda (the Cuban wheel), Son, and a variety of other steps including Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, synchopation etc. It would suit dancers of other salsa styles who want to familiarise themselves with Cuban style as well.
Dancing after: - free to class members £2 to others
For more info: - visit www.salsadecuba.co.uk
back to top
Q: What are the costs for Salsa classes?
A: There is a small charge for all the classes, currently £5.00 per lesson & £8.00 for two hours (please check for updates)
back to top
Q: Is there any special party night?
A: Yes! We are organising: -
* Once a month Cuban night (Thursday) with live band & Dj.
* Thursday night after dance classes.
* Friday & Saturday Latino night (from 9:30pm with one hour beginner’s class) for after dinner parties.
back to top
Q: How can we get in touch for all the events?
A: Best way is to join our mailing list by going to our front page so that we can keep you update on special events.
back to top
Q: What about parking?
A: You can park right outside the restaurant (single yellow line) from: -
* 7:00pm Monday to Friday
*
12:30pm Saturday
* All day Sunday
And for the rest of the time you can use the hospital visitor car park situated literally on top of the restaurant, entrance by Grafton Street (On the discretion of NHS only) £1.50 for 3 Hours. £3.00 for 4 Hours
AND PLEASE DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE!
back to top
Q: Do you do take away food?
A: Yes. You get 10% discount on the menu price as well but please if you can make it, come & enjoy our cooking in the restaurant instead.
back to top
Q: Do you do home delivery?
A: Yes we deliver to addresses within 1.5 mile in radius from the restaurant. Minimum delivery order is £20 after discount plus £1.50 delivery charge (from 7:00pm to 11:00pm only).
back to top |