Kate Feld

We've got some very nice fancy restaurants in Manchester, but there's a cool new culinary cat in town. The (ahem) Rainy City and street food may not seem like a match made in heaven, but after being somewhat slow to catch on to the global craze for foodstuffs from carts, trucks, buses and stands, Manchester has rallied and now boasts several reliable locations for roving foodies to forage. And most of them wisely offer protection from the elements, so no need to worry about your burritos or burgers getting all soggy. Here’s a few of our favourites.

The UK’s annual Record Store Day, which falls on Saturday April 18 this year, has done a lot to instill a love for vinyl in the digital generation and champion our independent record shops. With 200 limited edition singles and 350 albums set to hit shelves on the day, musos have been studying the list of releases like archaeologists poring over the Dead Sea Scrolls. Things haven’t gone smoothly this year, with pressing plants struggling to meet demand and indies accusing majors of co-opting RSD as a marketing ploy. Such problems suggest that the event – and vinyl itself – is transitioning from niche to mainstream, but either way it's a great opportunity to show your local record store some love. If you’re looking to be part of the action in Manchester, here’s where to go.

While we're partial to wolfing down a burger at lunchtime, or spending a lazy evening at one of Manchester's best restaurants, we're also always on the lookout for late night bites that might just blow our minds. And for a city with a longstanding reputation for up-all-night culture, there are a few good places that won’t turn you away when it’s late and you’re hungry. Whether you’re after something tasty for the taxi rank or a lavish, sit-down affair in the wee hours, these late night restaurants are the best Manchester has to offer. 

Mughli owners the canny Zanna Group have dialled up everything that was good about previous occupant, the oddly-themed Superstore, and binned everything that wasn’t. They’ve lightened up this grand space on Tib Street, making the most of those enormous windows, and installed a profusion of plants. Chef Byron Mose, previously at the Hilton on Deansgate, has put together a tempting menu that feels like a more refined take on Superstore’s globe-trotting, eclectic food. There’s plenty here for people who value clever combinations, vivid flavours and dishes where the vegetables take centre stage – a rarity in what is fast becoming the dude food capital of the North. All, however, is not what it seems. Hiding among the salads, a Spartan-sounding plate of chicken, brown rice and vegetables turns out to be a decadent affair involving crackly chicken skin, sweet tarragon-infused slaw and a just-set fried egg. Lamb meatballs are delicately spiced, aubergines are carmelised to lusciousness and some ordered-as-an-afterthought corn fritters are light little summer bombs – and reappear on the breakfast menu with roasted tomatoes and cream cheese. We couldn’t find a single thing to fault: apple crumble and custard is served family-style at the table, and even the drinks show careful consideration. When the menu offers fresh lemongrass infusions, ‘dirty’ chai made with coffee instead of tea and bellinis at brunch, we’d be fools to refuse the chance to deviate from the everyday. Hooray for Ev

I’ve got a confession to make. There are so many new restaurants in this city that I’ve stopped even trying to keep up. No joke, these are trying times for the foodies of Manchester. You could dine out at a new place every night for, like, a month – and it might be fun to try – but honestly, who has the time/metabolism/disposable income for that? Instead, I wait for trusted word-of-mouth to rise above the low hum of PR buzz permanently hovering over the city like a cloud of white truffle veloute. Usually, those places your friends tell you are good are the only ones that turn out to be worth bothering with. And if they aren’t, you need better friends. New does not equal noteworthy. I know the whole shebang isn’t finished and new places always seem weird, but even factoring in that new car smell weirdness I have yet to find a restaurant in the revamped Corn Exchange with much individual character. A trip to Banyan was dispiritingly Wetherspoons-like, Vietnamese chain Pho seems bland as broth and even the eagerly-anticipated Wahaca left a bad taste in our mouths with what appears to be some overzealous soliciting of TripAdvisor reviews (though, it must be said, their burrito left a good taste in our mouths.) High hopes then for the expanded Salvi’s, whose John Dalton Street cucina is probably the place I recommend more than any other. I should really be getting a tidy commission at this point. So what’s new and noteworthy? For my money, it’s Rudy’s Pizza in Ancoats, my favourit

