THE SUPERCILIOUS amongst us are inclined to dislike chain restaurants.
This beast looks set to burst," said my pita maker, putting on goggles and reaching for the nail gun.
Much in the same way many of us are inclined to drive past Lidl or automatically dislike anyone driving a BMW.
The assumption being that some roly-poly git on the 47th floor of Chain Restaurant Towers is slumped on a throne made of dolphin bones lighting Gurkha cigars with our money.
And that most of the reformed ingredients have been scraped off a butcher's boot.
Pita Pit
So when the Manchester Food and Drink Festival awards shortlist landed on the Confidential desk recently, we were surprised to see Pita Pit, a Canadian international restaurant franchise with nearly 500 locations across the world, nominated in the 'Cheap Eats' category alongside Almost Famous (cheap?), Luck, Lust, Liquor and Burn (again... cheap?), Tampopo, Viet Shack and Splendid Sausage - all indies.
It didn't seem fair.
After visiting Pita Pit fairness can wind its neck in, because Pita Pit, tucked away in a shady Piccadilly alcove by a Starbucks and Manchester's limpest water feature, is a little belter.
The formula here is a simple one: quick, tasty, ample and healthy tucker served up by staff who'd probably clean your shoes for you if you asked nicely. All in for under a fiver (qualifying it for our Cheap Eats series, under £5, under 500 words... you know the score).
Pita Pit
Once every member of staff has waved at you, asked how the folks are and rubbed your shoulders, the protocol here is that which Subway has stamped upon our cerebrums - pick a base and scoot along the counter stuffing it with all the stuff you like.
Pita Pit's point of difference being that you can add as many and as much of the add-ons as the poor 'ole pita pocket bread can stand. 'This beast looks set to burst,' said my pita maker, putting on goggles and reaching for the nail gun.
As you'd expect, the menu is a Greek/Mediterranean affair with occasional spicy herbed Eastern kicks. Meaning fillings like Souvlaki chicken (essentially Greek chicken kebab chunks) and halloumi sit by tikka chicken and falafel. There's also grilled steak, veg, turkey club and 'super dolphin friendly' tuna (who are these super dolphins?)
The 'beast'
My tikka chicken pita (6" from £2.75, 9" from £3.50, salad boxes from £4) with the works, Swiss cheese, hummus and Texas ranch sauce (just to see if it came together) was so good I walked the mile back across town the very next day and ordered exactly the same thing to see if the whole thing had been a fluke. It wasn't.
The lovely, warm, soft and lightly-toasted pita surrounded sweet tikka chicken chunks (with the actual consistency and meat fibres of real chicken, rare amongst chains) jostling for attention amongst a cool and fresh full-works salad bar offensive. The hummus and ranch dressing combination - an odd choice I admit - even suceeded in such a conglomerate of ingredients and flavours that it was difficult to know what was sitting on the tongue.
What I did know was I'd take on a whole pod of these Super Dolphins for just one more.
Pita Pit - friendly to super dolphins
Pita Pit, 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BG.
Rating: 16/20 (see below).
Food: 8/10. Fantastic 'cheap eat'
Service: 5/5 - Happy and faultless
Ambience: 3/5 - Odd spot with warm innards
