MANCHESTER was all a-buzz on the weekend.
Happy throngs of expectant Stone Roses fans packed the streets creating an atmosphere crackling with energy. (Click here to read Saturday's Stone Roses gig review.)
Looking at the crowds I got thinking about how we need to engineer more gigs delivering over 200,000 fans across three days. Time for The Smiths to reform. It'd be for the civic good. Anybody got Morrissey's number?
The milkshakes were the best I've had in years. Small child had a chocolate one and I had a strawberry one, and I yanked his out of his hand and drank it one gulp. Something like that.
In the packed Northern Quarter men of a certain age shuffled between vintage shops sporting Madchester haircuts - if they hadn't already gone bald.
One man in Home Sweet Home had a full Liam Gallagher mop and was all Manchestoh and see-yer-latoh and the Roses are gonna be fuckin' boss man. It was like he'd learnt the part for the weekend and was most days a braying accountant from Henley-on-Thames.
Home Sweet Home - colourful and charming
Home Sweet Home is a joy, and in truth Liam was a bit out of place.
This re-invented tea shop cum bar is a bohemian bolt-hole for chichi artsy and designer types - or those who wish they were. The delightful bric-a-brac bias underlines this as does the junk shop wooden furniture. It's exactly right for the Northern Quarter and is everything the smooth, corporate bars of Spinningfields aren't.
Sitting and watching the people come and go reveals as diverse a clientele as any in Manchester with locals, Americans, Japanese and Scandinavians oscillating by.
Home Sweet Home - coffee
This being a packed, queue-at-the-door Saturday the service was floundering.
The person who sat us down said she'd be back for the order but didn't return, seconds ticked by, became minutes, so we took the initiative and called over some staff. They were all very sweet it must be said, although frazzled by the hectic pulse of the place. Some of them look as though they might always be a bit frazzled.
The food comes in heaps and is the very definition of one of those classic reviewer's cliches - wholesome. It lacks any finesse, but is enjoyable in its exuberance and laden with toasties, sandwiches, burgers, salads, platters, vaguely Americana/Tex-Mex mains and lush desserts.
The pulled pork roll (£5.50) on a sort of brioche was moist, with lots of onion, peppers, and filled with a smokey bbq punch courtesy of the resident sauce. Much of the plate was filled with a decent fennel coleslaw - the latter a house signature.
Pulled pork
The salad of bacon, black pudding and poached eggs (£5.50) was massive, a whole supermarket family sized bag of mixed leaves (although the kitchen had mixed it themselves) and a proper array of bite, snap and crunch. The eggs were runny and the bacon and black pudding added to the party. The mustard dressing was listed as 'heavy' but was sadly inconspicuous.
The salad
A very good classic ham and cheese toastie (£4.25) satisfied one of the boys. The cheese is the key, a cunning mix of mozzarella and cheddar.
Beef chilli and toasties, the latter being gobbled
A Tex-Mex style beef chilli (£7 large, £5.50 small) was pleasantly and not extravagantly hot with good mince and set off by a sour cream which gently soothed any chilli that attempted to be too aggressive. Again there was a fandango of leaves and coleslaw.
A ginger syrup cake at £3 was light enough and moist enough while the milkshakes (all £3.50) were the best I've had in years.
Small child had a chocolate one and I had a strawberry one, and I yanked his out of his hand and drank it one gulp. Something like that. These are wonderfully intense milk shakes that bring a smile to the face like that of an expectant Stone Roses fan about to bask in the glory of John Squire's singing guitar.
In the people came and out they went, and all of them full and all of them grinning, some even red-cheeked from the wine and beers available. I got involved with a couple of Samuel Adams' bottles at £3.50 a pop.
Our mate Liam Gallagher was round the corner talking to an acquaintance outside the Millstone pub, yeah, he said as we passed, the Roses are gonna be fuckin' boss. It was grand to be in Manchester on that weekend.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
Home Sweet Home, Edge Street, City. M4 1HE. 0161 833 1248
Rating: 14/20 (please read the scoring system in the box below)
Food: 6.5/10
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 4.5/5
Cakeland
Interior bric-a-brac
Special theme nights
Inside from outside
Sweet potato fries and dip
