11 good things I ate and drank in December
Croissant loaf, vegan pasta and a couple of Xmas cocktails
December is a funny old month for food. Everything goes a bit wild and there doesn’t seem to be as much time for the more humble end of eating out. I’m also in the grossly fortunate position of having a seasonal role that requires me to eat in some of Manchester’s best restaurants on somebody else’s dolla. So there are fewer butties and bargains in this month’s round up and a fair helping of luxe. Tis the season after all.
Read on for the best things I ate and drank (apart from wine which goes here) in December.
Gnocco fritto, squash agrodolce and ricotta (£14 from Erst)
This, like so many at Erst, is a perfect dish. Difficult to share though. Partly because it has three of the important bits and partly because you want it all for yourself. I was fuming I had to share. Gnocco is simply the singular of gnocchi but these are more like crispy deep-fried ravioli cases, which is much more exciting than it sounds. These puffy little pillows sit atop a mound of calm, unintrusive ricotta, creating a superb foil for the intense, almost chutneyed squash. Grated hard cheese and peppery extra virgin olive oil bring it all together like Lebowski’s rug.
Pork chop, sage, anchovy, grilled peach, prawn head emulsion (£28 at Another Hand)
Every time I go to Another Hand - which is about once a year at the moment - I regret that I don’t go there more often. So if any of my nearest and dearest reading fancy rectifying this by joining me for a visit in the new year, let me know. It’s always a rollercoaster of a meal here. The team loves to experiment. We ate a striking dish of jet black cucumber and an interesting dessert reminiscent of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. There were several standouts including venison and cured trout but this pork chop has remained in my memory the most.
Manchester loves a pork chop. At one point I felt like every single restaurant had it as its centrepiece as if there had been some kind of job lot deal, BOGOF ACAB?. But it had been a while since my last one and this was cooked to juicy precision. It was the accompaniments that made the dish a real babe, though. Most significantly the prawn head emulsion, deep with that unmistakeable, savoury prawny oomph. This worked peculiarly well with the pork while the peach brought balance by way of rich sweetness. An unexpected palette of flavours and yet they were completely at home with one another. It’s dishes like this that are the reason people rave about this place.
Manchester Union Black (£5.50 a pint at Trading Route)
You will have tried Manchester Union’s lager. It’s everywhere in Manchester and rightly so. A crisp, European-style lager made right here in our city. What’s not to love? But I like to change it up now and again so at the launch of Trading Route - Manc Union’s rotisserie chicken and lager-focused beer hall and deli in collaboration with Trof - I put my beer tokens on black. Manc Union’s black lager is a malty lad with a sort of roasted cocoa nib bitterness I really like. Not as heavy as a stout either so I could easily drink a few of these. And reader, I did. Side note: the grocery section here is really impressive with loads of special cheese, charcuterie, baked goods and fantastic wine. Well worth a visit if you haven’t been yet.
‘Chips and Dip’ (part of a £125 tasting menu at Where The Light Gets In)
It had been a while since I last visited Where The Light Gets In for their tasting menu. I never know what to expect. The place is full of surprises. A good thing in my book. The first surprise was this crisp fried leaf. A fun, aesthetically and texturally satisfying snack to kick things off and get us beaming from ear to ear. This tasted exactly like the crispy ‘seaweed’ I used to get from the Chinese chippy as a kid. It was paired with an oyster mayo dip. The prerequisite innovation, sustainability and playfulness WTLGI has built its rep on all present and correct but so delicious too.
Nutcracker Flip (£12.50 at Blinker)
As you know, I dedicate much of my drinking life to wine, but my head can be turned by a carefully constructed cocktail once in a while, especially over the festive period. I don’t visit Blinker enough. Their seasonal changing cocktail menu is sheer brilliance. Drinks like this are a great reason to add it to your plans. A Nutcracker Flip was the perfect last drink of my ‘freelancers Xmas do’. All the Baliey’s-esque naff Xmas sweetness I love but a bit classier and sassier with the help of a good tot of hazelnut liqueur, a dash of mulled wine and some eggnog.
Festive turkey pie (£8.50 plus mash and gravy at extra cost from Great North Pie Co at Kampus)
I am often in two minds about the festive madness that sweeps the city. Christmas burgers can be a bit vulgar, I avoid the markets like the plague, and any kind of enforced fun brings me out in an Albert Finney scowl. But every now and again I like to partake in a culinary Christmas special. On a long overdue nippy lunch catch-up with my old mucker Speth, it was decided that pies were needed. Great North Pie Co’s are probably the best in Greater Manchester, and this one stuffed with turkey, stuffing, bacon and all the usual Xmas gubbins warmed my cockles right up. The gravy here is unbeatable and all.
And for my paid subscribers only, the second half of the round-up is below the paywall. It features: a cherry negroni to challenge Hawksmoor’s (and it’s cheaper); the best vegan pasta I have ever eaten; a whole croissant loaf; and yet another Michelin star breakfast.