/THE BEST OF MANCHESTER
Leeds. Teasers posted on its Instagram page hint at gin flights, a 19th century-inspired cocktail menu, and a mounted taxidermy deer head.
Old Bank Street, Manchester | @ blindtygermcr | Opens Thursday Dirty Donuts Their cookie dough creations were one of the biggest hits of Manchester’s Christmas Markets and the team behind Elsie May’s are back with more outrageous confections. Dirty Donuts is launching next week at the Piccadilly Street Food Market, where its show-stopping creations will include towering stacks of sugar ring donuts topped with ice cream cones. Varieties include The Unicorn, drizzled with a pink glitter glaze, rainbow drops and sprinkles; We’re All Nuts Round Here, piled with peanut butter, Nutella, Oreo crumb and Reese’s peanut butter cups; and Smores, topped with chocolate fudge sauce, Hershey’s chocolate pieces and digestive biscuits, and skewered with a toasted marshmallow kebab. The stall’s other speciality is donut sandwiches - sugar ring donuts sliced in half and filled with ice cream and loaded with toppings including salted caramel sauce and toffee popcorn; wild berry compote and white chocolate chips; and chocolate sauce and Oreo crumb.
Piccadilly Street Food Market | facebook.com/Elsiemaystearoom | Open Thursday to Saturday from Thursday onwards The Blue Eyed Panda Ancoats is about to get yet another new restaurant, as Chinese joint the Blue Eyed Panda opens its doors. Based on the corner of Henry Street and Jersey Street, the restaurant is being opened by Carolina Ho and her husband Miguel Hung, who also own the Ancoats Panda Chinese takeaway (formerly known as Chop Chop) on Great Ancoats Street. The 50-cover restaurant will serve a menu of Cantonese roast meats, dumplings and classic dishes alongside regularly-changing specials. Diners can expect some Venezuelan influence in the cooking too - the couple met in the South American country and owned a food court restaurant there before the economic crisis pushed them to move to the UK.
Jersey Street, Ancoats | Opening this month, date TBC The Quarterhouse Stevenson Square bistro Rosylee has bowed out again - to be replaced by a new barbecue restaurant. The restaurant was one of the casualties of bar operator MAD Ltd’s liquidation last year, closing along with The Fitzgerald, Hula, Walrus, Tusk and The Blue Pig. It was later repurchased and reopened by HNQ Ltd before closing again for a complete revamp and rebrand. It will return as The Quarterhouse, promising ‘fire, beer and BBQ’. Details are scant so far but we’re told the site is being fitted with an open kitchen and the bar will be expanded to almost three times the size, with a new range of draught beers added to the cocktail and wine list.
11 Stevenson Square, Manchester, M1 1DB | instagram.com/ quarterhousenq | Due to open March 14 Albert’s Didsbury Didsbury restaurant Albert’s reopens this month with a new look and freshened-up bar offering to match. The Barlow Moor Road site closed in January for refurbishment and will welcome diners back with a plush new interior design scheme featuring a wall of living plants and birdshaped lighting. The expanded bar area seats 56 people, including at new, pre-bookable party booths, and will serve a refreshed range of craft beers, cocktails, wine and Didsbury Gin. The popular terrace has also been given a makeover ready for spring, seating nearly 200 people outside. A new afternoon tea experience will also be available, alongside the restaurant’s regular food menu, which will return with dishes such as rabbit gnocchi, smoked haddock risotto and tomahawk pork chops.
120-122 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, M20 2PU | albertsdidsbury.com | Reopens Friday, March 15 Shack Northern Quarter bar and grill Shack has trotted into a new home inside the old Blue Pig site. The venue closed its original Hilton Street site in January after the building was sold and reopens today inside the former Blue Pig unit on High Street, which was one of the casualties of bar operator MAD Ltd’s liquidation last October. The disused basement space has been transformed into a late night bar with ping pong and beer pong tables, pool and TVs showing Sky Sports and BT Sport. Upstairs in the main bar there will be booth seating and wooden cladding on the walls, in a similar design to the previous Shack bar. The outside seating enjoyed by The Blue Pig will remain, with space for 24 people to drink or dine on the pavements outside.
69 High Street, Manchester, M4 1FS | shackbarandgrill.co.uk | Opens today