Albert's Schloss, Manchester

I don't even know where to start with this one. I'm going to try and keep it succinct, and show you lots of pictures. I've been to Albert's Schloss loads of times for drinks, but recently I ended up going three times in just over a week for different reasons, and had such a belting time, that I thought it important to share!

Let me summarise. So first of all was a long awaited catch up with our friend Tash, then I went with the girls, and finally was the launch of Le Grand Tour. 

What's Le Grand Tour I hear you ask? It's floral and fresh, with Alpine vibes. I'll let them explain:

'This season, we will be your official cicerone, taking you on a journey through the pure essence of Alpinism. For 2018, Albert has taken influence from the grandiose of the great outdoors, curating distant mountain cultures and abundant attractions into beautiful and charming displays of alpine meadow flowers and hanging gartens'.

So brace for evidence of what became a week of gluttony and excess, with some of my absolute faves. What I will tell you before I begin is that you will always have a good time at Albert's, unless you're a miserable bugger, or hate cocktails, beer and food. I think my photos evidence this well! 

Prosecco reception with the girls

Phil with his touring ladies!

Book a booth to 'Push for Prosecco'! 

I've grouped together the food and drinks, and won't go through each in copious amounts of detail, but will give you some of my highlights.

Touring cocktail - Lychee Blossom Martini, Tanqueray gin, Kwai Fai, lychee, lemon, rose flower tincture (the one with a flower in it): Could easily become an alcoholic from this. It's insanely refreshing, and ticks the 'sweet' box without being overly so. Pretty sure I had three.
High G&T - Raspberry and tarragon (the one with the leaves), Beefeater 24 gin, lime, tarragon, raspberries, light Fevertree tonic: Sweet and fragrant. I may have had more than one of these too.
High G&T - Honeycomb and rosemary (the one with a chunk of honeycomb): I had to remove the rosemary as it gives me migraines, however, sans twig this was excellent. Naturally sweet with a real tang to it.


Haus pretzel, sweet mustard, pickles and smoked gouda: Baked in house every morning, my aim is to get there early doors when they are still warm. We had these twice! When in (fake) Bavaria and all that.

So to the food. I've eaten twice out of the three visits, and again I'll give you the highlights.

Meatballs pork and beef meatballs, tomato mother sauce, cambozola (top left): Absolutely delirious. Who thought of melting cambozola on this? Medal time.

Alpine ham and cheese croquettes pancetta, gruyère, crumb, yoghurt aioli (top right): Perfect acoompanyment to a few pints if you're picking bar snacks.

Sformato, baked truffled mashed potato, melting nuggets of alpine cheese (bottom left): Couldn't touch this as truffle has the same migraine inducing effects on me, but Tash describes this as actual crack. Looked amazing! 

Confit duck leg yuzu dressing, pickled orange, fennel salad (bottom right): The picture makes it look a bit dry, however you have to trust me on this one, that the duck was beautifully moist with tart pickles.

Shaved turkey sandwich treacle cured bacon, avocado, smoked cheddar, Russian dressing (top left): Was kind of massively jealous when Lucie got this. Since New York, Russian dressing is my new favourite thing, and the whole combo sounded absolutely delicious.

Halloumi schnitzel burger, crumbed halloumi, griddled zucchini, beetroot slaw, lemon mayo, focaccia (top right): I can't believe I didn't order this on either visit. Halloumi will always be one of my faves. Jayne's feedback was that it didn't need the breadcrumbs. We like our cheese to squeak.

Sauerbraten slow cooked beef, red wine sauce, pickled cabbage (bottom left): Warming and lovely.

Paprikash chicken kebab lemon, yoghurt aioli, crunchy chickpea, pickled fennel, pomegranate, mint, coriander, rose harissa, flatbread (bottom right): A bit of a lighter option, again served with that rather special tangy pickle.

Classic cheese burger aged cheshire beef, pickles, Russian dressing, double cheese, butterhead lettuce, brioche bun (forgot to take photo in excitement): That's right, I take about a 684 pictures of food every day, and forgot to snap my own lunch. Bozo. What I need to tell you is that this is one of my favourite burgers in the city. You'll just have to trust me an imagine a juicy double burger with a generous portion of pickles and crispy fries. Sorry.

Despite suffering with post 'American dream' food fatigue, I had a dessert both times. 

Baked Alaska: Both times. Days apart. This is one for the sugar fans! Soft meringue hiding tangy sorbet. I will never ever tire of this. Ever ever.

Orange bread and butter pudding: Amber ordered this one, and it was demolished pretty sharpish, so I can only assume that she enjoyed it.

More confessions. Both times I have left the building with a sizeable box of cruffins, kronuts and cinnamon buns. I could have pretended that they never existed, but the thing is, they did and they were excellent. However, copious amounts of cocktails and 'cake aways' are not great bedfellows. In other words I was too drunk to remember to take pictures before scoffing them. What of it. They're great.

