Common - Northern Quarter, Manchester

Common's had a makeover, that's not a bad thing, it's just a fact I thought I'd point out. Don't worry all you lovers of their stripped back look, they've gone for an even more minimal, industrial look; think Ikea, without the bright colours or bookcases with pieces missing.

We popped into Common for lunch this week, mainly because my dining companion had wanted to go to Home Sweet Home (he's lived in the Northern Quarter for years and never been in), but it was full of hip young things drinking hyper-sweet milkshakes and eating day-glo coloured buttercream,so we popped next door, because 't'were new like,' grown up looking and quiet.

Quick scan through the menu and we realised they'd moved away from the burger/comfort food/slightly rustic heaviness and added small plates and meals with a fresher, lighter feel: refreshing to see somewhere in the NQ stepping away from messy piles of Tex Mex Americana and forging a food identity all of their own (don't worry, they still do burgers, if you haven't got over that yet).

If you go to Common and you are unsure what to order, I will tell you what you're going to have:

1. Shak shuka; a middle eastern version of huevos rancheros (eggs baked in spiced tomato and peppers). This is a staple dish for me at home, but Common's subtly spiced, cumin warmed, pepper heavy version was delicious, especially as they'd managed to keep the egg yolks runny. Which I can assure you, is a feat of kitchen skill.



2. Korean fried chicken: a sticky, sweet, garlicky, crispy, spicy delight. Utterly more-ish, they should
make a larger version for people who don't like sharing. Like me.

3. Popcorn cockles - all establishments should serve these tiny, crunchy, salty morsels of amazingness - however I doubt they'd manage to keep the cockles as soft and the batter as light as Common's. I want whoever the chef is at Common to come to my house and marry me. I'm on the market for getting wife-d up and anyone who can come up with these dishes is probably the person for me.



We also had the smashed avocado and tomato on toast - lovely and fresh, would be a great light lunch for non-pigs. I'd probably take the almonds out of the tomatoes, as they didn't add anything, but it pleased me to know I was eating one of my portions of nuts and seeds for the day (because things like that worry me at night). In addition the veg chilli on chips was great - plenty of not too wet chilli, melted cheese and salty/crispy fries - it was just over shadowed by the amazing-ness of everything else.

Oh and I ALMOST forgot - Common has expanded into the (viz lovely waitress) 'scary basement and popped in a bit of a bakery.' Now all their cakes are made in house and are very reasonably priced compared to their competitors: NOT NAMING ANY NAMES, BUT SERIOUSLY £5.50 FOR A SLICE OF EFFING CAKE?

Whoops, got giddy before
photographing!

Hand thrown pot
lampshades

Anyways, digression - for £1, Common is selling little chocolate orange truffle things (they're not that small though) - like a chewy date and chocolate heavy thing, with orange. Fit. And according to the waitress they're made with raw things and cocoa, which is all good for you. Unfortunately I couldn't fit anything else in and we had to leave, or I would have eaten them all. I need the recipe.

So a note about the new decor (I know you're all desperate to know) - think concrete, grey, open kitchen, light wood and you'll have it (their images here). There are long refectory style tables and hand potted lamp shades - if you like minimal, scandi, industrial chic you'll love it. I love the new makeover, I love the new menu, I love Common. But the chairs are a bit uncomfortable for old people like me.


Price for one snack, one side dish, three light bites and one cake: £23. Dishes range from a couple of
quid for a snack, around £4.50 for a light bite and up to low double figures for a main meal.

Food - 9/10
Atmosphere - 7/10 (quiet, but it was Wednesday mid-afternoon)
Service - 8/10
Value for money - 9/10

Total 33/40

Common, 39 Edge Street, Manchester M4 1HW, 0161 832 9245, Twitter, Facebook.

Please note, Common had no idea I was there until I started mouthing off afterwards on social media. Bloggers do actually pay for most of the meals they eat out. Mostly.

Pancho's - Arndale Centre, Manchester

Pancho's, a small stall that has stood in the hustle and bustle of the Arndale food market, first caught my eye with it's gaudy yellow sign and queues of burrito buying lunch-timers, last year - back then it was one tiny little stall; the Mexican husband and wife team run off their feet churning out never-ending streams of Mexican street food. Now they've got two stalls and are fast becoming a firm favourite in the food hall.

