There’s a dining experience in the suburbs of Manchester that you need to try. Tucked away off Bury New Road in Prestwich is a restaurant you’ll struggle to forget - and no I’m not talking about Karen’s Diner.
Its neighbour, Scandi-influenced, Michelin-rated OSMA is the creation of Sofie Stoermann-Nass and Danielle Heron - an amalgamation of the pair’s hometowns of Oslo and Manchester. Taking over a former kitchen showroom, the restaurant launched in late 2020, and is heavily influenced by Danielle’s impressive culinary CV and time spent in Norway.
The Whitefield-born chef honed her skills at Simon Rogan’s two Michelin-starred L'Enclume in the Lake District before heading to Maaemo in Oslo, holder of three stars. It was while working at another restaurant in the city that she met her partner Sofie and the groundwork for a venture back in Manchester was laid.
Read more: The epic tale behind the hidden gem cafe that's the opposite of Costa
The namecheck of a certain French tyre company known for its highly covetable stars might paint a picture of an overly fussy dining affair where diners are too afraid to ask what the spare fork is for, but while OSMA is serving up some of the best plates of food in Manchester, the dining experience here is unpretentious, humble and mesmerising.
While we might be in the depths of winter, stepping into OSMA, simply signposted by a minimalist light box above the door, gives a strong feeling of Midsummer with plenty of uber Scandi-style touches. Given its roots it could have easily called upon a well-known ready-to-assemble furniture company for its furnishings and fixtures, but thankfully it's less showroom and more trendy lobby bar.
One side of the space features dark navy-grey walls and an impressive floral arrangement of dried flowers suspended over a communal high-top table, while the restaurant and bar space has been decorated with natural, earthy tones, rattan lighting fixtures and cappuccino leather banquettes complemented by subtle accents of peach and gold.
It’s very pretty, a little bit moody and a great setting to immerse yourself in. Serving Scandinavian-style open sandwiches, salads and soups by day - two courses for £24 and three for £29 - come evening, the lights are dimmed and the small plates come out to play. Using seasonal ingredients from local British farmers and producers, OSMA’s ‘food-bar’ serves up a selection of 12 sharing plates and three snacks, which change regularly - ensuring no two visits are the same.
Requiring some sustenance before we decide on which small plates to select - we would have tried them all if we could - four hefty chunks of Pollen’s famous sourdough (£5.50) are placed in front of us, accompanied only by whipped butter - a no-fuss start to proceedings.
Working our way down the menu, the dainty beef short rib croquettes (£9) arrive next, placed carefully on top of a vivid green sauce, which turns out to be chive mayonnaise. Cutting through the tightly packed, moist morsels of beef it’s hard to find fault with this dish - all I could wish for is one more bite.
It’s quickly followed up by an enchanting bowl of salmon tartare (£12) topped with thin, round discs of apple and a sprinkling of dill resembling an alien lifeform. Bursting with freshness, the salmon is the most valued player here, but is closely followed in second by a glistening pool of whey that surrounds it - it’s hard to look away but of course, when it is dissected, it’s devoured in seconds.
A brief pause before we’re given what at first glimpse looks like a posh bowl of Pot Noodle - and I mean that with no disrespect. Instead, what we’re actually looking at is a pared-back but fabulous hand-rolled tagliolini pasta with avruga caviar and shallots and chives (£12) which make the taste buds dance. That’s not all, because what we unearth beneath the pasta is pure gold - a pool of buttery goodness that’s promptly scooped up and poured over what’s left - which by this point is very little.
It’s a little longer for the final two plates, giving us time to survey our surroundings, and as we often do, eavesdrop on fellow diners - let’s be honest, we all do it. But, before we go too far down the snooping rabbit hole, our last two dishes arrive. Served together, but shining bright in their own right, the salt-aged duck breast and crispy new potatoes are the perfect solution to a cold, damp Wednesday evening.
I’m willing to say the roast potatoes, served with brown butter hollandaise and chives, are the best in Manchester - perfectly crisp and fluffy on the inside, they’re what all potatoes should aspire to be. The duck meanwhile, is served with palm-like leaves of radicchio, cubes of beetroot, a jus made from the meat and a smattering of pickled walnut spread across the plate.
Like the salmon earlier this evening, it’s like a work of art, and while the duck was initially a little tough to cut into, one bite and it melted in the mouth - a swan song of seasonal cooking done well. It’s the priciest dish coming in at £18 but if you’re treating yourself or celebrating, it’s well worth the spend.
It's a tough call between the pastry crisps with lemon curd or the lemon posset with gooseberry compote for dessert, but we opt for the former (£8), intrigued by how the crisps will be presented. It turns out, its mille-feuille style, with blood orange segments and whiskey cream wedged between glittering sheets of uber thin pastry. Smashing the well-constructed dessert down to its constituent parts, it's delicate in texture but punchy with flavour - a perfect finish for a meal that has delivered on every level.
It was back in October 2021 that OSMA - only a year after opening - earned itself a place in the prestigious Michelin Guide. And much like Erst in Ancoats, Stockport's Where The Light Gets In and Another Hand on Deansgate Mews - all listed in the guide too - there's a quiet confidence to the plates served up here. Ambitious, intelligent and unpretentious, this is fine-dining level food without the pomp and ceremony.
READ NEXT
Infamous Manchester hotel branded 'the stuff of nightmares' in scathing review
Huge demand for The 1975 Manchester gig as fans complain pre-sale link doesn't work
Owners of Canal Street restaurant once named Manchester's best make 'difficult decision' to close
The 20 amazing places you need to visit in Manchester in 2023
