Food review: Hatch park ft. Love + Labour wines, ÖL by Takk, El Marchador tacos & more

Since opening on Oxford Road last December, Hatch – Manchester’s answer to Shoreditch’s Boxpark – has already played host to several independent, creative businesses. Currently consisting of a cluster of shipping containers located in what was formerly Kro 2’s beer garden, plans are already in place for Hatch’s pop-up space to expand further under the Mancunian Way flyover: a ‘phase two’ will include the addition of 18 new units in August. Its permanent (or ‘anchor’) residents include an Oxford Road outlet for Northern Quarter coffee house Takk – plus ÖL, a brand new nano brewery and keg bar, which features local breweries such as Track, Runwaway and Cloudwater, as well as its own beers, brewed on site. We visited recently and came across natural wine shop Love + Labour, which offers half-litre and litre take-away refills of its all-natural, organic wines – with its team hoping to expand soon, including the addition of a bar. The site’s other permanent residents are tiny concept store Nonsense, independent florist Beehive and street artists Paint Sayers. In its internal courtyard, Hatch has recently rotated its street food vendors. El Marchador offers 100% plant-based and gluten-free Mexican food including tacos and tamales. In sharp contrast, next-door neighbour Well Hung serves classic steak and dripping chips with a chimmichurri sauce, as well as Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches. Eat & Sweet, meanwhile, may already be a familiar name to some, thanks to its existing outlet in the Ridelow building on Church Street. This Caribbean kitchen offers excellent meat and veggie jerk and soul food such as its tender goat curry with rice. British Street Food Award finalist Blue Caribou Canteen completes Hatch’s current street food quartet: Blue Caribou offers that staple of Quebec: poutine – aka. french fries and cheese curds, topped with gravy – with its cheese sourced from the Forest of Bowland. As Hatch’s residents changing on a regular basis, we’ll keep you up to date via our Food & Drink news round-ups.

Hatch, Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 7ED, opening hours vary, hatchmcr.com, www.facebook.com/HatchMCR @Hatch_MCR,