Top 5: Best food & drink at Mackie Mayor ft. Honest Crust

We popped down to the stunningly restored Mackie Mayor building to find out about the best food and drink at Altrincham Market’s new NQ offshoot. It’s a beautiful space with a great feel and is perhaps more peaceful than its Alty market sister. This might be down to the the plentiful seating with its additional galleried upper floor, or the natural light from the domed glass roof serving to soften the heavy industrial furnishings. There are 9 food traders who’ve set up shop at Mackie, some stalwarts like Honest Crust pizza, and a couple of newbies that we were keen to try out. Here’s a top 5 of succulent treats to try out as soon as you get the chance…

The bao: Bao House’s Hoisin pork belly bao with rice cakes and tenderstem broccolli
Bao House offer something a little different with their Taiwanese soft pillowy steamed buns. You can choose from a variety of flavourful fillings; avocado and roast pineapple, cornmeal fried hake with jalapenos, and Sichuan chicken. We opted for the hoisin pork belly, cooked meltingly well, with a sweetness set off by sharp pickled cucumbers, plenty of fresh coriander and spring onions. All tucked up in a snowy white soft bao bun. We had a side of korean fried rice cakes and tenderstem brocolli for a bit of chilli miso punch.

The pizza: Honest Crust’s marinara
Altrincham market favourite Honest Crust serve up their usual top notch pizzas. They have a great selection of adventurous rolling specials, but be really brave and let the ingredients shine by taking it back to basics with a cheeseless marinara; perfectly sweet-yet-tart tomato sauce, thinly sliced garlic, a generous sprinkling of fresh oregano and a drizzle of olive oil to finish. Simple but stunning.

The fish dish: Fin’s fish finger sandwich
Fin has been making waves at Mackie Mayor with their selection of sustainably sourced whole fresh fish dishes. The fish finger sandwich is just about as good as it gets with buttery flaking beer battered hake complimented by bright flavour from peas and peppery rocket.

The dessert: Wolfhouse Coffee’s cheesecakes
Dessert should be something sweet from the spectacular display of treats at Wolfhouse Coffee; beautifully fruit-topped friands, gooey brownies and tarts that look too good to eat. The lemon merengue cheesecake is so pretty it feels a shame to stick a spoon in, but when you do it’s a silky sweet, tangy delight.

The beer: Jack in the Box’s Buxton x Dugges Ramberget IPA
Manchester’s own Blackjack Brewery has a firm handle on the beer selection with the Jack in the Box bar. It’s a carefully curated choice of drafts with smaller local breweries represented amongst the Blackjack big hitters. Try the Buxton / Dugges Ramberget IPA with citrusy notes and a smooth finish. A nice light pairing for the fish dishes from Fin.

Mackie Mayor, Eagle Street, Manchester M4 5BU, Tue- Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 9am-6pm, FREE entry, www.mackiemayor.co.uk