Grand Pacific - Manchester

A long time ago (in social media time scales) I wrote a rather desiccating review of Australasia, a place I found to be rather more style than substance; a place which left a rather large hole in the pocket of my dining companion.

In a bid to exorcise demons (and as I was stranded on a cold and blustery day in the soulless wastelands of Spinningfields without any desire to move my feet more than they had to) I came upon the decision that it was finally time to try Grand Pacific, the upstairs/less formal/outdoors area/annexe of Australasia.

Grand Pacific may be dressed up as a different restaurant, but it's Australasia; it has the same menu, the same staff, the same decor and if you go downstairs, the same toilets. I was momentarily upset by the realisation that I'd be eating the same menu items I so roundly denigrated last time. It then struck me and double times upset me, that this time around it would be a hole in my own pocket and not some hapless companion.

Fortuitously for me the upset lasted only as long as it took the food to arrive (about thirteen minutes if you're interested). In place of the misjudged flavours and lack lustre baubles I'd experienced on my last visit, this time the food was little less than exsquisite.

BBQ lamb chops were delivered over a somewhat superfluous, but (I have to admit) somewhat aesthetically pleasing warming plate. Soft, sweet and covered in a teriyaki style marinade, they also processed a moreish smoky char that left me wishing I'd been served more than the plump three I'd just inhaled. The tuna tartar proved to be a well balanced dish of almost buttery fish with subtle zings of citrus, mustard, spice and caper. The tuna was so delicately chopped that each small piece resembled a tiny, intact jewel with none of the mushiness you get from rough chopping or poor quality fish.

Pretty food, amazing tastes

Sour plum and salmon futomaki were great, just over shadowed by everything else on the table, especially the pigeon. I warn you now, I'm going to wax lyrical a little... The pigeon was presented as two plump, pink breasts surround with small clusters of mustard fruits and topped with two pastilles. Not only was the dish a beauty to behold, but the combination of sweet, rich meat and fruit, cut with the mustard and the sharp crunch of filo was utterly sublime. It's one of the most delicious dishes that I have eaten in Manchester for a while.

 

Amazing Duck and Mustard

Oh and the chips are bloody moreish. End of.

To top our rather delightful experience we were also treated to some of the exceptional customers service that Living Ventures, the company behind Grand Pacific, are so famous for. We were served by Alex who not only had a thorough understanding coeliac disease, but who then proceeded to run to the kitchen with all our questions, asked the kitchen to change dishes to incorporate non-gluten ingredients and sourced some tamari (gluten free soy sauce) so we could both experience exactly the same tastes and textures throughout the meal.

In all, Grand Pacific completely changed my opinions of Australaisa, I might even go back to the main restaurant now.

Price for four cocktails, four sharing dishes and one side: £74.50

Food: 9/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Service - 10/10
Value for money - 7/10

Total - 34/40

Go again? Yes.

Grand Pacific, 1 The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3AP - 0161 831 0288

Artisan - Manchester

I am unashamedly middle class. I'm not going to make excuses for my up-bringing, values and identity. I'm not going to pretend anymore, or make a mockery of where I fall in society - yes I worry about minor infringements of manners and I really like aspirational magazine; there's nothing wrong with being in the middle sometimes.

And that's why I like Artisan, the new-ish Spinnigfields offering from Living Ventures (Australaisa, Oast House, Alchemist). Artisan is not trying to be fine dining, it's not trying to be hipishly down-at-heel, it's not trying to push boundaries and it's not jumping on any bandwagon. It's just a comfortable, relaxed space, with great food and good drinks.

We visited mid-week and were pleasantly surprised that a) it was pretty busy for mid-week and b) that the vast, 12,000 ft space seemed really rather cosy. As with other Living Ventures concerns, there's been a conscious and very obvious effort to ensure the design encapsulates everything this space is about - comfort, cosiness, chatting with your friends, with a touch of something special to make you feel great being there.

