Tag Archives: Manchester

I wouldn’t usually write about somewhere after eating just one dish but I’m making an exception here since it was so damn good. The dish in question was a stunning ‘cote de boeuf’ at Côte Brasserie in Manchester. It was very much a spontaneous visit; late on a Monday night after attending a ‘Meet The Brewer’ event at Cane & Grain (review …

I realised recently that compared to previous years i’ve hardly eaten in any ‘fine-dining’ restaurants so far in 2014. As much as I still enjoy refined French food and good wine with fancy silver service I often have the feeling of ‘been there, done that’, they just don’t excite me as much as they once did. It’s partly fatigue from over …

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 …

The life of a food blogger isn’t always as glamourous as it may seem. I was reminded of this in June after eating at two new restaurants in the same evening; one incredibly dull and uninspiring, the other mediocre at best. The first part of the underwhelming double bill was Wahu in Spinningfields, where food comes in cardboard boxes that probably taste better than …

I love beer and BrewDog is one of my favourite places to drink it. I’m quite partial to street food too, so when I heard they were to hold regular ‘Kitchen Takeovers’ where they invite independent street food vendors into their kitchen for the day I was naturally excited. Even more so when I found out the first event was …

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 …

Since having my first ‘Pizza Pilgrims’ at Street Feast London in May i’ve been plotting a return to get another fix. Last week something wonderful happened; Pizza Pilgrims came to me! And they even brought some friends with them. ‘Moretti Gran Tour’ was an event run by Italian brewing company Birra Moretti to celebrate authentic Italian food, featuring some of London’s …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

When I asked for breakfast recommendations in Manchester late last year one of the popular suggestions was Fyg Deli in the Northern Quarter. Before I’d had chance to visit I heard they’d been taken over and reopened as ‘Wood. Wine & Deli’ an independent wine bar. They promised bar stools made from tree trunks and food served on platters of …

Last Wednesday I attended the launch of ‘Chalk Bar and Grill’ the latest addition to Didsbury’s ever growing dining scene. I didn’t actually intend on blogging about it, and this certainly isn’t a ‘review’ since all I ate were canapés. But since I enjoyed them so much and was impressed with the place in general I thought i’d share my photos …