RESTAURANT REVIEW: LIVEBAIT

On a chilly winters eve (and after a few gentle pints in the Town Hall Tavern - a highly recommended drinking establishment) the Two Greedy Mancunians were back in action for 2013 with our first restaurant review of the year (incidentally Happy New Year to you all!). This honor fell to the seafood restaurant and bar "Livebait". Upon entering we noticed that for a Saturday night it wasn't overly busy, but put this down to it being freezing and also the ol' January money blues.

We were given the menus and ordered 2 Morretti's (one of our favourite Italian beers). For Starters, Alex ordered the salt & pepper squid with chilli dipping sauce (above). The squid was beautifully battered and not too greasy and not just your average squid rings, as it also had little baby ones and tentacles & the dipping sauce had just the right kick!  I opted for the crispy whitebait with aioli. The whitebait actually tasted of fish which makes a nice change from the deep fried slivers of crunch you normally get with whitebait - having said that they could have done with a fraction more crunch to them, but this didn't detract from the dish overall. They were presented nicely in a small frying pot and served with the aioli mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon.

We thoroughly enjoyed our starters and were looking forward to the main event ("two more Morretti's please"). For our mains Alex ordered the line caught cod with a mushroom and bacon risotto, and I ordered the Goan fish, clam and mussel curry. Alex thought his fish was cooked perfectly with the skin nice and crispy as this was devoured also. The risotto it was served with was an utter delight as many places can get risotto terribly wrong - it was rich and creamy and in Alex's words was..... "BELISSIMO!!!". We also shared a side of cabbage and bacon - which was very tasty.

My Goan curry came bursting with colour and smelling great. Not being a particular fan of salmon, i was surprised to find that it was really tasty and worked well with the curry - I think a white fish might have been lost with all the other flavours. The curry sauce was rich and there were flavours of coconut, mango & coriander and it had a nice (but not too hot) blend of spices. All of the mussels and clams were fully open and had been properly prepared & cleaned. The dish was served with a nice sized portion of rice and some lovely cumin flavoured poppadoms.

After a 5 minute breather and another couple of Morretti's we asked to see the desert menu. Feeling nicely full we both ordered lighter deserts. Alex had a trio of sorbet and ice cream, and was persuaded to accompany it with a glass of sherry which was described as winter in a glass. The trio consisted of a blood orange sorbet, a pistachio ice cream and a vanilla ice cream. All were pleasant and sherry was sweet and tasted of christmas pudding - living up to the claims of it being "winter in a glass".

Being a cheese obsessed fanatic (see my other blog: www.themightycheeseboard.blogspot.com) I went for 2 of the 4 cheeses on offer (I was too full to go for the full selection). I went for the Stilton which was a nice strong Stilton and paired with a beetroot chutney that worked marvelously together. The other cheese I went for was one of my all time favourites - the Spanish cheese Manchego - this was served with quince. I liked the fact that each cheese was individually paired with a different chutney/jam as all too often with a cheeseboard you get a selection of cheeses and then one dollop of a generic chutney to accompany all the cheeses - thought had obviously gone into this restaurants cheese menu.

The waiting staff were all very pleasant and we had a lovely chinwag about all things food with the manager after our meal, but the only complaint we had was that they need to get the green neon sign behind the bar sorted out as it currently reads "LIVEBA.." - aside from that minor quibble, it was a good evening and a really excellent meal, and for the quality of the food reasonably priced. I would fully recommend it to anyone who likes seafood and (if the table behind us is anything to go by), anyone who doesn't like seafood also!

To see sample menus and find out more about Livebait then check out their website: www.livebaitmanchester.com

RESTAURANT REVIEW: PANCAKE CORNER

Yes - as the name suggests the Pancake corner mainly seves pancakes and is on a corner! This pancake house can be found on Gloucester Road in Urmston (Greater Manchester).