Eye-catching and tongue tingling! - Thanks to Pancho's

Pancho's makes the best burrito in the whole of Manchester and probably in the whole of the North West and maybe even in the UK. I recently had the pleasure of trying some North East burrito styling at Street Chef in Sheffield (they're missing a trick not calling it Street Shef...); very good (blog post soon), but still only on a par with Pancho's.
Hands up, you guessed it, this is a blog post from a bona-fide burrito fan - when Barburrito was initially alright and my taste buds weren't so...ahem...sophisticated, I'd make a weekly trip there. This was shortly followed by a burrito-cational few visits to the big smoke, where I tasted something closer to what I guess is the real deal (if anyone wants to take me to Mexico to taste the real deal, please get in touch) and since then I've craved a burrito roughly once a week. Thankfully Pancho's has been there to quench my thirst/hunger with this carby, meaty, zesty meal in a wrap.

If you crave a burrito please never visit Taco Bell in the Arndale food court.

In fact why does the Arndale bother providing the food court? Especially when you can walk approximately two minutes, indoors, and come across the delights of the food market? Maybe to keep the crowds away so I only have to wait behind five people for my burrito instead of ten?

Anyway, I digress, this is a post where I big up Pancho's and don't philosophise on the whys and wherefores of Arndale management.

The Pancho's burrito is a massive affair - I go for the smaller size and it's still massive. There's a revolving list of fillings, depending on what's been cooked that day by the staff; the filling are all very traditional (in a good way), rather than the crazy rat balls and smoked pig face concoctions you're likely to get in some 'street food' places these days.

Ripped open - look at all that filling!

If Pancho's have the pork in chipotle as an option, I implore you to have this filling over anything else. Whole bits of pork are slow cooked in a smokey, tangy sauce with a bit of a kick - it's sweet, it's spicy and it's lip-smackingly delicious. The pork with cactus is a pretty special affair too; lighter, but with an insane depth of flavour and great texture from the cactus - and you can't get more Mexican than cactus.

Along with the meat (or veg, if you're that way inclined/mental), the burritos are stuffed full of salad, beans, peppers, rice, cheese, sour cream and salsa (I always hold the cream and cheese, but that's a personal taste thing). The salsas are made fresh and shower you with an abundance of fresh, fruity flavours that cut through the carby, meaty, creamy burrito - word of warning, the hot habenaro will blow your head off (and also makes your lips majorly plump up, so a good choice if you're in need of plastic surgery but can't afford filler injections).

"This place sounds divine," you're thinking. But it gets better (really?!) - Pancho's staff freshly make salsas and sauces for you to take home (the chipotles in adobo saves you a hell of a lot of work and makes the base for the best huevos rancheros EVER) and they stock a wide range of dried Mexican chillies that are a) hard to find or b) that you usually need to be ordered specially online. Oh and mentally hot sauces, if you like that sort of thing. And (proper) tequila - but don't getting that if you have to go back to work.

Pancho's is a great place for lunch - don't got to Boots for some over-processed meal deal - for a quid more you can get a filled to busting (seriously, I don't know how they get all the fillings in without breaking those wraps), freshly made, authentic, flavoursome treat. And there's tables to sit at in the market too.
Pancho's Burritos, Food Market, Manchester Arndale, High Street, Manchester M4 3AH - Facebook - Twitter - www.panchosburrito.co.uk

Happy Seasons - China Town, Manchester

Taking a tip from a fellow food lover I followed my nose and took my grumbling tummy to Manchester's brightly coloured, richly smelly, hustling and bustling China Town to search out a long-standing little gem called Happy Seasons.

I have to admit, I've never been to Happy Seasons; never giving it more than a quick glance as I moved on to the pared back Japanese cuisine at Yuzu or the face-melting dishes at Red Chilli. It's rammed in to Faulkner Street between a dozen other dining dens and only manages to catch your attention because of its fuck off neon sign. Oh and the guy chopping meat in the window.

Big sign/bad photo

How I never managed to spot a place with peking ducks hanging in the window and a man permanently chopping different BBQ meats (don't question this, we have done tests, he is always there, always chopping. We have visited numerous times to confirm this), I don't know, especially as I've been next door to Wasabi about 400 times. I shan't miss it now though, not that I know it's there.

Meat window - chopping man got shy but you can still see him hiding - here Mr Chopping Man

Happy Seasons is very much like Handmade BBQ Noodle King - you don't go there for the decor. In fact many weak-stomached mortals who rather like shiny new chain restaurants (ooh...well ya knor jus wot yers getting even if yer go to like another town int it?) would take one look inside and condemn the place faster than an over zealous food hygiene officer. It's shabby, it's ramshackle and it's painted hospital green - but as I said, you really don't go there for the decor.