Go here to have fun, that's the bottom line. A daytime affair during the week is quite relaxed, Saturday afternoons are busy but have a great buzz about the place, and evenings are like gin fuelled carnage of the best sort. The DJ was amazing on Le Grand Tour night, and got extra brownie points for playing 90s trash, and wearing an excellent hat.

Boozy Bowling at All Star Lanes, Manchester

It's one of my favourite venues in Manchester; the hallowed All Star Lanes. I knew I already loved them when it was just a twinkle in Great Northern's eye, and they didn't disappoint me. Their 50s styling, friendly staff, American diner menu, constantly changing specials, and frankly outstanding cocktails really rock my socks. 

It's probably one of my most frequently visited venues for all the reasons listed above, but they are also bang on the money when it comes to throwing a party! We booked the private lanes for my friend Lucie's 30th (have a nosy here), and went back over the Bank Holiday to sample the new Boozy Bowling. 

How do you like this; two hours of unlimited bowling, booze and American bites for £35? Yeah, we thought it sounded pretty darn good. So off we trot, ready to don some amazingly unflattering shoes.

So this is how it works. On arrival you give your names, which are then popped onto the boards on the private lanes whilst you sort your hoofs out. We had our own little seating area, and two lanes meant that between four of us, we were pretty much constantly bowling with no waiting around. This in itself feels like a real treat! Granted, it also caused some interesting bowling induced bum cheek and tricep injuries the day after...

Your server will come over pretty sharpish, and explain that the booze is either unlimited Prosecco or bottles of Coors (we had a mix), and that food would be arriving around every twenty minutes. Great!

If you do become overly involved in stuffing your face, the game reminds you that it's waiting too! Oh the shame of being told off by a blue snail...

I am notoriously terrible at bowling, due to the fact I am lacking in any sort of technique, and generally break my nails within five minutes of getting there. However, it's too much fun for me to care much. The food is more my area of expertise!

Pretzel bread with smokey cheese sauce and fries: That cheese sauce is like crack. I'm pretty peckish as I'm writing this, so this picture is utter torture. Probably bad timing. This bread is really soft but has that distinctive pretzel taste, and goes perfectly with the cheese. We thought that this looked like a lot of chips, which is funny, because we managed to snaffle the lot!

Southern fried chicken skewers with barbecue sauce and mac 'n' smoked cheese croquettes: Those beautiful words... 'Southern fried'. These dipped in barbecue sauce were just heavenly, and the probable cause of the snail who equally sauced me!

Mini corn dogs and deep fried rice balls: So much golden food... The thing is though, you're bowling hell for leather, so surely you are still in a calorie deficit at this stage! I lapped up those sticky rice balls dipped in the cheese from earlier.

Sliders - marinara meatballs with tomato sauce and pulled pork and 'slaw: We were getting really full by this stage. Just before these arrived, we had just had another round of pretzel bread, so our carb reserves we pretty well stocked. If these had come a little earlier, we would have been a little more successful at polishing the lot. Fret not though, for they were promptly boxed upon our server seeing how disappointed we were in ourselves.

We wanted for nothing. I have no idea how much Prosecco we drank, because our glasses were constantly being topped up. The staff were fantastic, and the food was to the usual brilliant standard. The only thing we would have changed was maybe getting the sliders earlier, and perhaps end with something sweet to perk us back up.

Having been some of the first to try Boozy Bowling, the venue were also really keen to get our feedback on how this could be improved in the future, which I really liked.

Here's what my pals had to say about our afternoon of fun...

• We had the best time! The private lanes really add to the group activity, and meant that we weren't fighting to be heard over other people.
• Wasn't sure what to expect but very pleasantly surprised!
• We didn't expect the private lanes, and were absolutely thrilled when we arrived. Such a great idea.
• It was amazing! Loved the private alley, felt very indulgent.
• Our glasses were never less than half full, the staff were attentive without being overpowering, and the food came just at the right intervals.
• The private lane section was ace. The staff were amazing and so attentive (glasses never empty and all friendly and fun to speak to) 
• Loved every minute, the staff were fabulous and didn't make us feel at all ashamed of our gluttonous behaviour

I urge you to try this deal the next time it's on. It's amazing value at £35 per person, and looks like it'll only get better next time round.

The Christmas Burger - All Star Lanes, Manchester

Ho ho ho! Last week we went to discover one of the true meanings of Christmas... FOOD. Let's face it, we all love to feel like a stuffed turkey by New Year's Eve, and it's a quintessential tradition to curse your own gluttony and vow to become a teetotal powerhouse of physical fitness on 1st January. Just run with it - you do it every year. 

