Showing posts with label manchester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manchester. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Whole Lotta Love
I came across this great little scene while in a dull Manchester on Saturday and thought that it would make a great print, so here it is!
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Manchester Mini Zine/Book/Album
I've made a mini zine called Manchester Scenes and it's sixteen full colour pages with one through the viewfinder image on each. Pretty much all of the photographs were shot in the Northern Quarter in Manchester with one from the beautifully restored Victoria Baths and one on a grotty industrial estate near Piccadilly. I'm pleased with it and it's now in my Etsy shop.
Manchester Scenes by Sarah Franklin
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Lunch at Love 2 Eat on Burton Road
As the weather was unexpectedly delightful this afternoon with warm sunshine instead of the forecast rain that we popped out for lunch to sit in the sun and watch the world go by.
Silver Apples hadn't quite opened when we got there, so we went a few doors down to the lastest cafe on Burton Road, called Love 2 Eat where we've been meaning to go since it opened, but it's always been full. It's a tiny little place with four tiny little tables outside and we were lucky enough to find one empty.
The menu is pretty small and on blackboards on the walls inside (there's a proper menu on the website) with sandwiches, soups, pies and the odd casserole. There's a glass fronted deli counter with cakes and pies all looking tasty. There's a great collection of cookery books dotted around (even in the tiny, very clean loo out at the back), I could have a jolly good browse through them and have my eye on Moro East for next time.
I went for a hot apple juice cured ham sandwich which came in a nice thin brown baguette and I narrowly avoided the horror of industirally produced coleslaw as I'd spotted it come out to the ladies next to us who also had baguettes. Our kind waitress instead gave me a portion of really delicious tiny new potatoes drenched in butter with fresh herbs, much nicer than oniony coleslaw smothered in cheap mayo. There were very nice salad leaves which were almost all manky which was a shame, but for some reason, I did eat them. The ham was in nice big chunks like it had just been hacked from a propper piece of meat which was a pleasant surprise and was nicely appley but not too sweet. Some rather odd orange chutney came in a wee espresso cup which once inside the bread with the sad leaves and tasty ham was good.
Being greedy we shared some 'bounty cake' which was a lovely light sponge with little coconutty bits and a rich chocolate icing on the top and in the middle, it was a bit dry but still enjoyable. The tea somewhat bizarrely, came with little jugs of frothed warm milk, not exactly ideal for tea, but it was okay and we were running a bit late and didn't have time to ask for some more.
Love 2 Eat
190a Burton Road
West Didsbury
0161 434 7077
Silver Apples hadn't quite opened when we got there, so we went a few doors down to the lastest cafe on Burton Road, called Love 2 Eat where we've been meaning to go since it opened, but it's always been full. It's a tiny little place with four tiny little tables outside and we were lucky enough to find one empty.
The menu is pretty small and on blackboards on the walls inside (there's a proper menu on the website) with sandwiches, soups, pies and the odd casserole. There's a glass fronted deli counter with cakes and pies all looking tasty. There's a great collection of cookery books dotted around (even in the tiny, very clean loo out at the back), I could have a jolly good browse through them and have my eye on Moro East for next time.
I went for a hot apple juice cured ham sandwich which came in a nice thin brown baguette and I narrowly avoided the horror of industirally produced coleslaw as I'd spotted it come out to the ladies next to us who also had baguettes. Our kind waitress instead gave me a portion of really delicious tiny new potatoes drenched in butter with fresh herbs, much nicer than oniony coleslaw smothered in cheap mayo. There were very nice salad leaves which were almost all manky which was a shame, but for some reason, I did eat them. The ham was in nice big chunks like it had just been hacked from a propper piece of meat which was a pleasant surprise and was nicely appley but not too sweet. Some rather odd orange chutney came in a wee espresso cup which once inside the bread with the sad leaves and tasty ham was good.
Being greedy we shared some 'bounty cake' which was a lovely light sponge with little coconutty bits and a rich chocolate icing on the top and in the middle, it was a bit dry but still enjoyable. The tea somewhat bizarrely, came with little jugs of frothed warm milk, not exactly ideal for tea, but it was okay and we were running a bit late and didn't have time to ask for some more.
