Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 29 October 2018

"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." 

Ellen DeGeneres

Sunday Lunch at The Vine Brasserie

Bury New Road, Whitefield

Twelve months ago, The Vine Brasserie opened its doors for the first time, bringing a unique blend of fine dining and Mediterranean cuisine to Whitefield.

I wrote favourably about this gorgeous place last November, before the official launch had even taken place. I loved everything about The Vine, its atmosphere and its food. I don’t know why it took me so long to return. Life, as they say, simply got in the way.

Since I made my dining debut at The Vine last year, they’ve undergone several menu changes, as is often the case with high-end fine dining. They cook with fresh, local, seasonal produce and the periodic menu changes reflect that. However, it seems the website hasn’t been updated for quite some time, so we were aghast to be presented with a Sunday Lunch menu upon arrival; a wide-ranging set menu which offers up one course for £13, two £18 or three for £23.

The choices change each week. As the very helpful waiting staff explained to us, a handful of starters, main courses and desserts are selected from the larger, a la carte menu and expertly crafted into this sensational Sunday special. The main course includes the option of a roast dinner, with a choice of meats.

To start, I had King Prawns nestled on a bed of orzo pasta in a tomato ragu. The prawns, complete with all their shells, tails and tentacles, were a little intimidating but I didn’t let that put me off. There were three giant, juicy prawns and a generous portion of pasta. For a starter, it was mightily impressive. Doubled in size, it would easily have been satisfying enough to pass for a main course.

King Prawns on Orzo Pasta with Tomato Ragu

For the main event, it had to be a roast. Despite preferring white meat to red, chicken is generally the run-of-the-mill meat we eat at home on a weekly basis, so instead I opted for beef. I was presented with five thinly sliced pieces of beef, layered over all the trimmings. The beef was perfectly cooked, still slightly pink and topped with a gargantuan Yorkshire pudding, crispy to the touch but light and fluffy inside.

Excited to get stuck in, I peeled back the layers of beef to reveal three roast crisp, golden roast potatoes, creamy, herb-infused mashed potatoes, Chantenay carrots and buttered greens, all drizzled in red wine gravy. It was, frankly, sensational; one of the finest roast dinners I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

Roast Beef Dinner

The stars of the show are always the meat and potatoes. In this production, they deserve their own curtain call. It was lacking on the gravy – I personally like my plate to be drowning – but I asked for some more and they were happy to oblige.

Unless you’re a vegetarian, please do yourself a favour and don’t go for anything other than the roast dinner for your main course.

I’m a firm believer in cleaning my plate, forever failing to understand people who leave so much of a scrap of potato or a drizzle of gravy. However, these humongous roast dinners are not for the faint hearted and will satisfy those with the biggest of appetites.  

Desserts often let down a set menu: ice cream and tiramisu are generally the two staples. That’s not the case here. There was fine selection of proper puddings, including crumble, sticky toffee pudding, chocolate brownie and lemon posset.

I had the apple and cinnamon crumble. It was a bowlful of chunky apples topped with an abundant layer of crunchy crumble and wasn’t so hot that it tore a strip of the roof of your mouth. Topped with vanilla ice cream, which softened the biscuits and oats as it melted over the top, it was the perfect end to a perfect meal.

Apple and Cinnamon Crumble

Admittedly, I couldn’t help but get a little bit of food envy over my friend’s sticky toffee pudding: a hefty cube of toffee sponge topped with salted caramel ice cream.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

I was so thoroughly impressed with The Vine’s Sunday offering that I rushed back the following week to enjoy another spectacular Sunday Roast. My starter this time was the orzo pasta again, but this topped with two beef croquettes and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Delicious but very filling and, sadly, it meant that by the time I’d finished my main, I couldn’t quite muster up the strength to face the sticky toffee pudding.

Round two: Beef Croquettes with Orzo Pasta

So here’s to the next time.

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 22 October 2018

"What could be more important than a little something to eat?" 

