Sixteen good things I ate in May

Frilly cheese, prawn toast scotch egg and a bowl of beans

I do go on a bit and there is nobody to rein me in here on Substack so I must warn you that this email is way too long for your little ole inbox. You’ll have to open it in the browser unless you want to miss a few dishes towards the tail end (spoiler alert: they include desserts) and get a cup of tea.

What’s also long-winded is the month of May. Which is partly why this email is so lengthy. I’ve written about (at least) 16 different dishes.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in London lately, so several recommendations this month are from my visits down there. Some are worth adding to your London hit list while others are opening in Manchester so you won’t have to brave the train fare, tube, and tourists unless you really want to.

Read on for the best things I ate in May.

BBQ lobster at Skof (part of a £165 tasting menu)

I have to quote my friend the food writer Emma Sturgess who described this snack as “prawn toast meets French dip meets soggy crisps” when we were both lucky enough to be invited to the launch of Manchester’s most anticipated new restaurant, Skof. Though I disagree with the soggy crisps bit, I’m not sure I can improve on the first part of that description. I’m going to add that it’s a bit like when you put so much butter on a crumpet that it ends up running down your forearm as you eat. That, but with lobster. At least Skof’s version comes with a spa-scented damp flannel to mop up the mess. In my house, the clean-up job is done not quite so fragrantly by two butter-obsessed house cats.

There are two options for the tasting menu, the more pocket-friendly version at £120 doesn't include this dish so in a way, it’s a £45 two-bite snack (you get a couple more dishes but this is the one that will force your hand). But if you’re already splashing out and going to Skof, I say go all in.

Scampi and a pickled egg from Seashell chippy Heaton Chapel (£8.20 + 90p)

At the other end of the price scale is the poor man’s lobster, aka scampi from the chippy. Quite possibly the perfect accompaniment to a summer-themed wine tasting. This huge box of deep-fried seafood was enjoyed as part of a massive chippy tea spread at the second-ever meeting of the Manchester women in wine group that I co-founded with my wine pals Amy Suddard and Anna Tutton. This was held at the wonderful Cork of the North so of course we picked up our tea from the Seashell chippy nearby. If you identify as a woman and are nerdy about wine (no need for quals or CV evidence) let me know if you’d like to join our group. If you’ve seen my TikToks, you’ll know I’m a big fan of matching premium wine with low-brow, high-flavour snacks. Next TikTok project: matching wine with a pickled egg.

Seasoned rice, hot smoked salmon at Caravan Fitzrovia (£19)

At the start of the year I talked about some of the exciting food and drink places set to open in Manchester in 2024. Some I knew a lot about and some I was speculating over. Caravan was one I knew nothing about and thus understimated in the excitement stakes. So it’s helpful that I was invited down to London on a press trip with a gaggle of Manchester media to get to know it.

Caravan is a Kiwi-owned specialist coffee shop. It does an incredible of that but coffee shops don’t rouse my passions so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the food and wine there are the kind that light up pleasure sensors in my brain. I’ve spent a bit of time in NZ and can see the imprint of the country’s laid-back, veg and seafood-heavy dining style on the menu though it’s by no means Kiwi-themed. The owners prefer to describe their menu as ‘well-travelled’. If you like Maray, you’ll probably like the food here but you’ll find more Asian influence. I loved almost everything I ate - jalapeno cornbread, garam masala labneh with flatbread, Barnsley chop with chermoulah and aubergine, and crispy chilli salt tofu are all fab. But the main dish I would go back for again and again is this bowl of sushi-style seasoned rice topped with guacamole, sprouted mung beans, radish and hot smoked salmon with the extra tastebud twanging flavours of pickled ginger, miso mayo and fishy furikake.

Calamares farcits a la Catalana at Tast

No price on this one as it was part of a lunch I was invited to by the tourist board of Costa Brava. It did the trick because now I am dying to visit this foodiest of regions, home to possibly the world’s most famous restaurant (now a museum) El Bulli. It’s also home to other Michelin-star places including Miramar by star chef Paco Perez.

The remarkably humble Paco had brought the squid over by plane from Catalonia the day before and prepared it on the morning of our lunch, stuffing it with a mixture of beef and pork mince and its own finely chopped head. Instead of a knife, we were provided with a spoon to accompany our fork for this dish. A physical illustration that the squid was so tender it could be cut with a spoon. You just don’t see regional food like this cooked by a multi-Michelin star chef (5 at last count) in Manchester. I felt extremely privileged to try it and will be keeping my eye out for the next time Paco comes over to do a public supper club at his Manchester restaurant, Tast, as should you.

