Manchester has been booming out the new openings this week, from permanent fixtures from our favourite pop-ups to old Manc classics starting a new chapter. Especially good news for the plant-based eaters – we’ve got some unreal vegan food highlights coming your way.
In fact, there’s so much great stuff coming up, we couldn’t restrict it to just five. Read on to find out our top foodie picks for August…
From the heads behind Detroit-style pizzeria RAMONA comes a whole new concept – focusing on slow, open-fire grills and South American-inspired cocktails. Opening in what was once an empty MOT garage just a few years ago, FIREHOUSE has transformed the space into the coolest place in town, with bare brick balls, easy listening tunes, giant shrubbery hanging from the ceiling, and a humongous disco ball we could only dream about owning.
Our favourites off the menu include the Stracciatella – heritage tomatoes, mint and basil atop a fresh-baked pita bread and garnished with sherry vinegar and crispy parmesan – crushed roast fingerling potatoes (served with summer truffle mayo, chives and parmesan Reggiano) and the flame-charred peri chicken breast that is so divine, it made even our resident vegan sniff the air like a dog.
The star of the show though is most definitely the drinks menu, which boasts a collection of 15 (yes, fifteen) wild spirit and fresh fruit cocktails unlike anything you’ve tasted before. From Pisco and Veritas rum to smoky Mescal and agave Tequila; the tipples here are certain to blow your socks off. Word to the wise: try the ‘Mangonada’ – you will not regret it.
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The Ancoats space formerly known as Soul Café is officially under new management, with a whole range of new plates to celebrate. While keeping their phenomenally Instagram-able brunch dishes – such as homemade matcha waffles with berries, honey and gelato, and their mammoth Soul Breakfast – Soul & Surf has added some drool-worthy Soulfood to the mix now too.
Introducing a whole new range of seafood, Soul & Surf will be serving up peppered turkey wings, lobster tail, Cajun salmon, and king prawns, with sides such as jollof rice, plantain, mac and cheese, and ‘Gizzdodo’ – a combo of chicken gizzard and plantain, garnished with mixed peppers.
Perched on the very edge of Northern Quarter, Soul and Surf is a great choice for when you fancy feeling really full of great homemade grub (and pretty much every other time of the day too). Open from 11am until 6pm – go show ‘em some Manny lovin’.
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Lazy Tony’s hit the city by storm in earlier this year when they unveiled their saucy slabs of homemade lasagne; slow-cooked beef, pork and pancetta in a secretly seasoned tomato ragu, with fresh pasta and a parmesan bechamel sauce.
As well as a soy-based vegan slab and Buttermilk-brined butterfly chicken parmigiana, Tony’s also have some jaw-dropping mozzarella bites and a creamy taleggio mac ‘n cheese topped with crushed Frazzles (turns out we’ve been eating Britain’s favourite smoky crisps completely wrong this whole time).
Now, from Thursday 12 August, carb-lovers both meaty and meat-free can tuck into Lazy Tony’s famous slabs in the beautifully minimalist surroundings of Foundation Coffee House on Lever Street, Northern Quarter. Which makes this the new perfect office lunch spot. Just remember to tuck your napkin in – this scran is well juicy.
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Allotment Vegan Eatery is going back to its fine dining roots with its latest takeover, arriving on the Thursday 12 August. The much-acclaimed Josie Clements – a 22-year-old private chef from Michigan, USA – will be coming to Manchester for a guest residency at the Lloyd Street staple, bringing along a menu set to amaze the plant-based locals.
Josie is the first vegan chef to ever star on Gordon Ramsay’s globally televised cooking competition Hell’s Kitchen, which is still currently being aired.
The menu will consist of ten courses in total: five from Chef Josie, and another five from Allotment themselves. However, after a juicy Q&A on Instagram Live, Josie revealed her plates are “an expression of [her] soul”, and not something the average vegan eater would expect to eat in Manchester. Tickets are on sale NOW and expected to fly out the door, so we’d get ours pretty sharpish if we were you…
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Thing’s Palace is back with another Southeast Asian-inspired supper club, this time in collaboration with food and drink emporium Mackie Mayor. Served over four courses, local chef Lorcán Kan will deliver a menu of seven dishes, taking hints from Malaysian cooking with a heavy focus on fresh English produce.
Things Palace is known for utilising homegrown ingredients and delivering unthinkable flavour pairings, to create plates that put a smile on anyone’s face. He is also heavily affiliated with Platt Fields’ Community Garden and Cinderwood Market Garden, which will be supplying the produce for the supper club – set to run on Thursday 12 August.
So far, the menu is being kept top secret, with only a sneak peek of one dish: sweet and soy pickled cucumbers dressed with a fermented cucumber chilli oil (even that’s enough to get our tummies rumbling). But with beers from Blackjack Brewery and Natural wines by the bottle from small artisan growers Otros Vinos, we have no doubt this supper club deserves a clear space in your diaries. Tickets cost £40 per person and are on sale now.
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One thing we really miss about lockdown – probably the only thing – is the need to get all of our cakes and goodies delivered straight to our door. Especially now the summer rain has arrived, we don’t always fancy traipsing all the way to the city centre for our sweet treat fix. So, we’ve decided we’re bringing it back.
Our top online vendor this week is Sweet Lil’ Art, who crafts artisan cakes and oriental-inspired desserts and posts them worldwide. Made in Manchester, these tiny treats pack a huge flavour punch, and look way too beautiful to ingest.
Recent highlights include classic French financiers and mini dacquoise – a buttery biscuit base topped with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and finished off with cream – in a variety of flavours.
This month’s cakes will be revealed very soon, with pre-orders beginning shortly after. Keep your eyes peeled on Sweet Lil’ Art’s Instagram page for more information.
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- Words:
- Sophie Cunningham
- Published on:
- Mon 2 Aug 2021
Of all the out-of-town visitors arriving in recent weeks, this is by far the one we’re most excited for. Liverpool-based, vegan Chinese chippy Woo Tan Scran is launching a sister site, taking over the kitchen at Northern Quarter’s Stage and Radio.
From Wednesday 4 August, you can head on over to one of Manchester’s iconic venues for salt’n’pepper tater tots, sweet chilli chick’n bao buns, plant-based prawns and 100% vegan crispy calamari, among other new additions that we’re just dying to try.
Sit in, or takeaway – whatever you’re after, Woo Tan Scran will be running the kitchen from Wednesday to Thursday, 4pm until 10pm, and Friday to Saturday, 2pm until 10pm.