On a recent Saturday afternoon, we decided to stop off in here to make a change from afternoon tea and cake, and afterall who doesnt like pancakes (and I had heard about their marvellous milkshakes!)
It was empty when we arrived but we didnt let that put us off. It is located on a bit of a back street, so I imagine they might struggle for passing trade, but I would happily say if you happen to find yourself in Urmston - then its certainly worth heading down for a pancake. As you can see on the menu - the prices are all very reasonable and there are plenty of varieties of both savoury and sweet pancakes.

 

I went for a savoury pancake - the Breakfast - which was filled with Cheese, Mushroom, Tomatoes and a fried egg. The pancake was just the right thickness to contain the filling without falling apart and despite a measly token gesture of salad on the corner of the plate was simply presented. It was pretty damn tasty too! It didnt take long to wolf the whole thing down.

 

 

Sadly, my partner in crime and fellow Greedy Manc Alex wasnt present at this particular outing. But my friends (and stand-in Greedy Mancs for the day) both went for sweet pancakes - one opting for the classic Original (sugar and lemon) and the other going for 'the Good, the Bad & the Spicy' (apple, nutella and cinnamon) - both came presented with a lovely star in the icing sugar.

 

 

Needless to say I managed to sneak a taste from both! The original Lemon and Sugar one - I felt could have done with a little more lemon juice, but as a classic pancake it was absolutly fine. The Good the Bad and the Spicy one was very nice and I think with out the apple it would have been a bit sickly, but was spot on with all its 3 ingredients combined! All in all 3 lovely pancakes!

 

On to the aforementioned 'legendary' milkshakes - as you can see from the menu - you can have pretty much any of your favourite chocolate bars in milkshake form! I am a big fan of dark chocolate and decided to go for the Lindt Dark Chocolate milkshake - it really did not dissapoint - one of the nicest milkshakes I've had in a long time. It was rich and creamy with that lovely frothy icecreamyness of a good milkshake with the delicious bitter taste of quality dark chocolate! Mmmmmmmm! Even if you dont want a pancake, you should definateley stop by for a milkshake!

 

 

So all in all - it really was a nice alternative to afternoon tea & cake. The pancakes were very nice and very reasonably priced - and although I probably wouldnt trek across Manchester just to go here, I would fully recommend anyone who finds themselves in Urmston to seek out the pancake corner and stop off for a bite to eat..... and of course a milkshake!

 

2 GREEDY MANCS GO GUERRILLA!!!

Join the food revolution and take it Guerrilla!

Thats right there is a new collective of street food traders pooling their resources and delivering amazing food for a good price in Manchester. Two Greedy Mancunians were invited to sample the food and join the army to help spread the word - something we are more than happy to do as we think its a fantastic idea and it run by the right people - people who are genuinly passionate about food and the food they deliver! We were invited to the tasting an hour before the public opening time by the lovely Sarah from Northwest Nosh (http://northwestnosh.blogspot.co.uk) who is activly involved in helping run and promote Guerrilla Eats.

Mal from the Fire and Salt BBQ is also a key figure in organising the Guerrilla Eats movement and took some time to talk to us about it - so far they have 8 traders on board (7 were available this weekend) and are in talks with 4 more, so its growing, and the basic idea is to have a pop up market of good quality street food - no chains or low end (in tersm of quality) vendors allowed - only people who are gunuinely passionate about the food they serve are allowed. And to create a real buzz about street food in Manchester. There are good scenes in most other cities and they feel Manchester is crying out for something similar - so if you are reading this we fully urge you to "join the revolution" and support Guerrilla Eats. The plan is do bring the Guerrilla Eats market collective to Manchester once a month & you can follow on twitter (@Guerrilla_Eats) or go to their website (www.guerrillaeats.co.uk) to keep up to date about future events!

