HARDLY a week goes by without a new vegan menu popping up in our in-box and what a dull pandering to plant-based trends they often are. Not so Folk & Soul’s, still a work in progress as the former Odd Bar on Thomas Street gets into gear but already looking a game changer. Using the full palette of fresh, seasonal veg, avoiding all that Seitan and Quorn.
The day we got to sample the food at this self-proclaimed ‘Manchester’s first entirely vegan bar’ they were due to finally open the upstairs (below), which follows the remit of the rest – even the wallpaper and paint are vegan, ditto the booze, and if you order a latte they’ll warn you it comes with soy milk. Our server apologised for a slight delay in taking our food order because she’d been “tackling allergy issues” with another customer.
If all this smacks of zealotry, think again. We can’t think of a more joyful, grown-up hang-out in the entire Northern Quarter – with food to match. We’ll be back to do a proper scored review when we feel the full food offering is on board. Meanwhile, there is much to delight,starting from bar basics such as home fries with a sumac and cajun rub served with homemade dips (£4) through to a huge £12 nachos sharing plate of blue and yellow corn tortillas served with mushroom chilli, guacamole, tofu, vegan creme fraiche, pico de gallo and coriander. A step-up from Wetherspoon’s, which during Veganuary made its nachos vegan simply by leaving out the cheese and sour cream.
The whole small plate menu reflects the kitchen attention to detail of co-owner Adam Regan (ex-Gordon Ramsay). Soup of the day, served with bread and oil at a bargain £4, turned out to be beetroot and coconut milk, sweetly earthy and creamy. Even better, and beautifully presented, was a signature dish in the making, cauliflower ‘skordalia’ (£6.90), thyme focaccia, which came topped with the advertised roast cauli puree, heritage tomatoes and capers but also incorporated wild mushrooms and pea shoots.
Peas shoots reappeared in a summer green risotto, at £10 the most expensive single dish. This dense tangle of courgettes and other greens in rice was given a pleasing, crunchy texture by pangrattato (dried breadcrumbs) but lacked a certain vernal delicacy. I found myself longing for a certain sloppy chicken stockiness and for Parmesan. But then that would disqualify the dish!
Folk & Soul’s draught IPA wasn’t on, so I dipped into the 20-strong array of bottled (vegan, naturally) beers (all at £4.50) specially made for them by Holt’s Brewery, the 5.2 per cent New Zealand Pale Ale, the aromatic, gently bitter pick. So I ordered another and relished another great Folk & Soul plus. It’s a great passing people watching spot
Folk & Soul, 30-32 Thomas St, Manchester M4 1ER.