Want to get more involved in your city’s eating and drinking scene? The Real Junk Food Project at the Wonder Inn wants to build a whole restaurant from donations, while The Pilcrow is a volunteer-built “portable pub” that will move around NOMAville. The more cynical among you will note that these worthy community-based initiatives will allow the restauranteurs to take advantage of free labour and materials. (I’m launching a community-based writing and editing operation, if anyone wants to get involved please contact me for a list of essential supplies and preferred whiskey brands...) I think it depends whether they’re actually giving something back to the community and/or sharing the profits in some way. We shall see. Do we have festival news? Of course we do. Festejar returns to Albert Square Sept 3-5 with Spanish food, wine and cultural events, followed swiftly by Manchester Food and Drink Festival 10-21 September, where you can try everything from Biospheric Project shroomburgers, churros and Ghanian food at the Festival Hub while enjoying live music on the CityLife stage. Other MFDF highlights include a £100 Simon Roganised tasting menu at The French, the always popular wine and beer festivals, and an appearance from Mexican cookery guru Thomasina Miers. Speaking of Senora Miers, her Mexican chain Wahaca opens a restaurant 10 September in the Corn Exchange, which has already seen its first new arrival with The Cosy Club. A second Indian restaurant from Liverpool's Mowgli

I’ve been a new arrival in Manchester for more than a decade now. I’ve gotten really good at it. ('Ha ha, no, not from around here. Vermont. New England, on the Canadian border? Eleven years ago. No, think I’m stuck with this accent…' rinse, repeat, etc.) In my time as a professional transplant I’ve learned a few things about Manchester and what makes it different from other places in the UK. Chiefly, Mancunians never shut up about how great their city is. This piece was originally 10,000 words long, and believe me, I could go on. If you’re a more recent new arrival, here’s an edited primer on what to expect from your new home. 1. Yeah, it rains here. Like unsuspecting rain god Rob McKenna in Douglas Adams’ 'So Long and Thanks for All the Fish', you will become a connoisseur of precipitation. The pinprick pattering you ignore because you don’t want to leave the beer garden, the rain that springs up from the ground directly into your face, the sudden downpour that traps you in a doorway, the dogged winter rain that settles in for a week and makes everyone feel like death. You will know them all intimately. You’ll never buy white suede shoes again. But on the upside, a mere sunny day can fill you with foolish delirium. 2. Everyone thanks bus drivers. I’m not sure why. The bus drivers are all mad, and working out the city’s weird system of competing franchises, byzantine route map and bizarre location of bus stops will make you just as crazy. 3. Mancunians are considered friendl

Guys! It’s nearly MIF time. You’ve all been training, right? Seriously, if you haven’t been practising holding an artisan hot dog in one hand whilst simultaneously queuing for beer, drinking the one you haven’t finished, waving to three people, avoiding two more and delivering a measured critique of this year’s Damon Albarn joint, there’s no hope for you. The programme’s not our concern, here we preview Festival Square. The bar’s Thwaites again (hmmm) with pints £3.80-£4.50, wines from Boutinot and the usual gin, Pimms etc. Heathcotes’ food offer in the glasshouse scales back to burgers and dogs after the fancier stuff didn’t sell. Honest Crust pizza take over what was the cocktail bar and the food truck roster includes new-to-us names Dead Flatbread and Stomping Ground. It’ll be open noon to late daily and don’t even think about stealing that deckchair. I saw it first. This week saw the launch of The Kitchens, the yearlong street food competition/venue in Spinningfields, with six traders competing for a new restaurant space. Yakumama’s Latin American menu has the exotic factor and their choripan stuffed with chorizo and killer guac was pretty fierce. But Chaat Cart’s chicken kati roll was so delicious we were forced to dismantle it to see how it worked. And then there’s pork dorks Bangers and Bacon, mighty chicken sandwich slingers Mumma Schnitzel, the profoundly dope Hip Hop Chip Shop and… yes, Wholesome and Raw, whose in-no-way-cooked pad thai and juices could be a tougher

