Tag Archives: Christmas

I love Christmas Eve, I’d go so far as to say it’s by far my favourite day of the year. So naturally I put a lot of effort into choosing where to eat. It wasn’t easy coming up with somewhere that could match the Parkers Arms the previous year. But I had such fond memories of Sticky Walnut that I …

It’s hard to write about the Parkers Arms these days. Hard not to write stuff that’s already been said a million times anyway. Pound for pound, taking everything into account it has been my favourite place to eat for almost four years now. I just love everything about the place, from the location to the service and of course the …

Welcome to the fifth annual Food Geek Awards! (previous years are here) As I say every year, these awards are intended to be a bit of fun. Just something a bit different from the ‘Top 10’ lists that most people seem to do. They’re based purely on my dining experiences in 2016, nothing more. Best Restaurant Awards Best Dish Awards …

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 …

When people ask me for my favourite place to eat, as they often do, I usually struggle to give a definitive answer. But the more I think of it the more I reckon it’s probably the Parkers Arms. I know, it’s not got a Michelin star or a celebrity chef attached. It’s not glitzy, or in an up and coming part of town, …

I get the impression that Jon Jones, head chef of The Farmers Arms, doesn’t really like Christmas. That’s just from talking to him, thankfully it doesn’t show in his menus or cooking. I had a jolly festive feast there a couple of years ago so booked a table just before the Christmas madness started to get 2015’s festivities underway. The pub …

Welcome to the fourth annual Food Geek Awards (previous years are here). I started these awards to be bit more interesting and concise than posting loads of ‘Top 10’ lists. Most of the awards contain a top three, although there are a few with a top five and a couple with just the winner. I must confess to being a …

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 & …

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 …

After running a successful food and beer pairing event at the newly opened Wigan Central, I brought my ‘Christmas Food, Beer & Festive Cheer’ to one of my favourite places two days later; Great Ale Year Round in Bolton Market’s Lifestyle Hall. Despite tickets being cheaper, the Bolton event proved to be even better than the original in Wigan. Mostly thanks …

‘Twas the (last Friday) night before Christmas and Manchester street food pioneers Guerrilla Eats were throwing a party at their semi-permanent home on Blossom Street. Combining two of the things I love most, street food and craft beer. The beer list was impressive; with twenty lines – of both keg and cask beers – from great local breweries such as Quantum and …

I wasn’t feeling particularly festive when I woke up the morning after the Arepa!Areapa!Arepa! Christmas Supper Club, possibly because I was nursing a slight hangover. But there was no time for pity as I had another party to attend, this time the Drunken Butcher’s Xmas party. It didn’t look much like a party when we arrived to be honest, there was …

Arepa!Arepa!Arepa! (aka GoodGobbleBlog aka Grub aka Jules and Bailey) have gone from strength to strength since I attended their inaugural supper club last January. After outgrowing their dining room they’ve taken over the kitchen at BrewDog and moved their supper clubs to Trove in Levenshulme. I missed the first one but made sure I got tickets to their Christmas event …

Are we all bored of Top Ten lists yet? Me too, but that’s not going to stop me doing my own. At least my ‘Awards’ are a little different; most are just a list of three – Bronze, Silver & Gold if you like – although a few of them I just couldn’t narrow down so contain five. There have been …

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 …