Neil Sowerby has found another excellent reason to head to Ancoats
BREAKFAST is not a sociable event. In these driven times who has a window for a Full English and a serious family catch-up? Except on holiday when you can start the day with proper porridge and a kipper and even then you need time to relax into the experience. A Latte to go is all most of us can manage workaday weekdays. And then lunch, who has time to indulge in that?
But Brunch, glorious Brunch now there’s a celebration of both. It’s weekend, you can spread the newspaper supplements on the table and order that second cafetiere before you hit the Bloody Marys. Any kitchen/bar worth its salt will serve you one, but only the best should do.
Which brings us to Elnecot, lauded in its 2017 ManCon review as “arguably the city’s best new arrival.” That was for the ambience and the a la carte, but how does it handle that couple drifting in between 11am and 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays, maybe a little hungover after a heavy night on the town or just trying to relax after a heavy week at work?
The answer is: brilliantly. All the factors that make chef proprietor Michael Clay’s regular menu such an enticing prospect kick in for Brunch. Exquisite raw materials handled with rare technical skill. Trust us: you can get toast wrong and poached eggs can turn into tennis balls. Not here.
All the factors that make chef proprietor Michael Clay’s regular menu such an enticing prospect kick in for Brunch.
We’d recommend for serious Brunchers the Bottomless Cocktail offer, two hours for £20. If that sounds an invitation to your inner Homer Simpson, then go for it, but staff tell us that even the keenest cocktail hounds soon slow down. We checked out the Earl Grey Hound, a mix of gin, Earl Grey and grapefruit, a light and stimulating appetite arouser and the Breakfast Negroni, which is a heady reminder of the night before combining gin, Campari, vermouth and tea syrup.
Both vanished down the hatch before our first dishes arrived, so we re-ordered – a couple of Bloody Marys, which felt just right with a variety of freshly prepared treats.
First up, our cursory nod to Veganuary, was chia seed pudding (£4.50), with fruit and nuts joining the roasted seeds in a coconut milk mash; satisfying but surpassed by our next vegan dish, smashed broccoli (£6.50), a chunky hummus of the healthy green stuff in a combo with pickled carrot, charred beetroot and hazelnuts. Who needs avocado? On sourdough toast like most of the brunch plates.
Eggs there are optional and cost extra but come as standard (and scrambled) on alternative ‘green eggs and…’ dishes. We had ham but we could have had sam, featuring Manchester smoked salmon. The first costs £8.50, the second £7.50.
We debated further plant-based forays into cauliflower, chickpea and kale hash (£8) territory or the delectable wild mushrooms on toast (£9), but wilted back into carnivore central by ordering slow-cooked pork belly. It came with two poached eggs and a refreshing scattering of pomegranate, apple and mint. Brunch perfection.
Coffee is excellent, as you’d expect, while there’s also a £15 Bottomless Fizz offer, which we spotted too late. Elnecot Brunch, another compelling reason to explore amazing Ancoats.
Elnecot, 41 Blossom Street, Cutting Room Square, Manchester, M4 6AJ. 07496 152373, times vary, www.elnecot.com Brunch offer: 11am-3pm Saturday and Sunday.
