By Neil Sowerby SOME suburban stretches, West Didsbury and Chorlton spring to mind, seem to have offered enticing clusters of bars and eateries almost since time began – or at least since foodieness first burgeoned ...
Reviews
REVIEW: Hawksmoor. Neil Sowerby salutes a great restaurant arrival in our city
IT’S easy to work out why Hawksmoor got called that. The first one opened (in 2006 in a former kebab shop) in Spitalfields – where the great architect Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Christchurch dominates a decidedly atmospheric ...
Fabulous Feast From Viet Shack Launches Vermilion Guest Nights
WE can take it for granted the team from Viet Shack have never cooked in a kitchen as capacious as Vermilion’s or served up their Vietnamese specialities in a dining room as glamorous. Be it ...
Reaching for the stars – Grenache 7 course Tasting Menu reviewed
By Neil Sowerby WEDNESDAY night and a birthday party is in full swing. First the booze flows in the cosy upstairs bar, now the celebrants are making discreet whoopee in the main dining room, bedecked ...
Cuckoo’s worth a call for a simpler taste of Mary-Ellen McTague’s acclaimed cuisine
PRESTWICH likes to think of itself as a village, so it’s no surprise that peripatetic chef Mary Ellen McTague gravitated back, close to where she lives, for her latest residency. As the Cuckoo flies it’s ...
Bluu-ming once more – Northern Quarter pioneer regains its sense of pzazz
By Neil Sowerby I AM a sucker for a ‘hideaway’ specialist bar within a bar and the highlight of the ‘new’ Bluu is definitely the basement Smithfield Social, dispensing its own 1920s influenced smoky cocktails ...
Get the New year off to a great healthy start with Pita Pit's low-cal low fat delights
NEW Year, New You? Yes we’ve heard all the good intentions before. Like, the same time last year. All those plans to eat more healthily get put on the backburner when it’s back to work ...
Gale force gives Lawn Club the Edge On City’s casual dining rivals
IF you don’t make haste you won’t get to taste David Gale’s revamped menu at The Lawn Club until March! They are closing for a couple of weeks to rearrange the ‘luxury garden shed’ bar ...
Brassica, Heaton Moor – just what I’d love as my neighbourhood restaurant
By Neil Sowerby HEATON Moor holds a fond memory – for the one occasion I was the lovely companion of a food critic. Usually I’m the one requesting to be accompanied. It’s a bit like ...
Review: Aamchi Mumbai – Beautiful Bollywood Bites in Cheadle
By Neil Sowerby I AM gazing out on a floodlit Gateway of India from the roof terrace of the Taj Hotel, at a reception for Bollywood starlets. I am equally dazzled by the buffet, which ...