New MediaCity restaurant hopes to excite with foreign cuisine

Shoku is the latest of a host of restaurants to open up on MediaCity’s Blue Street.

Nikkei is Peruvian food heavily influenced by the Japanese cooking.

Restaurant staff are looking forward to bringing Nikkei (Peruvian) food to the people of Salford.

After a week of soft openings, Shoku is almost set for its launch party on November 28. The staff say they are excited and are looking forward to getting going.

James Saadat, 32, believes they are the first restaurant in Greater Manchester to bring the unique style of the Nikkei cuisine to the area.

Saadat said: “The word Nikkei represents immigration of Japanese people to South America during war periods.”

He said that one of the areas the Japanese have influenced most is in the preparation of fish. According to Saadat the people from Japan started using more raw fish instead of curing it.

Walking down Blue Street one might get the feeling that Shoku is a Sushi restaurant, but according to one of the restaurant’s two owners Adam Regan, 37, this is not the case.

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Development is underway @shoku_uk Nori Tostada (beta test) – Charred Isle of Wight Heritage Tomatoes, Candied Sweet Potato, Avocado, Tiger's Milk ? #nikkei #japanese #peruvian #mediacity #manchester #cheftools #chefsofinstagram #thestaffcanteen #foodartchefs #chefstalk #food #foodie #foodphotography #igers #chefselection #gourmetparadise #armyofchefs #chefs_eye #foodstarz #mymuybuenochefs #culinaireinspiratie #simplistic_food #chefstoday #chefsplateform #chefstime

A post shared by Shoku (@shoku_uk) on Nov 8, 2019 at 12:08pm PST

Regan said: “The thought behind this project was to open a Japanese styled restaurant, with Peruvian elements.”

Even though the restaurant might seem expensive because of the stylish interior, Regan says that it is not an expensive restaurant. He said they want to be able to give the customers a unique experience.

“We want people to be able to come in here with £12 and have a great lunch,” he added.

Despite the high density of restaurants at MediaCity, the staff at Shoku do not fear the competition.

Regan said: “We are not going to compete against them, what they do is just big portions, the quick foods. That`s not what we`re going to do, it`s a little bit more refined.”

The soft opening this week has only consisted of drinks so the chefs are both nervous and excited for the launch party.

Both the executive chef Pedro Miranda, 42, and James Saadat say that they are looking forward to giving the people of Manchester a brand new and exciting food experience.