Wow, look at this amazing decor...NO LOOK AT THE FOOD, it's what you're there for

What you do go to Happy Seasons for is BBQ meat. There's a big menu with other un/usual dishes, some of it looks amazing, but nothing touches the BBQ meat. Ever. Well maybe the Char Sui buns, but you can have them for starter so let's not worry about it.

Due to the extreme amazigness of the smells coming from the kitchen we got giddy and ordered rather too much for our stomachs (don't worry, we got a doggy bag and ate it later on) all of which came  at once - I'm sure our little corner table gave an audible groan as the plates were laid upon it.

Prawn dumplings were little (well actually quite big, two bites I'd say) steamed dim sum - super hot, but gorgeous and stuffed full with large chunks of prawns with a good dose of seasoning; we suffered burnt mouths almost with glee to get these in.

Char sui buns were some of the best I've had in China Town; super fluffy and soft, oozing with sweet/salty/unctuos char sui (roast pork) - again lava hot, but again we didn't care and merely shovelled in jasmine scented tea to deal with it.

Char sui buns - don't even think about eating anything else (apart from the BBQ meat)

BBQ pork was divine and arguably the best - chucks of dense belly pork with only a little fat topping each piece off (I prefer this less fat/more meat ratio) with a crispy, crunchy crackling top. The BBQ sauce is super salty with that indescribable umami satisfaction taste wrapping itself around your tongue and smothering you with savouriness, all partnering well with the sweet pork fat/meat and the bland boiled rice we'd ordered to sop up all the lovely juices running off the meat (this is imperative. DO NOT lose/leave behind those juices - fight your table companions/the next table for them and guard them with your life).

Pork back, duck front - FIT

We ordered the duck in this BBQ style as well - not as successful as there was far too much fat and the dish left your lips overly greasy and a little sickly. Plus we'd already eaten so much pork we couldn't give the poor old duck as much attention as we liked so it had gone a little cold and hard by the time we got to it - in fact, each of the meats was served a little cold, but the rice was so hot it didn't matter at all.

Don't march down Faulkner Street dismissing places that don't conform to the perceived ideas of cleanliness or fancy decor - Happy Seasons (as well as Handmade BBQ King) is a proper hidden gem and is proof that sometimes it's the food that should be concentrated on, not the dining room.

Ps Ask for the spring onion dipping sauce - just spring onion, ginger and fish sauce bashed together. Amazing to cut through the fatty sweetness of the dishes, but you will need to drink about three gallons of water during the following night or you'll wake up with a face like a prune.

Price for two starters, two mains, one rice and tea for two - £26.40.

Food - 8/10
Atmosphere - 9/10 (packed and full of very talkative Chinese families)
Service - 6/10 (functional but probably better if we spoke Chinese)
Value for money - 10/10 (seriously massive portions and minimal price)

Total - 33/40

Go again? Yes! Yes! Yes! I need more of that BBQ pork and those Char Sui buns.

Happy Seasons, 59-61 Faulkner Street, Manchester M1 4FF - 0161 236 7189

Gallery Cafe - Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Many cultural establishments seem to forget that food is part of our culture; a sensory, thought provoking experience and that it can make or break a day out. There's been many times when, feet aching and tummy rumbling, I've gone in search of respite and been faced with packaged sandwiches, bought in muffins and dishwater coffee: it's as if the cafe is an after-thought, a mere money making addition rather than a proper supporting act.

The Whitworth Art Gallery - with thanks to Donald Rafferty

Manchester's Whitworth Gallery, however, have realised that good food equals a good time and have partnered with The Modern Caterer to provide a bustling, homely space with food so good you'll go there just for the cafe itself. I first came across The Modern Caterer at Joderall Bank's Planet Pavilion, another Manchester University museum (as is The Whitworth Gallery), and was so over joyed by their brilliant food, local sourcing and friendly staff that I couldn't wait to get to The Whitworth.

We'd planned to have lunch first, before looking round the exhibits, but the cafe was rammed with local workers taking advantage of the great eats on their doorstep (there's not much down that way that's actually good, unless you want a curry!). So we pootled round a bit and then came back. Still rammed, but we managed to get a seat in the atrium - however, eagled eyed, we spotted someone paying and found their just vacated table in the main part of the cafe. Much better as you get the full spirit of the place (and there's no draft from the front door) - but the museum may want to lend a few more bits and pieces to jazz up the place; as it's all white walls, slightly too close tables (it's a very small space to be fair) and the Modern Caterer's trademark giant blackboards proclaiming what's in season and what there is to eat.