Winnie the Pooh 

Northern Soul Grilled Cheese

Manchester Piccadilly Station Approach

Warning: If you’re on a diet or trying to avoid carbs, you should probably stop reading now. For what you’re about to experience is the definition of carb overload.

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a stringy, gooey, cheesy toastie? Northern Soul Grilled Cheese is the UK’s first restaurant dedicated to the ultimate lunchtime comfort snack, serving up nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches.

In its original location on Church Street, on the outskirts of the Northern Quarter, it’s literally a wooden shed with a kitchen area and a few seats. I’ve seen people queuing on the pavements and round the block to experience the cheesy goodness.

Such was the success of the original shop that they’ve recently opened a second unit on the approach to Piccadilly Station. This is a much nicer, quieter space that is in keeping with the quirkiness of the original.

The chalkboard menu is based around ‘the soul’. The most basic of their sandwiches, it’s a three-cheese blend, featuring cheddar and mozzarella alongside a secret cheese, around which all their creations are based. After that, it’s up to you what else you want on there, from caramelised onion chutney to gammon and Dijon and tandoori chicken.

As well as sandwiches, there are Mac & Cheese boards: 20 ounces of creamy pasta served with garlic and rosemary bread for scooping up every last bit.

Can’t decide? Well, here’s the thing. You don’t have to choose. You can have the best of both worlds in the form of a mac and cheese on a toasted sandwich. I had the Mac Attack: the signature soul sandwich with added mac and cheese. Three layers of soft, gooey macaroni cheese oozing out of the toast, complemented with homemade Asian style coleslaw.

The Mac Attack

You might need a jaw of steel to get your mouth round it and you’ll struggle to hold it all together after a couple of bites.  Prepare to get very messy and, be warned, if you take a seat inside the Piccadilly venue along the window, throw away all your inhibitions, as there is no elegant way to tackle this beast. It’s truly special and a very modest £6.00 – a cheap and fulfilling lunch that will keep you satisfied for the rest of the day.

There’s an even-more deluxe version which features BBQ pulled pork. In truth, this is the sandwich I had my heart set on, but in a daze of excitement, a slip of the tongue at the till led to me ordering the wrong thing. Clearly the anticipation was too much for me to handle. Still, it gives me an excuse to go back a second time. And trust me, once you’ve demolished the Mac Attack, you’ll feel you need to justify round two.

As the weather (hopefully) turns chillier and the autumn nights draw in, head to Northern Soul Grilled Cheese for the ultimate winter warmer. The playlist, choc-full of Northern Soul classics, is almost as impressive as the food.

Catch them at the Christmas Markets from Friday 9 November.

See the full fromage selection at: http://www.northernsoulmcr.com/#our-story

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 15 October 2018

"I spend a lot of time holding the refrigerator door open looking for answers." 

Anon

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 8 October 2018

"I think my soulmate might be carbs."

Rosie Mulligan

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

Afternoon Tea at Cloud 23

The Hilton Hotel, Deansgate

Manchester’s Hilton Hotel, housed inside the 47-storey Beetham Tower, can be seen for miles, towering above Manchester’s skyline. Tucked away up high on the 23^rd floor is a unique cocktail bar in the sky.

The aptly named Cloud 23 is the highest point in the city. This stylish bar serves up the finest champagnes and decadent cocktails as well as elegant afternoon teas in plush surroundings with the most stunning backdrop.

Inside Cloud 23

The floor-to-ceiling windows provide panoramic views of the magnificent city which is the beating heart of the North. If you’re afraid of heights, you may have to give this a swerve, as it’s certainly not for the fainthearted. Entering from the ground floor, you hop into a specially constructed lift which catapults up to the 23^rd floor at record speed. I could feel my ears about to pop in the way they do when you’re taking off on an aeroplane.

