Evening all. Apologies for the absence, but I'm sure you've seen from my Instagram that I've still been a busy little bee, eating all the food and drinking all the cocktails. As we're embarking on the festive season, I thought I'd do a couple of posts on some of the nice little weekend escapades I've been on, which you could incorporate into your Christmas shopping! Double whammy... So first to Ply; those of the disco pizza oven and fluffy dough bases. Launched just last week, are their festive cocktails. They were still being perfected, so we got to be guinea pigs. Not a problem my friends ..read more

About bloody time really. We shamelessly stalked the opening of Campo Blanco after a summer of whinging 'we need a good tapas place round here'. Then one day we saw a sign go up, there was activity inside, and we were poised. A right little temptress on Instagram, they were driving me crackers! Then on Sunday we finally found ourselves spending a damp afternoon sampling their wares. We walked in to see a well stocked bar, packed with some unusual bottles and an eager barman. I got chatting to Aaron, who co-owns Campo Blanco with his fiancé Faye Jennings, who told me all about their ..read more

Bubbles, lots of lovely food, good company and even a bit of magic. Sounds like a fun filled Friday evening to me. Rock Spice is tipped to be a new breed of Asian restaurant, taking a step away from the local curry house, and fusing Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines with Western influences. They appear to be setting their sights high, with another three sites planned for Blackpool, Liverpool and London, with 20-30 eventually on the cards. Literally in the shadows of Old Trafford's East Stand, it's an ideal place to go pre or post match, although I fear if I went beforehand, I w ..read more

I gave a huge cheer as Ramsbottom's Levanter won 'Casual Restaurant of the Year' at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards. I don't mind telling you that they got my vote after our visit a few weeks ago. Hidden behind the main flurry of shops and restaurants, Levanter and sister restaurant Baratxuri are nestled on Square Street, which feels like a peaceful little place to spend an afternoon eating tapas.  First rule of tapas - staring blankly at the menu, fully aware of the fact that I will be unable to choose an adequate amount of dishes, owing to the fact 'they all sound so nice'. Cue a ..read more

Before we begin, channel your inner Pink Lady. You're a Mean Girl, and it is Wednesday.  When I researched where to go in Amsterdam, all the same places kept popping up, so much so that I felt like we were old friends by the time we left. Then I stumbled upon Mama Kelly, in a fluke that shall be from this moment forth, known as the biggest fluke of all time. Flukesville. Imagine my face when I came across the pictures below on Mama Kelly's Instagram. There shone a shiny pink demon. We were going. Pictures nicked from Mama Kelly's Insta Powder pink booths, art deco style gold me ..read more

Bundt challenge... yesss... Roast club vibes were strong, and my friends had been watching Masterchef. It's quite the combination. Someone made cinnamon buns, and the cravings were real. I was promptly challenged to a cinnamon roll bundt. Now, in the interest of never making the same cake twice (and full transparency), some of you may recall a similar cake a few Christmases ago. This was going to be different. The NutriBullet was out, and full on bundt witchcraft commenced. This wasn't going to be a cinnamon flavoured cake. I wanted it to be a cake, but taste like the breaded variety. The o ..read more

The deal was sealed. Aidan Byrne was poorly, and Simon Wood stepped in to take his place at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival 'Sunday Club' event. I have much love for Aiden, but was thrilled to find out Simon would be joining the ever entertaining Andrew Nutter for some Sunday evening tomfoolery. And there it began. Turns out we became his biggest fans in the blink of an eye, and ended up devouring a Tomahawk at Wood two days later.  Wood opened on Manchester's First Street site a sniff over a year ago, but I'm convinced that folk are not fully aware of its brilliance just yet, probab ..read more

I go to a lot of restaurants, and have done for years. One of my favourite meals is the classic Sunday roast with all the trimmings. The more trimmings, the better. Beef, chicken, lamb or pork, I'm not bothered. I just love that carb partnered meat fest. I've written up a few really good ones recently, which got me thinking about this. My friends Wayne and Vicki do the best roast ever, so I'm going to tell you all about it. Their house isn't really called the Cinnamons either, but if it had a name, it would definitely be that. You can't go round for tea, because that would be well weird, but ..read more

Turtle Bay is a place I associate with pre-gig cocktails and Highly Suspect excitement. I feel I need to explain that my excitement is not Highly Suspect, but rather they are one of my favourite bands who I happen to have seen a few times. Over-explanation over. They also have tremendous happy hours which means you are rarely without two cocktails in hand. I was recently invited to try the food, so thought I would give it a whirl. Now imagine the scene, I had been cooped like a chicken for a week after having minor death in the form of gastroenteritis. I needed spice in my life, and some pos ..read more

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to the beautiful Albatross & Arnold for a bit of a mash up between their good selves and Tappers Gin. Nested above Beastro, Albatross & Arnold is a real hidden beauty with great views over the rest of Spinningfields. It has this wonderful modern Scandic meets classic art deco feel, with light wood, gleaming gold accessories and fresh flowers. It's my kind of place. Albatross & Arnold created a seven course tasting menu paired with Tappers Gin; a small family business making some of the most exquisite gins in rather decadent bo ..read more