Harley Young can’t decide between pizza or pasta, so gets both
What: Lucky Mama’s
Where: 565 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 8AE
Food/ Drink type: Pizza, pasta, antipasto
When: Wednesday to Friday 4pm - 10pm, Saturday to Sunday 1pm - 10pm
Independent or chain: Independent
Decor
Snugly situated on Chorlton’s Barlow Moor Road, Lucky Mama’s baby pink and hot red façade is as eye-catching as it is intriguing. Between the swirly painted patterns on the windows, customers can be spotted enjoying their meals in a casual setting while the team are hard at work pulling dough and cooking pasta in the open plan kitchen.
The pastel pink and pillarbox red hues continue inside the restaurant, coating pretty much every surface available apart from the tables which are a simple wooden fold-out design like the kind used in a bistro set.
On the walls, artwork with Lucky Mama's signature lips logo and fun phrases like 'doin' it for the dough' and 'come to mama' as well as an illustration of their streetfood trailer, paying homage to their humble beginnings during lockdown.
The main event
Browsing the menu, myself and Alanya were having a hard time choosing between the pizza and pasta dishes - they all sounded so bloody good. So, we did what any smart, independent young women would and ordered both in the form of pasta served in a pizza bowl. Yes, you heard that right.
Have you ever had pasta so good you want to lick the bowl clean afterwards? Well, you can give in to temptation and do that here and it won't be frowned upon. Made from the same dough used to create their fresh and fluffy pizzas, these edible bowls are the ultimate carb indulgence. I went for the pasta I'd been seeing pop up on their Instagram feed all week, the cacio e pepe, while Alanya chose the beef ragu.
My cacio e pepe pasta was an absolutely perfect example of what it should be like, slightly al dente with a thick and creamy cheese sauce and just a bit of bite from the peppercorns. Heaven.
Alanya's ragu looked fantastic as well, topped with plenty of parmesan and not skimping out on the beef. We bought a pot of homemade aioli (£1) to dip our pizza bowl crusts in and barely spoke a word to each other after as we were too enthralled by our food.
Paired with a portion of the garlic dough balls, we were full and satisfied before you could even say the words 'food coma'. Luckily - and perhaps this is the 'Lucky' part of their name - if you can't finish your meal but don't want to let the beautiful dishes go to waste, Lucky Mama's has take-out boxes on standby.
Judgement Day
Lucky Mama's is a prime example of a lockdown idea that turned into absolute dynamite. The menu is inventive and extremely affordable, and the restaurant itself has an unmistakeable comforting ambience to it.
Busy every day of the week, the past few years have seen this restaurant quickly become a beloved neighbourhood favourite and its no surprise as to why. Mamadou, Gaby and the team are truly invested and believe in what they do, and it shows. It's been so well received that the business has actually expanded, opening a second site in Monton for takeaway.
Lucky Mama's, 565 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 8AE
Lucky Mama’s is on Confidential Guides
The scores
All scored reviews are unannounced, impartial, and ALWAYS paid for by Confidentials.com and completely independent of any commercial relationship. They are a first-person account of one visit by one, knowledgeable restaurant reviewer and don't represent the company as a whole.
If you want to see the receipt as proof this magazine paid for the meal then a copy will be available upon request. Or maybe ask the restaurant.
Venues are rated against the best examples of their type. What we mean by this is a restaurant which aspires to be fine dining is measured against other fine dining restaurants, a mid-range restaurant against other mid-range restaurants, a pizzeria against other pizzerias, a teashop against other teashops, a KFC against the contents of your bin. You get the message.
Given the above, this is how we score: 1-5: saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9: sigh and shake your head, 10-11: if you’re passing, 12-13: good, 14-15: very good, 16-17: excellent, 18-19: pure class, 20: nothing's that good is it?
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Food
Cacio e pepe 9, garlic dough balls 8, beef ragu 8.5
- Ambience
- Service