So, let's start as we mean to go on, mainly in the form of a towering burger packed with all things festive! The current All Star Lanes special is the Turkey Burger, which actually sounds quite healthy! This pile of festive fayre includes a breaded fried turkey breast, sage and onion pork stuffing, Monterey Jack cheese, Porter cured bacon, cranberry sauce and mayo. 

It's the kind of burger that you have to do a firm squashing manoeuvre on before you can fit it in your mouth and rue the day you didn't put your napkin on your lap. I loved the fact that the stuffing forms part of the breaded burger too. Because it's turkey, it didn't seem to kill me off either; it genuinely seemed like a bit of a lighter option (I'd been to Solita earlier in the week...)!

As if that wasn't enough to give us a mild case of gout, we also ordered some skinny and sweet potato fries and the seasonal smoked salmon mac and cheese. I'd highly recommend that you sample such goodies with a few cocktails too - the Aloha Jar is a bit of a belter, although it tastes like pop so frequently leads to me being a bit giddier than usual when I leave...

I'm fast becoming All Star Lanes' biggest fan. I love the decor, the food, the cocktails and the people. We always have a great time and they are constantly coming up with a fun new twist to the menu. Go here with friends for a great night out and some lovely food to boot. If you do decide to go bowling, you will not see our scores on the leaderboard - some say it's because we're crap, but that's just an elaborate cover story concocted by the staff so other bowlers don't feel intimidated.

Revolucion de Cuba, Manchester

I'm lucky enough to get invited to lots of exciting food related events. Every so often, one blows my little socks off. A bit of a dark horse. Revolucion de Cuba was like bloody Black Beauty.

I'd often seen folk queuing on a Saturday night in the rain and wondered what all the fuss was about. It looked nice inside, but was it really worth queuing round the corner for? A couple of weeks ago my friend Lee and I were asking ourselves that very question as we wandered off for posh tequila at Mr Coopers Bar like a pair of old lushes. Then, like fate intervened, I had a lovely invite from Revolucion de Cuba to sample their new menu. I had to take Lee.

We picked the wettest day since records began (only a slight exaggeration), and turned up with soaked kecks and cold feet. We were welcomed in and seated in a spacious booth by the window. We sat and defrosted as the lovely front of house staff started to bring dish after dish of deliciousness to our table.

Crispy tortilla chips with guacamole: The best guacamole I have ever tasted. Fresh and zesty with a chilli kick. Devoured in about two minutes flat.

(Clockwise) Patatas bravas, cajun chicken quesadilla and cajun cream mushrooms: I fear fungus at the best of times. I was feeling brave and plunged into the cajun mushrooms first. Amazing. This is my perfect kind of food; lots of things to pick at with big flavours. Perfect for sharing.  

Chimichurri rump steak: Served beautifully rare with a drizzle of chimichurri sauce and more of those crispy patatas bravas. Heavenly.

Paella de Cuba: I never order paella so was really pleased when this rocked up. The rice was beautifully sticky and there were big chunks of prawn, chicken and chorizo hiding underneath.

Churros and Columbian chocolate brownie: I've got that thing again where I get angry because I was too full to polish these off, but could just eat them now. This is the curse of the food blogger. Churros are one of my favourite things in the whole wide world. I could have kissed their faces when these arrived. They came with the most delirious chocolate and rum caramel dips too. The brownie was as light as a feather and went perfectly with that vanilla ice cream, which was strangely soothing in our gluttonous state.

We ordered some hot drinks in an attempt to revive our sorry-selves. Hot chocolate possibly wasn't the best option for someone semi-comatosed by food. Perfect for those with a sweet tooth like me though! Lee sampled one of the new coffees which seemed to do the trick!

Now then. Cocktails. This is where it got interesting. It started all sophisticated-like and ended in getting papped by a group of rowdy Norwegians. Actual truth. I recall having a Zombie and an Apple and Cinnamon Sour. That's about the measure of it. I remember them being sensational though!

Then this happened. 'Would you like to come and learn how to make cocktails?' Yes. We were then introduced to the wonderfully charming Eamonn. He said we could make something off the menu or pick anything else we liked. I went off piste and insisted on making a Drumstick Lolly (my absolute fave) and Lee opted for a Nuclear Daiquiri. As you can see from the photos below, we are clearly naturals and folk in there should fear for their jobs... 

We then went on a tour of the private bar area downstairs with the manager Ronnie - what a lovely bloke! I really should have taken some photos, but I was far too giddy. Eamonn showed us how to make the most magical gingerbread concoctions I have ever tasted. I remember talk of £200 shots of rum, Cuban drinking games and stories which will never be repeated. We also met Manchester's most fragrant doorman. That was nice.  
I can't even tell you what a great time we had. We left rabbitting on about how Eamonn and Ronnie were our new besties and plotting our return with our other pals. Not only was the food outstanding, but we sampled a gorgeous array of rum based goodies and had a really good laugh with the guys who worked there. Today I found myself recommending it to a lovely lady who works in Dunelm Mill...

