Recently I visited very trendy restaurant in Manchester. So trendy in fact, that they’ve misspelt the name, so it’s Fuzion with a ‘z’.

And like the name suggests, Fuzion Noodle Bar is a mashup of Far Eastern cuisine. There’s Indonesian nasi goreng, Thai tom yam soup and Malaysian laksa curry.

In fact, it’s menu is similar to Banana Tree in London (which I’ve reviewed here).

I say the restaurant is trendy as it’s not only located in the student village of Manchester, it also echoes the street food canteen vibe of the Far East.  Basically it’s the kind of restaurant hubby and I would frequent when we were living in London and child-free.  But with a one-year-old in tow, I have to be honest, it’s not the best option.

Fuzion is made up of rows of tables with benches for seating.  So it’s all about hoisting your leg over to sit down. 

They had baby-feeding chairs, but the waitress – who was super friendly and helpful – warned me that the straps were loose. It transpired that they were travel seats you attach to a proper chair, not a bench.  So Hannah sat on the bench like a grown up.

Initially we were the only parents there among a sea of students (or very cool people). But then a family with slightly older smalls joined, making us feel less out of place.

I warned the waitress of Hannah’s allergies, and she helpfully brought along her manager, who thoroughly talked us through all the options available.  

Unlike Indian restaurants and some Turkish eateries where the allergy advice has been vague at best (I’ve ranted about this here), we could be confident of the contents of each dish.

But even so, eating anywhere off piste with Hannah still fills me with dread.  I still consider us in the exploratory phase of weaning, so while I know a couple of her allergies, there are certain foods I’m just a bit scared to try with her.  

For example, a lot of the soups contain fish sauce, and I have no idea what kind of fish that’s made of.  But that isn’t really a fault of Fuzion Noodle Bar, It’s my mummy paranoia playing havoc with my mind.

Now this all sounds like our dinner in Fuzion wasn’t that enjoyable.  And in truth, it wasn’t the best – Hannah got bored very quickly so we barely got to eat, but again, this absolutely isn’t a fault of the restaurant. 

In fact, despite the tone of this review thus far, I would totally recommend the restaurant and go there myself, but without my little one.  The food was actually pretty tasty.

So here’s what we had at Fuzion Noodle Bar Manchester…

Nasi goreng at Fuzion Noodle bar
Hubby ordered his fail-safe of nasi goreng, while I went for the tom yam soup.  If you’ve read about my Thailand adventures and my Asian restaurant-hopping in London, you’ll know I just adore tom yam soup.

The nasi goreng was good, and while the tom yam soup lacked the heat of the authentic versions I had in Thailand, it was still tasty, with a good drenching of lime juice soaking the noodles, and a generous amount of prawns. 

Thankfully, it didn’t have the powder-y aftertaste I got when I sampled tom yam in Kinkao Thai restaurant.

We ordered Hannah a chicken fried rice, which she sadly barely touched. But we had a backup option, a fail-safe of fries, which kept her seated, for about 10 minutes.

So yes, our visit was hurried, but again, it was no fault of the restaurant itself.

And you know how every cloud has a silver lining? Well, as we barely got to eat in the restaurant, we ended up doggy-bagging our food. 

So I had a delicious lunch of tom yam soup the next day. And it seemed to taste even better as the noodles soaked up all the juices.

Fuzion Noodle Bar in a nutshell…
Price: Mains we’re around £11-£12.
Halal: The chicken and beef is halal, and most dishes offer a prawn option.
Great if… you’re on a date, or wanting a casual meal with friends.
Not so great if… you’re with a very small toddler.