The bustling Gallery Cafe

As we'd experienced the food before and knew how good it is, we decided we'd share a selection of dishes - they're not too expensive here and the portions are decent. The Whitworth Gallery Cafe is self service, just like their Joderall Bank outfit, so we rocked up to the counter and ordered; there was bit of a wait on the drinks, but the staff were absolutely run off their feet with orders and we were in no rush.

The bruchetta of new season beetroot was massive for the £5.25 we paid for it. There must have been at least four beetroot used (all cut in to wedges) and there was piles of sharp blacksticks blue to cut through the earthy beetroot and the sweet dressing it was wrapped in. A soup of tomato and spring greens was thick and homely, heavy with a good black pepper kick to warm us up (guess what, it was raining) - served with three large slabs of Barbakan bread, this would have been enough for me on my own.

Whoops, we ate all the bruschetta before we could photo it!

Because we're greedy, and because we'd been blown away by it at The Planet Pavilion, we ordered the terrine of local pork. Salty, sweet piggy perfection; the pork was left in large, rustic pieces, giving you a good feel for the texture and flavour of the meat. This was served with a sharp rhubarb compote (last time it was apple, they change the menu to fit the seasons) and more bread, we were stuffed and admitted defeat before we could try any homemade cake - but I did buy some homemade baklava from Peter Booth's son Gabriel, who had a little stall set up selling his own jams and cakes by the door - like father, like son hey?

Tremendous terrine - all products locally sourced, yum!

Manchester University and her various museums seem to have hit upon the winning formula of culture AND food; creating memorable experiences that stimulate all your senses - no wonder the place is rammed most of the time - the food and galleries provide plenty of soul soothing for weary workers, studied out students and cultural tourists alike.

Ps All the food is local, seasonal. sustainable and fair trade - The Modern Grocer is committed to sourcing all the best the North West has to offer and provide wholesome, home cooked food to us all - bless 'em.

Blackboard of seasonality

Price for three small meals and one cup of coffee -

Food - 8/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Service - 6/10 (it is self-service, but they were rushed off their feet)
Value for money - 7/10 (on the pricier side, but massive portions and quality ingredients)

Total - 30/40

Go again - Yes it's a great place for lunch and a fab little gallery too.

The Modern Caterer at The Gallery Cafe, Whitworth Gallery, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER -
0161 275 7497 - Facebook - Twitter

http://www.themoderncaterer.co.uk/

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/

Cafe Vnam - Ancoats, Manchester

The best things in life are free, good things come to those who wait, patience is a virtue and other such adages litter our collective linguistics; phrases that have sprung up over time to impart useful information or just to quell over excitement in small children.

Maybe over time another turn of phrase will spring up in relation to Manchester’s ethnic dining scene; the grottier the better. In my recent travels around the city it seems that those restaurants that look like they’ve been stocked with the furniture from someone’s back yard and have menus that are wipe clean, are the ones delivering the most tasty, most honest and properly priced bowls of food.

Readers of my blog will remember previous glowing reviews for Baekdu, BBQ Handmade Noodles and Izakaya Samsi – well here’s another to add to the list: Café Vnam.

Cafe Vnam interior - with thanks to Manchester Confidential

Located on an unassuming stretch of Oldham Road, Café Vnam is easy to overlook; especially with the monstrous behemoth of Wing Yip and the Royal Mail sorting office overshadowing it from across the road.

Café Vnam is a very simple place; it’s décor from the bargain range in Homebase, bright lights and a laminated menu. However the place is clean, there's a great smell of food and the service is prompt. We started with Gui Cuon, or Summer Rolls, and were delighted at the fresh, zesty flavours that slapped us round the face and made us sit up and take notice of what came out next.

Fresh, herby vegetable summer rolls

The Boy’s Beef Pho was wonderful; a deeply flavoured bowl of steaming soup and noodles with hints of clove and star anise. The pho comes with extras so you can customise your bowl to suit yourself; this included generous bunches of mint and coriander, heaps of bean sprouts and the fieriest little chillies I’ve had in a while. (Cue hilarious hand waving from the boy as he pops one in his mouth by mistake).