Love 2 Eat
190a Burton Road
West Didsbury
0161 434 7077
Friday, 29 January 2010
...a necklace of incomparable beauty...
I spotted this as I drove past this afternoon and didn't have a camera with me other than my iPhone which is useless.
I've Googled the line, but haven't found out if it's a quotation - perhaps it's an original thought.....
I went back again later and although the full on sunshine of earlier had gone away it still looked great. I had to park very illegally and hover suspiciously on the opposite side of the road with my camera waiting for a break in the constant stream of traffic. I think it was worth the wait!
I've Googled the line, but haven't found out if it's a quotation - perhaps it's an original thought.....
I went back again later and although the full on sunshine of earlier had gone away it still looked great. I had to park very illegally and hover suspiciously on the opposite side of the road with my camera waiting for a break in the constant stream of traffic. I think it was worth the wait!
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Snowmen, lots of great snowmen!
We ventured out today in the car to test the waters and see what all the fuss was about. The main roads were fine (so I could have got to the gym if I'd really wanted to!), we pottered into town with no mishap and I happened to notice masses of snowmen, as well as the usual unexciting ones and the ones whose heads seem to have been kicked in there were some real beauties.
Chatting to a friend in the Northern Quarter I was tipped off to a 'snowman fashion show' in a car park surrounded by flats. It was a sight to be seen, there were snow dogs and rabbits as well as various strangely shaped creatures, all very impressive.
Others were shot along Burton Road on the way home.
Chatting to a friend in the Northern Quarter I was tipped off to a 'snowman fashion show' in a car park surrounded by flats. It was a sight to be seen, there were snow dogs and rabbits as well as various strangely shaped creatures, all very impressive.
Others were shot along Burton Road on the way home.
This one's at the entrance to our flat where, as you can see, the road's closed and has been for over a month now. It's comforting to see that the area is being properly guarded!
I really liked this one, if you can't make it out, the sign says "All right son, mine's a pint of mild" and rather oddly, he looks just like an old man.
The snow rabbits have arrived - the snowmen need to watch out for their carrot noses.
Oops, this one's just waiting for a nibble.......
Outside Silver Apples on Orchard Street in West Didsbury, with a lovely expression on his face.
I can't understand how this one hasn't just fallen over, it's pretty big and must weigh plenty, but it's just hanging there in mid collapse. I'll bet it's on it's side by tomorrow!
I don't think these girls made this one, but they posed very nicely for me!
If you've liked these snowmen/rabbits/things there are more on my Flickr, click here for the full set.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
It's a bit perverse to post this photo....
....considering that there's about seven inches of pure white and almost untouched snow covering my patch of Manchester this morning. This was taken on Christmas Day morning when it was very foggy and most of the snow had gone on the road but not anywhere else.
Manchester has ground to a halt today, buses, trains and planes cancelled. I think the main roads are okay, but side roads will be a nightmare and I don't intent to attempt to drive anywhere.
We will be trudging our way over the road to the Southern Cemetery soon to take some pictures though, I'd really regret it if I didn't.
Watch this space for some snowy pictures later!
Manchester has ground to a halt today, buses, trains and planes cancelled. I think the main roads are okay, but side roads will be a nightmare and I don't intent to attempt to drive anywhere.
We will be trudging our way over the road to the Southern Cemetery soon to take some pictures though, I'd really regret it if I didn't.
Watch this space for some snowy pictures later!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Supper at The Market Restaurant.
I guessed the location of my mystery birthday supper last night as Peter gave directions to the cab driver - The Northern Quarter could only mean The Market Restaurant where I hadn't eaten for years. The Market is one of those restaurants which becomes somewhat of an institution after being around for many years from the days when the now super-trendy Northern Quarter was a seriously non-cool and somewhat sad former rag-trade area. I'd always perceived the MR as a bit of a secret hiding in a dodgy part of town and would frequently hear rave reviews about it. I always used to enjoy reading the prettily illustrated menu which was printed in every issue of the now deceased City Life magazine. I recall eccentric opening hours, a lovely quirky interior and mismatched antique glasses and crockery and a great atmosphere with excellent front of house service and of course splendid food.