Right on to the important bit........ the food!!! Let us take you on a virtual tour of the 7 traders that were there:

SUGAR BUN SISTERS

Yes..... its true the Sugar Bun Sisters are actually sisters & their name was inspired by the Manchester band Stone Roses classic song 'Suger Spun Sister'. Their delicious cupcakes & brownies are all made using the finest ingrediants (and it shows in the tasting!) and they often have quirky, unusual and creative flavours - I can particularly recommend the apple & custard ones, the vodka ones were very unique too (you could really taste the vodka in them, but for me the baileys cupcakes stole the show!

www.sugarbunsisters.co.uk
@SugarBunSisters


THE BARNHOUSE BISTRO

 

Oh my god...... these are possibly the best burgers ever! They are made from 100% Rump Steak - these burgers are truely delicious - nicely seasoned, cooked to perfection and served up in two variations - one with roasted peppers & horseradish mayo, the other with chilli, cilantro & a lime an jalapeno mayo (the roasted pepper one selling the best on the night by 10 to 1 apparently). Both were amazing and everything about them was superb even the choice of bread was great - a nice soft floury bun but strong enough not to disintergrate in my fingers. Served up in the Barnhouse Bistro's corrugated iron clad trailer. So if you want to try a top notch burger and if you can track him down - then treat yourself to a Barnhouse Bistro 100% Rump Steak Burger! You won't be dissapointed!!! @BistroBarnHouse

 

 

CHAAT CART

 

The Chaat Cart (literally meaning streetfood cart) serves up lovingly made traditional fresh Indian streetfood - all made from local organic vegetables. We sampled some very tasty samosas that tasted so fresh and light - not heavy or greasy - just fresh! All the Chaat Cart food is vegitarian - mainly because (mainly due to the cost and logistics of refrigiration) a lot of traditional street food in India is actually veggie! We also tried some Masala Dosa - a type of indian crepe made with a fermented rice & lentil batter topped with vegetables and the Chaat Carts very on homemade spice mix. We also had some Chai a sweet & spiced tea with cloves and cardemons - really delicous (especially on a cold drizzly night in December), If you want some good Indian food that isn't just spicy greasy curries then seek out the Chaat Cart.

 

www.chaatcart.co.uk

@ChaatCart

 

 

LAS PAELLERAS

 

The award for biggest cooking dishes goes to...... Las Paelleras! Authentic Spanish dishes cooked up in those wonderfully big Spanish round cooking dishes - good for paellas and the Spainish dishes on offer from Las Paelleras. We got to try some of their chorizo and rocket sandwich - which was served in a crusty fresh bagguette bread that soaked up the flavour of that delicious chorizo oil. Also we had a taste of the classic Potato Bravas - always a tapas favourite - the potatoes cut up and being cooked with a nice slightly crispy outside. A taste of Spainish sunshine in Manchester!

 

www.laspaelleras.com

@Las_Paelleras

FIRE AND SALT BBQ

Next up on our tasting tour of the Guerrilla Eats traders was the Fire and Salt BBQ who serve up BBQ inspired by the true masters of the BBQ the Southern States of America who smoke whole pigs over hickory smoke to bring you divine pulled pork & sticky ribs all topped with very moreish homemade sauces. Having been to Texas and having some of the best BBQ pork I've ever tasted - I am very pleased to say I would gladly stand Mal at the Fire and Salt BBQ alongside those Texan masters! The meat that we tasted was soooooo good - tasty and succulent! A real treat for meat lovers! Also as a nice side (and as admitted by Mal) not a BBQ item, but they serve it by popular request - was a very nice home made Mac & Cheese. Get your chops round that lot if ever you come across the Fire and Salt BBQ.

www.fireandsaltbbq.co.uk
@FireandSaltBBQ


DIRTY DOGS

By the time we reached Dirty Dogs - we were filling up fast, but one of the unwritten rules of the Two Greedy Mancunians is "there's always room for sausage"!!! And it was worth it as Dirty Dogs do quality hot dogs - their aim is to bust the myth that hotdogs are poor quality, mechanically reclaimed meat in a cheap bun. Dirty Dogs use quality Polish Frankfuters and are served in a good quality soft hotdog bun - the flavour and size of the sausage bursting out of that bun. A treat for the fan of the humble hotdog & meat you can actually bite into rather than the mushy hotdogs that are far too common. As proclaimed by fellow Greedy Manc Alex "I like a good sausage in a dark carpark!"


