Azuma

Azuma Manchester is both a Chinese restaurant known for its hot pots, and a Korean restaurant known for its cook-it-yourself grills. It’s yin and yang, if you like. But whichever version of Azuma you’re here for, you’ll find it packed out. 

If you’re lucky enough to get a seat at one of their self-searing Korean BBQ tables, for a very reasonable price, you can sizzle away just about anything, from intriguing white fungus to chicken gizzards to pork belly. It comes with plenty of kimchi, just in case your BBQ skills leave a little to be desired.

The Chinese hot-pot side of Azuma is another cook-it-yourself job. The kitchen staff must have an easy life here. Choose your broth, with options like pig bone soup and mixed mushroom, or indeed choose your broths as you can get a split pan for the undecided. Very, very yin and yang.

Again for a very reasonable price, choose what you’d like to simmer. There’s everything from scallops and beef to giant kelp and weird and wonderful mushrooms which rather put the baby button variety in the shade.

If you don’t want to cook for yourself there is also an offal-centric a la carte menu but it’s the DIY dishes which bring the crowds. How come cooking at home is never this much fun?