Lightly set miso custard at Skof (part of a £120 tasting menu)

Chawanmushi should have been on my Michelin star bingo list in the article I wrote about the press launch of Skof. I’ve had it at numerous Michelin places with some iterations more successful to my palate than others. Skof’s being more egg custard in consistency than agadashi tofu, this is one of those dishes you’d just never eat unless you went to a place like this. The deeply savoury custard base is layered up with that chef’s favourite hen of the woods mushroom and delicate matchsticks of fresh truffle, as if the kitchen team has been playing some kind of umami Buckeroo. Reading back these words makes it clear that sometimes describing how the unique layers of flavour in a dish make up a formidable whole is impossible. In other words, just eat it.

Prawn toast scotch egg at Jikoni, Marylebone, London (£10.50)

Sometimes a fusion dish appears on your plate that works so well that you wonder why nobody has thought of it before. Maybe somebody has, but this was my first prawn toast scotch egg. A sort of Indo-Chinese meets British picnic revelation. I really loved Jikoni in many ways, from the grandma chintz decor and tableware to the playful Indian-influenced dishes. One to return to ASAP.

Tete de Moine cheese at Petit Paris (£5.20 per 100g)

My summer Manchester wine tours are in full swing and the blue skies we have been intermittently experiencing mean we get to sit outside sometimes. How very European of us. On a recent tour, I stopped at the tres chouette Petit Paris deli for a glass of sparkling Saumur and a cheese I love to show people: Tete De Moine (or monk’s head). Cut in a unique way on a device called a girolle, Tete De Moine is like a creamier parmesan served in flowery frills that look like girolle mushrooms. It’s always a winner with a glass of something fizzy.

Tuscan beef shin and peppercorn stew / cannellini beans at Brutto, Farringdon, London (£17.80 / £4.70)

“Noisy. Not fancy. Don’t expect too much" reads Brutto’s Instagram biog. And it’s funny because this place had been recommended to me for dinner by one of my most admired food critics so I was kind of expectant. I pared back my anticipation and of course, expectations were exceeded. Was that a sneaky trick? Nah, I don’t think so. I guess they are just trying not to attract arseholes.

The place was packed and I had a perfect seat for one right at the end of the bar from which to wryly observe and make up imaginary lives for everyone around me. High on a couple of cocktails, I over-ordered and I almost asked them not to bother bringing the main after having gorged on a whole plate of wafer-thin pork tonnato and asparagus cavatelli. It arrived before I could backtrack and curiously, there was room in my belly after all. The stew took me back to a revelatory version of this dish on a back street in Florence, part of my food (and writing) epiphany of almost a decade ago. Yet it was the beans, simply warmed in their own broth and glugged over liberally with the best olive oil, that were life-changing.

Americana schiacciata from Ad Maiora at Kargo (£15.90)

I know that over £15 for a sandwich might make some of you roll your eyes more than you did at the price of that fancy tasting menu but hear me out. This butty was big enough for two of us to share for lunch in the sun with a pint in Kargo’s quayside Salford beer garden so it gave great VFM after all. We seized the opportunity to drop into Kargo after recording an interview about our band The Empty Page’s new album for BBC Introducing at the BBC studios (listen to the album Imploding here if you’re curious).

There are loads of food places I love at Kargo including Nila’s Burmese, House of Habesha and Baity but I hadn’t yet tried the butties everyone is talking about from Sicilians Ad Maiora. A schiacciata is an airy Sicilian flatbread not too dissimilar to foccacia which is split and layered up with fillings Scooby Snack style. Our belly buster was filled with pulled beef brisket and brie with salad, fresh tomatoes and spicy sauce.

Botivo Negroni at home (a bottle of Botivo will set you back £27.50)

I resolutely reside in ‘camp booze’ though I do keep an eye out for AF alternatives that might tick the complexity boxes of wine and craft beer. I’ve tried a few good AF drinks over the past couple of months that might make it into a roundup of their own at some point. What I want is ideally something not too sweet with herbal or earthy flavours. I’m not interested in sugary fizzy pop unless to cure a boss-level hangover.

I met the friendly PR for Botivo at a Code Hospitality event in London and she insisted on sending me a bottle. I was surprised by its vivid yellow colour and maybe because of its hue it gave me slight Buttercup Syrup vibes when I tasted it alone. Blended with soda and ice, we’re talking along more Pimms/Aperol lines. Works for me. But of course, I cracked and tried it in a boozy cocktail too. Pictured is the Botivo Negroni made with Botivo, pink peppercorn gin and a splash of Antica Vermouth in a highly inappropriate martini glass. A fine at-home treat. Please avert your eyes from my house witch face but I just had to show you that it matched my jumper and hair.