GINGER'S COMFORT EMPORIUM

Last but not least was Ginger's Comfort Emporium - although a cold and rainy night - people were still happy to be queuing up for ice cream, and who could blame them with the marvellous flavours on offer from Gingers (who recently won 'Best of the Best' and 'Best Dessert' at the British Street Food Awards 2012). With such delights as Marmalade & Whisky. Quince, Rose & Honey, or their "Chorlon Crack" which is Salted Caramel & Peanut Butter flavour - this is truely luxury ice cream at its finest.

www.gingerscomfortemporium.com
@GingersComfort

So there you have it! A Splendid time was enjoyed by all - and with a stuffed belly we headed off to the pub! With potentially more traders getting involved - we hope it grows and goes from strength to strength and we'll be sure to make it along to the next Guerrilla Eats - hopefully if you have been reading this then we have also inspired you to come along and support the local streetfood revolution!

RESTAURANT OPENING: NEIGHBOURHOOD

Myself and my fellow Greedy Mancucian , had the pleasure of atteneding the grand opening of a new, New York vibe restaurant in the Spinningfields area of Manchester called Neighbourhood, at Avenue North. I always love events like this as it gives a chance to but my best fragrance and clothes on for the evening (as you can see from the above photos I came dressed as Inspector Cluzo & John came dressed as Compo from Last of the Summer Wine).

 

Myself and John met at a very cold Picadilly train station and made the short walk accross to the venue. Upon our arival into the venue we were greeted at the door by two pleasent bouncers (which can be rare these days), as we went in the place was all ready busy, with the young business types that tend to frequent Spinningfields, the sound of of modern tech house music was playing, this didnt spoil the atmosphere at all and I think it probably added to the vibe and the style i think the venue is looking for. At the desk we were greeted by two very attractive young ladies, infact the whole team were young and good looking (including the men) with a set uniform of braces, bow ties and coverse trainers for most of the staff - again this fitted in with the vibe of the place.

 

The decor & layout of the venue to me fitted in with what the owners were looking for - it did look like a lower east side bar in Manhattan, and it gave me the feeling that the great Andy Worhol was just about to enter followed by David Bowie - it just gave me that feeling. The bar was well stocked with good quality spirits which is always good to see behind any bar, and all the bar staff were pleasent and new what they were doing. Myself and John were given two free vouchers for drinks with which you could have a bottle of beer or the house cocktail, which was a passion fruit flavoured cocktail, but they always go down a bit to quick! We were also told that a selection of the menu would soon be comming round. We were hopeing to sample a good selection of the menu, but due to it being busy and it being opening night, we only got to try 2 of the canopees. This is the only bit of the night i was slightly dissapointed by, I say only a little, because we were fully enjoying the vibe of the place and the good time i was having with John took the edge of it. But the two selections we did get to try were both very good, the first was chicken on the bone (the only problem with serving chicken on the bone nibbles was that nobody knew what to do with their bones afterwards, so we quickly polished off our cocktails and popped the bones in the empties!) The chicken however was nice and had a lovely sauce in it, but there was a bit to much skin on for my liking, the second was a mini burger which was delicious, the taste of the burger was spot on, cooked well and well seasoned.

