Great service, beautiful interior. I went in the late afternoon and it was very quiet. Staff was very attentive and latte was served extremely hot which I love. mango soufflé tasted artificial but texture was perfect, hot and fluffy. Coconut ice cream had very subtle flavor so it was a bit disappointing. Overall, not bad.

I was lucky enough to be taken to Australasia for my Birthday last week and I must say, what a fabulous place! After being on my list a while, I was very excited to dine here. We arrived a little early and I was treated to a glass of champagne in the bar area - Neil C. really went all out. The bar area is small but has plenty of seats. Some comfy booths and some high tables and chairs, plus some seats at the bar. For a Tuesday evening at 7pm it was quite busy with after-work drinks which made the atmosphere nice and lively. The hostess then came over to show us to our table. The restaurant is lovely. Dim lighting added a nice romantic mood and the seating was cushioned and comfy - very relaxing. The waiter passed the iPad wine list to Neil C. who selected a fine bottle of red and handed it back to the waiter - very swish indeed. We ordered a mixed selection of 6 Californian rolls as a starter. These were all outstanding. A mixture of their Spider roll, Prawn, avocado and goat's cheese Californian rolls and also the Salmon in 'black' rice and Smoked duck roll - I could have eaten these all day. Next we decided to order 6 small plates from their main menu and share each dish. Firstly was the Soft shell crab and chilli seasoned courgette flowers. This was good, although the crab was overpowered by the tempura which made it feel like you were eating crab flavoured crisps, rather than crab itself, but still lovely. Next was Szechuan salt and pepper beef skewers which were tender, juicy and so incredibly tasty - they just fell apart in your mouth. Wow. The same can be said for the BBQ lamb cutlets with soured cabbage that we also ordered. So succulent and pink! The Black cod roasted in hoba leaf was Neil C.'s choice after hearing amazing things about it from a few others. It was good! A small to medium piece of cod that was expertly cooked and had a brilliant flavour. Whether it was worth £22.50 though, was another story. We ordered Asparagus glazed with sweet sesame oil too which was a nice accompaniment to the meat. The stand out dish for me was the hand dived scallops with belly pork, chilli caramel and cucumber pickle. Beautifully presented and the flavours just went crazy in your mouth - big fan of this dish! Overall the food and service here was incredible. It most definitely lived up to my high expectations! I just need another special occasion such as a Birthday or anniversary to go back here *hint*

My Mum brought me here for my birthday...what a treat! I absolutely loved it! The exterior glass pyramid is intriguing and the interior is modern, elegant and inviting. Our waitress was one of the best I've ever had, with a understated confidence, knowledge in the menu, and good recommendations. She recommended the Cuvee Chardonnay 'Crooked Mick' The Spee'Wah, which is very similar to prosecco, and 3 or 4 tapas-style dishes each off the lunch menu. To start, I ordered Red fish curry with sticky jasmine rice and sticky pork with Vietnamese salad and smashed peanuts. The sticky pork was fantastic; the pork belly just melted in my mouth and the sweetness was just right. For mains I had 28-day aged British rib-eye steak, grilled on the robata, with seasoned rough cut chips. These were seasoned and cooked perfectly...who knew chips could taste this good? In hindsight, I probably should have stuck with the waitress' recommendation, because I ate way too much! I normally don't have dessert...let's face it, gluten and dairy free desserts in restaurants are usually pretty grim, a fruit salad or sorbet, but the waitress brought over the dessert menus. As I was 21 again (ahem) I was very naughty and ordered the chocolate dome with peanut, salted caramel and blackberries. The waitress brought it with a candle and 'happy birthday' written in chocolate sauce on the plate - a nice touch. She then poured warm salted caramel on the dome and melted it...to reveal the peanut ice cream inside :) My Mum ate most of it, but what I tried was fantastic Am I going to come here again? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!

Very very good, worth a trip but not the same as travelling the Pacific itself I had heard mixed things about this place, so I was very keen to try it out when Johnny and Yelp Manchester invited me to a Yelp Yap here. And it was great. A muddle about the reservation was soon sorted and we started with watermelon water which was perfect on such a warm day. We were there for lunch so ordered the sharing plates which range across China, Japan, Australia and everywhere in-between: three or four each is about right, given the choices available and the good sizes of each dish. We also had one mixed sushi and one nigiri platter, which helped to fill up any holes that were left. I wasn't drinking but others in my party had the lychee martini and the lychee Long Island iced tea, both of which were refreshing and novel; you might forget that you're drinking alcohol, if you're not careful! I will be back; it's definitely somewhere to impress visitors but also good for larger groups. I saw private rooms too so it's probably worth looking at this place as a venue for special occasions, if the menu, the drinks and the service were anything to judge.