Manchester has become a craft beer-drinker’s heaven. With names like Runaway and Squawk adorning taps alongside old-timers like Marble, this week we begin by raising a glass to new arrivals among the city’s brewing brethren. In fact, it’s all about the brethrens at Seven Bro7hers Brewery (no, that’s the way it’s spelt. You see, the ‘7’ is supposed to look like a ‘T’… oh, honestly.) There are really seven brothers! They make good beer! And until their bar opens you can try it at their Ancoats brewery on the last Friday of the month. Fellow newbies Cloudwater run an open tap on Saturdays and Blackjack’s monthly brewtap event is good fun. And remember to book those Indy Man Beer Con tickets – they’re on sale Monday. Plenty of new openings this week. Hotel Gotham has checked in at the glorious Midland Bank building – we went last night and can report the panoramic views from its Honey restaurant were spectacular, the food less so. Tariff & Dale is open, bringing Tariff Street’s bar count up to an impressive 79. The new NQ venture from the owners of Chorlton’s Lead Station does casual food and drink in a scrubbed-up textile mill. Nearby, slick and spacious Foundation Coffee House has opened on Lever Street, designed by co-owners No Chintz. This area is getting so relentlessly industrial chic I’m starting to dream about white subway tiles and exposed brickwork. You feel for the plasterers.  The summer festival season is upon us, whatever the weather thinks its doing. On June 20-21

This week, the food and drink news is all happening on the Edgiest Street in town… Common, people like youCommon’s midlife crisis – ahem, refurb – is the talk of the Northern Quarter. Of course it is. If the hood’s hirsuite army of creative industries freelancers were considered as a single workforce, our day-to-night mainstay on Edge Street would be the company canteen. But hold the phone: Table service? Scandi-chic? Edamame? I went to check it out. It’s pretty. The menu has taken a sharp exit off comfort food highway, heading for fennel city; there are still burgers and fried chicken, but it’s Korean Fried Chicken with shit-hot Gochujang sauce. The verdict: I miss the old Common. But I like the new Common. Hope that clarifies things. Handy menIf you really miss pre-makeover Common, take a sentimental journey to Piccadilly Approach and visit its old tables. They’ve been installed at Idle Hands, a new pop-up coffee venture from North Tea Power veterans Dave Wolinski and Tom Cowcher, who also advise on Common’s java offering. Right next to Piccadilly Tap, it’s got a couple of sunny tables outside and flat whites likely to make coffee heads come over all emotional. We say it’s a welcome shot of indy flavour in an area greatly lacking it, even if it’s only for six months. And it opens early at 7 in the a.m. Clued-up commuters, take note. Hen doIs 2015 going to be the year of fried chicken in Manchester? Edge Street (yes, Scranchester isn’t budging this week) is getting a 120-sea

As part of a brand new column, Kate Feld gets stuck into the latest table talk and street food news...Street lifeThe life of a street food trader can be a punishing one. It’s a great way to road-test a catering business without committing to bricks and mortar, but finding a more permanent home is an aspiration for many. So it’s great news that six of city’s most cult-worthy traders ‒ Yakumama, Chaat Cart, Mumma Schnitzel, Wholesome & Raw, Hip Hop Chip Shop and Bangers & Bacon ‒ will be the first tenants at Spinningfields foodie project space The Kitchens. Selected from hundreds of hopefuls, they each have a year to impress a judging panel enough to win further investment from backing developer Allied London. In related news, Scene, an Indian street food restaurant, is opening nearby and looks worth a punt. Move on upAcross town, the culinary hinterland of Ancoats is getting two new restaurants from street traders moving on up. Rudy’s Pizza and Goose Fat & Wild Garlic open this July on Cutting Room Square in the former home of street food collective Guerrilla Eats, which is now holding court in new arts space The Wonder Inn on Shudehill. Guerilla Eats© Dave Rogers   Still hungry for street food? Oh, go on then. Grillstock returns to Albert Square 30-31 May, with the usual cry of 'meat, music and mayhem.' Vegetarians might wish to avoid that part of town. But the rest of us can enjoy music from Grandmaster Flash and Kitty Daisy & Lewis, watch teams vie for the coveted King of