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Since ‘retiring’ last year Ryan Giggs seems to have seriously upped his workload. Assistant manager of one of the biggest football clubs in the world is a full time job to most, but he’s also pursuing a number of personal business ventures including co-owning Salford City football club, a restaurant, George’s in Worsley and now Hotel Football. Located right outside …

I’ve been attending supper clubs for over two years now, but although I’ve been to loads they’re mostly run by the same few people. It had been ages since I went to a new one. Step in the new kids on the block, ‘The Gourmet Gays’, also known as Stephen, Andy and Carl. The menu for their inaugural supper club …

I like to think I know Manchester pretty well, especially when it comes to eating to and drinking. But I’d never heard of Sandinista when I was invited to preview their winter menu. I assumed it must be new, but it turns out the Latin-inspired tapas bar/restaurant has been tucked away on Old Bank Street, next to the Royal Exchange Theatre for four years. Who …

There are a few places I go to eat that are guaranteed to cheer me up. Splendid Kitchen is one of them. Since opening as Splendid Sausage Co around 18 months ago, their menu has evolved from gourmet hot dogs to fantastic American style comfort food and probably the best fried chicken in town. Choosing what to order is always …

I can’t say I was particularly interested when I heard Ryan Giggs had bought a restaurant, even less so knowing it was in Worsley. Not that there’s anything wrong with the lovely little village, it’s just a bit out of the way for me. But shortly after ‘George’s’ opened I began hearing great things, especially regarding head chef Andrew Parker, …

I’m really growing to love Leeds; in fact, in many ways I think I prefer it to Manchester now. I’m still finding out about the city, but one place I keep going back to is Friends Of Ham. Having been a few times for their fantastic charcuterie and great range of craft beers, I recently visited in the morning to try their …

When I first started going to the ‘Drunken Butcher’s’ supper clubs the concepts were pretty simple. Generally based around a specific cuisine or individual meat; Spanish or French for example; pork, game or steaks perhaps. Over the past year the main theme of his events have got ever more elaborate. Recent supper clubs include: ‘Poet’s Corner’, where every dish was inspired by a poem, ‘All Bets Are …

There’s no shortage of places to eat Mexican food in Manchester but most are either market stalls, fast food/takeaway orientated or fused with other cuisines. Lucha Libre were the first to really bring the traditional dishes I love to a proper restaurant setting in 2013, before their closure earlier this year. That huge taco sized hole has now been filled by Wahaca, a chain …

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 …

This is my first and quite possibly last post here on FoodGeek. You see even though I contribute greatly to the eating out, I am also responsible for supplying Mr Geek with valuable information such as the state of the loos, overuse of unnecessary ingredients, whether the plates are stupid and where the waitress got her shoes from (all vital …

Usually when I wake up in London wanting breakfast there’s only one place on my mind; Dishoom’s ‘Bacon Naan’ is legendary and one of my all time favourite breakfast items. But one day I fancied something different, something a little healthier perhaps. Then I remembered that Mexican street food chain Wahaca serve breakfast. Although I didn’t realise at the time that only …

It wasn’t so long ago that you just couldn’t get a decent pizza in Manchester. Then came a few street food vendors putting the restaurants to shame by producing stunning pizzas from their portable wood fire ovens. This year it seems the restaurants have finally started to catch up, with a number of places now serving pizza ranging from reasonable to very good. Most seem to …

You always want something more when you can’t have it. And as I stood waiting opposite BAO at 21:55, I REALLY wanted it. I knew the Taiwanese steamed bun restaurant was the current ‘go to’ place in London and I’d heard all about the queues. But I wasn’t able to get to Soho until 30 minutes before they closed at 10pm. So …

Many people – including Iain, aka the Drunken Butcher – say the cheek is the best part of any animal. It makes sense really given how much work those muscles get through. They can be tough though without careful cooking, luckily he knows what he’s doing and decided to show us by putting on ‘The Cheek Of It’, a seven …

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 …