Relish

The Great Northern Warehouse has been a greatly underused space since it was developed. The interior mall has yet to attract many tenants despite having a fitness centre and a cinema. The Peter Street facing entrance has never suffered such neglect however, with a bar or restaurant operation having flanked it for several years.

Relish now occupies the space previously held by Persia, the undervalued Turkish restaurant that never truly found its place in the city. With its 4am opening hours at the weekend and a funky music policy, Relish is better placed to attract the attentions of a range of clientele that its predecessor. Clubbers from the likes of Plush are anticipated to be having their curiosity aroused by the menus and may well be back during the week.

The restaurant area’s décor is dominated by deep red with black and creates a seductively stylish effect for up to 80 covers. The bar area at the front of house is a more straightforward modern bar design, with neutral colours, oversized fabric lampshades and a selection of funky seating styles from future-modern swivel chairs to padded banquettes.

The new menu features starters such as prawns in chilli, garlic and peppers (£5.95), barbeque pork ribs (£4.95) and vegetable skewers (£3.95). Main courses are divided on the menu into grills, salads, burgers, pasta and fish dishes, using New York’s typical diet as inspiration. The dishes include rack of lamb (£15.95), sirloin steak (£14.95), sea bass (£14.95) and coconut prawn salad (£10.95). To finish, Relish suggest the chocolate brownies (£4.95) or the berry meringue (£5.95).

The response from diners willing to give Relish a try has been surprisingly positive. Expectations for a restaurant serving the Peter Street bar crowd were not high but there are also hundreds of offices and now apartments in the vicinity, so it would be foolish to assume that those potential customers could be simply served another mediocre bar food offering like that which is cooked up by the nearby competition.