Manchester

From reading what I have done below..I am shocked at how blatently jealous people are of Mr Hira and how childish they are to write such comments... Regardless of what or how he owns things this is about Ithaca! I strongly agree with the statement that "we" do not kno why its taken so long etc but I want remind people that it has had so much hype n media attention because it is going to be unique to anything else Manchester has got going on at the moment. From what I know of Mr Hira, he is a perfectionist...he never settles for second best and Ithaca will not be...well I personally am waiting patiently to enjoy Ithaca take Bars and Restaurants in Manchester to a new level...lets see if your up Panacea's arse then! One more thing...if you have a personal opinion of Mr Hira, why not be a man and discuss that with him, instead of attacking him through his work. SG.

Cowards hide through being anonymous, obviously too scared to tell Arny to his face. Probably because Arny has friends in all the right and wrong places, one of the few characters in Manchester that has a serious network of people that will do things for him without expecting anything in return. Simply because he really is a nice guy. Err, yes I am a coward, Im hiding too But at least I admit it. All the best to Ithica!

OMG, I was taken on to the site known as Ithaca at 36 John Dalton Street.

This isn't some kind of pr squabble, this is simple observation pointers.

The site is stunning, marble floors, fabricated walls, glass walls, silver glitter, chrome lift. It is so so beautiful.

I frequent Panacea and Cloud 23 and love them and will still go to them. Credit where credit is due, the venue truly is an outstanding masterpiece and excuse the pun but will raise the bar to a new level with regards to design and style venues.

Good luck and again as Kylie says "wow"....... x

lOOKING FORWARD TO IT. LONG TIME COMING AND SURE IT WILL BE A KNOCK OUT. YOU WILL WIN SOME, AND YOU WILL LOSE SOME ARNIE, BUT IF YOU HAVE THE PASSION AND FAITH, THEN FORGET ANYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE. THE REST IS JUST A NATURAL EVOLUTION AND SON YOU WILL EVOLVE TO GREAT THINGS. I KNOW IT AND I SEE IT AND WITH THIS PEOPLE WILL FEAR YOU IN FORMS OF HATRED, JEALOUSY AND BITTERNESS.

what's with all the negative and positive reviews/comments by those who wish to remain annonymous? Or are these blogs by Mr Hira in a bid talking about the "super cool" bar that is yet to open?

why you anyonymous as well?

leave Arnie alone cowards

Obviously someone or something has it in for you Arnie, and they are too afraid and very immature to admit who they are on-line. But to be fair that is their WHLN right. Suggest you ignore the negativity, and their childish and stupid comments. In fact I'm sure you are, already! The relevance of the subject is way off course and isn't appropriate. This blog, with no offence is not about you Arnie, it is about a Venue that has been scheduled to open on many occasions but has failed to do so. Only you and your fellow associates and Investors know the reason or reasons for these continuous delays, and the only piece of advice that I can humbly offer is that you get Ithaca open and shut everyone up. But don't expect the drainage to stop when this happens, these lost souls have nothing better to do but to try and bring people like yourself down because they are jealous and envy you and everything about you, that?s why they stoop to levels of abuse and negativity. They are meaningless, worthless, lost and very sad souls that you should pity. Rise to the occasion Arnie, get Ithaca open once and for all. Manchester is crying out for a new style venue.

Agree, get it open lad, f**k everyone else... Do it for yaself kid

I can?t believe the owner is actually commenting on hear! How sad and insecure, how old are you all? I thought this was a serious business I cannot believe serious investors are involved with this clown it pathetic! No personal insult here I don?t know him from Adam but you don?t run a business like this. I believe the chef form Nobu is working elsewhere in Manchester and then leaving for Europe which if I am honest was the only thing to get excited about. Why would you want to go there when you can taste the same food for a third of the price in the northern quarter without listening to this BS!

No personal insult, and you call the owner a clown? How is that not an insult you dumb ass? Obviously you don't think before you comment. Think there is only one clown on here and that is you.

Seems to be a playground for immature grown ups to pass non productive and un related comments on. Especially on areas that have no relevance to this blog. This blog is created with the purpose of providing reviews on the venue. As the venue is not open, any comments that are not associated are not relevant unless they demonstrate precise reasons in delay. As the only issue on here that can be truly addressed is the timing of opening and delay factors. Who cares where the Chef is or what he does. If has nothing to do with Ithaca then what relevance is he, unless you are trying to advertise for him. Heard he wasnt very good anyway.