Australasia is a treat. It's somewhere we save for an occasional visit, which given that the food falls on the pricey side is no bad thing. It's true that you get what you pay for, a meal for two with drinks will set you back something in the region of £80-100, but we do keep returning so Living Ventures have got to be doing something right! Until Aiden Byrne's House became the jewel in Living Ventures' Manchester dining crown, that honour fell to Australasia and it shows. The enticing glass entrance, the only part of the restaurant visible above ground, gives the place an air of mystery. You descend the stairs, revealing the view of the restaurant space from above and arrive at the reception desk, staffed by the usual LV type - attractive young ladies, dressed to impress. They'll take your coat and from here the venue splits into two. To the left is the bar area where there are plenty of creative cocktails to enjoy. On the most recent visit, I opted for a pineapple & coconut mojito. As with all the best long drinking cocktails, the alcohol was almost undetectable and the drink was all about the flavours. Mrs. F, designated driver for the evening, ordered a watermelon lemonade from the reasonably sized alcohol-free selection. This wasn't the first time - it's one of her favourites. There would be nothing wrong with a visit to Australasia for cocktails without food. We'd finished our cocktails slightly before the time we'd booked a table, but when we arrived the hostess had said that if we wanted to sit a little early it wouldn't be a problem. Indeed, arriving at 6 o'clock on a January Tuesday the restaurant was looking rather empty. The bar area became busier as we sat, but the place is well designed and didn't feel uncomfortable when it was just us and one other man sitting at the bar, as it turns out waiting for his friends to arrive. Heading back to the reception, we were seated straight away and the restaurant was starting to fill up. After being asked if we'd been before, we were left with menus and the well executed iPad wine list. The service is deliberately casual; your waiter will crouch on the floor or sit at a seat next to you to take your order. Given the South Pacific ambiance this doesn't feel at all inappropriate and the waiting staff pace everything just right. The menu consists mainly of sushi and small plates, ideally ordered 2 or 3 per person and shared. There are a few "big plates" and a "premium steak" section but we've never ordered from that. Here comes my only real criticism of one of our favourite Manchester restaurants - the menu doesn't change as often as it could. I'm looking online at the menu we dined from and it's called "June Menu". Another reason not to return too often, perhaps. We shared a couple of sushi options (asparagus, carrot and sisho leaf California roll, and spicy salmon and tuna gunkan) which were well executed and come with freshly grated at the table wasabi. We also had the vegetables on sticks tempura, entertainingly presented with the sticks pointing up from a pot of (raw) rice - I really should have taken a picture - accompanied by a sweet and delicate dipping sauce. Japanese curried korokke is another favourite, along with the pork wontons. I heartily recommend the Szechuan salt and pepper beef skewers, although on this occasion I went for the ginger and lemongrass chicken skewers which had an unexpected peanuty, satay flavour. As we dined the restaurant continued filling and was almost full when we left, not bad for a cold Tuesday in January. The clientele was notably more mature and the restaurant a touch quieter than at a weekend, when you'll need to book a few weeks in advance to secure a reservation. Australasia remains a place to be seen and one of Manchester's best restaurants, 5 years after it opened marking new ambition for Living Ventures.

Australasia is a gorgeous restaurant, and the food is just as good. Its location is great, and the way that you have to go downstairs and see the beauty of the place really is something. We were taken to out table, which was rather big and had what seemed like a sofa either side of the table. Very comfortable and nice atmosphere. The service was great, but we did have to wait a while for someone to take drinks order, and once we had they took a good 5 minutes to come. Then after another 5-10 minutes our order was taken. We ordered several items as we hadn't been before, and wanted to try different things. The starters came first, with the Sashimi and California rolls coming out first. The Sashimi was the best I've ever had, but there simply wasn't enough of it to warrant the price paid. The California rolls were delightful, some of the best sushi i have ever had. Then came the Tempura veg, and tempura prawns. They were amazing. I was reluctant to order the tempura veg, but let me tell you its one of the best things on the menu, and undoubtedly a hidden gem. The prawns were fantastic, but i was blown away by the veg. After that, the Beef skewers and Chicken satay skewers arrived. The chicken was very nice, but i have to say the Beef was fantastic. I have salt and pepper beef all the time, but this was the best I've ever had. I could tell the beef was a very good piece of meat, and the flavouring was perfect. We didn't order main courses as such, but we each got a salad each. We chose the Crispy Beef salad. one word, WOW! The best thing I've eaten in a long time, even by this places standards, this was a home run. The beef was perfect! Crunchy, chewy and sticky, out of this world! I would highly recommend this dish. I will definitely be going back here, easily one of the best restaurants in Manchester.