As with all Living Ventures places, the staff have been expertly trained - we were met, welcomed and seated by genuinely friendly people and the staff knew most of the curve ball questions we threw at them (bar the whiskey question, but they were good enough to go and find out from the well-stocked bar).

The premise at Artisan is to relax and order food to share - we took advantage of this attitude and ordered a phalanx of nibbles and starters:

• Olives; you can actually go wrong with olives, but Artisan have been clever enough to ensure they're bloody fresh and bunged a load of herbs on top.
• Focaccia with dips; the bread was super fresh and straddled the just salty enough line with aplomb - the accompanying dips could have been a little more punchy, but we made up by dipping it in the camembert.
• Baked camembert; melty cheese, what could be better? Artisan sprinkle said melty cheese with pine nuts and rosemary - simple, but inspired.
• BBQ pork rib; a massive hunk of meat, soft and succulent in a pretty good BBQ sauce. The sauce could have been a bit more zingy, but was tasty enough for us to lick our fingers afterwards.
• Wood baked sardines; out of the starters, this was the bum dish. The salsa
  
  that accompanied the fish had a great kick, but the sardines were dry and served on an over sized piece of wood. Now I understand Artisan's schtick is to cook stuff in the wood-fired oven, but the fish to wood ratio was ridiculous and we couldn't see how the wood had affected the taste of the fish.
• Baked mussels - we thought these would be horribly chewy, having been in the oven, but this dish was amazing. Moules marinares steamed to perfection under a dough duvet - I'm not sure if you're meant to eat the crust, but it made a great plate to mouth transport devise for the sweetly, garlic rich sauce.

As we reached mains, we decided to save our waists a little and order only one dish apiece. The pulled pork burger was a solid, comforting dish with plenty of salty, soft meat. The salt baked sea bass was a star of a dish; perfectly steamed and seasoned in its salt crust, with the added theatre of it being hammered out of said crust by a member of the waiting staff, whilst we watched, goggled eyed.

Unfortunately my dish of pork tenderloin, let the side down. The dish itself was a great contrast of sweet and sharp tastes; apples and a mustard sauce cutting through the sweet fattiness of the pork. However the pork itself was over cooked, dry and slightly chewy - a shame, as if it had been spot on, this may have been the winning dish of the evening.

We were stuffed, but salted caramel baked bananas was too much like yum for us to turn down, so we
managed to find space - glad we did, simple yet delicious, the gingerbread ice cream was a perfect match for the warm, gooey, savoury-ish bananas.

Artisan is a great space; the food is mostly excellent, the staff are brilliant and it's not too heavy on the pocket (unless you try and eat the whole menu, like us gluttons). For a simple, laid back and definitely better than middle-of-the-road meal, go visit.

Price for five starters, three mains, two sides, three puddings, two cocktails, three beers, a whisky and two glasses of pudding wine: £139.85

Food - 7/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Value for money - 7/10

Total - 32/40

Go again - yes, it's a great place to hang out with friends.

Artisan, Avenue North, 18-22 Bridge Street, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3BZ - Manchester@artisan.uk.com - 0161 832 4181 - Twitter - Facebook

www.artisan.uk.com

Please note, I was given this meal gratis, but as you can see from my varied review of the dishes, I wasn't under any obligation to say anything nice.

 

 

 

Neighbourhood - Manchester

Neighbourhood has been on my ‘to visit’ list for some time now, securing a place through good reviews and some shameless self-promotion (restaurants, please do not retweet every tweet people make about hanging out with you, thanks); but each time I have ventured near, the overspill of leopard print, shiny suits and false nails pushes me on elsewhere.

Neighbourhood - with thanks to Likerish Split

A few weeks back I was taken there; wasn't my choice, but my new personal development challenge is to stop being a dining control freak – NEWS FLASH – I am letting other people choose where we  go to eat (sometimes) (and not making bitchy comments before we have, at least, eaten there). I can't say I still don't get sweaty palms doing this, but if the meal is a disaster I am no longer crushed by catholic levels of guilt for weeks after.