Pho Bo - beef pho

BBQ lamb chops were charred and sticky; the meat super soft and moist within – a real testament to the skill of the chef. The chops were topped off with caramelised spring onions, not something I’ve seen before, but the sweet smokiness combined extremely well and jarred well with the sharp, vinegary, spicy sauce accompaniment.

Com thit cuu nong - BBQ lamb chops

The food at Cafe Vnam wasn’t awe-inspiringly creative, didn’t push any boundaries and didn’t look like a work of art - however it was honest, tasty and fresh; and that's something I appreciate much more in a meal when I can actually find it.

Ps – Café Vnam doesn’t have a licence so don’t get giddy and expect to have a beer.

Pps – maybe some of the cheaper English places should take a leaf out of Café Vnam and others’ books and serve fresh, tasty food rather than tasteless, fatty cardboard.

Price for one starter, two mains and a glass of coke: £15.10

Food – 7/10

Atmosphere – 7/10

Service – 7/10

Value for money – 9/10

Total – 30/40

Go again – definitely. And you can park outside as it’s not fallen foul to Manchester City Centre’s daft new 8am-8pm money making parking sham.

Café Vnam, 140 Oldham Road, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6BG - 0161 205 2700 - enquiries@vnamcafemanchester.com


http://vnamcafemanchester.com/

Planet Pavillion - Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield

Located in Jodrell Bank's new visitor centre, with excellent views across to the impressive Lovell radio telescope; the Planet Pavilion Cafe is the latest outpost of the Modern Caterer, a small company headed up by award winning chef Peter Booth, that has sustainability and seasonality as its core.

The Modern Caterer at The Planet Pavilion - with thanks to Relish Publications

Dominated by the large windows focused on the iconic white radio telescope; the cafe is a fresh, modern space with quirky facts along the walls and lines of clocks displaying various space related times such as the time on Venus and in a black hole (with handy explanations for the non-physicists underneath). There's the ubiquitous blackboard you find in many little cafes with piles of fresh veg underneath and heaps of homemade cakes on the counter.

Views out to the Lovell radio telescope - with thanks to Manchester University

The menu is a mixture of usual lunchtime fare; sandwiches, soups, wraps and whatever. It's was a bustling little space, even on a wet Tuesday afternoon and whilst we were there it was obvious that staff from Manchester University's Astrophysics Department often pop in. And who wouldn't?

Dishes displayed a simplistic elegance and a genuine care for the ingredients involved; the daily special of parsnip soup was creamy yet light, with a sweet whisper of sharp apple underlying the whole dish. Alongside was bread supplied by (fairly) local bakery, Barbakan of Chorlton - and, considering how much their loaves cost, there was a substantial amount of one on the side of the plate.

Parsnip soup and loads of bread

Potted Cheshire Pork (the meat supplied by award winning WH Frosts - also of Chorlton) was wonderfully soft and surrounded by the lovely, scrumptious fat and topped with the sharpest slivers of apple - a brilliant essay in why salty, sweet and sour works so well together. Could have done with a little more seasoning, but that was my only gripe.

Potted Cheshire Pork

We followed these tasty, simple lunch dishes with a full five minutes considering the distortion of space time round the hefty body of homemade cakes on offer. After much deliberation we chose a light and fragrant orange and poppy seed plus a dense and chewy brownie, which were eaten in three seconds flat; proving the point that space time does indeed slow down and then speed up round heavenly bodies.

Cakes - look boring, tasted fab

The Planet Pavilion is a great cafe for a museum, or for anywhere to be honest. There's no pre-packaged sandwiches; there's the excellent cooking; there's large portions, there's sensible pricing and there's an obvious commitment to deliver good tasting, sustainable food in line with their ethos rather than simply using it as a catchy and on-trend byline. I wish other establishments would take a leaf from Jodrell and realise overcharging for plastic crap is something that should only happen in the gift shop.

Ps - The Planet Pavilion Cafe also has a licence and serves Cains, so you can calm your nerves if contemplating the universe gets too much.

Pps - you don't have to visit Jodrell to go to the cafe; but I'd recommend it, just for a walk around the massive grounds and to stand by the radio telescope and pretend you're Brian Cox or (even better) Sir Patrick Moore.

Cost for two dishes, two cakes and a beer: £14.75

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

Total - 31/40

Go again? Yes, any excuse for sustainable, well cooked food AND learning about astrophysics. I'm there!