This is a place that can easily swing both ways..in terms of reviews. It really does depend what you get . Stepping down from the glass pyramid outside Armani led me to a very posh interior. .laden with business men enjoying their luxurious lunch. At the back was a deserted polished bar..adjacent to this lay a stand where a receptionist stood in her finery. We asked for a table for two, in which we were led to a leather comfy booth surrounded by plantation. The same receptionist soon rejoined us with an ipad to select our drinks. I personally did not see the point of this especially when it kept freezing. .i ended up choosing a cocktail with star anise which tasted like expensive cough syrup. Two menus were later handed to us. One a "tapas style collection with three plates for £16 or the proper menu with a variety of steaks, sushi, Thai food etc. But I did not take much notice of this and went for the tapasy selection with tuna sashimi to share. For my three I chose the mussels in a green Thai broth , a selection of mixed maki rolls and a red Thai fish curry. Himself (not being a fan of Thai food ) had the meat pies , pork medallions and maki. When the sashimi arrived I was happy, the colour was a beautiful red and the maki had arrived alongside it. A waitress asked if we wanted wasabi, in which she started to grind some in a bowl. I thought this was a nice touch. . The mussels arrived nice and steaming in their fragrant broth..this was very tasty and so was the red Thai fish curry.. the presentation was also excellent. By this point I was happily full. But I think the menu had been less transparent for my other half. When he had ordered the pork. .he did not expect it to be seasoned in Thai spices encased in breadcrumb. The pies he ordered were also small and some contained seafood which he was not keen. After asking for the bill I noticed how the denim clad waitress informed the receptionist. I did not like this clear divide..why did the servers have to wear denim and the receptionists wear black fancy frocks? When the card machine was handed by the woman in black I luckily mistyped my pin. ..they almost charged me £211! When in fact it should have been £60.. There was no apology. . Overall this is a airy fairy place, in which I could not afford to dine for lunch everyday like some business people. I enjoyed what I had and the service was attentive. If I came here again I would probably try something from the main menu. .I just felt sorry for my other half who went home hungry .

I had been dying to go here for ages but if you want to dine in Australasia on a Friday or Saturday night, you're looking at booking over a month in advance!! Crazy! Finally my American friend decided to book a ticket to Manchester so I made a reservation in advance on their website- even a few weeks in advance I could only get 9.15pm. The restaurant itself is hidden away under the glass 'Louvre' style pyramid on Spinningfields. Not many people seem to realise there's actually something under there! We were actually running a tad late because we were enjoying cocktails at Cloud 23 in the Hilton but I rang ahead and they shifted our reservation to 9.30. I love the decor of the restaurant, very light and beige, which makes a change from the usual dark interiors. It's gorgeous. We ordered a drink at the bar first, my friend had a glass of prosecco while I had the Rose and Lychee martini. The DJ booth is really cool- hard to describe but it's like something out of the future! The menu has various small plates and then a few bigger main meals. I'd recommend getting the small plates and having around 4 per person. I'm a huge fish/sushi fan so ordered the Spider Roll, the Tuna Tartare, the octopus, squid tempura and the Tasmanian kingfish nigiri- all outstanding! My friend had the soft shelled crab and some edamame (she wasn't feeling too hungry). Would love to try some of their meat dishes from the robata grill- a great excuse to go back! Service was excellent- I wanted another cocktail so the waiter came around with an iPad displaying the menu. Went for the Lychee Lemonade, which was just too sweet for my liking. All in all a trendy place to start your night before going out into town, but will definitely go back for special occasions!

I really enjoyed it here. I'm not sure it'll be my thing in the evening but its lovely for lunch. Lots of little dishes so you can try loads and hand rolls, I love hand rolls. Whizzy drinks menus on i pads, the drinks menu is good but I can see I would find it hard to use after a few glasses of there lovely wine. All in all far to trandy for me but might be just right for you. Nice loos too.