Neighbourhood is located on the outer edges of the corporate world of Spinningfields. Owned by those chaps at Southern Eleven (all meat, stripped wood and Americana), Neighbourhood has been designed to recreate the feel of a Manhattan neighbourhood bar; unfortunately, like Spinningfields itself, it's all a little too clean cut, carefully constructed and image conscious.



Underwhelming shrimps

Dining on a Tuesday night didn't feel very neighbourly, in fact we didn't have any neighbours at all; our waiter made up for that, his customer service was spot on, he knew the menu inside out and wasn't afraid to describe the negatives as well as the positives of the dishes – this service, coupled with the good reviews and enjoying the food at Southern Eleven, initially promised good things from the night to come.


The buttermilk fried Chicken Lollipops we had to start were sweet, moist and salty - all my food cravings rolled into one great little dish; I am underlining the word LITTLE here. We'd ordered the Shrimp, Crackle and Pop because it sounded fun, a case of 'shucks you are so cool for putting rice crispies in a dish' – what actually came to the table was not fun; an overly reduced bisque with a cloying, metallic taste (that tainted my mouth for the rest of the evening), two chewy prawns and some very soggy rice crispies. For £9.

Baked Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese has been the one dish receiving constant rave reviews, my twitter feed is littered with it, however our experience of it was anything other than rave. How Neighbourhood managed to create a dish of pasta that was simultaneously dry and chewy on top, whilst soggy and swimming in pasta water on the bottom, I have no idea. There was little sauce, any to be found was watery and under-seasoned; there was no hint of cheese and very little of lobster (two, chewy, tiny pieces) - at £15 the dish left a hole in both stomachs and wallets.



Rubbish picture, not much better dish

The Grilled Rock Bass with clams and spinach was the best dish of the evening, but don't take that as a ringing endorsement. The fish and clams were well cooked, obviously lobster mac chef didn't cook this one, but that was the only thing going for the dish. The accompanying sauce was so insipid it may have been better to leave it off as it was so unnoticeable, the spinach was limp, the taste akin to eating solidified dishwater and I doubt any salt had even been near the dish, let alone added to it.

Sweet tooth pizza - £15

For some reason we decided to stay for pudding; maybe it was hunger, maybe we wanted to find a saving grace, maybe I have such a dazzling personality (definitely not the latter – ed). We picked the Sweet Tooth Pizza to share; a car crash of brownies, marshmallows, pecans and caramel loaded onto a sweet pizza base. The base was overly chewy, the brownies overly dry - the marshmallow was nice and that's about it. At least this dish was big enough to fill us up.

Neighbourhood's menu promises taste, comfort and competent cooking - but just like Spinningfield itself and Neighbourhood's usual punters, the food is all about show rather than substance.



Price for two starters, two mains, a pudding and two glasses of wine: £71.50

Food - 4/10
Atmosphere - 5/10
Service - 7/10
Value for money - 3/10

Total 19/40

Go again? - No thanks, I'll stick to somewhere that knows money/looks aren't everything.

Neighbourhood, The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester – M3 3JE reservations@neighbourhoodrestaurant.co.uk – 0161 832 6334 - Twitter

www.neighbourhoodrestaurant.co.uk

Ski Club - Spinngfields, Manchester

Ok, so I’ve been lazy with the blog – sorry, I’ve been dealing with life by sticking my head in the sand and putting my fingers in my ears. Enough of the complaining (as I’ll be doing a lot of that in the following post, so get ready) – the recent wintry weather has stirred me to write up a night I was invited to at Ski Club; with snow on the ground, what an opportune time to share.