Just read Arnie's comments, what are wrong with them. He is allowed like anyone to respond on this webiste, hence why the offering is there open to anyone. His comments seem to rise above the situation. Agreed he doesnt need to, and personally he should ignore all the losers on here but thats his choice. Our opinions of him being right or wrong for them shouldn't bother him because they do not matter.

Heard the previous chef from Nobu but hasnt kept a job for more than a year in any establishment. Also heard he is a womanizer and more importantly actually over rated, and crap. Hence why he is leaving not only manchester, but england. Hope Ithica have found a replacement! That's all.

Paul Day, is an ex-head-chef of Nobu and by the sounds of it theoritically a ex head chef of Ithaca. What it doesn?t seem to emphasise is that the Nobu concerned was Milan, and it was some years ago. Mr Day has in fact been rather a peripatetic chef, and his cv also includes stints at Nahm SW1, Blakes SW7, Mezzo and Khew.

anyone have a contact email address for jobs?

hahahaha, well isnt ARNIE the governor of california? That's remotely successful with the name ARNIE lol x

I agree it best to be quick

so it's happening..... saw the sign go up today, well may have been up for a while but noticed it today... congrats gents..

Lets get in there before the others

when you say the others, do u mean the ones from the island? lol

ANYONE ON HERE CAN REVIEW ANYTHING REMOTELY SUCCUSSFUL THAT HAPPENS TO BE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NAME ARNIE THEN I DEFY U TO DO SO

i can review one central street, been going for 5 years plus, profitable and successful and partly owned by arnie annd rajan kumar... so you have just been defied... now shut up and go away. One Central Street Limited. companieshouse.gov.uk/ it will cost you ?1.00 to verify this information.

I know Arnie personally and he's not a bad fellow at all, far from it, brilliant idea man, great pr man, very nice person in general, has his flaws like us all, impatient, easily aggrivated, and stubborn at times. However I, in fact, we I should state, would/will continue to invest in him all day long. He simply needs the right management structure, and organisation to execute his consistent ability to see and capture opportunity when it knocks. I think with his current team at Ithaca, and his solid foundation of family and thrid aprty investment and friends like Rajan Kumar and Tony Ford, he will prove many of you leaches wrong. Good luck to Ithaca and it's investors, especially you Gary.

oh my god i have just seen it, im a friend of the bar manager and it looks out of this world.. I got a sneaky peek! By far the bet venue I have ever seen in my life let alone this city. Wow!

Looks like there is some action at ITHACA. Got a glimpse through the door when some workers were leaving. what little I saw looked very nice but cant see it opening in two weeks ! I ll bet ya ?100 it doesnt even open this month ! Want it meant to open 6 months ago ? Any one give me some odds on that...

This ITHACA place better be good after all this hype, is it gonna knock Panacea off the celeb hot list ?

Hmmm I guess we will have to wait and see ... Anyone wanna get them to post a reply on here?? when will you actually be opening ???

So it's now Monday 10th March and still not finished. Have the builders upped and gone then seeing as though they were informed to 'get out.....or else'?

Hope someone has a bet on when this place will be open

April now, and stop complaining

Ithaca will be made of sugar and spice and all things nice. X

when will this be openmig im watching every day.. and there seems to be a lot of movement recently but still no signs of opening! :(

soft opening this week. opens officially saturday 17th. launch parties still tba.

As the designer of Ithaca Manchester i promise everyone who visits this fantastic venue will be introduced to a spectacular experience. It is a testament to the owners bravery and determination to open the best venue in the North West. This certainly has been a 2 year labour of love. "A" thanks for the opportunity dude. Everyone else......Enjoy!

I hope that everyone enjoys the venue, becuase over the past three years a considerable effort has been made by everyone involved in this gigantic project. Soft launches have started, so find me leaning on the extremely shiny bar with a glass of Vouvray. Good Luck Arnold and the investros and Nasser in the kitchen. God Speed gentlemen. And i can confirm that it is stunning inside, somebody must have impeccable taste

ithaca was designed by arnie s hira and Paul Sawford. The design brief was written by Marc Foi. Future design developments will and can be delivered through Innov8 Developments.

To work as designer on such a special project has been both fantastic and a very big challenge. I cant wait to see the place open and see all the hard work come to life. I too as marc wish all the investors luck and thank Arnie for the opportunity to work on such a great and forward thinking project. Marc, I hope to see you and buy you a drink at the extremely shiny bar. As for impeccable taste.....what more can one say!

You are talking utter rubbish mr anonymous. But then you know you are very bitter.

paul sorefoot has not owrked on the site since feb 2007 i have been working on the site everyday as security, you are a liar

paul sawford does not work on site anonymous, he visits it and then sits on a satalite design team! stop with the stupid comments! i thought you needed observational skills to be a security person.

well talk about a an anti-climax. Maybe somebody should have told big arnie that he forgot to turn the music on. & whats with the stairs?!?