We popped to Australasia for lunch a few weeks ago and although it wasn't a bad experience at all, it wasn't something that blew me away like I was expecting. Ok so I love the decor and the way the restaurant is structured - 100% for that (plus I eventually got to walk underground through the big OZ glass entrance that I've wanted to venture into since we arrived in Manchester...) - but the food was the bit that I felt let the place down, especially for the price! The sushi was probably the highlight in that there was great sashimi and some lovely colourful decorations, but a number of the picky lunch items that I had just seemed bland and lacking in anything massively exciting. I did really enjoy their watermelon water though - nice work on this! Overall ok and I would be interested in trying their evening meal but with prices this high and nothing massively wowing, there's a lot of other places around that I'd probably prefer to go to based on lunch.

After moving to Manchester last January it was time to treat the parents to a nice meal to say thank you for helping move me into my new apartment. As I walked past the intriguing glass triangular doorway on my way to work (and the raving reviews from my colleagues) I knew it was going to do the trick! Given at that point I barely knew my way around Manchester I at the very least could direct us in the pouring rain to the cool atmosphere of Australasia. We were slightly early for our booking however we were shown to a cozy booth in the bar and table service for our drinks. With such a relaxed atmosphere and after taking our surroundings in (the DJ Booth is something to commend!) we were escorted to our table - with the waitress offering to take our drinks. Slightly disappointed that we didn't get one of the nice booths in the restaurant area we did have ample space on a table with comfy seats. The only criticism I would make is that we were slightly far across the table from one another - although (dare I say it) that could be to do with my Dad's hearing... We were then introduced to a waiter who talked us through the menu with suggestions on whether to go for big or small plates to get a real range of dishes for us all to try! As we'd been carrying boxes up to the 13 floor earlier in the day we were starving so needless to say we may have went slightly overboard on the amount we ordered! On recommendation we opted for some smoked eel - with the waiter saying he would pay if we didn't enjoy it! Nice touch and luckily for him I was surprised by how tasty it was!! We followed the sushi and eel with some of the bigger plates; I went for the lamb that was perfectly tender and my parents went for the seabass which was served with 5* presentation on a banana leaf. With a bottle of prosecco still underway it was hard to say no when looking at the dessert menu and two of us decided to jump in and ordered the ice cream and chocolate soufflé. We weren't disappointed - the soufflé was light and served hot. The chocolate sauce was presented in a glass teapot matching the contemporary feel and style that is seen throughout the restaurant! Definitely a 5* experience to celebrate an occasion or just for that special treat, no doubt I will be back in the future! Thanks to the great staff for making our nice so tranquil!

This place is sooo good I cannot describe! I just say go there and have a food experience! 10 out of 10! Our table manager Greg did an extra ordinary job! Really it is so simple to give good service, but it is not often you get it. ( I used to be a waiter in my youth) The entrance look a bit akward, but be prepared for a surprise!!

I have been wanting to visit Australasia for awhile. Ever since the arrived in Manchester and with the entrance near the front of Spinningfields and the interesting triangle glass entrance going down some stairs. I was lucky enough to be invited to the Yap of Yelp event here. When we all sat down, we were given different menus and explained how it all works. Basically there is the food menu, drinks menu and then separate to this was cocktail menu which was on an iPad. It seems a little over complicated having so many different menus on different 'devices'. However, I can kind of see why the cocktail menu was on an iPad as it allows up to find the drink you went based on the main alcohol etc. While we were looking through the menu, we ordered some watermelon infused water for the table. I am actually not really a fan of watermelon but have never "drank it" - it tasted ok but thats just a personal thing since not really into watermelon. For the food, we ordered one mixed sushi and one nigiri platter to share between all of us. For the main, we ordered each item from the lunch menu and this was shared between the 8 of us. Some of the food wasn't as sharable and it would have been nice (since they knew we were sharing) was to maybe cut up into smaller portions some of the dishes. All the food I tried tasted lovely - I really liked the sushi, the teriyaki beef and the tempura. Didn't get to try the broth as it wasn't really a sharable sort of dish. As mentioned by Natalie, the pricing was a bit odd for the lunch menu. Usually when you order more of something you save money. But here its 2 for £12, 3 for £16, 4 for £21??