Mr Man's, Chinese New Year

A few weeks ago saw in the Chinese New Year, a long awaited and most celebrated holiday in the Chinese calendar, and for those in the know there is only one place in Nottingham to celebrate; Mr Man’s.

Having previously been to a New Year celebration at Mr Man’s Mr M and I knew we were in for an absolute treat and, as ever with this place, we were not disappointed!

With the evening starting at 7.30pm we arrived for 7pm to get drinks, get to our table and soak in the building atmosphere. Mr Man’s goes all out and truly decorates the places with traditional decorations. After a quick photo with the resident photographer and half an hour of watching the restaurant fill up an announcement of fireworks saw people excitedly pull on their coats and head out to the courtyard.

I have very high expectations of firework displays so I'm hard to please with most fireworks but Mr Man’s is something else. 

We all stood and watched shoulder to shoulder, oohing and ahhing at all the right times before the dramatic finale (which I was too busy enjoying so I forgot to photograph…oops.) with a final dramatic explosion of light and colour the pyro-technician shouted out a spectacular Happy New Year and we erupted into cheers and applause…..the evening was started with a bang! (yes, I went there. I really went there.) 

Whilst the thought of having fireworks first might confuse us Brits - traditionally a climax to an event for us - here it really works going first. It gets you excited and gets you ready for the real climax of the night!

For the interested: The dress came from TK Maxx (similar here) and the shoes, oh the shoes are Irregular Choice shoes, and they are divine! They are also old but you can still get the Flick Flack styles here. 

Once settled back into the warmth of the restaurant we were greeted by a bowl of Prawn Crackers, a very good strategic tactic , especially when you have a hungry member in your party! Settling back down and tiding away the hunger by munching on the crackers it’s not long to wait before the next part of the celebration begins.

A hush starts to settles around the restaurant starting in the centre and working out as a low drumming begins. Soon the low drumming is loud and rhythmic and the Lion dance begins.

It’s a truly fascinating display to watch. Traditionally the Lion dance is said to bring luck to the community and the longer the dance the more luck is brought. The lions are decorated with mirrors that scare off evil spirits by showing them their own reflection....quite handy really.

The urge to squidge the lions little tails was incredibly strong…....

The dance was spectacular, a combination of the colours and music leave you transfixed. The buzz in the restaurant grew and the excitement was palpable. We watched on as the battle got very intense and soon came to a crescendo. The battle was won. The dance was done. It was brilliant. The restaurant erupted into applause for the second time that evening before settling back into an excited chatter.

The guys at Mr Man’s certainly know how to create an atmosphere, and if there’s one thing they're better than doing than that it’s cooking phenomenal food.

Buuuttt....you're going to have to wait for that until tomorrow. Predictably I took too many photos and wrote too much so this post will be a unexpected two parter - much like a really good CSI episode...or a final film of a trilogy! 

To Be Continued.....