Burger

I love pairing food with beer and there are few better combinations than burgers and beer. Byron have always had a reasonable craft beer lineup, particularly compared to most of their competitors but they’ve really upped their game recently. They’ve worked alongside award winning beer blogger & writer Mark Dredge (of whom I’m a big fan) to create a small but well judged …

I’m a bit of a sucker for tradition, especially at Christmas. Only good ones though, usually involving food, not rubbish stuff like the John Lewis ad. After having the Solita Christmas burger for the past four years I definitely consider it one of them. After deciding to eat at Solita the next job is picking which one. With four to choose from it’s not …

It’s been over three months since I intended to get this ‘First Look’ of Solita Preston published. They’re pretty fast movers so there’s every chance a new Solita has popped up to join it since. (As it happens, there haven’t been any more openings but they have announced a couple of new ventures. More on that later). Solita Preston is …

Despite the fact I’ve never actually been to Japan I consider myself a bit of a Japanophile. I’ve been obsessed with Japanese movies, culture and especially food for many years. When I heard about Bunzilla, a new burger inspired by the head chef of Byron’s recent trip to Japan I was naturally intrigued. Even more so when the description read like …

There are few things that fill me with dread more than a trip to the Trafford Centre. I’m not a big shopper anyway but it’s easily my least favourite place when I have to. There’s not even anywhere worth eating to soften the blow. Or so I thought. On a recent unavoidable – but thankfully rare – visit I was really struggling for …

The Solita Christmas burger is now a firmly established Food Geek Christmas tradition. I left it late this year but made it to the original Northern Quarter restaurant on Christmas Eve Eve Eve to get my festive fix for the fourth consecutive year. The newly refurbished basement is looking great, modelled on the impressive designs of the newer Didsbury & …

It’s no secret that I’m a big Solita fan, I have been right from the start when they had just one burger on the menu (it’s true, honestly!) Back then they were just a small Northern Quarter grill restaurant but over the last couple of years they’ve gone from strength to strength. And restaurant to restaurant. Last year saw the …

With so many new restaurants opening in Manchester these days it’s hard even for somebody as obsessed as me to keep up with them all, never mind be excited by most of them. One that I had been looking forward to for a long time though is ‘Burger & Lobster’. I really enjoyed visiting their first London restaurant three years ago …

It’s beginning to look a lot like.. okay, it already looks a LOT like Christmas because apparently it’s happening in two days time. Whether I’m ready or not. At the start of December I hatched grand plans to visit the restaurants of Manchester sampling the very best festive food on offer. As it happened, I had no time for such fun. Just …

It’s well known that Solita is one of my favourite restaurants; besides the great food it’s the fact that they never stop changing and improving that I love most. Blink and you might miss an amazing special, don’t return for a few months and you’re likely to find a completely refreshed menu next time. It wasn’t even six months ago …

I’ve always loved BrewDog; their beer and their bars. I used to love their food too; the BBQ menu was fantastic, featuring: tender ribs, brilliant burnt beans and a simply stunning smoked mac ‘n’ cheese. And I’m not ashamed to say I’ve made several visits purely to get my fix of their awesome fried pickles. So you can imagine my disappointment …

Long time readers will know I’m a huge fan of Northern Quarter restaurant Solita, having visited many, many times in the two years since they opened, including around 25 times in 2013 alone! For the good of my health I’ve cut back significantly this year but was still incredibly excited to hear about their plans to open a second restaurant …

Perhaps surprisingly, I’d only been to Almost Famous once until recently. This for various reasons including; being a bit of a SoLita fan boy, not liking to queue and finding their early marketing more than a little tedious. On that single visit in early 2013 the food didn’t blow me away as I’d expected but equally, I wasn’t annoyed by …

Having enjoyed my first visit to Gorilla last year I’ve been meaning to return for ages, before a recent gig at the Academy I did just that. Located under the arches near Oxford Road station it’s shiny and loud inside, it was busy too but we managed to grab the last free table. As if trying to get rid of …

Just over a year ago I hadn’t bowled for at least 10 years, but since my first visit to Dog Bowl last May it’s become a bit of a regular occurrence. The latest a couple of weeks ago after being invited to preview the new menu. Not that the extra practice has improved my game much. In fact, on this …