The Ski Club is the newest (although pretty old now, hey? – ed) pop-up concept from Heart Soul Rock & Roll; those people behind Spinningfield's summer pop-up, Yacht Club. Being canny to the fact that Manchester's inclement climate isn't conducive to high sales of booze in an outside, barely covered venue, they've moved indoors to Quay House and recreated the high life on the ski slopes a la 1972.

Ski Club - vintage slopes luxury, apparently - thanks to City Life

Wood clad, with leather seats and faux fur throws, coupled with dim lighting and vintage pictures of the slopes, the decor is meant to invoke the snug hillside cabins of St Moritz; unfortunately none of the styling perks up the rather cold and soulless space that Ski Club seems to be. Maybe I visited on the wrong night (seriously PR people, you're going to have a press night? Please make sure there’s some ambiance in the place you're trying desperately to sell us),  or maybe it’s just soulless; but three cocktails in and I was still shivering under my blanket.

Those aforementioned PR people had kindly invited a bunch of press/blogger types to come together for a tasting of the Ski Club’s fare in the hope we'd get busy writing gushing prose about. Bad move. What we were served at Ski Club can only be described as vile.

As you readers are aware, if I’m invited somewhere to eat, then I’ll judge that place harsher than somewhere I just rock up to and actually pay for my food at (yeah, I do pay for food you know...); if you know someone is there to review, you make damn sure everything is tip top standard. If you invite a whole crowd of reviewers (a la the Ski Club night), then you make sure the food and service is so damn hot I’m burning my fingers on it and talking about it for years to come.

Arancini snowballs

Porcini arancini balls were massive, almost snowball sized dusty abominations that tasted of gravel. Sundried tomato, mozzarella and pesto on a stick – meh, I could get that at Pesto and that’s not saying much. Some sort of sausage roll had greasy pastry as thick as rhino skin and the fondue? Well I've already discussed that before - but let's get it off my chest again because it was so disappointing - claggy, cold, contemptible.  The only edible eats were some cured meats - but if they'd fucked up opening the packet and plating it, then I'd be even more worried about what's happening in the kitchen than I already am.

Oh and a note to the Ski Club staff - if someone asks you if the food served is gluten free, and that person is sitting in the group of press you invited to see how amazing this place is, please have the decency to get back to that person whilst the food is still on the table and not after it has been cleared and they've gone hungry. Thanks.

If the food's not up to scratch then at least you can rely on the drinks right? There's a good choice of spirits and beers, plus some quirky cocktail concoctions; even a blue coconut thing (Tiffany and Coco) - stylish to look at, yes, but the flavours in all the drinks fell somewhat flat and were smothered by an overabundance of sweetness. Great if you have a sweet tooth - I prefer something a bit bitter, with a kick (says a lot for you personality - ed), rather than the nursery soothers served, but they seemed to go down well with others in the party.

Blue drink - no advisable to drink off or on the slopes

The ski club will be hanging around in Spinningfields (above Artzu Gallery) until March if you fancy warming your cockles after a day on out the slopes of Manchester's shopping streets - however I'll take my apres-ski elsewhere.

Ps The bar staff, in contrast to the waiting staff, were exceptional.

Food - 2/10
Atmosphere - 5/10
Service - 6/10 (score greatly increased by the bar staff)
Value for money - n/a

Total - 13/30

Go again? No thanks. I'll be interested to see what Heart Soul Rock & Roll dream up next, as Yacht Club was pretty decent. Let's hope this is a seasonal blip for them.

The Ski Club, Quay House,  Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3JE - Facebook - Twitter - info@skiclub.co.uk

Please note I was invited to Ski Club as part of a press night and was given my food and drink for free. I am under no obligation to say anything nice in return for this - as is pretty evident from this review!

Hey Little Cupcake - Spinningfields, Manchester

I'm a girl, but not a very accomplished one; I put makeup on my face (sometimes, but barely take it off), I wear dresses occasionally and now and again I remember to have a hair cut. But that's as far as being a girl goes - no lip gloss, no straighteners, no shopping, no pink - certainly no pink.