 

And that is all i can tell you about the food, because thats all we had, but while you are reading this, dont let that bit but you off, it was a opening night of the venue afterall & I think it went very well for the owners as everyone was having a great time & we met some top people and had a really good laugh - although after Neighbourhood our evening ending in Mojos on copious Brandy Alexanders was great fun at the time, but not good for the head the next morning (you know who you are!!!). Would I go back to Neighbourhood? The answer is yes, I would definately go back in the evening for drinks before moving on, & would i go back to eat? The answer is also yes, but personally i would like to go back to eat one leisurely afternoon, because i would love to have a proper taste of the menu, and try all the different foods they have availble (the full menu looked fantastic). And finally would i recommend to friends? Yes i would - i really enjoyed the atmosphere ,the music and the people that were there. So if you're reading this make sure you swing by Neighbourhood next time you're in the.......... neighbourhood! 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: THE RESTAURANT BAR & GRILL

Two Greedy Mancunians were recently invited to check out and have lunch at the new addition of The Terrace (opened in August) at Manchester Restaurant Bar & Grill. Upon our arrival the staff were very friendly and welcoming, took our coats & led us upstairs to the terrace to be seated. Kenny our waiter for the afternoon gave us our menus and took our drinks order - we ordered a delightful bottle of Fluerie (a French red that was lovely & light - perfect for lunch). We were also bought out some home made bread balls with chilli vinagarette dipping sauce as an appetiser. The vinagarette was fresh and zingy and it gave us something to nibble on whilst we made up our minds on what to order.


 For starters I had the Iberico Ham & my fellow honourary Greedy Manc for the day Yasmin (sadly Alex couldnt make it) ordered the Chicken Liver Parfait. The Iberico Ham came with toasted sourdough bread and was sereved with a simple heirloom tomato salad which had green, yellow & red tomatos. The ham was really light, thinly (freshly) sliced and was melt in your mouth. Nothing further was required or provided with the ham as a good quality Iberico Ham speaks for itself.... and it did!

The Chicken Liver Parfait was cased in clarified butter and also came with toasted sourdough bread, but was also served with a spiced apricot & pear compot. The parfait was rich, creamy and garlicy and was certainly not skimped on in quality terms. The addition of the spiced apricot and pear compot worked so well, the chef clearly knows how to balance flavours, and it gave this dish the feel of an adventurous take on a classic chicken liver parfait. All in all we thouroughly enjoyed our starters.

Next up was our main courses - I chose the 8oz Fillet Steak whilst Yasmin opted for the Tuna Au Poivre.

 

Our waiter Kenny, I should mention, was both friendly and seemed genuinley interested in the customers without being introusive. And it's to kenny I have to thank for suggesting the onion rings as a side to my main course - I'll come on to the steak shortly, but i do have to make a point of mentioning the onion rings - quite frankly they were bloody good! I will even go as far as saying they are the best onion rings I have ever tasted - lovely sweet onion in a light delicious batter (they were also arranged in a tower in size order - nice!). Anyway, back to the steak - I ordered the fillet steak (rare) with the Colton Bassett Stilton butter, and was served with a small bucket of chips. The steak was a little bit over cooked for rare coming more medium-rare, but due to the quality of the meat this did not make the slightest bit of difference as it was not at all tought and was just so tender and melted in the mouth. The blue cheese butter was also a nice addition to the steak as it didnt shy from the blue cheese flavour - a butter with intense Colton Bassett Stilton flavour to it.

 

Yasmin ordered the Tuna Au Poivre which was a sashimi grade tuna loin with a pepper crust and ordered "seared" - again it was the quality that spoke for itself - the quality of the fish was exeptional. It was perfectly cooked practically raw in the middle just nicely seared on the outside. In a moment of indecision between chips or salad as an accompaniment Kenny was happy to accomodate "a bit of both" - a nice fresh salad with vinagarette dressing went very well with the tuna. The tuna was also served with a light bearnaise sauce. Another nice touch was the lemon was served in a muslin bag so no stray pips ended up on your plate!

