EARLIER this year some joker suggested that Manchester’s seemingly unstoppable torrent of new food and booze openings would ‘all settle down by the end of the year’. What a load of Billy that was. If anything, it’s picked up pace.
In the last month alone we’ve welcomed the likes of Cooper Hall, Refinery, Shoryu Ramen, V Revolution, Crazy Pedro’s 2, Laundrette, and pop-ups such as Featherblade, FEAST, Garage and Miracle On Edge Street.
Elsewhere, we’ve had word of future openings including West Corner, The Drop, The Auctioneers, Rabbit in the Moon, La Cantina (Didsbury), Bock Biere Café, a new ‘mega bar’ for Stevenson Square and a new restaurant for the old Quill site on King Street.
And nowhere is this deluge more conspiuous than in the neighbouring bohemian districts of Northern Quarter and Ancoats, where, they say, you’re now never more than a 30 second Fixie-cycle ride away from an artisanal vegan Scotch egg or obscure American oatmeal stout.
Well, here’s four more to stick in your vintage French meerschaum pipe.
JIMMY'S NQ
What: Rock, cocktails and Tim Peaks coffee
Where: 12 Newton Street (just off Piccadilly Gardens)
When: Opens Weds 7 Dec
This new Newton Street dive bar and gig space is the first venture from Essex-born, Yorkshire-bred bandmates and brothers, George and Jimmy Craig - one time members of noughties indie bands One Night Only and Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong, amongst others. “Music isn’t the most reliable of careers, so I’d been managing cocktail bars while George was running pop-up restaurants in London,” Jimmy tells us. “We always wanted to do something together, so once George moved to the city and this unit came free we just went for it.”
The duo hope the new 200-capacity venue – decked out in a multitude of rock collectibles including signed cymbals, limited edition tour posters and a Louis Sidoli-designed David Bowie neon artwork (“on loan… we couldn’t afford that”) - will become a hive for local musicians and artists, with a soundtrack ranging from “Chuck Berry to The Coral and Cabbage” and plans to host secret gigs and after-parties, as well as spoken word and comedy events.
Jimmy’s will also be the first bar in the city (“we think”) to stock workmanlike American lager, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and the first in the country to boast a Jack Daniels 'n' Coke slushy machine. Cocktails, meanwhile, are “straight down the line classics”, coffee comes from Charlatan’s frontman Tim Burgess’s Tim Peaks label, whilst soon-to-arrive bar snacks come via Hawksmoor butcher, The Ginger Pig.
MEXICA
What: Tex Mex n mezcal
Where: Cutting Room Square, Ancoats
When: Open now
The merciless march of the Manchester mezcal merchant continues as Mexica - a dinky, moody new Tex Mex gaff - replaces the Cutting Room (reviewed here) in the Ice Plant building on Ancoats effervescent Cutting Room Square.
Offering the typical trio of Tex Mex dishes (burritos £7.50, tacos £1.50 and nachos from £4.50), alongside small plates of pan-fried prawns, avocado salad and pork & spinach stew (all £4.50), the uncomplicated day-time menu is backed up by an equally laid-back vibe come nightfall, where craft beer meets mezcal and margaritas.
This latest project from business partners Sophie Jarvis and Adam Regan follows the launch of Stage & Radio bar and pizzeria just over Great Ancoats Road on Northern Quarter’s Port Street, and precedes the launch of long-coming ‘affordable fine dining’ restaurant and microbrewery, Goose Fat & Wild Garlic, also on Cutting Room Square.
SEVEN BRO7HERS BEERHOUSE
What: Craft beer bar and sharers
Where: Cutting Room Square, Ancoats (again)
When: Thurs 15 Dec
Sticking on the square, this project has been slowly fermenting away for eighteen months, but now the eagerly awaited Seven Bro7hers Beerhouse is just days away from opening. “December 15th is the plan,” says Kit, one of seven McAvoy siblings who gave up careers in design, teaching and project development to brew an array of high profile ales that are finally getting an equally high profile outlet in the city.
You can find the new 200-capacity bar on the ground floor and basement of the Ice Plant apartment block, a few doors down from Mexica and across the road from Rudy’s Pizza (which continues to pack ‘em in), where fourteen keg taps, two hand pumps and a range of guest indie craft beers will keep keen hopsters sated.
Kit tells us the beerhouse will also be offering sustenance to soak up those suds, though food is still in the development stage. Expect club sandwiches and Italian-influenced sharing boards with a more extensive menu scheduled when the basement kitchen is up and running.
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Seven Bro7hers Beerhouse will open within this unit at the Ice Plant in Ancoats
BUNDOBUST
What: Indian veggie tuck and cutting-edge beer
Where: Piccadilly Gardens/Northern Quarter
When: Weds 14 Dec
Emerging from an equally lengthy period of gestation is Bundobust, who have finally announced an opening date (Weds 14 Dec) some twelve months after news of their Manchester project first broke.
Marko Husak (the guru behind specialist Bradford beer bar, The Sparrow) and Mayur Patel (of championed Drighlington Indian restaurant, Prashad) are the two young bucks on a mission to convert Manchester to the joys of combining Gujarati veggie tuck with cutting-edge craft beer.
Launching in the old Metro Chinese Buffet on Piccadilly Gardens, the 140-cover basement site with a back door into the Northern Quarter is twice the size of their original site in Leeds – which was recently awarded a coveted Michelin Guide entry: ‘Order at the bar, grab a paper plate and some plastic cutlery, find a space on the communal benches and get stuck in!’ reads the guide.
Expect simple, authentic stuff like okra fries, classic chaat, idli sambhar steamed dumplings and Mumbai speciality vada pav - the only veggie burger you’ll ever want to eat. You hear that Quorn?
Mayur Patel and Marko Husak
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