The Modern Caterer at The Planet Pavilion, Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, Lower Withington, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 9DL (sat navs use SK11 9DW) - 01477 571766 - jodrell.visitor.centre@machester.ac.uk

http://www.themoderncaterer.co.uk/

Blundell Arms - Horwich

There's nothing more rewarding after a long walk across the moors than a good pint supped in cosy, comfortable surroundings.

Certainly the Blundell Arms in Horwich, part of the Chef and Brewer chain, delivers on that front. It's close to the moors, has a roaring fire and there's plenty of exposed wood and warm colours to cosset you from the bleak expanses of heather and rocks that splay out from the back of the pub and there's always a good selections of traditional ales on tap that change often. They're not always local, but they're always pretty good.

Blundell Arms with thanks to Chef and Brewer

Great? No, not great. With a brand name including 'chef' in the title, the comfiness of the surroundings and the high standard of drink available, it would be a logical step to assume that the food would also be produced at an equally high standard.

Rocking up following a wet, after work walk, we chose hearty, warm food to chase away the chills; and indeed it was very warm. The food came out from the kitchen at such an extreme temperature that I can only guess it came from the electronic oven that goes ping, rather than being heated up conventionally/cooked fresh. The result was that we couldn't approach our food for a full five minutes. Ho hum.

Salty pie

The pie was more pastry than meat and what meat could be found in the middle had been heavily salted; which at least gave it more flavour, even if it was just one dominant, salty high note, than any of my dish put together. What lead me to order a curry in a pub I'm not sure, but it certainly was a mistake. On first impressions it did look good; two bowls of different curries, nann, rice and what looked like home made bharjis.

Tasteless curry

The meal is summarised thus - chickpea curry; thin, watery and tasted like a tomato cup-a-soup. Bharjis; oily, overcooked, stale tasting. Chicken curry; hotish, that’s about it – no layers of flavours, no fragrance. Nann: packet, cold. Mango chutney; famous green labelled brand name, at best. It's a travesty that this is being served up when the North has such a rich culinary heritage when it comes to Asian food and Spice Valley is churning out constantly good fare for less money only half a mile down the road.

Packet nann and rice

As our bellies still rumbled after this disaster of a meal, we took a chance and ordered something else off the menu. I wasn’t in the frame of mind that we should give this establishment any more money for food; however we were starving and it was included in a meal deal with the boy’s pie.

Never in my life has there been such a disparity in cooking between courses. The crumble was a bubbling dish of hot, cinnamony plums topped in a delicious, buttery crumble accompanied by very creamy, vanilla ice cream AND custard. A treat indeed!

Plum crumble

Looking over The Blundell Arm’s menu there’s the general feel that they’re trying to operate outside the usual pub realms, introduce people to new foods and offer over and above standard pub grub. There’s a highlight on seasonal ingredients; dishes using these are on a separate specials menu. There’s Fish Night and Game Night; the pub’s version of a tasting menu, five smaller courses for £20 introducing punters to wild boar and guinea fowl. All of which is to be applauded; however there’s no point trying out the clever stuff if you can’t get your basics right.

Cost for two mains, one pudding and two drink – £27.48

Food – 4/10
Service – 6/10
Atmosphere – 7/10
Value for money – 6/10

Total – 23/40

Go again? Yes for a pint after a walk as it really does suit it, plus there's a good view of the sunset; but we'd give the food a miss.

The Blundell Arms, Chorley Old Road, Horwich, Bolton BL6 6PY – 01204 898662
http://www.chefandbrewer.com/pub-food/blundell-arms-bolton-horwich/pid-P1527

Electrik Bar - Chorlton, Manchester

Where do old DJs go when they hang up their headphones? Some become big name record producers, some crash and burn spectacularly and some get graveyard slots on Radio Hull. And some open bars, as have Jake and Luke of  Manchester's legendary Unabombers - is this where their reputations lay down and die?

Electrik is the latest offering from Jake and Luke Unabomber and is decked out in mismatched chairs, wood and previous Electric Chair posters trumpeting past successes; a fitting decor in the largely young professional populated Chorlton. It's the young, middle class idea of hangover heaven.

Electrik - with thanks to Deltrams

The vibe is funky, with a great jukebox and playlists from staff, public and the Manchester great and good like Guy Garvey. By day it's a relaxed eating/drinking joint with a book exchange, wifi and daily papers. By night the atmosphere steps up a gear and gets quite busy with locals appreciating the music and sampling the victuals.

