Today we returned to the Arndale Market in Manchester with one aim in mind, to have a burrito from Pancho's Burritos.
When we were last in the market I'd bought some habanero salsa from Pancho's which was excellent. And very hot. The quality of the salsa made me and the missus think that we would be daft not to eat there the next time we went to Manchester.
There's plenty of choice, including chili con carne and pork stew, but it was the burritos which drew us in. A fresh tortilla is softened over heat, then topped with rice, refried beans (actually tasty refried beans), chili salsa, lettuce and sour cream and a choice of meat. I went for beef with extra chipotle chili in adobo sauce, the missus went for pork with extra guacamole.
They were both excellent, the pork was a kind of pulled pork from a slowly-stewed shoulder. The beef was finely chopped rather than minced, and equally as good as the pork. All the separate components were tasty and really complemented each other. The superb chipotle in adobo fired things up nicely and the refried beans and rice helped cool things down when the heat threatened to get too intense. I was left with lovely smokey, meaty taste which lingered and lingered.
This cosmopolitan little food court is definitely my favourite place to eat in Manchester. You simply can't beat the value, quality and choice.
Showing posts with label Manchester Restaurants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manchester Restaurants. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Wings at Manchester's Arndale Market
We've just come back from a day out in Manchester, but for a moment it felt like we'd had a day out in Kuala Lumpur.
In the Arndale Market, situated in a corner of the Arndale Centre, is a food court. But it's not one of those food courts which are packed out with fast food chains. Here there are independent outlets offering a range of Chinese, Greek, Indian and Mexican food and more.
The Chinese outlet is called Wings and will look familiar to anyone who has eaten in the hawker centres of South-East Asia. Fast service at the counter behind which stand steaming pots of rice and stock, and hanging up behind a glass shield are whole roast ducks and hugs slabs of roast pork. It looks so inviting, and the long queue suggests that this is the place to eat.
And it is. That's not to say that the other places aren't good. I'm sure they are, but we couldn't resist a taste of out travels. I had roast duck and char sui on rice, the missus had roast duck and roast pork ramen. The meat was excellent, succulent and authentically tasty. The ramen broth was equally good. I'd go back in a shot, but next time I'd leave with a whole roast duck, a bargain at £11.
Instead, this time we came home with a kilo of mussels from the fish stall (£3.50) and a little pot of fire (habanero salsa) from the Mexican stall. If the rest of the Mexican food is of the same standard, then we'll have to go and eat there as well. Though I think I'll choose something a bit milder than the salsa - it would be insane to eat too much of anything that is that hot!
As we left we walked through the grocery area where durian fruit was on sale. It's sickly-sweet smell hangs thickly in the air around Bukit Bintang, the area where we spent much of our time when we were in KL. That smell, together with our Asian lunch and the table of noisy, chattering chinese behind us when we ate transported us right back to Malaysia. The feet are getting itchy again.
In the Arndale Market, situated in a corner of the Arndale Centre, is a food court. But it's not one of those food courts which are packed out with fast food chains. Here there are independent outlets offering a range of Chinese, Greek, Indian and Mexican food and more.
The Chinese outlet is called Wings and will look familiar to anyone who has eaten in the hawker centres of South-East Asia. Fast service at the counter behind which stand steaming pots of rice and stock, and hanging up behind a glass shield are whole roast ducks and hugs slabs of roast pork. It looks so inviting, and the long queue suggests that this is the place to eat.
And it is. That's not to say that the other places aren't good. I'm sure they are, but we couldn't resist a taste of out travels. I had roast duck and char sui on rice, the missus had roast duck and roast pork ramen. The meat was excellent, succulent and authentically tasty. The ramen broth was equally good. I'd go back in a shot, but next time I'd leave with a whole roast duck, a bargain at £11.
Instead, this time we came home with a kilo of mussels from the fish stall (£3.50) and a little pot of fire (habanero salsa) from the Mexican stall. If the rest of the Mexican food is of the same standard, then we'll have to go and eat there as well. Though I think I'll choose something a bit milder than the salsa - it would be insane to eat too much of anything that is that hot!
As we left we walked through the grocery area where durian fruit was on sale. It's sickly-sweet smell hangs thickly in the air around Bukit Bintang, the area where we spent much of our time when we were in KL. That smell, together with our Asian lunch and the table of noisy, chattering chinese behind us when we ate transported us right back to Malaysia. The feet are getting itchy again.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
The Cornerhouse
If there's one thing I hate it is making a bad choice when I'm eating out. It was a shame, then, that I made a bad choice when eating out yesterday.
It was an all too rare occasion for us to eat out. We're both out of work so it has required a close eye on our finances to enable us to go out for something nice to eat.
We went to Cornerhouse in Manchester, home to the best pizzas in Manchester apparently. Perhaps that was my first mistake. I didn't have a pizza. But not many other people were choosing pizza so if they are the best in Manchester it must be a well kept secret.
The popular choices last night were the steak sandwich and the spanish meatball sandwich. I had the steak sandwich, the missus went for the spanish meatball - a wise choice it turned out.
On the face of there was nothing wrong with the steak sandwich. The steak was ok, it had some taste and eating it didn't turn out to be a fight with gristle. Although there was a couple of moments when I had to grab the meat and pull it away from my mouth. Never a good thing.
It was meant to come with mustard mayo, but instead it came with Hellman's. A good mayo can be the missing dimension in a good steak sandwich so the kitchen at Cornerhouse really missed a trick there. Hellman's is fine, even fantastic, with a chip. But a steak sarnie really demands better.
Although I was no longer hungry at the end of my meal, I was sated rather than satisfied. And at nearly 9 quid the steak sandwich really should have been better.
The spanish meatball sandwich, on the other hand, was closer to triumph than disaster. The amount of meatballs in the sandwich was more than generous, and the use of chorizo in the sauce meant it really had a lot of taste. In fact, it had almost too much taste and would have benefited from something sharp on the side to balance things out. But that's splitting hairs really. At less than 8 quid this felt like a much better choice than my steak sandwich.
I'll make sure I have a pizza next time.
It was an all too rare occasion for us to eat out. We're both out of work so it has required a close eye on our finances to enable us to go out for something nice to eat.
We went to Cornerhouse in Manchester, home to the best pizzas in Manchester apparently. Perhaps that was my first mistake. I didn't have a pizza. But not many other people were choosing pizza so if they are the best in Manchester it must be a well kept secret.
The popular choices last night were the steak sandwich and the spanish meatball sandwich. I had the steak sandwich, the missus went for the spanish meatball - a wise choice it turned out.
On the face of there was nothing wrong with the steak sandwich. The steak was ok, it had some taste and eating it didn't turn out to be a fight with gristle. Although there was a couple of moments when I had to grab the meat and pull it away from my mouth. Never a good thing.
It was meant to come with mustard mayo, but instead it came with Hellman's. A good mayo can be the missing dimension in a good steak sandwich so the kitchen at Cornerhouse really missed a trick there. Hellman's is fine, even fantastic, with a chip. But a steak sarnie really demands better.
Although I was no longer hungry at the end of my meal, I was sated rather than satisfied. And at nearly 9 quid the steak sandwich really should have been better.
The spanish meatball sandwich, on the other hand, was closer to triumph than disaster. The amount of meatballs in the sandwich was more than generous, and the use of chorizo in the sauce meant it really had a lot of taste. In fact, it had almost too much taste and would have benefited from something sharp on the side to balance things out. But that's splitting hairs really. At less than 8 quid this felt like a much better choice than my steak sandwich.
I'll make sure I have a pizza next time.
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