I tried the £245 menu at one of Manchester's most expensive restaurants and fell in love with the staff

Charming, engaging and an absolute pleasure to behold - the same could be said about the staff at uber-posh Pan Asian restaurant MUSU as it could about the food.

Whoever recruited the servers - and our particularly engaging sommelier -  must have fished them from a deep pool of charisma, along with the ingredients for its tasting menu that boasts a variety of high-quality seafood.

Such was our enjoyment of the knowledgeable servers we looked forward to them arriving at our table almost as much as we did our courses, which added to our overall experience of a 12-course tasting menu priced at a somewhat eye-watering £150 each for the dishes with a further £95 each to pair each course with wine.

MUSU invites guests to 'embark on a  gastronomic odyssey' with its tasting menu, which can consist of five, eight or 12 courses, and promises a rich tapestry of Japanese cuisine. So, with a tantalising "Land of The Rising Sun'' themed menu at our fingertips, which suggests we enjoy a journey of four Japanese cooking styles, Edomae, Izakaya, Teppan and Kaiseki, we settled in and prepared to be transported to the culinary streets of East Asia.

MUSU’s Chef, Michael Shaw, a patron of Michelin-starred kitchens and a former student of Raymond Blanc, has added a selection of refreshing, seasonal dishes for spring, with each dish crafted by his expert team of chefs. The restaurant itself is seductively dark and moody - its gleaming black interior enhanced by bottle green booths, a bustling open kitchen and stunning technicolour graphics on the walls.

In keeping with its stylish surroundings, the aesthetically pleasing courses were theatrically delivered - each small course arranged in dishes that looked like shells, or on rustic pieces of slate or in lidded domes filled to the brim with crushed ice. Each course came with an explanation of its origin and cooking methods and was paired perfectly with wine, which our charming and enigmatic sommelier enlightened us about.

Starting with Sahimi - thinly sliced raw fish sitting atop small mounds of seasoned rice, we moved on to Japan's most popular sushi - Nigiri made up of scallop/hamachi/salmon/akami before enjoying Tartare Tempura - a typical Japanese dish, consisting of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep fried.

Fresh and bursting with flavour, we then sampled Yakitori - Japanese skewered chicken, cooked on a charcoal grill and seasoned, and duck meatballs, then miso glazed cod cheek. But it wasn't all seafood and poultry with courses of exquisite A5 grade Wagyu and succulent aged beef fillet arriving at our table, as well as mouth-watering Chawanmushi and Gyoza. Our dessert of a delicious panna cotta style white chocolate closed the show and brought the curtain down on what felt like a satisfying piece of theatre. 

A meal at MUSU is certainly extravagant - not everyone can blow almost £500 for two on a series of miniscule courses - but it's a decadent dining encounter transporting you from the streets of Manchester to the bustling districts of Japan and an enchanting culinary experience you aren't likely to forget in a hurry. Go there for the servers as much as for what they are serving - and enjoy it, it's a whole heap of fun.

• Musu is at Rational House, 64 Bridge Street, Manchester M3, 0161-883 7753. Open Wed-Sat, lunch noon-3pm, dinner 5-11pm; Sun 4-11pm.