Ten good things I ate in Manchester in October

Pigs head tacos, cuttlefish charcuterie and a cucumber salad

October whooshed by like Angela Lansbury on an errant broomstick (La Keepone, Criffs, Crumpet, Leech!). But I still managed to get about a bit. I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening of House of Fu and to try a couple of new menu launches this month while also getting to some of my regular favourites.

Hospitality is really struggling. I’ve seen a few closures around town and I have spoken to several very worried restaurant and bar owners. It’s depressing. Everyone I know is also skint and struggling with the ridiculous cost of living. Now the bloody hetaing bill is eating up our eating-out money. But if you can afford to support local businesses, maybe the smaller, more inexpensive ones. Do. Their futures are uncertain and your custom is very welcome indeed.

Here are some of the best things I ate in October.

Curing Rebels cuttlefish ink cured pork loin, Higher Ground (£16)

After a totes emosh evening at the beautiful Contact Theatre watching Grace Dent in conversation with Jimi Famurewa. My friend Lucy and I hot-footed it to Higher Ground to share a bottle of wine and catch up on all the goss. This cuttlefish ink-cured pork loin was a great example of simplicity and sourcing being way more important than any number of foams and drizzled. I guess I’m also putting this here as a reminder that a couple of plates of cheese and charcuterie + a bottle of wine + a solid gold pal = an absolutely life-affirming evening and I (and you) should do this more.

Creamed Mearley pheasant, our smoked bacon and mushroom pie in our all butter pastry, The Parkers Arms (Part of a £50 three-course menu)

Look at the name of this dish, it’s exactly why I love gastro pubs in the arse end of nowhere. So wordy (says me). Such pride in the fact that everything is done in-house by the small team here. So appetising just to read the words. And the pie was one of the best I’ve tasted, not least down to the crisp and buttery hand-made puff pastry. The kind of thing I could never be arsed to do myself. Not having your own wheels means places like these are almost impossible to get to but we’d been up at a wedding in Lancaster with my folks so I strong-armed them into taking a diversion on the way back to the Parkers - they didn’t take much convincing tbf. Backs crackling against the roaring log fire, attentive but low-key service and a bottle of beaujolais with lunch ensured three snoring passengers on the way home. I would be at places like this all the time if I could. Someone pay for my driving lessons already. Also taking applications for gastro pub chauffeur, thanks.

Cucumber salad, House of Fu (£5)

I’m SO happy that Leeds ramen joint House of Fu has finally opened in Manchester. Even happier that it’s about a ten-minute walk from my flat. More and more good stuff is opening over this side of town. I remember when there was nowt but rock pubs and dodgy kebabs here. HOF does really good deep bowls of noodles or rice, it feels nourishing and nutritious but fun too. But if you want extra veggie, crunchy goodness, make sure you grab a bowl of this stunning cucumber salad with its witchcraft dressing of miso, garlic, sesame and chilli oil. It’s vegan too, if that matters to you. (Disclosure: I was invited to the launch but have since been back with my own dolla).

Leek, Garstang Blue, burnt leek dressing, potato, Flawd (£8)

All the way over the other side of town from where I live is Flawd, and the only reason I’m not in there on a fortnightly basis is the distance back to my door. I found myself down this neck of the woods after one of my (super! amazing! you should come on one!) wine tours, and this was the ideal post-tour supper. I love the original concept and I love current head chef Seri Nam’s evolution of the menu. Potato salad is one of my favourite comfort foods and this one was extra spesh with local tangy blue cheese and an intense burnt leek dressing while gazing out over the very vibey Islington marina and enjoying its many shaped and sized dog collection.

Herb-fed chicken with béarnaise sauce, Hawksmoor (£18)

It seems a bit like sacrilege to go to Hawksmoor and not have steak but you know me, a maverick, a rule breaker, a trailblazer who orders… chicken. No, but it was really good. All crispy skin and ridiculously juicy, herb-infused flesh, a full half chuck with a big pot of buttery bearnaise and a burnt lemon to squeeze over. You’ll need fries on the side if you’re not some kind of strange carb-avoider but that’s all you need to have yourself a very strong lunch. OK, maybe a glass of Riesling too.

