Tag Archives: Manchester

As you may have read in my review of the Northern Quarter Takeover 2013, I was brave (or stupid?) enough to enter the SoLita In The Street Hot Wing Challenge yesterday. Now I do love spicy food and I’m always complaining when things that are supposed to be hot turn out not to be (I’m looking at you Almost Famous ‘Suicide’ Sauce’) …

Yesterday saw the third annual Northern Quarter Takeover, a huge street party on the streets of Manchesters cool Northern Quarter district. Most of the roads within the NQ were closed and though entry was free it was limited and once full a strict one in one out policy was in operation. There were fun fairs, DJs, outdoor bars and of course …

They say “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” (i’ve no idea who ‘they’ are, but they do) but when you have a food blog and it starts attracting more attention that’s not strictly true. Over the last couple of years I’ve received many offers of ‘free’ meals but until recently always turned them down. Often because they’re from places …

That’s the question I found myself asking a few weeks ago when Parmo talk first infiltrated my Twitter feed. Initially from @LoveParmo, whom I’ve no idea how or why I was following (though I’m glad I do!) and then from my friends SoLita who went on to create their own version. I thought I must’ve been living on another planet as …

I love burgers but thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe, Almost Famous and especially SoLita i’ve eaten rather a lot of them lately. As I made my way to Gorilla Bar & Kitchen, a place I know is renowned for serving decent burgers but also has a much more varied menu I repeated “must not order burger, must not order …

Believe it or not I don’t write about all of my trips to SoLita, as they’ve featured in so many posts over the past few months I genuinely arrive most times intending not to blog about what I eat but it usually ends up being so good I just can’t resist. I have restrained myself from blogging on a few …

I was recently invited to the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester to sample their relaunched ‘Legendary Burger’ menu. I generally turn down similar offers for a variety of reasons but mainly because they’re often not places i’m interested in visiting. However, as a bit of a burger connoisseur and a fan of rock music I thought it would be an interesting opportunity …

Last month, The French restaurant in Manchester’s Midland Hotel reopened with superchef Simon Rogan in the kitchen. I had the pleasure of being the first customer on the very first lunch service which went amazingly well as you can read here (I won’t go into detail about dishes that were exactly the same as this visit). I’ve been desperate to return ever …

Recently I visited Mughli in Rusholme, Manchesters ‘curry mile’. It was late and a last minute decision following an event at the Manchester Academy as we felt like a change from our usual post gig Indian restaurant, Zouk. I’ve always loved the vibe around Rusholme but never found a restaurant where the standard of food quite lives up to it. …

I don’t claim to be an expert in Japanese food, in fact, i’ll probably never be an expert in any cuisine since my tastes are so wide and varied. I have been fond of Japanese food though since visiting an amazing restaurant in Barcelona almost 10 years ago. It’s a cuisine I have neglected in recent years until a very …

Regular readers will know I’m a massive chilli freak; I put loads of fresh chilli in pretty much everything I cook at home and use chilli powder and cayenne pepper like salt. When i’m out almost everything ‘hot’ isn’t hot enough for me; Nando’s ‘Extra-Hot’ just isn’t and Almost Famous suicide sauce certainly didn’t make me reach for a noose. …

Last Tuesday I had the honour of being the first guest through the door to eat at the newly opened Simon Rogan @ The French restaurant in the Midland Hotel. When I first heard that Simon Rogan was to open a Manchester restaurant I was ecstatic, my trip to L’Enclume a couple of years ago reamins one of my most …

Last Monday one of my favourite Manchester restaurants SoLita launched their new lunch menu, on paper it looked like fantastic value so I paid them a visit to find out. The menu is available on weekdays  and currently contains 11 items priced at £5.95 each as well as Fries (£1.50) and Sweet Potato Fries (£2.50). I’ve no doubt that this will …

I’ve sort of wanted to eat at Almost Famous for a long time, sort of. I was certain that i’d love the food (based on photos, reviews and general reputation) but equally sure that I wouldn’t be able to deal with that whole ‘oh so cool’, ‘hey look at us, we’re so frickin edgy’ attitude. Not to mention the hipsters that eat …

Despite it being the talk of the town for most of 2012 and knowing that i’ll absolutely love the food I am still yet to visit Almost Famous in Manchester for various reasons. I’m not a hipster, I’m not really a fan of queuing for food but mainly because their marketing really annoys me. However, I couldn’t resist visiting ‘Miracle …