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Tib St, Northern Quarter, Manchester, Greater Manchester M4
CherylS
am 04.06.2009
This is a really cute little cafe on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter. As far as I can see there’s no real sign outside, but it’s pink so you should be able to spot it.
I’ve always had problems with cafes in the northern quarter being all style and no substance, plus typically the service can be on the ropey side what with all that bohemian atmosphere… (although there are some exceptions - Cafe Aromat is brilliant and Oklahoma is good too). Thankfully, this place can be added to that short list as one of the good’uns. Service was extremely friendly and quick. The staff all appeared to have their own tasks to do and did them efficiently. It was nobody’s job to stand around doing nothing while nothing got done. Everyone, staff and customers alike, had smiles on their faces and seemed to be having fun. The selection of paninis and wraps was excellent and the cakes were very pretty. I would possibly have liked a more enticing cake selection, but then admittedly I am a fussy cake snob of the highest proportions.
Overall, it was really good value for money, and I really hope this place does well.
6 Leser fanden dies lesenswert
111 Portland Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M1 4RJ
CherylS
am 21.05.2009
The clue is is the name. It’s not the kind of place you’d take someone for a swanky night out, but by christ it’s fun. Without fail you will come across someone dressed unsuitably in an anorak and a top hat, and no, he will not be doing it for a dare on a stag do. Rather, he will call himself a silly name and propose to you within about 20 seconds, but there will be no smarminess or malice about it and you will go away feeling bemused, rather than harrassed. Yes, such strange things do occur in a place with a dalek for decoration, but do not be afraid. If you want to dance to 80s music and scream to 'Livin on a Prayer’ without feeling ashamed of yourself, this is the place for you. Fab indeed.
1 Leser fand dies lesenswert
115 Marylebone High Street, Mayfair, London W1U 4SB
CherylS
am 23.02.2009
(aktualisiert am 16.04.2009)
This prticular branch has a small cafe area, serving breakfast and lunch dishes such as omelettes and various other egg dishes, baguettes, pastries and so on. It’s fairly small and cramped, but the food is good and reasonably priced for the area. Also, they do a great hot chocolate!
2 Leser fanden dies lesenswert
107 Piccadilly, Manchester, Greater Manchester M1 2DB
Michael Caines at ABode Manchester
CherylS
am 05.04.2009
After buying gift vouchers as a present for my boyfriend (not purely a selfish act - he wanted to go too!) we finally got around to visiting Abode this week for dinner.
It was busy, and even though we booked a couple of weeks in advance, we could only get a table at 9:30pm. But that was no problem - it just left us more time for cocktails. And very pleasant cocktails they were too - the subtle but very tasty 'Bramble’ comes highly recommended.
The surroundings are nice and simple - the lighting is low (but not so low you can’t see your food), although I’m not too sure about the rock star pictures on the wall.
The food is split into three menus. Apparently, this is to 'break down the formal dining experience’ (this is what the waiters told us anyway), although it all felt pretty formal to me. There’s a 'grazing’ menu, with smaller portions of the a la carte menu, so you can have a couple of different dishes to taste for yourself or to share amongst the party. Then obviously the a la carte, and finally, the 'tasting’ menu with matching wines recommended for each course. We opted for the grazing menu, and I enjoyed a small starter of cod cheeks with belly pork and two mains - steak with dauphinoise potato, stir fried vegetables, and a sherry cream sauce, and lamb with roasted baby onions, and a black olive beignet. The food was extremely tasty and all dishes were beautifully presented. Obviously, being a grazing menu, the portions weren’t huge, but the size for the starter was really big enough considering the richness of the two mains. In fact all of the food we sampled was very rich, and sort of crept up on us as we ate our desserts. We ordered the unusual sounding hot chocolate fondant (no, that’s not the unusual bit) with a red pepper and white chocolate ice cream cannelloni (there you go). Now, those of you who might have read any of my other reviews will know how I like my desserts. The fondant was lovely. Really really lovely. The white chocolate ice cream, had it been made into a ball and served on the side would have been lovely. But the red pepper? What was that doing on the plate? Both taste and texture were just a bit wrong. We tried it and it failed us. Not only that but there appeared to be a blob of red pepper coulis alongside, adding further insult to injury. So all in all the dessert was a bit disappointing.
Other than that, the service was generally good, although confusingly almost entirely French - I felt like I was on holiday when really I’d caught the bus into town. It’s the kind of place where you would really only go to celebrate something, as it is very very expensive. Although I gather their lunch menu is only £12 at the moment, so maybe I’ll try that next time. And then go for cake at Oklahoma….
2 Leser fanden dies lesenswert
1 Barlow Moor Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester M20 6TN
CherylS
am 04.03.2009
This place has excellent fish and the fishmongers are brilliant - very friendly and always happy to help you out with whatever you need. They have a wide selection of all sorts of seafood and I can pretty much always get what I want. Prices are fairly high but the quality is much better than most places, so it’s definitely worth it.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the greengrocers though. I’d say their range of vegetables and fruit is okay, although could be wider, and the quality is not always great, especially for the rather high prices they charge. Much as I’d like to buy from independent places like this, I have had better fruit and veg from the supermarket.
1 Leser fand dies lesenswert
782 Wilmslow Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester M20 2DR
43 Lapwing Lane, Didsbury, Manchester, Greater Manchester M20 2NT
4 Warburton Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M20 6WA
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