So I was delighted at the prospect of my first visit after a very long time, it could have been as long as ten years ago when we had an excellent Sunday lunch. We arrived and sat at our choice of table - it was less than half full I think, it's a very small space downstairs with another room upstairs. The bar is in the middle of the room and I sat facing the bar as I like to see what's going on, I like to see what's happening when the staff aren't interacting with customers - I think you get a very good insight into a restaurant this way....
We started off with Henriot Champagne with raspberry liqueur - rather like Kir Royale, but a bit more subtle. It was £7.50 a glass and came in a very pretty Henriot branded glass but it was minute and definitely not worth the money and I'm afraid that we did mention this to our waiter and he very kindly came back and topped up our glasses when we'd polished them off.
We both ordered Gazpacho with goats cheese and basil tortellini (£5.25) I adore gazpacho, it's one of my all time favourite dished, I love to order it in Spain where you get a whole plethora of exciting goodies to sprinkle on to the soup - croutons, garlicky mayonnaise, chopped cucumber, tomato and onion....fun and delicious! I also love to make it, it must the easiest soup in the world to make - just fling gloriously ripe tomatoes, fresh green cucumber, red peppers and garlic (some recipes incorporate bread, but I don't like the slimy result) into the blender and add water to the right consistency, either chunky and rustic or sophisticated and smooth. Then you chill it to within an inch of it's life. The most important thing is that it's super cold, I've even served it with olive oil filled ice cubes to make sure that it's perfect when it arrives at the table. That's the whole point of the dish, like crispy roast potatoes, or a melt in the mouth steak. So imagine my disappointment when it arrived without any goodies to sprinkle and shock horror, was actually tepid if not slightly warm. There were three tortellini and I was disappointed and very surprised to find that it wasn't cooked through, and had that nasty raw flour hard-centered bite to it. I couldn't really taste the goats cheese or basil through the flavour of uncooked flour. So once I'd managed to attract some attention, it went back to the kitchen to be 'made again'. About fifteen minutes later it re-emerged looking exactly the same with the addition of three ice cubes. The soup was still tepid and the tortellini were still uncooked. We drank the soup and left the raw pasta. I refrained from mentioning that the soup was tasteless as I thought that might be a bit much.....but there was no garlic, no punch and no zing. It was a bit like a tinned tomato soup left to cool a bit. The starters were removed from the bill.
The first soup - you can tell the pasta is uncooked just by the lack of 'glisten'.
The second soup - spot the ice-cubes!
For the main course I was going to chose the Pan fried sea bass, vanilla mash, butternut squash, hazelnut crusted scallop (£17.95) as I love sea bass and scallops are always a real treat. While I was pondering two portions of this dish arrived at the table next to us and there was the biggest serving of mash you could imagine with two tiny little fillets of bass - it really didn't look like £17.95's worth so I changed my mind and chose instead Hake wrapped in Parma ham, broccoli puree, roasted potatoes, red wine jus (£15.95) which turned out to be an excellent choice. The portion of hake was very substantial, thick, white and flaky. The Parma ham was just the right side of salty and meaty, the broccoli puree which I didn't fancy at all was lovely. I'd ordered new potatoes rather that roast and they were obviously reheated as they were too soft and squashy, but I didn't really want spuds at all, so wasn't too bothered. Peter had duck which he'd been informed would be cooked pink, but it wasn't. He declined to mention it. We drank a very nice bottle of French Voignier (£18.95) which wasn't sufficiently chilled and had to be put in a wine bucket to cool further, this had to sit on the floor as there wasn't room on the table.
For pudding we both had chocolate mousse which was delicious, very dark and with that lovely French texture which comes from not using cream in the recipe, just eggs and butter (I didn't ask, but it's how the mousse I make at home feels). It was rather bizarrely and pointlessly served with stale popcorn dotted around the plate - I don't know if I missed something there, but I didn't get it at all! We had a glass each of delicious sticky wine - Muscat I think it was, perfectly chilled and seriously yummy.
Then there was the birthday 'cake' which was a shot glass of elderflower Eton mess with a very nice raspberry sorbet and a chorus of Happy Birthday from the two waiters!
So not a perfect evening but a most enjoyable one!
