‘I’d recommend the Pessarattu’ is not a phrase I’ve ever written before. I regard myself well versed in the byways of South Indian cuisine. Dammit, I even own my own idly steamer to recreate (very ...
Reviews
Review: Tavern at King Street Townhouse
THE new King Street Townhouse is described by the creative duo who fashioned it, Eclectic Hotels’ Eamonn and Sally O’Loughlin, as “a small adaptation of a grand hotel”. We are shown around its small but ...
Review: Set menu at Damson, Heaton Moor
STEVE Pilling builds his empires quietly. After his departure from Manchester’s legendary Chop Houses he created Damson in Heaton Moor, then went double Damson with a glossier version in MediaCity, where he then created a ...
Review: Zouk
HOW time flies. It was 15 years ago I had last eaten brains. Pig brains on hominy grits in a Florida diner called Skyway Jack’s. It was an act of breakfast bravado after a heavy ...
Review: Vapiano in the Corn Exchange
ALL-INCLUSIVE holiday buffets, all you can eat buffets, the rolling buffets that are Yo Sushi conveyor belts – carousels for little baggages of congealing grub. Ah, self-service, now brought to a logical conclusion at new ...
Review: Salvi's at The Corn Exchange
IT’S like going to Rome and not checking out the Sistine Chapel. At Salvi’s for Michelangelo read Mozzarella. For the first time ever I’ve stepped into one of Maurizio Salvi’s culinary outposts of his beloved ...
Review: Pho, Corn Exchange
I’VE just about made my mind up about the Corn Exchange. Yes it’s a warm refuge from the persistent precipitation, there’s a democratic buzz about it, but there’s little to excite in the food and ...
Review: Pier 8 at The Lowry Theatre
NOTHING delights me more than dining with a waterfront view, river, lake or sea. Distant twinkling lights and swishing ripples after dark all add to the sense of enchantment. Al fresco is best, but a ...
Review: Asha’s, a culinary comfort zone to cherish
I LOVE the little things about Asha’s. From the penumbral basement Bolli Bar, where an odd cassia bark garnish for their raisiny house Negroni inexorably spears your nostril, to the remarkable array of relishes in ...
Review: Evelyn’s Cafe Bar, Northern Quarter neighbourhood gem
MOSES in the promised land? Looks like it. With bearded chef Byron of that ilk given free rein to produce perhaps the most interesting all-day menu in the Northern Quarter. What was Superstore is still ...