Truly awful

I just have returned from ithaca, i don't think it has been opened for longer than a week, and the restaurant was fully booked. What's more astonishing is that, this review is spot on. The food is tremendous and really a delight. I had the black cod, it really really melts in your mouth. The soft shell crab is tantilizing and the sushi is yummy. But Belinda Carlisle, although her career short lived, i have to agree becuase Heaven is a place on earth, Oh dear lord, the chocolate cake was perfection in every sense. The venue is beautiful, and I will be netertaing my cleints there for lunch. Well done, I think Manchester has got a reason to step it up a level now....

Stunning looking place - awful service - the usual bar snobbery

I have had the pleasure of eating the food at ITHACA, and without bias or agenda i found it to be amazing. I have yet to spend an evening in the bars upstairs but if its anything like its groundfloor dining experience then it will be fantastic. ell done to all involved.
PSMU

well we went out last week on thursday and thought we'd check out ithaca,we was greeted by polite and friendly door supervisors, then we went upstairs where we then approached the fabulous bar ordered our drinks which arrived by a professional bar tender who new what he was actually doing!
this bar is great and carnt wait to go and try the food

Been twice. Food brilliant. Service great. Location a bit cramped when full but adds to the atmosphere. It is a winner - knocks spots of all the other so called high class bars & restaurants in town. Brilliant

Looking foward to visiting soon. Why the personal attacks on this site...?

''Cowards hide through being anonymous, obviously too scared to tell Arny to his face. Probably because Arny has friends in all the right and wrong places, one of the few characters in Manchester that has a serious network of people that will do things for him without expecting anything in return''
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What a great advert for Manchester! Is it not this 'serious network' who knacker up every decent bar that opens?

And in relation to the other reviews, since when did so many 'tradesmen' start coming online to big up the developments they are working on???

''Cowards hide through being anonymous, obviously too scared to tell Arny to his face. Probably because Arny has friends in all the right and wrong places, one of the few characters in Manchester that has a serious network of people that will do things for him without expecting anything in return''
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What a great advert for Manchester! Is it not this 'serious network' who knacker up every decent bar that opens?

And in relation to the other reviews, since when did so many 'tradesmen' start coming online to big up the developments they are working on???

BORING WHATS THIS GOT TO DO WITH ITHACA AS A VENUE, SERVICE OR FOOD? GO AWAY CHILDREN AND MASS DEBATE AMONGST YOURSELVES. WHLN IS SITE FOR REVIEWS NOT BULLS*T GOSSIP!

Went to Ithaca a few weeks ago with some friends for a drink and had an absolutely fab time. The bar right at the top...amazing and the dj was rather entertaining! Hope all goes well ... looks to me like its here to stay regardless of what everyone has been saying ;)

overpriced, tacky interior about sums it up! looks like a cheap Roman brothal (not that I'd know). The seats are the most uncomfy i've ever parked my rear on.

food was about what i'd expect from yo-sushi (the london outlets; not the lower standard airport models). The tempura prawns were greasy and tasteless.

I'd go as far as to say i've had better from a bento box on the street.

never going back there!

This place is not a world class restaurant. The decor is awful and really old fashioned. The staff are clueless, the food is nothing special, the place is too small and empty. Plus i just found out they charged my card twice! Most probably the people who think this place is an amazing venue have never been out of Manchester.

well we went on saturday and the food was excellent..good value and the vip bar upsatirs was fantastic good music nice crowd. all in all made a nice change from panacea.

I went for the first time last Saturday and although you can see money has been spent on the decor its offers a pretty poor experience.

God awful commercial R&B is played in the upstairs room and the staff who run this place (not the bar staff) are arrogant and rude.

I\'ll stick to my usual haunts in the future and keep clear of this chav haven.

Seems like all the majority of comments were correct, it's gone under, pretty obvious the owner either had too much money to waste or it's some kind of business scam.

It was on the cards from the word go, the bar was always going to collapse with an idiot like Hira at the helm! no business sense, no class, no money,just driving around in a car paid by investor monies.... the guys nothing but a fake trying to hide behind a few blondes!

looks like the 1am man was right on.
I went there on Sat night and it was closing down. they had ran out of booze practically and the staff had nt been paid. never mind it could off worked if those pesky bankers hand nt ruined everything.

One question - why is it closed now after only being open for 2 years......something to do with a lack of monies being made I presume?! What Manchester needs is a venue like Newz Bar in Liverpool. Any takers?

Guess the haters were right after all!