So I was delighted at the prospect of my first visit after a very long time, it could have been as long as ten years ago when we had an excellent Sunday lunch. We arrived and sat at our choice of table - it was less than half full I think, it's a very small space downstairs with another room upstairs. The bar is in the middle of the room and I sat facing the bar as I like to see what's going on, I like to see what's happening when the staff aren't interacting with customers - I think you get a very good insight into a restaurant this way....
We started off with Henriot Champagne with raspberry liqueur - rather like Kir Royale, but a bit more subtle. It was £7.50 a glass and came in a very pretty Henriot branded glass but it was minute and definitely not worth the money and I'm afraid that we did mention this to our waiter and he very kindly came back and topped up our glasses when we'd polished them off.
We both ordered Gazpacho with goats cheese and basil tortellini (£5.25) I adore gazpacho, it's one of my all time favourite dished, I love to order it in Spain where you get a whole plethora of exciting goodies to sprinkle on to the soup - croutons, garlicky mayonnaise, chopped cucumber, tomato and onion....fun and delicious! I also love to make it, it must the easiest soup in the world to make - just fling gloriously ripe tomatoes, fresh green cucumber, red peppers and garlic (some recipes incorporate bread, but I don't like the slimy result) into the blender and add water to the right consistency, either chunky and rustic or sophisticated and smooth. Then you chill it to within an inch of it's life. The most important thing is that it's super cold, I've even served it with olive oil filled ice cubes to make sure that it's perfect when it arrives at the table. That's the whole point of the dish, like crispy roast potatoes, or a melt in the mouth steak. So imagine my disappointment when it arrived without any goodies to sprinkle and shock horror, was actually tepid if not slightly warm. There were three tortellini and I was disappointed and very surprised to find that it wasn't cooked through, and had that nasty raw flour hard-centered bite to it. I couldn't really taste the goats cheese or basil through the flavour of uncooked flour. So once I'd managed to attract some attention, it went back to the kitchen to be 'made again'. About fifteen minutes later it re-emerged looking exactly the same with the addition of three ice cubes. The soup was still tepid and the tortellini were still uncooked. We drank the soup and left the raw pasta. I refrained from mentioning that the soup was tasteless as I thought that might be a bit much.....but there was no garlic, no punch and no zing. It was a bit like a tinned tomato soup left to cool a bit. The starters were removed from the bill.
The first soup - you can tell the pasta is uncooked just by the lack of 'glisten'.
The second soup - spot the ice-cubes!For the main course I was going to chose the Pan fried sea bass, vanilla mash, butternut squash, hazelnut crusted scallop (£17.95) as I love sea bass and scallops are always a real treat. While I was pondering two portions of this dish arrived at the table next to us and there was the biggest serving of mash you could imagine with two tiny little fillets of bass - it really didn't look like £17.95's worth so I changed my mind and chose instead Hake wrapped in Parma ham, broccoli puree, roasted potatoes, red wine jus (£15.95) which turned out to be an excellent choice. The portion of hake was very substantial, thick, white and flaky. The Parma ham was just the right side of salty and meaty, the broccoli puree which I didn't fancy at all was lovely. I'd ordered new potatoes rather that roast and they were obviously reheated as they were too soft and squashy, but I didn't really want spuds at all, so wasn't too bothered. Peter had duck which he'd been informed would be cooked pink, but it wasn't. He declined to mention it. We drank a very nice bottle of French Voignier (£18.95) which wasn't sufficiently chilled and had to be put in a wine bucket to cool further, this had to sit on the floor as there wasn't room on the table.
For pudding we both had chocolate mousse which was delicious, very dark and with that lovely French texture which comes from not using cream in the recipe, just eggs and butter (I didn't ask, but it's how the mousse I make at home feels). It was rather bizarrely and pointlessly served with stale popcorn dotted around the plate - I don't know if I missed something there, but I didn't get it at all! We had a glass each of delicious sticky wine - Muscat I think it was, perfectly chilled and seriously yummy.
Then there was the birthday 'cake' which was a shot glass of elderflower Eton mess with a very nice raspberry sorbet and a chorus of Happy Birthday from the two waiters!
