Manchester Smokehouse

Lloyd Street, Manchester

Manchester Smokehouse & Cellar is an American inspired BBQ restaurant tucked away on Lloyd Street. If you’re a meat lover, then this is the kind of place for you. It’s basically an indoor BBQ, with burgers, steaks and hanging skewers all cooked on an Argentinean Grill over a live fire.

It may be a cellar with an underground club vibe, but it’s not dark or dingy. It’s a vast and comfortable space with plenty of tables, both for eating and drinking.

The menu is vast and varied, but primarily meat based. It’s all about social eating. The starters are large and designed to be shared. We had the Onion Bomb: a huge Spanish onion, dusted in Smokehouse’s very own house sauce, lightly fried in crispy batter. It arrived looking mightily impressive. It was the biggest onion I’ve ever seen in my life. It was presented very artistically, with each piece of skin symmetrically separated. The batter was light and not in the slightest bit greasy. Delicately placed in the centre of the onion was a pot of Alabama sauce, which was the perfect accompaniment.

We were so excited by the arrival of this genius creation, not to mention absolutely famished, that it resulted in the worst food photo I’ve ever taken. We demolished the whole thing in record time and it was worth every single bite. It could easily have served as a main course for one or even a sharing starter for three or four people. Unbelievably, it only cost £4.95. You can add cheese sauce for an additional £2.50, but trust me, it really isn’t necessary.

Onion Bomb

We were already on our way to being half full by the time our main courses arrived. We opted to dine from the weekend lunch menu, which offers a burger and a beverage (a glass of house wine, a beer or a soft drink) for £10.95, which is a decent saving when you look at the a la carte prices. There’s a handful of burgers you can choose from, though obviously not many of the most impressive-sounding ones.

We both had the Return of the Mac burger: a 6 oz steak patty topped with smoked cheese, bacon, BBQ sauce and mac and cheese. The burger was full of flavour and tasted like it had come straight off a charcoal BBQ in the middle of summer. The meat, however, was a little dry, but with the smoked cheese and bacon it didn’t matter. Mac and cheese is always a delightful addition of flavour and texture to a burger. This homemade version wasn’t rich, sickly or even overly creamy, so it wasn’t too heavy. Served on a brioche bun with fries, they were a good size for main courses.

Return Of The Mac Burger

It’s refreshing to receive fries with your burger as standard. These days, most restaurants charge you extra for your fries as a ‘side’, which, in my opinion, is wrong, as a burger alone is not a complete meal. I swapped my fries for sweet potato fries for an extra £1.85, but, to be honest, it wasn’t worth it. They were too thin, a bit soggy and not very well seasoned. Still, I was on such a high from the Onion Bomb that it really wasn’t going to bother me if the sweet potato fries weren’t quite perfect.

The saddest part was that we were stuffed by the time we reached the end of our main courses; my friend couldn’t even manage to finish her fries. We were gutted, as the dessert menu is also mightily impressive. There isn’t just one but two types of cheesecakes – golden nugget and honeycomb and strawberries and cream – as well as a triple chocolate fudge cake and handmade carrot cake, which you don’t very often see on a dessert menu.

So dedicated were we to our cause that, after much deliberation, we ordered a golden nugget and honeycomb cheesecake to share. The menu said it was served with whipped cream, but we were actually given the choice of whipped cream or ice cream in several different flavours – bonus! The cheesecake was the perfect texture: firm but creamy, filled with pieces of honeycomb and topped with Maltesers, drizzled in chocolate sauce. The salted caramel ice cream was the perfect accompaniment. My already fit-to-bursting stomach didn’t thank me for it, but my heart, and my friend, certainly did.

Golden Nugget and Honeycomb Cheesecake

We were thoroughly impressed by the quality and the quantity of the food at Manchester Smokehouse. If I could offer any advice to a first-time visitor it would be this: order the Onion Bomb to start, but we aware that it’s huge, so don’t over-order on your main course. They do all sorts of delicious-sounding loaded fries and sides of mac and cheese and onion rings, but the Onion Bomb is almost like a meal in itself, so you won’t need any additional sides. Also, try to save room for dessert, because it’s well worth it.

With 50% off main courses every Monday, 50% off burgers on a Thursday and two-for-one cocktails on offer all day on Sunday, there are plenty of opportunities for you to give Manchester Smokehouse a try on a budget. It’s well worth giving it a go.

Website: https://www.manchestersmokehouse.co.uk/