Crisp Kale Chaat at Jikoni, Marylebone, London (£16.50)

I like to chat and I like to chaat and I really like to chat about chaat. Probably my favourite Indian snack, which is impressive since India is surely the queen of picky bits. There is just something so satisfying about layers of crunchy samosa pastry, yoghurt, tamarind, crispy noodles - and the odd chickpea or bit of tomato to convince you it’s a health food. How do they keep the crispy bits so crispy? Add the hero among veg that is kale into the mix and we’re talking food of the gods. This was part of a Bibendum wine dinner I was invited to at Jikoni in London. Top place. Would def return.

Thai starters at Simply Thai, Buxton (part of a £14.45 two-course lunch menu)

We are all so hand-wringingly anxious about that complicated word ‘authenticity’ these days that in the city centre at least, these old-school Thai restaurants adapted to suit the weak English palate have all but died out. The food at Simply Thai doesn't joyfully eviscerate the lining of your mouth in the same way that my all-time fave Thai Kitchen No.6 in town does, but it’s still a good scran. Mostly, I enjoyed these retro starters of chicken satay sticks, little prawn parcels and lime-leaf scented fish cakes with sweet and tangy dipping sauces. Top marks for the carrot flowers. I’d like to see a hipster revival of flower-shaped veg. And how can you argue with that price? Side note, lovely as this was, and Buxton is, the town is crying out for a top-tier gastro pub and a decent wine shop. Can someone open these please?

Veggie breakfast at Bar Bruno, Soho (£12)

I love Soho and all its many and complex layers. There are incredible restaurants, great bars, and a sense of mischief in the air. There is also, these days, wall to wall smashed avocado but sometimes you don’t want a 2024 ‘brunch’, you want a vintage greasy spoon caff. Which is why we should hold places like Bar Bruno close to our hearts and protect them at all costs.

I love sitting alone in a place like this as cutlery and pans clatter around me (as the soundtrack to this great blog article on Bruno and its ilk illustrates perfectly) - the respirational swell and flow of customers in, out, in, out. Overheard conversations between sarcastic blokes in hi-vis, entrepreneurs plotting their escape from the rat race, and giddy tourists speaking in languages you don’t understand but strain to. The energy of it all. And the food is very good. I had probably the best grilled tomato I have ever had in a fry-up. The toast is thick and spread with the kind of extra salty, extra creamy butter you only find in a caff. And they give you a little bubble and squeak cake to remind you you’re not in Manchester.

Panozzo Fritto at Cibus (£14)

Giorgio Fontana is one of the most enthusiastic people I know when it comes to food. I first met him when I wrote about his restaurant Cibus in Levenshulme as it made the move from pizza pop-up above a pub to proper fully grown Italian restaurant, the first ever in the area. During our interview, he spent quite some time showing me pictures of Italian veg on his phone (not like that, get your mind out the gutter) educating me on the many different types of raddichio.

I love Levenshulme but I hadn’t managed to get back to Cibus in too long so when Girogio invited me to try the new menu, I made room in the diary. What I love about Cibus is that it stays true to the kind of regional dishes the Italian chefs want to make regardless of trends or conventions. Some of them splice North and South influences, many of them are just as they would be in their home region. They only use fresh veg when it’s in season (meaning no tomatoes except in the pizza sauce for a good chunk of the year) and there are dishes here you simply won’t find anywhere else in Greater Manchester.

We loved a lot of what we ate (arancini with saffron, peas and taleggio, stewed pork cheeks, grilled peppers with bagna cauda, maltagliati (meaning ‘badly cut’) pasta with beef, butter and parmesan) but the surprise winner was this panozzo fritto. It’s a bun made from pizza dough which is deep fried like a doughnut then split and stuffed with griddled Mediterranean veg and coleslaw. It’s served with a perfect tomato salad with an olive and caper dressing. Simple, different and probably quite bad for you like all the best things are. But it’s served with salad, so it’s fine.

El Nostre Mel I Mató at Tast

Another quick mention from the very special lunch menu from Paco Perez at Tast. A near-perfect dessert this: ice cream made with a soft Catalan cheese called mató, honey foam that tastes like popcorn, and caramelised pine nuts. It’s a different take on a classic Catalan dessert that pairs this fresh, ricotta-like local cheese with honey. Paco’s version was impeccable. I’m so in awe of this wonderful chef.

Caramelised brioche from Caravan, Kings Cross (£8)

I always say I don’t have a sweet tooth but add some salt to that sugar and suddenly I’m all, ‘Yes actually I will have dessert’. This disarmingly simple dish is another I’m going to urge you to get your chops around when Caravan opens in Manchester this June. A slice of buttery brioche is topped with salty-sweet miso caramel, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some aniseedy mini basil that sends you over the sex-face precipice.