SINCE Taste of Manchester’s focus is on food and drink we won’t be charting the plethora of Halloween kooky events – film screenings, zombie gatherings and the like. Just a few appropriate ‘gut reactions’! Not that we’re concentrating on fine dining aspects of all the scary shenanigans.
Take city centre posh people’s store Harvey Nichols. In the build up to the big day on Wednesday, October 31 HN are offering ‘bewitching’ make-up classes and on Friday October 26 (6pm) and Saturday 27 (11am)
Saturday 27 October, 11am Halloween Cocktail masterclasses. Unleash the Zombies and Corpse Revivers. The latter costs £35 a head and, on the Saturday, for an additional £15 you can add on £15 to get a three course lunch. While you’re there stock up on what they describe as ‘the ultimate in trick-or treat candy’ from Sugafina’s ground floor pop-up bar – pumpkin gummies, skeleton sugar skulls and candy zombie brains.
Japanese horror is legendary, so it seems appropriate that Shoryu Ramen in Piccadilly Gardens is offering a Halloween Set Menu (Oct 29-Nov 4), three courses for £20. Kick off with a choice of Shoryu’s “Ghost” bun, with a choice of the classic char siu BBQ pork belly bun, or for spookable veggies the pumpkin croquette bun - each complete with ghostly decorated bun.
Dracula’s Ramen is the Halloween main, either the Tonkotsu with caramelised black garlic or the White Natural veggie version. To finish Witch’s Hat Ice Cream – green matcha ice cream topped with black cone hat, finished with strawberry blood sauce and edible eye decoration.
Treetop Adventure Golf in The Printworks has similar ghoulish fun with its cocktail creations – Blackberry Beetlejuice cocktail with rum, cranberry, blackberry and lime, or the Vampire Crush mocktail with Sprite, ginger beer and grenadine. For those who have built up a frightening appetite playing the mini-golf Pizza Cabana supply the topped dough. All this as against the Amazon Rainforest backdrop, featuring 2,000 artificial tropical trees and plants, customised for Halloween with oodles of ‘spooktacular’ props.
Over at hyper-active food, drink and retail destination Hatch on Oxford Road, not content with launching their Urban Narnia experience, they are also hosting from 6pm on October 31 Howl’oween – an Alternative Halloween Party for Hounds (and their owners).
Fancy dress is essential so get your dog dressed up in their finest Halloween costume for the Spooky Pooch Competition (7:30pm) where the Doggy Best Dressed will be crowned. The winner will get an overnight stay at dog-friendly neighbouring hotel, The Principal. Our main image may give you some tips.
Among the pop-up partners will be UK Pet Store of the Year Betty and Butch, who’ll be running a one-off shop featuring their best sellers, a donation of all proceeds going to Manchester Dogs Home. They’ll also be hosting Dogs Dinners – serving up their own brand dog food and providing bowls and plates so that guests can enjoy supper with their pup, tucking into one of Hatch’s street food specials alongside their canine companion. Plus lots of other family-friendly treats are planned for the evening.
We’re not sure how big Halloween is in India, but Asha’s in Peter Street is going big on it in a Bollywood legend meets the Pumpkin King kind of way but with a serious message too from this classy Indian restaurant – don’t waste the flesh after you’ve carved out your Jack-O-Lantern.
Chef Ashwani has created a £30 a head four course taster menu for Halloween, with two two Chivas Regal whisky and pumpkin cocktails included. It kicks off with a butternut squash soup served with pumpkin kachori (puffed flatbread), tapioca crisp and wild mustard cress foam. Next up is pumpkin kebab stuffed with mild cheddar, cashew nuts, chaat masala and green chill.
This will be followed by chicken curry made with pumpkin, khoya, tomatoes and home ground garam masala and served with a big fluffy naan on the side. And to finish, a sugar pie halwa made with gondh (a natural gum), winter melon, reduced milk and redcurrants.
Finally, we can’t resist closing with a couple of Halloween film events. Our excuse? The accompanying food is likely to be ace…
WOOD on First Street is screening the original Ghostbusters in the private dining room on Wednesday, October 31. Ticket holders will be welcomed with canapes and a G&T from sponsors Didsbury Gin. In the intermission guests will be treated to a main course from chef/patron Simon Wood’s new seasonal menu, along with more Didsbury gin and tonics, before the second part of the film is showed. After the movie guests will enjoy coffee and petit fours to complete the evening.
The event will start at 6:30pm and tickets are available for £39 per person by emailing [email protected]. Booking is essential as places are limited to 18 people.
Meanwhile, over at decidedly eerie old Victoria Baths Village Green Events are back with their Halloween-themed pop-up cinema from Thursday, October 25 to Saturday 27th. As previously, the Baths’ main pool will be filled with deck chairs and there’ll be a big screen placed at one end. An added frisson comes from the aquatic bent first nerve-shredding classic to be screened. Little Mermaid, then? No Steven Spieberg’s Jaws. Followed by The Lost Boys and The Witches.
Wear fancy dress, take a blanket and over-indulge in some amazing ‘autumnal’ street food and drink. Tickets from £10; to book visit this link.
To discover the full range of scariness on offer check out Visit Manchester’s Halloween In The City guide.