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There seems to be a new restaurant opening every week in Manchester at the moment. Some are more exciting than others of course but one that caught my attention recently was ‘Cane & Grain’. They promised to bring ‘Rum, Ribs, Bourbon & Beer’ to the Northern Quarter, as a fan of all four I was naturally excited. Last week I was …

It’s fair to say i’m not a particularly green-fingered person, my attempts at gardening basically amounts to trying (and usually failing) to keep potted herbs alive for longer than a week. So when I was invited to a ‘Summer Evening’ at Woodford Park Garden Centre I must admit I wasn’t particularly interested at first. However,  they got my attention with …

Before the World Cup started I had what at the time seemed like a great idea; to cook a dish from every country competing before the end of the tournament. 32 dishes from 32 countries in 32 days. Sounds easy right? It turned out to be more of a challenge than I’d anticipated, I didn’t take into account how often …

I’ve really enjoyed the surge in Manchester’s street food scene lately but on a recent London trip I realised it’s still got a long way to go. After spending the day eating my way through a variety of the capital’s street food offerings I was genuinely surprised at how good it was. Starting with Borough Market, London’s most renowned food market …

I’ve been to many supper clubs over the past nine months but none more regularly than the ‘Drunken Butcher’s‘ aka Iain Devine. His food is always fantastic and he somehow keeps coming up with new, interesting concepts. Most recently I attended his American themed ‘Deep South Feast’ but before that there was the aptly named ‘Let’s Have A Meating’. In preparation for the …

Post-gig, late night eating at home generally consists of dodgy kebabs or overpriced Domino’s pizza. Not so in London where after the recent Arctic Monkeys gig at Finsbury Park I finally made it to Japanese ramen bar ‘Bone Daddies’, located just a short walk from Chinatown in Soho. Bone Daddies – run by Ross Shonhan who was previously head chef at Nobu …

Last night saw the 7th annual ‘National Restaurant Awards’, organised by Restaurant Magazine to recognise the top 100 UK restaurants. As voted for by ‘industry experts’ including restauranteurs, chefs, food critics & journalists. Lists such as this are always subjective and with the stipulation that voters must have eaten in the restaurant within the past 12 months it’s always likely …

It’s ever so slightly awkward turning up to an event to find it’s hosted by a man who threatened and upset your friends just days earlier, simply for asking a question. It happened when I was invited to a ‘Suckling Pig Banquet’ at Red’s True Barbecue by Manchester Confidential and arrived to find ManCon’s infamous founder ‘Gordo’, aka Mark Garner at …

I’ve had a bit of a thing about sourdough pizzas since discovering Streatza early last year, they blew me away with the quality of their product despite working from the back of a 1969 Citroen van. Since then i’ve also enjoyed several amazing pizzas from Honest Crust who are somehow even better. Both are street food vendors though as unfortunately …

I think of this blog as my journal, a record of my eating out over the last few years. As such (and possibly because of my slight OCD tendencies) I like the posts to be published in chronological order, but sometimes things happen that force me off-piste. Yesterday was one of those days, I’ve reluctantly decided to risk my own …

Whilst I certainly don’t consider myself a regular theatre goer I have been to The Lowry at Salford Quays a couple of times. Besides an enjoyable meal at nearby Damson i’d always eaten in Manchester before the show as the only other options in the area are uninspiring chain restaurants. Or so I thought. I was genuinely surprised when contacted by Mike, the food manager at …

* Edit * On 30th June 2014 Gymkhana was named #1 in the National Restaurant Awards ‘Top 100‘ * I grew up eating in Indian restaurants on a regular basis but as my tastes evolved I somehow neglected them in favour of seemingly more exciting cuisines. Perhaps unfairly but more likely caused by one too many average meals in mediocre local ‘curry houses’. …

Although Manchester’s dining scene is thriving it’s still lacking a couple of things for me. One of them being the availability of quality dim sum, as with the exception of Yang Sing most other options are inconsistent at best. So when planning a recent trip to London I wanted to include a restaurant where I could enjoy some quality dim …

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 …

So far my experiences of the ‘Drunken Butcher‘ have mostly involved vast quantities of meat; huge pies, large roasting joints, steaks and burgers. Not that he’s a one trick pony, there was recently a ‘Healthy Eating’ supper club and there’s a Vegan one coming up too. I seem to have somehow missed them though. I attended his latest event last …