So, what was I doing in Hey Little Cupcake - well I was trying out their cakes (and why did you think I was there?) as they've just released the East Coast collection; a set of seven unique flavours inspired by the owner of Hey Little Cupcake's travel throughout the states.

The East Coast Collection - and some pink

Taking influence from a trip up the East Coast, Sarah and the Hey Little Cupcake gang took existing sweet treats and baked goods that are synonymous with places along the route and creatively re-imagined them as cupcakes - pies, tarts and cheesecakes have been cupcaked - and strangely they actually work.

As much as I am a glutton (I put my hand up and admit I can eat 13 crepes in a row) I can't eat seven cupcakes - especially as the Hey Little Cupcakes are quite large (what my mother would term a muffin). Instead I chose the four that sounded most intriguing and scoffed those instead. I'd like to say I had help, but no, I ate them all by myself and didn't even regret it. I even ate the frosting. And I enjoyed them.

My favourite was the Key Lime Pie - light, zesty, sharp and with a buttery biscuit base adding an additional texture contrast. Brilliant. Another wonderfully light cake was the New York Cheesecake; I had thought this would be heavy (as they bake a bit of cheesecake IN the cupcake batter, no I don't know how they achieve that) and overly sweet - but it was all lightness, slight creaminess and a good hint of vanilla without feeling like I was licking soap.

My haul

A little heavier and way more decadent was the Brooklyn black out; a full on chocolate cupcake, with hints of espresso and chocolate frosting - you'd think cocoa overload, but chocolate is my one weakness (well with coffee, cheese, cake, wine...). Struggling, but determined not to be beaten, I finished the binge off with the Boston Cream Pie - sweet vanilla sponge with a custard filling and a custardy frosty; all cut through with an ultra bitter dark chocolate ganache that rescues what could be a sickly sweet cake and balances out the flavours.

Brooklyn Blackout

Yes the place is full of sweet things, cakes and pinkness - but it's balanced like the cakes themselves. The pink is balanced with a profusion of clean lines and white walls, interspersed with eye catching photography from Sarah's travels (it's obvious she doesn't have an eye just for cakes). The staff aren't giggly girls, just down to earth types with a passion for baking and making people's days a little brighter. Even their clientele isn't just girly girls - there were plenty of boys when I went in (and not just the ones forced to stop by with their girlfriends).

See it's not SO pink after all

Hey Little Cupcake is a expression of Sarah's passion and this shows. The cakes don't just look great, they taste fab, all the flavours are balanced, they're not too sweet and there's a big dollop of flair and creativity mixed in to boot. Not surprising seeing as Sarah has ten years of a very successful advertising career behind her and was so dedicated that during the initial pop up opening 18 months ago she was doing 14 hours days, 7 days a week. It's paid off, the shop is busy and what's more she's got the smarts to have big plans for the future and her little cakes, rather than being part of the bandwagon, Hey Little Cupcake the trail leader.

You can get a flavour a day from the East Coast collection all this week - but as a special treat on Friday and Saturday the whole collection will be in the store - so don't miss out!

The flavours are:
Monday: Florida Key Lime Pie. Digestive base with a lime sponge and lime cream frosting


Tuesday: Boston Cream Pie. Vanilla sponge, custard filling and custard buttercream with dark choc ganache

Wednesday: Lady Baltimore Cake. Cherry and raisin sponge topped with meringue frosting and pecans

Thursday: Mississippi Mud Pie. Oreo cookie base, Yorkie pudding filled sponge, topped with chocolate buttercream, fresh cream and chocolate sprinkles.

Friday: New York Cheesecake. Digestive base with vanilla cheesecake sponge topped vanilla cream cheese

Saturday: Brooklyn Blackout. Espresso and dark chocolate sponge filled with a chocolate fudge filling, topped with chocolate buttercream, dark chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles.

