It’s twelve months since we were last at Sugo. It had just appeared in the 2017 edition of the Good Food Guide and I’m pleased to see it’s cemented its position in the 2018 edition with a very creditable score of 3/10 – well up there with several other Greater Manchester entries. In truth, there are things I don’t like about the place. I don’t like having to share tables. I don’t like the fact that much of the seating is on benches. And I don’t like the noise that’s generated even in such a small place that can make conversation difficult for me. But these things are compensated by spot-on service and excellent food.
It’s a short menu, changing monthly I think. Four starters. Four desserts. Seven main courses – all of them pasta based.
To start, beef and mortadella polpette were almost literally as light as a feather. Beautiful both in texture and flavour. The San Marzano tomato sauce was a knockout. That was followed by perfectly al dente “foglie deulivo” (olive leaves) pasta with a similar sauce, this time enhanced with basil, parmesan and Stracciatella di bufala (similar to mozzarella).
I had to Google later to find out exactly what burrata was. It had seemed like mozzarella but not quite. In fact, it’s stracciatella and cream, encased in mozzarella. What I do know is that it was absolutely lovely. It came with a drizzle of an orange and chilli “marmalade” and a slight bitter crunch from grilled raddichio. Inspired – one of the best starters I’ve had in months. For a main course, orecchiette came with the house sugo – long cooked beef shin and pork shoulder with a hefty chilli kick from nduja. Just the sort of food you want to eat on a cold autumn night.
Sugo is opening another, much larger, restaurant in Ancoats in spring next year. We’ll be going there to try it (in the hope of “proper” tables and chairs).
