MANNY’S KITCHEN TAKE OVER @ THE GRAPE VARIETY #REVIEW…
Posted by Anthony Besant on 30 Oct 2025
This week I was very lucky to be invited as Dee’s guest to the Kitchen takeover by Manny’s Kitchen at a very popular venue for those who love wine – The Grape Variety in Chipstead – it is only a 10 minute drive away from Epsom and hosted by Adrian and his friendly team who as usual gave us a warm welcome. What Adrian does not know about wine is not worth knowing!
Manny’s Kitchen – based in Stoneleigh is headed by the lovely Manny and her partner Ruby and they are passionate about cooking tasty food that is Sri Lankan inspired.
On arrival Manny took the time to introduce each course which was a set menu with both meat and veggie options.
For starters, we were offered pre-dinner snacks – think cold street food nibbles – Devil Cashews, lightly spiced with Chilli and Curry leaves, – Kodalai Thal Dala, Sri-Lanken style roasted Chickpeas tossed in warming spices and Phool Makhan, crispy Lotus seeds gently tossed with Cumin, Mustard and a hint of Chilli.
Of course accompanied by a bottle of white wine recommended by Adrian and set us up well for the main course.
For main we had Kukul Mais Muluwa – tender chicken thighs marinated in Manny’s special Sri Lankan spice blend, then slow cooked in coconut milk, accompanied by Manny’s special Parippu Dahl – a red lentil curry, Kath Bath – a fragrant rice infused with Lemongrass, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cordamom, Peppercorns, Onions and Curry leaves and a Seeni Sambal relish and freshly made Chapati’s.
This was a very generous portion and a lovely saucy/moist dish, I clearly managed it all and had to help Dee along the way but was super tasty.
To end the meal we had the Fusion Brownie – a Belgiun chocolate brownie with a subtle hint of Chilli and a warm fudge sauce.
Just enough to finish you off in a good way!
Manny is a qualified nutritionalist and has worked in Health and Wellbeing since 2004 and since then has been delivering community cooking programmes, training and now the chance for you to buy direct from Manny’s Kitchen – they can provide external catering, kitchen takeovers or bespoke food orders.
The venue and the food worked perfectly so if you fancy tasting some food of Sri Lanka I would highly recommend giving Manny’s Kitchen a try!
To find out what kitchen they are taking over next follow them on Instagram they are also available for catering for private events.
Lastly for the wine and cheese lovers out there a visit to The Grape Variety is a must, check out there what’s on page for future events https://thegrapevariety.com/pages/whats-on.
Enjoy!
Anthony