Sunday: Kentucky Jam Cake. Cinnamon sponge filled with raspberry jam topped with caramel buttercream, cinnamon sprinkles and toffee sauce.

Ps Hey Little Cupcake also run cookery classes, jam making, make wedding cakes, make BIG cakes, do gift certificates and have gluten free cakes in the store every day.

Hey Little Cupcake, Little Quay Street, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3HF - 0161 832 0260 - hello@heylittlecupcake.co.uk - Twitter

www.heylittlecupcake.co.uk

Please note I was given my cakes for free, but didn't have to write anything nice. KI just really liked the cake and thought Sarah was an inspirational person to talk to.

Australasia - Spinningfields, Manchester

Spinningfields - once an office surrounded wasteland full of commuting suits and empty units, has been undergoing a bit of a transformation lately, in an attempt to inject some soul into the corridors of corporate Manchester.

Now teaming with a mix of upper-end chain restaurants, funky pop ups, an outdoor cinema and even a frozen yogurt place; it's become the go to destination of the bright and spangly young professionals, keen to drink away their weekend and flash a little cash whilst they're at it.

At the top end of the scale is Living Venture's Australasia, an underground doyen that's so stylish and slick they're thinking of using it as the new teflon. For an underground bunker, Living Ventures have done exceptionally well - it's bright, light and well designed without feeling like you're sitting under 1,000 watt lamps; even though there's a profusion of tightly packed tables, the space feels intimate but not like your neighbour is spying on you.

Australasia interior - with thanks to Restaurants of Manchester

As you can guess from the name, Australasia's premise is the fusion food found in the city restaurants of Melbourne and Sydney, but most of the menu is very Asia heavy - sushi, tempura, a robata grill etc. As we were there for snacks and chats with drinks, we stuck around the sushi end of the menu so we could all share.

Unfortunately for the food it seems as overly styled as the restaurant - it's beautifully presented and minute attention to detail is paid to everything bar the taste (I know this as they have a glass walled kitchen and a legion of chefs doing very fiddly things to plates on the pass). Don't get me wrong, it's somewhat better than some of the food you find in Manchester, but for the prices we were paying I'd expect it to be AMAZING or something like that.

Oysters were great, very fresh with all the liquor still in them and the accompaniments worked a treat, but I'd be seriously pissed/worried if they managed to mess up an oyster. Next came kingfish sashimi; didn't taste that fresh, almost spongy and at £15.50 was a tiny portion - I don't care if it does come from Tasmania, I was hungry. We moved on to scallop sashimi with a sweet lime dressing; sweet scallops with a caramelised chillies and crispy shallots - could have done with that aforementioned lime juice to lighten it a little, but the dish was good enough for me to let it slide this time.

Kingfish sashimi - with thanks to Restaurants of Manchester

Soft shell crab California roll was dominated by the sesame seeds on the outside, no hint of what was on the inside at all; the tuna and crispy shallots tasted of cheese and onion crisps, no hint of the fish. With both the roles the rice was awful; really overly claggy and not a great texture at all. Just as we grumbled and moaned we were saved by the smoked ell nigiri - seriously the best I have ever tried (I adore unagi like Baltimorian's adore their drugs); soft, salty, sticky and smoky with the exact amount of wasabi to balance it all out - yes the rice let it down, but the fish was so good I didn't give a flying...

At that point we'd had enough of the over priced, over styled food; plus we were distressed at the tap water we'd been given that had an overpowering taste of 'gentleman's relish' (I'm not talking about anchovy paste here), so we scarpered, leaving the bright lights of Australasia to Manchester's shiny young things.

Price for two plates sashimi, six oysters, two lots of California rolls (4 each), one plate of nigri (4) and a bottle of wine - £81.50

Food - 6/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Service - 7/10 (one guy was great, but the others were a little poor)
Value for money - 6/10

Total - 27/40

Go again? If I wanted to overly impress someone who didn't like food and they were paying, maybe. Shame as the restaurant itself is really lovely, the food just lets it down.