So not a perfect evening but a most enjoyable one!Monday, 29 June 2009
Have a Seat
I found this unloved armchair lurking in the wastelands near Piccadilly Station a couple of weekends ago and took some snaps with my iPhone, which were of course, terrible. I had my camera with me on my way out of town on Sunday and remembered to pass by again and snap it properly.
There's an unexpected beauty to it.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Long time no blog!
It's been a whole six days since I last blogged - a recent record I think.
Since then the Etsy Yart Sale has been and gone and I sold two full price prints and a digital collage sheet, neither featured in the Sale, so it was better for me as I didn't have to knock 50% off anything! I also made a sale on Folksy after being there for just a few days, so I was, as you can imagine, a happy bunny. No sales since though!
We had a great weekend out and about in very fine weather in Manchester. We had our traditional Saturday lunch at Al Faisal's with Adam (chicken and lamb tikka, kofta kebabs, chick peas, rice and salad which were, as usual totally delicious and stupidly priced at less than £15 for all three of us).
Sunday saw us and three chums at the famous Gorton Monastery which was listed in the 100 most endangered sites in the world and has recently been saved from total collapse and ruin but vast sums of money and it's all very fascinating.
From there we continued the cultural theme and went to the Whitworth Art Gallery for lunch at the excellent cafe (we did have a look around afterwards to walk off the splendid brownies). I had a very nice bruschetta with feta, new season courgettes, peas and mint followed by a wicked brownie and pot of tea.
Then the cultural tour continued as we navigated our way over to the back of beyond near Picadilly station to visit the Rogue Artist's Studio Open Day for which we'd picked up a flyer at the Whitworth. It was in the scuzziest, grottiest, most mouldering mill I've seen for a while and it inevitably unleashed a photographing frenzy in all of us, so much so that we missed most of the show inside as it (rather irritatingly) closed early as it was Sunday. More fun outside I think!
Since then the Etsy Yart Sale has been and gone and I sold two full price prints and a digital collage sheet, neither featured in the Sale, so it was better for me as I didn't have to knock 50% off anything! I also made a sale on Folksy after being there for just a few days, so I was, as you can imagine, a happy bunny. No sales since though!
We had a great weekend out and about in very fine weather in Manchester. We had our traditional Saturday lunch at Al Faisal's with Adam (chicken and lamb tikka, kofta kebabs, chick peas, rice and salad which were, as usual totally delicious and stupidly priced at less than £15 for all three of us).
Sunday saw us and three chums at the famous Gorton Monastery which was listed in the 100 most endangered sites in the world and has recently been saved from total collapse and ruin but vast sums of money and it's all very fascinating.
From there we continued the cultural theme and went to the Whitworth Art Gallery for lunch at the excellent cafe (we did have a look around afterwards to walk off the splendid brownies). I had a very nice bruschetta with feta, new season courgettes, peas and mint followed by a wicked brownie and pot of tea.
Then the cultural tour continued as we navigated our way over to the back of beyond near Picadilly station to visit the Rogue Artist's Studio Open Day for which we'd picked up a flyer at the Whitworth. It was in the scuzziest, grottiest, most mouldering mill I've seen for a while and it inevitably unleashed a photographing frenzy in all of us, so much so that we missed most of the show inside as it (rather irritatingly) closed early as it was Sunday. More fun outside I think!
Monday, 25 May 2009
Eurocultured 2009
We had fun at Eurocultured in Manchester yesterday, breaking with most Bank Holiday traditions the weather was perfect, bright, sunny and hot - too hot for me, but I'm feeble. This festival has been going on for about six years I think, just around the corner from where we used to live. They close off a couple of narrow streets under the railway bridge and fill it with graffiti and street artists, bands, craft stands, food and other cool people. I'm really not a festival type but this is just about my scale, nice and small we saw lots of great live art in progress, some strange men in organge jumpsuits reciting poetry and playing ukuleles and jumping around.....we had a great freshly cooked in front of us cajun chicken wrap and the first Pimms of the season. Most enjoyable!
Monday, 27 April 2009
Flowers after the rain
I popped out to explore some localish gardens for the first time this afternoon. It had been raining all day and the tulips were sodden and sparkling with raindrops in the sunshine.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Chips!
., originally uploaded by multum in parvo..
