Picky bits: a round up of Manchester food and booze news

A few things and happenings I've spotted that you might want to know about

Hello, and thanks as always for reading. The newsletter and my substack community is growing beautifully and I am so pleased about it. It’s spurring me on to write more. So I have decided to put together an occasional round-up of food and drink happenings in the city. What’s new? What’s different? What’s occurring? I’ve always got my ear to the ground so why not share it? The plan is to do this fortnightly but I reserve the right to change my mind about that. 

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Here are a few things on my Manchester food and drink radar this week:

Nila will be cooking up great food like this at Kargo

Kargo is go!

Salford’s newest food hall (no, don’t roll your eyes!) is now open. Kargo MKT is a huge venture down at Media City aka Salford Quays with 20 different kitchens flinging food from places as diverse as Palestine, Burma, Italy and Eritrea. Whoever has put together this all-star food lineup deserves a patty on the back. It features some of my absolute favourites. There’s Brazilian-Mexican fusion in the form of burritos, tacos and more with a Great British Menu flourish from Caroline Martins' Rio-Mex, Korean bibimbap and bulgogi from Bab Korean, Chinese Ma La Tang (a spicy soup) from Tang, Italian Schiacciata sarnies (flat bread stuffed with cheese, tomato and other tasty gubbins) from Ad Maiora, Burmese food like Laphet Thoke (fermented tea leaf salad) from the incredible Nila’s Burmese, Neapolitan pizza from the Worsley hot spot names after my (and Bet Lynch’s) favourite print: Leopard Spot, Palestinian dishes from Baity that recently broke hearts all over Greater Manchester when it closed its Didsbury venue, and a last-minute addition from the stupendous House of Habesha. 

An excuse to order more at Suf? I’m in.

Room for more food at Sud

Ancoats and Alty pasta master Sud (the artist formerly known as Sugo) has had a menu overhaul. Food FOMO-suffering fans of the southern Italian restaurant’s starters like the bruschetta Pugliese with its green two-tone topping of fava bean puree and wild broccoli (aka deliciously bitter friarielli or rapini) on sourdough or a big oozy beast of a burrata will understand this is good news. The new menu concept “12 Plates” sees the pasta plates shrink slightly (as will the price) to sit alongside the former starters and some newbies like Italian meatballs. This format means you can basically order the lot to share. Even if there are only two of you. Well, that’s my reading of the situation anyway. Who’s in? I love small plates, by the way, and ICYMI here is a round-up of some of my faves.

Koffee Pot still does breakfasts like this but do try the tacos

Sign language

If you didn’t know that NQ stalwart the Koffee Pot not only does some of the most reliable hangover sponges of breakfasts in town but also a fine line in chin-dribbling birria-style tacos then we have a LOT of catching up to do. It’s cool though, I can talk about food all day, how much time do you have? For people like you, there’s a big clue above the door now anyway. The KP has created a separate entrance under a snazzy tiled TACOS sign that you can choose to enter through if you want to try the dish everyone was taco-ing about in 2020. 

Come to my very serious wine tasting event

Somm-bay Bad Boy 

Who knew that me matching wine with Monster Munch on TikTok would lead to people actually wanting to pay me to talk about wine? Well, it did, so if that’s not a sign to do the thing you’ve been thinking about doing, I don’t know what is. You never know where daft ideas can lead. I am hosting a wine-tasting event at The Beeswing this Thursday 21 September where I will serve up a six-course tasting menu that includes various crisps, Pot Noodles and other trashy snacks (veggie option available) paired with some genuinely lovely wines from owner Anna’s cellar. Come and have a giggle and a drink with us, tickets are only £25. I have a wine blog too if you want a more direct, regular (ish) intravenous hit of wine stuff.

Find someone who looks at you like I look at wine

Come wine with me

What? I’m not allowed to advertise my own shit on my own newsletter? Listen, I’ve told you before. I make the rules around here, pal. If you don’t like it, there’s the door. I mean, ideally, you would just understand that I’m doing my best and stick around but ACAB etc., I’m not telling anyone they have to be here. (please stay). 

Anyway, if you’re still here, you might be interested to know I’ve set up my own fledgling project called Manchester Wine Tours. It’s basically a wine tasting WITH LEGS (see what I did there?). I will take my wine tour guests (terroirists? No, that doesn’t work. Shit.) on a stroll around some of my favourite places to drink wine in Manchester. This wil be the good wine and will be served with the good snacks. If anyone knows a good wine with a good snack in Manchester, it’s me, ok? Don’t believe me? Book onto a tour from 22 October onwards to find out. 

RIP my Bundobust Okra Fries t shirt.

Ever had Gujarati-German fusion?

My beloved plant-based, beer and bhaji bar Bundobust is putting on a special limited-time menu to celebrate Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest bundle for two people includes proost pickles, moong and sauerkraut fritters (OMG), batata salat (potato salad), currywurst koftas, okra fries and chole saag and is only available for one month between 15 September and 15 October. I’m going in to try it on a PR invite this week so look out for a video of me awkwardly dripping curry sauce down my chin on the ole socials.

Monton, yesterday. (Just kidding, that’s the Barolo region in Piedmont, Italy)

Barolo-ver to Wandering Palate for a mega wine event

Barolo is widely recognised as one of the kings of the fine wine world. This beautiful, elegant, complex Italian red wine is made from the Nebbiolo grape and tastes, some say, like tar and roses. So I like to think of it as the Nick Cave of wines, a bit gothy, a bit romantic, a bit mysterious and a bit weird. I love it, which is why I’m gutted I can’t make this one as I will be visiting my beautiful mama and cooking for her on her birthday. But you should go, cos it looks epic. Winemaker Daniele Conterno will be heading to Monton (Carlo) with armfuls of his fourth-generation, organic wines from this amazing region. Tickets are a barmy £20 each.

Wow, I can actually afford to eat at MUSU now

One of the most outlandish recent restaurant openings, that Guardian critic Grace Dent described as “very possibly the most expensive restaurant in Manchester”, MUSU always seemed to me like somewhere only footballers go. But clearly, there are not enough people with deep pockets to go around as the team has recently launched a much more affordable set lunch menu at £35 for four courses. I still haven’t been, but I’ve been invited by a very generous PR to a seasonal preview next week (yes, the Xmas demon is about to start sprinkling shards of candy cane everywhere) so I’ll let you know what I think. 

Mussels at the Edinburgh Castle

A critic in the castle

Guardian critic Jay Rayner visited Ancoats again recently ( he just can’t stay away) and has just published his review of the wonderful Edinburgh Castle. It’s a largely positive review in which he pokes fun at the idea of taking the locally sourced tag to the extreme but sings high praises for the great food chef Shaun Moffatt and his team are making here. I interviewed Shaun this year and can assure you, he’s the real deal. Nice to see a mention for the fantastic Blossom Street Social here too.

Want to know about new places to eat and drink opening in Manchester? I’ll be putting my detective hat on and telling you what I’ve sniffed out for paid subscribers only soon.