Rock Spice - Stretford, Manchester

Bubbles, lots of lovely food, good company and even a bit of magic. Sounds like a fun filled Friday evening to me.

Rock Spice is tipped to be a new breed of Asian restaurant, taking a step away from the local curry house, and fusing Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines with Western influences. They appear to be setting their sights high, with another three sites planned for Blackpool, Liverpool and London, with 20-30 eventually on the cards. Literally in the shadows of Old Trafford's East Stand, it's an ideal place to go pre or post match, although I fear if I went beforehand, I would sleep through the game. Although that may be a blessing at the moment...

Bubbles were flowing on arrival, and we soon spotted blogging pals Charlie and Simon (Gin Fuelled Blue Stocking), and Carl and Stephen (The Gourmet Gays).

So to the food. We were given lots of dishes to try, which the team felt showcased what they had on offer. Apologies in advance for the poor lighting, we were not in a photo friendly spot! I'm sure you'll get the gist though.

Tandoori fish and vegetable canapés: Lovely bitesized pieces of white fish or vegetables covered in tandoori style spices, with tamarind and mint dips. Perfect with a glass of fizz. I'm not even going to lie, our table ate a lot of these.

Golgappas topped with panipuri: It was very unclear what was going on here. One was mint, the other was 'spicy', both had a little panipuri on the top, filled with spicy onions. Jeez Louise these packed a punch! A little strong for me, but a fun concept which got the table talking. They are hot dammit. 

Between courses, the delightful Harry Robson (fresh out of Hogwarts) was entertaining us with some magic tricks. I'm the first to say I hate table magic, and most magicians in general, but Harry is a right little diamond. He brings humour and some really clever tricks. Met with a table of over-thinkers and hand watchers, he managed to baffle us all by getting Simon's card into a sealed envelope. You're a wizard Harry.

Mixed grill platter: I'm pretty sure this is the Bolton influence in this 'fusion' style of cuisine. A big platter of meat which was very well received at this stage, as we were mightily peckish. My highlight was the charred spicy lamb chop.

Mixed pepper and mango salsa: Who even knew that I'd be sat here raving about a salad? This was absolutely delicious. Shards of tricoloured peppers with ribbons of carrot, mango and coriander. I could have eaten this whole platter. I want this with every curry from now on. A real star of the show considering it was something so simple.

Chicken biriyani: God bless the arrival of carbs. My cousin's wife is from Pakistan (special mention to Sakba), and makes the best chicken biriyani. Very few come close, but I have to say this was pretty near. The chicken was well marinaded, and the rice had taken on rich flavours from the cooking liquor. 

Channa masala: Lifelong carnivore, absolutely loving this dish. The only one that we ate every scrap of. Cooked down to perfection, this was best paired with fluffy naan bread. Could just have this now. Furious.

Chicken afzaa: A pleasant creamy dish, which I expected to taste like a korma because of its colour. It was actually nowhere near as sweet, yet still very creamy.

Lamb karahi: Tender slow-cooked lamb in a thick, fragrant sauce. Great with rice. It was nice to see three very different sauces showcased over the variety of curry dishes.

Garlic butter naan bread: The lovely fluffy variety, rather than the type where the edges are like toast. The addition of melted butter infused with garlic kept them wonderfully moist too. Perfect for dipping in those sauces.

The chefs at Rock Spice had a lot of people to serve on Friday, all on the same sitting. Much respect to the kitchen, who managed to turn out great food which was fresh and piping hot throughout the night. Evenings spent eating lots of tasty food, catching up with friends, and sipping bubbles are the best type. Huge thanks go to Caroline and the Rock Spice team for our invite, and a very pleasant evening indeed.

Disclaimer: This was a free press event. I was not coerced into saying nice things, and to the best of my knowledge, no spells were put on me by Harry in order to sway my judgement. I just really like curry. 

Wood, Manchester

The deal was sealed. Aidan Byrne was poorly, and Simon Wood stepped in to take his place at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival 'Sunday Club' event. I have much love for Aiden, but was thrilled to find out Simon would be joining the ever entertaining Andrew Nutter for some Sunday evening tomfoolery. And there it began. Turns out we became his biggest fans in the blink of an eye, and ended up devouring a Tomahawk at Wood two days later. 

Wood opened on Manchester's First Street site a sniff over a year ago, but I'm convinced that folk are not fully aware of its brilliance just yet, probably owing to the location. However, fellow new kids on the block Bunny Jackson's and School for Scandal are changing everything. I'm hoping that it's going to become a bit of an alternative playground for those who love a bit of decent music and good food.

