Little Beast brings moon-inspired dining to Manchester’s Etihad Campus
Manchester’s Etihad Campus has a new restaurant to add to its growing food scene, with MasterChef: The Professionals 2024 winner Daniel Merriman opening Little Beast at Medlock Square.
The 105-cover restaurant is the latest addition to the £300m Medlock Square development, which is also bringing a food hall, more restaurants and a 401-room hotel to the area beside the expanded Etihad Stadium.
Developed by Merriman and restaurant consultant Laura Montana, Little Beast takes its inspiration from the rhythm of the moon, with a seasonal menu built around small plates divided into moon-themed sections.
For Merriman, the restaurant marks the latest chapter in a career that has included stints at Northcote, The Cottage in the Wood, The Lion Inn and Fishmore Hall Hotel before his MasterChef: The Professionals win in 2024.
A menu that follows the moon
Rather than simply using the lunar theme as decoration, Little Beast has built its menu structure around different moon phases and seasonal references.
The opening dishes sit under the Harvest Moon heading and include roasted carrots with garlic yoghurt, spiced dukkah and chervil; cured trout pastrami with whipped crème fraîche, sea buckthorn and Cotswold honey jam; and cheese on toast made with brioche, red onion jam, Mrs Kirkham’s cheese custard and chive.
The larger plates move into the Sturgeon and Hunter Moon sections.
Among them are cod loin with curry sauce, squash fondant, kaffir lime, pickled cucumber and fermented English lettuce, while chicken ballotine comes with pickled mushroom purée, roasted maitake mushroom and truffle sauce.
For something more substantial, there is also a 500g dairy cow sirloin served on the bone and designed for sharing, accompanied by sherry glaze, truffle and black onion butter.
Desserts continue the playful approach, including an affogato cheesecake ice cream with Grind coffee and grated chocolate, alongside a S’more combining dark chocolate namelaka, bergamot, white balsamic caramel and frozen marshmallow.
The drinks list mixes classic cocktails with house creations. The Sweet Pea Royal combines sweet pea syrup, St Germain elderflower and crémant, while the Pink Moon pairs Feilden Rye whisky with raspberry, jalapeño and nectarine. There is also a fig Negroni.
A dark, warm interior
The restaurant’s interiors have been created by Manchester-based WANT Studio, working with Montana on the design concept and branding.
Design director Liam McCue and Adelaide Winter led the interior work, with previous projects including Albert’s Schloss, The Firehouse, Ramona and Diecast.
The result is deliberately darker and more intimate than the scale of the surrounding development might suggest, with charcoal walls, vintage-style posters, warm lighting, timber and rust-red upholstery.
Banquette seating is paired with rounded wooden tables and curved mid-century-style chairs, giving the 105-cover restaurant a relaxed feel.
Little Beast arrives as the wider Etihad Campus continues to develop into a destination beyond match days. The Medlock Square scheme is intended to bring more restaurants, accommodation and food-led activity to the area throughout the year.
It is also not Manchester’s first attempt at a restaurant inspired by the moon. Michael O’Hare previously opened The Rabbit in the Moon, although that venture closed after a relatively short run.
For now, Little Beast is taking a rather different approach: seasonal British-leaning cooking, small plates and a lunar theme, with a chef already familiar to anyone who followed his run on MasterChef: The Professionals.
Little Beast: practical information
Little Beast is now open at Medlock Square, Etihad Campus, 214 Alan Turing Way, Manchester M11 3DS.
The restaurant serves small plates alongside cocktails and other drinks.
For more information, visit Medlock Square – Little Beast.