Ps Sorry for no photos, got carried away with the oysters and booze on this one.

Australasia, 1 The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3AP - 0161 831 0288 - info@australasia.uk.com

http://www.australasia.uk.com/

Southern11 - Spinningfields, Manchester

BBQ is big right now - and I don't just mean overweight men drinking Stella burning Poundland sausages, battling against the British weather whilst their wives get tipsy on no food and warm rose. No, I mean proper  BBQ, rich from the American South where people win prizes for their 24 hour smoked hog and closely guarded BBQ basting recipes are passed down from father to son in time honoured tradition.

There's Barbacoa, Jamie's central London restaurant with Adam Perry Lang and an on site butchery, there's also a further raft of restaurants round the capital, such as Bodean's - not to mention the various street carts and pop ups adding to the mix.

To show we're not slow on the uptake, Manchester now has it's own homage to the BBQ phenomenon in the shape of Southern11, in not one, but two locations. There's a small offering at the Arndale food market, but the main event happens in Manchester's glorified capitalist centre; Spinningfields.

Buzzy interior

It's a genuine surprise when you go somewhere and see one thing and experience something completely different. At Southern11 it was luckily a good surprise. The interior is shiny shiny new new and feels like it's trying to cosy up to the city types lunch crowd, the presentation is all chopping boards, buckets for chips and kilner jars. I'd usually consign this to the flashy gear, no idea list of establishments that unfortunately pull in the millions through style over substance; Southern11 is somewhat different. It is a little flashy, but the food and the service are spot on.

Southern11's mission is 'hospitality the Southern way,' serving BBQ foods cooked in the traditional way (they even have traditional Oklahoma smokers supplied from the only UK guy to win the Jack Daniel's cook off) and believe in sourcing quality produce from local suppliers.

The boy chose the Hickory Wood Smoked Belly Ribs after eyeing up several other coming out of the kitchen. When the dish arrived the meat fell off the bone and you could taste the sweet licks of hickory smoke; the meat to bone ratio was very favourable and even left enough for me to steal. The only downside to the dish was the fries, a but flabby but the homemade BBQ sauce made up for that.

Hickory smoked belly ribs replete with brush for BBQ sauce

I ordered the pulled pork; soft, juicy and very sweet. The side of jalapeno cornbread added and welcome spice to cut through the dish, and wasn't overly sweet like American cornbread can be (thankfully!). Homemade slaw was crunchy and fresh, made with only a smattering of mayo so no horrible sludgy pile to plough through. The dish was a little small compared to  the boy's ribs, but at £8.95 I wasn't expecting a whole pig.

Pulled pork and jalapeno cornbread

Southern11 is a mixed bag. Looking and feeling akin to a higher-end chain restaurant with a very affordable menu, they seem to really care about good food, good service and good quality produce. Hopefully this good food, low costs ethos will catch on else where, as usually the mere whiff of 'rare breed' bumps the price up to £20 or more.

I'm not sure how authentic Southern11 is as I've never been to the deep south and have a feeling the BBQ shacks don't serve Parmesan truffle fries and are a little more rustic with food hygiene coming second to taste. However Southern11 do great things to meat and are a fresh breath for Manchester's culinary scene. You're not going to find fireworks here; but well cooked, honest food and lovely staff are winners in my book.

Ps - the bar is super well stocked and they do cocktails too.

Pps - Southern11 has really great toilets, but has really confusing toilet door signs.

Price for two mains and two bottles of beer - £26

Food - 7/10
Service - 7/10
Atmosphere - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10

Total - 29/40

Go again - Yes it's brilliant for a relaxed, informal meal at little cost.

Southern11, Unit 26, 3 Hardman Street, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3EB - 0161 832 0482 - info@southern11.co.uk

@SOUTHERNELEVEN Facebook

http://www.southern11.co.uk/index.html