Food is as relaxed as the surroundings, however this attitude produces some pretty underwhelming outputs from the kitchen.

Boy ate the burger; we were hoping for great things as the menu descried it as being made with bourbon beer and served in a Barbakan bun (chi chi bakery up the road, if you ain't using their bread you ain't on message); unfortunately the texture of the meat was too soft and mushy, almost if the burger had been (shh don't say it) bought it. The overall taste of the dish was far too sweet and a real let down.

Burger

My falafel and haloumi burger hardly fared better; consisting of a few large chunks of crunchy but soft falafel with hunks of overly fried and greasy haloumi. The pitta it was served in fell apart and there was a severe lack of seasoning; however the addition of salsa and hummus meant there was at least some flavour and a lot of value for the princely sum of £5. Better than the boy's, but I still couldn't get excited.

Falafell

Electrik's a great bar with a good selection of drinks; including cask ales, Hendricks gin and alright cocktails. The service is a bit slack due to staff becoming swamped at busy times, but here's a lot of thought been put in to making this a relaxed and friendly joint that's good for whiling away a few Saturday morning hours, catching up with good friends or getting the night started. A few tweeks with the food and they'll be bang on - just like their DJ sets used to be.

Ps Check out the Electrik website and twitter for event updates, there's some very interesting things going on there, plus they've been nominated for second year running as Best Bar in the Manchester Food and Drink Awards.

Price for two mains - £10.50

Food - 4/10
Service - 5/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Value for money - 8/10

Total - 25/40

Go again? - Yes for drinks, but not for the food.


Electrik, 559a Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE - 0161 831 3315 - info@electrikbar.co.uk

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http://www.electrikbar.co.uk/

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

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

Yuzu - Manchester

Good Japanese food is a scarce find in Manchester. Yes there's plenty about - Sapporro, New Samsi, Tokyo Season, Yo! to name a few, but quality is hard to find and it's not easy on the wallet either.
Yuzu, on Faulkner Street at the edge of Manchester's compact but vibrant China Town, is set to change all that. The restaurant's a simple affair with an understated sign and a paired down interior; reflecting their ethos of serving simple, everyday Japanese dishes.

We were greeted to an empty restaurant when we visited and as the meal wore on we wondered why this place wasn't buzzing with a queue round the block (we did eat at 6pm on a Tuesday).

The food's not amazingly complex or outstandingly different, but is cooked extraordinarily well. A starter of prawn gyoza included large chunks of whole, well seasoned, soft prawns - none of this greasy, unidentifiable, salty mush you get in most places. The boy's chicken katsu was the best we've had in this country; the chicken soft and juicy, almost poached with a crunchy, crispy coating and no hint of old oil or staleness you often find with breaded products.

Mains kept up the high standard. The boy’s tuna sashimi set; a little pricey at £12.95, was served with miso soup, rice and daikon and surprised us with its freshness and the quality of the fish – something not that common in Manchester. The high standard of the dish made the price much easier to swallow as we’ve had worse/less than this at a restaurant just around the corner for much more money.

My tempura kishimen (king prawn and vegetable with traditional kishimen noodles from the Nagoya region) was light and fresh; with a crunchy, gossamer thin batter. The noodles and accompanying broth were as fresh as spring water and delicately seasoned; the subtle taste could have been lost with heavy accompaniments, but the balance in the dish was spot on and even for simple food the execution and presentation were exquisite and a snip at £8.95.

Many restaurants in the area should sit up and take notice of Yuzu. They source locally, the service is quiet yet first rate and the food is truly amazing considering most dishes are under a tenner and the most expensive thing on the menu is £15.95. The idea of keeping it simples ensures that what they do, they do well and nothing is lost in gimmicks, fusion or simple bluster.

Yuzu is a hidden gem, it’s a brilliant little restaurant that’s getting everything right – let’s just hope that enough people ignore the brash neon signs of its neighbours and realises that simplicity is the key to success.

Ps – Yuzu is also open for lunch with most dishes priced very attractively at 5.95!

Cost for two starters, two mains and a beer - £32.20

Food – 8/10
Atmosphere – 6/10
Service – 9/10
Value for money – 7/10

Total – 30/40

Would you visit again? Yes definitely!

Yuzu, 39 Faulkner Street, Manchester M1 4EE – 0161 236 4159
ynagami@alumni.manchester.ac.uk

http://www.yuzumanchester.co.uk/home