Simon won Masterchef in 2015, opened Wood in August 2017, and bagged themselves an AA Rosette within a year. Then came plans for a second site in Chester's Indigo Hotel, and now Woodkraft is about to open in Cheltenham. Not bad really. There's no doubt that he's an extremely accomplished chef, but he's also a bloody nice fella too. And he likes metal. We like him.

He's not alone in this venture though. He managed to snaffle Mike Jennings as Head Chef, and has an excellent front of house team who make the experience even more pleasurable. I first met Mike when he was at Grenache, producing food that gave Salford a right kick up the backside. He's great.

The styling of Wood is just beautiful, with nothing out of place and every item carefully considered. The kitchen is partially open, which allows nosy people like me to watch the chefs prepping those huge tomahawks. Makes you really hungry though. I suppose that's what starters are for!

I was on the antibiotics of doom at this point, so was sans alcohol, but our waitress (who clearly saw my anguish) quickly produced a mocktails list, and all was well. Phil opted for a nice glass of red, whilst we perused the menu, listening to The Pretty Reckless and Pvris. If you know, you know.

The scent of steak being very much real, we were thrilled at the arrival of some freshly baked bread and salted butter. Always start a decent meal with some interesting carbs.

Pigeon, fig, endive and belazu lardon: One of the best starters I have had in a long time. Crispy edges on that rich pigeon breast with the sweet fig neared levels of actual perfection.

82°C belly pork, cider, Granny Smith, sage and onion: This was mentioned during Sunday Club, and had to be ordered. Phil's a massive fan of pork and crackling, so this was right up his street. Pared with tart Granny Smith apples, this is the culinary equivalent of a hug and a kiss.

Tomahawk to share with green peppercorn sauce: The scale of it man. This bone in rib of beef makes me feel like a cave dwelling carnivore who will never be short of iron again. Granted, it is for two people, but it's still a fair 'un.

Cooked to near witchcraft perfection, with a fragrant peppercorn sauce. Behold. I'm not saying anything else, because I've lost your attention to the pictures.

Baby jackets and broccoli with black onion seeds: Simplicity at its best. Soft potatoes with crispy, salty jackets, and crisp broccoli with sweet onion seeds.

Citrus tutti frutti: Lemon, lime, grapefruit and orange heaven. I always opt for berries rather than citrus, but this was fresh, light and an absolute delight. At this point in the meal, I could not fault a single thing.

Chocolate, espresso and salted caramel: Surprisingly light as a feather, and not overpowered by the coffee.

 Tea: We needed the caffeine after all that food. Even the tea pot was cute.

I will not have a bad word said about Simon, his team or his restaurants. I'll fight you. Admittedly, I just love eating out and trying new places. I will look for the positives over negatives every time, and always enter somewhere new expecting to love it. However, every so often I really fall in love. This is when outstanding food and service work in harmony, and I genuinely like the people running the show. Wood is firmly in this category.

Go to Wood for delicious food, warm service and great music!

Turtle Bay, Manchester

Turtle Bay is a place I associate with pre-gig cocktails and Highly Suspect excitement. I feel I need to explain that my excitement is not Highly Suspect, but rather they are one of my favourite bands who I happen to have seen a few times. Over-explanation over. They also have tremendous happy hours which means you are rarely without two cocktails in hand.

I was recently invited to try the food, so thought I would give it a whirl. Now imagine the scene, I had been cooped like a chicken for a week after having minor death in the form of gastroenteritis. I needed spice in my life, and some post-quarantine fresh air. It was like the planets had aligned.

We arrived on the wettest of days, the kind where your red ballet pumps are saturated within a few feet of walking, for example. Our chirpy waitress welcomed us in and quickly had a cocktail menu in our hands, and informed us that if she were to be an animal, she would most definitely be a loyal dog. Can't remember the context, but it went down well.

Just jerk platter - marinated jerk wings, glazed pork ribs, beef patty, jerk chicken flatbread, sweet corn fritters and super green salad: Massively indecisive when it came to starters, so we ordered a platter. Felt safe, but actually ended up ordering too much food, which is standard behaviour. Apologies for the strange orange glow on the photos, it's a very orange establishment!

Jerk sirloin steak - Prime cut aged sirloin steak, spicy jerk, coconut callaloo and spiced fries: This picture is the equivalent of an intoxicated selfie after you looked a million dollars at the start of the evening. The steak was perfectly pink and the creamy coconut callaloo was the type of warming Autumnal fayre you crave in such dank conditions.