 

Anyway, by the time we had finished our main courses we were both feeling almost too greedy and needed five minutes before ordering desert. There was a good selection of cakes available and on display on the desert trolly that was wheeled over to our table, Yasmin ordered the fig and almond tarte with home made icecream - although tasty, there were not enough figs involved in the tarte and the icecream was superb, but having such a small serving of it only left you wanting a bit more. I, of course, ordered the cheeseboard (for those reading this who dont know of my fondness for cheese, you should check out the other blog I run www.themightycheeseboard.blogspot.com). It came with plenty of crackers, grapes, some of that lovely spiced apricot and pear compot, and a selection of 3 absolutly fantastic cheeses (a stilton, a goats cheese, and a mature cheddar).

 

To sum up the Restaurant Bar & Grill - we would say its food is a combination of simplicity and pure quality. Their menu has a main focus on the grill and the dishes are not over complicated or covered with heavy sauces. And yes it may be a bit more pricey than your average restaurant, but you certainly get what you pay for - an absolutly fantastic & well cooked meal! The service and staff are very friendly and unpretentious. Two Greedy Mancunians are more than happy to reccomend going to the Manchester Restaurant Bar & Grill.

To round up our lunch we had a couple of drinks to send us on our merry way - I had a cocktail from the selection of award winning cocktail menu - a "Bramble" - tasted like an alcoholic ribeana and had a blackberry and mint leaves on the top and was delicious - Yasmin ordered a sambucca which came with a couple of coffee beans floating in the top - very nice!

 

 

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: BEM BRASIL (NORTHERN QUARTER)

Baically if you like meat then look no further than Bem Brasil. It quite literaly is a meat eaters heaven! On Friday night we arrived at Bem Brasil to find it busy, but they managed to find a table available for us. And seated us, the waitress gave us the rundown on how the restaurant works and took our drinks order - we went for a Brahma (Brasillian beer). Basically each table has cards that are red on one side and green on the other, when on green the servers come over with a big skewer of meat and carve directly at your table and just keep coming until you switch it back to red. Seemed silly not to have it permanently on green (and at times it did fee like a Man vs Food challenge to keep up with the meat arriving). Now its not just meat I should say. You get a plate and there is a salad bar with lots of tasty items to have as an accompanyment to your meat feast - I particularly enjoyed a good ladel of the bean and pulled pork sauce alongside my salad bits - but the star attraction is the meats - all are rotisary grilled over a flaming barbeque, and are cooked to perfection (the beef for example chargrilled nicely on the outside, and beautifully rare on the inside). We had various types of pork, chicken (both spicy & wrapped in bacon), lamb, spicey choritzo style sausages & lots of different beef cuts. You can also tell instantly that the meat is not only all cooked to perfection, but of the highest quality. A mighty feast and for £25 - you feel like you have had 3 or 4 main courses worth of food - Two Greedy Mancunians say keep your cards on green!!! & highly reccomend Bem Brasil to all meat eaters out there.

http://www.bembrasilrestaurants.com/conteudo.php?caminho=bar_restaurants/12/northern-quarter.html

RECIPE: NIGELLA'S CHOCOLATE & OLIVE OIL CAKE

We always enjoy a bit of the lovely Nigella Lawson and on her new show Nigellissima she made a Chocolate & Olive Oil cake. It looked relatively straight forward to make so I thought I'd give it a go.

Ingrediants needed were:

• 150ml of Olive Oil
• 50g of Cocoa Powder
• 125ml of Boiling Water
• 2tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 125g of Plain Flour
• 1/2tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 200g Caster Sugar
• 3 Eggs

Thoroughly combine the cocoa powder, boiling water & vanilla extract in one bowl. Then the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in another. And the eggs, caster sugar and olive oil in a third bowl.

Fully mix all three bowls into one big bowl and then pour into a greased cake tin or oven proof dish. Bake for about 40 mins in a preheated oven to 170C. For a bit more of a detailed write-up, make sure you check out the original recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolate_olive_oil_cake_44817

My version didnt turn out quite as good looking as Nigella's (as you can see from the photo above), it rose and cracked a lot more, but still tasted great! We love a bit of Nigella. In a word its Nigellissima!!!