Pigs head chicharron with birria jus, all the salsas, eschabeche, refried beans, papas con crema, elote, grilled cabbage, and both kinds of tortillas, Madre (£24pp)

If you like modern Mexican-inspired food, Madre will be right up your camino. They do a great line in tacos and grills here, and the mezcal/tequila heavy cocktail list is excellent too (even if they STILL won’t name one ‘Guy Agave’ just to please me). I was invited (full disclosure) to go and try their new Sunday roast and couldn’t resist ordering the pig’s head. I think if you’re gonna eat the animal, do it the honour of not binning any of it. The head was all crispy and unctuous, like extra thicc pork crackling with some hefty chunks of cheek in there too. You can have other meats if you don’t want to go the whole hog like me.

Hummus, aleppo chilli oil, fresh pitta, Evelyn’s (£6.90)

I often swerve hummus on menus. Not because I don’t like it, I love it when it’s done well but so often it isn’t. It’s grudgingly crushed chickpeas seasoned with venom towards all things vegan. I’ve seen it made too many times in kitchens by people who don’t understand how good it can truly be. And it doesn’t get much better than the one I tried at Evelyn’s when I was invited (disclosure) to try the new menu. Its inclusion here is not to say the za’atar lamb chops, picanha steak and grilled octopus we enjoyed alongside it weren’t very special in their own right (they were, and I urge you to order with abandon from the grill section) but the hummus brought the whole thing together like the perfect pair of shoes, and I don’t want it to go unsung. Smooth as Sade’s vocal cords, piquant with chilli nicked from the Ottolenghi playbook, and surprisingly sprinkled with shredded mint. Essential eating.

BBQ monkfish, crayfish velouté, caviar, Climat, (part of a £150 menu with matched wines)

When the gaffer of rooftop restaurant Climat invites you to be a special guest at the first of a series of wine evenings they are hosting, you clear the diary. I was extremely fortunate to attend this event and though I have probably talked too much about Climat at this point, I can’t help but remind you one more time that it’s well worth your money for whatever special occasion (real or invented) is coming up this month. This five-course tasting menu was matched with wines from female-founded wine importer Emile Wines and talked through by their very own Amber Gardner Everything was dreamy but this monkfish dish a clear reminder that Climat is doing some of the best food in the city right now. Its seafood game is particularly strong.

Joy’s fragrant Thai green curry, The Laureate restaurant at The Hyatt (£22)

I accepted the PR invitation to try the food at the Hyatt Hotel opposite the RNCM because I am always curious to see what hotel food in Manchester is actually like. I never expect it to wow me and yes, The Laureate on first glance is a classic hotel restaurant menu, ticking all the boxes to please every kind of palate that comes through the door. These things rarely get a chance to specialise, so they read like my least favourite kind of menu, one with a dish from every continent. I am always suspicious that such breadth can be done well. But there’s a difference here that you can see in the name of this dish. The kitchen crew under head chef Manash Kolaparth-Muthuvana includes chefs from India, Syria and Thailand and they have all been encouraged to add a dish from their home country’s repertoire to the menu. Joy’s Thai curry was a joy in name and nature, with all the flavour hallmarks you’d expect - from coconut to kaffir lime leaf to Thai basil. If you’re down that end of town and trying to please an eclectic hungry hoard, I promise this place is a surprisingly good shout.

Shaun Moffat special at Honest Crust , Mackie Mayor (£14)

I try not to put things here that you can’t have. So apologies that this is exactly what I’ve done here. You can’t have this pizza because it was a limited edition special for one week only at Honest Crust. I missed the Mughli one and the Erst one and I was damned if I was going to miss this too, even when the place was cacophonous with half-term howling. You would have liked it too, all Swaledale beef, homemade pickles and beef may mayo. Do you know who did try it? The brave souls who booked onto my very first wine tour for paying customers, because that’s the kind of exclusive stuff I try and make sure my wine tour guests get their mitts on. Anyway, you can get somewhere close to this dish by either going to the Edinburgh Castle in Ancoats where Shaun rules the roost, or trying one of Honest Crust’s other fantastic pizzas. Both, I highly recommend.

All words and pictures by me, Kelly Bishop aka Kel Is Eating, please don’t use them without credit and a link back to this blog. Ta.

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