Goat curry - Rich and spicy curry, coconut rice ‘n’ peas, sweet plantain, dumplings: Two people recommended this within 24 hours. Had to be done. A fairly mild curry with a sweet edge. Proper comfort food. 

Sides - cheesy jerk sweet potato fries, grilled Halloumi, baba roti, and dirty curry fries: Judge all you like, we ordered too many carbs, and set it off with a side of cheese. We were being encouraged by the manager, who clearly shared my hosting mantra of 'they shall leave dying and unable to move owing to the volume of carbs'. Also, if Halloumi is on there, it's getting ordered. Jerk Halloumi is excellent.

Passion pie - sweet pastry, zesty passion fruit curd, soft baked meringue, fresh passion fruit sauce: Of course I had room for dessert. My ideal kind of pie, this is like the lemon meringue variety but with passionfruit. Perfect.

Caymanas upside down rum cake - warm golden mellow rum cake, rum caramel and vanilla ice-cream: Jeez Louise this was strong! Extra points for being baked bundt stylee, this light sponge was drenched in rum, which was just wonderful.

Rather pleasant afternoon. By the time we left we had guffawed with our waitress, had a chat with the manager about the ludicrous nature of him emigrating from California to Manchester, drunk some lovely cocktails, and suffered near gout levels of fullness. We had even managed to miss the rest of the rain.

Go here as a group for lots of buffet style food, for comforting one pots and grills, or just to take advantage of a great happy hour.

Disclaimer: I was invited to review Turtle Bay, but put under no duress when it came to the nice words bit. I wasn't even drunk, and neither was the waitress who likened herself to a friendly dog. 

Albatross and Arnold, Manchester

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to the beautiful Albatross & Arnold for a bit of a mash up between their good selves and Tappers Gin. Nested above Beastro, Albatross & Arnold is a real hidden beauty with great views over the rest of Spinningfields. It has this wonderful modern Scandic meets classic art deco feel, with light wood, gleaming gold accessories and fresh flowers. It's my kind of place.

Albatross & Arnold created a seven course tasting menu paired with Tappers Gin; a small family business making some of the most exquisite gins in rather decadent bottles. The whole event really was a feast for the senses, with careful consideration given to how the dishes and cocktails looked, smelled and tasted. 

Picture shamelessly lifted from A&A's Instagram

I've added a copy of the menu as I'm pretty sure that the pictures I took say it way better than my words ever could. Early disclaimer though, I forgot to photograph the melting middle chocolate pudding. Yes, I know, shoddy work whilst being too busy eating it! Trust me, it was good. 

Before I start I wanted to go through the cocktails (mentioned in more detail on the menu above). Phil had to drink all of mine because I was on antibiotics of doom, which meant I couldn't as much as lick alcohol. He was suitably ruined the next day as a result. He gave every one his full approval, despite not being a usual fan of gin. What I can comment on was the presentation and (oh my word...) the smell of these. No fake essences, they were the real deal, and bursting with flavour. 

Massive thanks to our waitress Charlie who was an absolute diamond all night. She made me non-alcoholic versions of these so I at least felt like I was playing out. 

Gin Cured Salmon, Tonic Foam 

Razor Clam, Brown Crab, Samphire Mayonnaise, Sea Spray

Pidgeon, Hazelnuts, Horseradish, Gherkin: I have to say, that this is one of the best things I have eaten in some time. I hate horseradish, but these meringues were quite subtle, and brought a little warmth to the dish. Trust in the chef. 

Cod, Sea Aster, Samphire, Lemon Curd

Duck, Orange, Elderflower: Another truly outstanding dish. Perfectly cooked and absolutely packed with flavour. Real autumnal flavours coming from this plate of food. 

Summer Fruit, Crumble, Cream: Hands down one of the best desserts I've had in some time. Jo who was sat with us even ordered a second in lieu of chocolate pudding. Sterling work that Jo. Sweet yet tangy, with the perfect contrast of textures. 

Chef Jonathan Green is a bit of a dark horse if you ask me. That dessert reminded me very much of something I ate at one of my favourite places, Northcote. It was no surprise to find out then, that Jonathan did a decent stint under Nigel and Lisa at that very restaurant, before becoming Head Chef at Tattu. Very wise appointment that one. Thoroughly nice chap too. 

Go to Albatross & Arnold for beautifully crafted food without the formality. Service is professional yet friendly, and the surroundings are just beautiful. I can't wait to go back here when I can drink! 

Disclaimer: I was invited to Albatross & Arnold to sample the food and drink as part of a special event. I was under no obligation to say nice things. I wasn't even drunk whenI told them how much I loved them... 

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.