When you reach the top, you enter a different world. Make sure you dress to impress, for it doesn’t matter what hour of the day it is, this is the highest end of nights out. We were seated in front of the all-encompassing windows, on a low table in comfortable, white leather seats, facing outwards.

Panoramic Views

There’s a theatrical and innovative cocktail menu, including a fine selection of non-alcoholic alternatives in the imaginatively titled ‘Blue Sky Drinking’ section. If a drop of the hard stuff is strictly on your agenda, there’s the Signature Cocktails, all with detailed descriptions painting a picture in the mind as well as the mouth, and the Cloud Classics, as well as an extensive selection of wines, beers, champagnes and spirits.

By day, it’s all about the decadent afternoon tea.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: afternoon tea truly is one of life’s greatest pleasures. There is no better way to spend an afternoon. The experience is only heightened when you’re taking your tea in surroundings of grandeur.

Cloud 23 offers a range of different afternoon tea experiences, from a basic Cream Tea (£14) to the full traditional fare (£25), and even an option with free-flowing champagne (£49). We purchased a special offer from the recently launched ‘itison’ app, bagging ourselves a Traditional Afternoon Tea and any cocktail from the menu up to the value of £14 – a truly superb deal.

As a non-drinker, it was refreshing to have some thoroughly decent mocktails to choose from. I had a ‘Cherry Blossom Skies’, a light and fluffy cream fizz flavoured with cherry, almond and citrus. Reminiscent of a cherry bakewell with added zing, it was refreshing and delicious, although very indulgent. It wasn’t the kind of beverage to quench your thirst, but that didn’t matter, as the afternoon tea comes with an unlimited supply of hot drinks – tea, coffee or hot chocolate. We’re not just talking filter coffee either: you can have a cappuccino, a latte, whatever takes your fancy.

Cherry Blossom Skies

Food wise, the sandwiches and sweet treats were served on a decadent three-tiered cake stand. In my mind, there are three distinct courses to an afternoon tea: you start with the sandwiches and end with the cakes, whilst the scones are a nice bridge between savoury and sweet.

There was a roast ham sandwich on brown fingers, prawn mayonnaise and bistro salad served in a tortilla wrap, a goats cheese and beetroot wrap and a Croque Monsieur.  The ham on brown was a little bit plain and simple for my taste, I prefer my sandwiches a little more exciting, but it meant there was something to suit all tastes. The wraps were my favourites, full of filling and flavour.

The scones were filled with dried apricots, and served with strawberry jam and clotted cream. Although they were served warm, by the time we’d finished the sandwiches they’d gone cold. It would be a good idea to serve them covered to keep the heat in. After all, afternoon tea is supposed to be leisurely and a simple scone is significantly more enjoyable when warm and crunchy. The dried apricots didn’t bring much in terms of flavour either. The more traditional sultana scones are definitely preferable.

Sitting aboard the top tier in all their delicious glory were a vanilla and chocolate sponge cake, a strawberry and white chocolate tart and a cheesecake shot glass. Surprisingly, the vanilla and chocolate sponge was my favourite. Chocolate desserts are normally my last choice, but this wasn’t at all rich and was very more-ish. The tart was equally excellent, but the cheesecake was disappointing. The texture was wrong. It was very airy, more like a moose, and the lack of biscuit base meant it wasn’t really a cheesecake at all. It was a refreshing, palate-cleansing end to the experience, without being overly sweet, but just wouldn’t what it was supposed to be.

Traditional Afternoon Tea for Two

If you’re an afternoon tea lover, Cloud 23 is an experience you can’t afford to miss. Relaxing in stylish and sophisticated surroundings with unparalleled views, freshly prepared sandwiches and cakes and decadent cocktails, I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. Whatever the occasion, it’ll be the perfect celebration.

Pre-booking is essential. If you’re brainstorming ideas for Christmas presents, vouchers can be purchased online.  

Website: https://www.cloud23bar.com/

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 1 October 2018

"Diet day 1: I have removed all the bad food from the house. It was delicious." 

Anon