Moseley Street, Manchester
Brewski is ‘the home of North
American comfort food’. It’s a Canadian style lodge tucked away just off
Moseley Street which serves a mouth-watering array of deliciously tasty and
stodgy guilty pleasures. Breakfast, brunch, burgers and burritos, it’s very
much veered towards daytime dining and the perfect place for city centre
workers to drop in on their lunch break.
For brunch, there’s American
and Canadian breakfast dishes, both savoury and sweet, including eggs benedict,
pancakes and steak and eggs, with all appetites catered for.
Brewski’s USP is poutine, the
national dish of Canada to which they dedicate an entire section of their main
menu. Originating in Quebec in the 1950s, poutine is, quite simply, French
fries topped with cheese curds and drowned in gravy. What started as a dish of
national shame has become a dish of national pride. It’s gone from being dished
up in greasy spoons and roadside chip waggons to having pride of place on
restaurant menus and is now an important part of Canadian foodie culture.
It’s something that’s never
particularly appealed to me. I’ve tried it once before from a takeaway market
stall, and it certainly felt like a grubby takeaway you’d eat at the end of a
night out, with more than a hint of the cheap and nasty about it.
Still, ‘when in Rome’, as they
say. We decided the best bet would be to share one alongside our main courses.
There’s an overwhelming eight different varieties of poutine on offer. As well
as the original, there’s a host of flavoursome variations, with toppings
including wild mushroom, cheeseburger, pulled pork, vegetable chilli con carne
and fried chicken. We had the Salt and Pepper Poutine, which was topped with
spring onions, red peppers, coriander and a sack full of seasoning.
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| Salt and Pepper Poutine |
I have to say, my opinion on
poutine has completely reversed. The chips were chunky, the cheese curds
weren’t overly rubbery, there were tonnes of tasty topping and the beef gravy
was delicious. It may have been quite an indulgent bowl of chips, but I’m not
sure it qualifies as a main course in its own right.
Our main events were burritos.
I opted for the BBQ pulled pork burrito, stuffed with chorizo, pico de gallo,
smoked Applewood cheese, sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese sauce. It was
generously stuffed with copious amounts of filling without being padded out
with rice, all elements deliciously flavoursome. The wrap was toasted enough to
hold it all together, allowing to be eaten by hand without it all falling
apart. Normally, after the second mouthful, the contents are spread-eagled all
over the table and your hands are covered in sauce, so extra points have to be
awarded to the chefs for designing them so neatly.
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| BBQ Pulled Pork Burrito |
My friend’s Fried Chicken
Burrito with sundried tomatoes, peppers, spinach, smoked Applewood cheese and
chipotle sour cream was intended to be stuffed with smashed avocado, but she’s
not a fan of this 21st century trendy food fad, so she requested it
to be made without. After arriving with avocado on it, we sent it back, only to
find that, when it returned, it was not only avocado-free but it appeared to
have doubled in size – in my opinion, almost worth the 10 minute delay.
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| Fried Chicken Burrito |
We couldn’t resist one more
sneaky side in the form of halloumi fries. Halloumi is another trend which
seems to have sky-rocketed in popularity over the last few years, with the
ever-increasing popularity of vegetarian diets. Unlike with the avocado, I am
totally onboard with the halloumi hype. These chunky fritter-style ‘fries’
arrived golden brown, like a crispy roast potato, drizzled in chipotle mayo and
topped with pomegranate seeds. The halloumi was melt-in-the-mouth delicious,
with the sweet chilli dip the perfect accompaniment.
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| Halloumi Fries |
So, essentially, we had three
dishes and a side between the two of us. Ooops. However, desserts were strictly
off the menu, as I’ve just started a hike up the treacherous mountain that is
Lent, so at least filling myself up on a feast of a main course meant I didn’t
feel like I was missing out.
If you book your table online,
you need to be careful. You’re allocated a 90 minute timeslot. It’s something
I’ve seen before when booking elsewhere, but I’ve never really paid much
attention to it, as it’s been proven to be for guidance only. However, Brewksi
really do want you ordered, eaten and out within an hour and a half. So much so
that we were asked if we’d finished eating whilst we still had food on our
plates.
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| Our Brewski Feast |
As soon as our plates were
clean, the waiter was back to explain that we had to be out 3.00pm as they
needed the tables back for afternoon tea. Given that there had been spare
tables for the duration of the time we’d been eating, this slightly put my nose
of joint. After all, if they’d made our order correctly the first time round,
we’d have been finished at least 10 minutes earlier. Kudos to the staff,
because they weren’t rude; in fact, our waiter was very apologetic,
demonstratively awkward about having to rush us out.
Desserts change regularly and
there was a fine selection on the board, including Malteser brownie, New York
Cheesecake and Sticky Toffee Pudding, so if you’re not stuffed and have still
got room for something sweet, there’s plenty to choose from.
Brewski also offer a very
unique take on afternoon tea. There’s not a finger sandwich, a clotted cream
scone or a cake in sight. Instead, it’s three tiers of burgers, steak, fried
chicken, mac and cheese and poutine (£25 per person). There’s also a
sensational cheeseboard, loaded high with fantastic fromage creations,
including deep fried baby bell, halloumi fries, goats cheese mousse and mixed
grilled cheese sandwiches.
There’s just too much choice
at Brewski. Make a date and sample the delights, just make sure you eat fast
enough!
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