I urge you to go. It's the perfect place to go as a group and have a giggle with friends. We spent all afternoon there and laughed all the way home. Perfect.

Disclaimer: I was invited to sample the new menu at Revolucion de Cuba with my friend Lee. I'm not sure if the PR company ordered those lovely men to charm us, or whether they did that of their own accord. Either way I was under no obligation to write a nice review or drink so many cocktails. I'd also like to apologise to Eamonn for being a pair of drunken buffoons and insisting we will be attending his recital. We still plan on doing. 

All Star Lanes, Manchester - New Menu

I bloody love All Star Lanes. I've been to a couple of them now, but the Manchester one at The Great Northern has to be my favourite. We had my friend Lucie's retro bowling party there when she turned 30, we've been for Cake Club 'Meat Up', and I go regularly with my friends for the most amazing cocktails.

Imagine the level of giddiness when I got invited to sample their new menu?! I could have kissed their zombified faces! (I'm not being offensive, it was Halloween). Even better, my pal and I took the afternoon off work and started the weekend early.

Their lovely events manager Natasha greeted us and ran through some of the changes to the menu. Most people associate All Star Lanes purely with bowling, but they also have a fantastic restaurant serving some great diner style food, and a pretty swanky bar.

King prawn taco in a hard shell with guacamole, sour cream, jalapeños and salsa: Not a fan of prawns myself (I find them untrustworthy), but this looked and smelled amazing! I'm assured by Phil that it was beautiful, and they were 'proper prawns, not little ones'!

Nachos to share - nacho cheese, guacamole, jalapeños and salsa: I'm a total nutter for nachos at the moment. Some may say I have become a little obsessed with melted cheese... These were unreal. A good ratio of topping to nacho too. I'm fairly confident I could graze on these all afternoon. 

Chicken parmigiana burger - grilled chicken breast, marinara sauce, buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil: A nice alternative to your standard burger. The only thing that could have made this better would be a toasted bun for a bit of added texture. 

Nacho cheeseburger - ground chuck and rib patty, taco shards, nacho cheese, guacamole and jalapeños: I stayed with my nacho-obsessed theme. Not for the faint-hearted, or those who like to look at all graceful when they eat. A gloppy pile of wonder. I managed half - what a lightweight! 

Monterey Jack corn grit chips and truffled mac and cheese: We had to sample sides... Corn grit chips are a bit like cheesy polenta with a crunchy exterior; unusual but very pleasant! The truffled mac and cheese is likely to induce a heart attack in any decent quantity, which makes it an instant winner!

Drinks: I'm going to be honest with you. There were more than the photos below. These are the ones I remembered to take pictures of! I seem to recall sampling...

• Aloha Jar (left) Finlandia vodka, pineapple juice, passion fruit, lime juices and orgeat.
• Sidecar - H by Hine Cognac is the driving force in this Parisian classic from Harry’s American Bar in Paris, shaken with Cointreau and fresh lemon.
• Roller Girl - Finlandia vodka, Crème de Peche, pomegranate and lemon juice and bubblegum syrup.
• Gin and Elderflower Julep Jar - Bombay Sapphire, elderflower, mint, lemon and apple juice. Churned over crushed ice and served in a jar.
• Bramble - Bombay Sapphire shaken with lemon juice and sugar, with a splash of Chambord black raspberry liqueur.
• Blue Moon - Iconic American wheat beer, Belgian style, notes of coriander and zesty orange.
• Pacifico - Corona’s big brother, rich pale lager with mild hops.
• Pinot Grigio - Matrai from Hungary. Classic dry style with nice acidity, fuller flavour than your average Pinot Grigio, 2012.

Warm cherry pie with vanilla cream and toasted almonds: Sing with me... 'She's my cherry pie!'...No? Oh bugger you then. Very sweet but perfectly sized. I think a dollop of ice cream would assist here rather than cream.

Choc chip cookie ice cream sandwich with maple syrup: Not too sickly and a good ratio of cookie to ice cream.

After suffering from a bit of food overload, we braved a spot of bowling, which was the perfect way to get our backsides into gear after being such horrific gluttons! I'd like to tell you that we both ruled the lanes, Kingpin stylee. Fact of the matter was I got thrashed and we were both equally as terrible as each other. Children at the side of us were practically pros in comparison. However, we didn't damage anything (or anyone) and didn't send the ball hurtling down the gutter too often...

We had a great time at All Star Lanes. The new menu is fantastic, the service was attentive and the drinks were pretty special too. I don't think either of us will be topping the bowling leader board any time soon though...

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Disclaimer: I was invited to sample the new menu by All Star Lanes. In return they wanted our honest feedback on the food. I was under no obligation to write a review, be nice or get drunk on cocktails whilst I was there. I did that of my own accord.