Chicken & Fenugreek Curry
Zouk
It’s been a while since we’ve travelled down to Zouk but this week saw us take a wee trip down to sample their new Autumn specials. And special they are. There were some lovely Star Anise Chicken Kebabs, Mustard King Prawns and a lip-smackingly good Lamp Passanda but the prize for the best curry of the week (and probably the whole month come to think of it) is their Chicken & Fenugreek – which is unique, tangy and extremely flavoursome and perfect with a huge naan for dipping.
Crispy Pork Belly
Elnecot
I love it at Elnecot, I could easily eat here every day for the rest of my life and never get bored. That goes for their brunch offering at the weekends too, which you can also make bottomless if you were so inclined. The brunch menu is fantastic, with some real stand out dishes on there, but this week I tucked into their Crispy Pork Belly, which comes sat on a huge potato rosti, fried eggs, savoy kimchi yoghurt and a gorgeous chipotle chilli jam.
Bacon Cheese Burger
Cane & Grain
I usually always go for the ribs at Cane & Grain and you can’t really blame me considering they’re so bloody good, but this week we went down to get some pics of their burgers and were particularly impressed with their Bacon Cheese Burger. They’ve completely re-vamped it and added not just burger sauce but also a wicked Onion and Bacon Jam which takes it to a whole new level. Excellent.
Navy Strength Gin
Manchester Gin
Anything with the words “navy strength” before them are instantly 100x better and (obviously) gin is no different. Navy strength usually denotes an increased alcohol content, and this new variation from Manchester Gin comes in at a whopping 57%. This will blow your roof sky high if you have too many, so stick to 5 like I did – that sixth one will put you to sleep for sure. As you’d expect – it tastes peng with some proper nice tonic.
Jefferson Mac & Cheese Lava Cake Salad
The Pen & Pencil
P&P in the Northern Quarter added some welcome new additions to their menu on Tuesday, and so naturally we went down to get give them a try. I must say – there was a lot of fried cheese – which I’m certainly not complaining about at all. They offer up this ‘Lava Cake’ – basically a fried ball of Mac & Cheese which just oozes creamy cheesy goodness when you crack it open. Proper naughty and proper nice.
Drunk Fries
DD’s Burgers at Stretford Food Hall
The wife and I took a little trip to Stretford Food Hall on Sunday, as we typically always do for a little bite to eat and a couple of pints of Manchester Union Lager. This week saw the excellent DD’s Burgers in there – serving up, well, burgers obviously. We shared their Blue Burger and also these – their Drunk Fries which were a bit weird at first but after a few bites – we couldn’t stop. It’s fries topped with a fantastic beer-cheese sauce and chimichurri.
Bloody Mary
The Bay Horse Tavern
I’ve drunk enough Bloody Mary’s in my life to know a good one when I have one and the one at the Bay Horse is great. Their secret ingredient? Well, they’ve got 3. The first one is Sriracha – which everyone loves. The next one is Maggi – that savoury sauce stuff that you find near the soy sauce in Tesco and the final one – Henderson’s Worcester Sauce. A million times better than Lea & Perrins and it shows.
Gambas A La Plancha
Sandinista
Tucking into a few welcome after work drinks on Wednesday, we popped into the criminally underrated Sandinista just off St Ann’s Square and had a couple of scoops and some of their Mexican tapas dishes. The stand-out was the Gambas a la Plancha, or pan-fried King Prawns. Cooked and seasoned to perfection, they were outstanding alongside a couple of frosty ones with the lads.