After the Etsy gathering at the Craft Centre this morning, I found Peter gleefully enjoying fish and chips at a nice trad chippy round the corner on Tib Street it was really bright and sunny in there and the chips I pinched were very fine indeed.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Featured and Manchester Photos.
My Ministry of Silly Walks print has been featured on the Burgundy District Studio Blog today which is splendid news as it's a really stylish blog with many interesting makers getting their fifteen minutes of fame.
I had a great weekend from a photographic point of view, I was out and about all afternoon on Saturday in the seedier bits of Manchester with my camera and took 200 pictures of various pieces of graffiti, bricked up doors and windows, rotten wood and abandoned chips etc.....I have strange taste in locations! Here's a sample of the results:
I had a great weekend from a photographic point of view, I was out and about all afternoon on Saturday in the seedier bits of Manchester with my camera and took 200 pictures of various pieces of graffiti, bricked up doors and windows, rotten wood and abandoned chips etc.....I have strange taste in locations! Here's a sample of the results:
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Faded
The Northern Quarter in Manchester is the old rag trade area, there are still a few trade showrooms and trimmings shops, but it's all vanished all apart from some of the old signs which still linger on various walls. I should try and capture as many as I can before they are all cleaned off or just vanish.
Saturday, 28 February 2009
It's Saturday and we've no obligations for the whole weekend which is a rare thing in our busy lives. So we've decided to visit one of our localish art galleries and wallow in some cultural delights this morning. In Salford which is just a stone's throw from the centre of Manchester we're lucky enough to have the excellent Lowry arts centre which has many galleries and three great theatre spaces. For some reason I have yet to see a production there and really don't get to the galleries as often as I should but today we shall. There are two photography exhibitions on, one is A Long Exposure: 100 Years of Guardian Photography and another which was recommended to us by a photographer friend and I see from the website that there's also a show about pop-ups which should be great fun. Just over the river is the stunning Imperial War Museum North which was designed by Daniel Libeskind and is really impressive.
And to add to all the swirling creativity I had an email this morning telling me that I was featured in this splendid Treasury:
I love the combination of the turquoise and red, it's one of my favourites which you can possibly tell as there are two of my pictures here! I'm not usually a fan of photographs with added text, but how could I not love this fabulous kitty pic by Free Mind Shop?
photo $15
And to add to all the swirling creativity I had an email this morning telling me that I was featured in this splendid Treasury:
I love the combination of the turquoise and red, it's one of my favourites which you can possibly tell as there are two of my pictures here! I'm not usually a fan of photographs with added text, but how could I not love this fabulous kitty pic by Free Mind Shop?
photo $15I'm going to lower some of my prices as an experiment, my sales have dropped right off since Xmas and as I'm getting plenty of Treasuries, heart etc I know it's not because people don't like my work so I'm wondering if the change in exchange rates has had an impact on my prospective customers shopping budgets?
Monday, 10 November 2008
Friday, 4 July 2008
Late Sunday Lunch at Carluccio's, Manchester
I've felt faintly guilty that since I changed the name of this relatively new blog to reflect my passion for food, I've made not one single foodie post.....and that includes all of the delicious food we ate in Japan.
So I'm starting now, but not with Japan!
We were away for the weekend in Morecambe for a wedding at the newly refurbished and restored Midland Hotel and by the time we arrived back in Manchester the afternoon after the main event, we were famished and I knew that there was nothing at all in the fridge to make a meal with - and when I say that, there really isn't as I am the self-confessed queen of making a meal out of nothing. We decided to go to our favourite Indian cafe, Al Faisal's for some of their delicious chicken tikka and the usual accompaniments of chick peas, rice, salad and some grilled minced lamb, but that area of town is currently in disarray due to the roads being dug up. By the time the traffic let us through, the shutters had just gone down. So we had to start again in our aim to eat. Carluccio's was our next prospect and we planned to meet our chum Adam there to have a gossip. Eventually we arrived about an hour after arriving in Manchester and we were suitably famished.
I've a funny relationship with Carluccio's, I think the stuff they sell in the shop is really good and great quality adn their deli counter is wonderful, but I'm always somewhat dissapointed with the menu, I've never quite put my finger on it, but that's the way it is.
Peter and I ordered the following to share as a starter:
It was mostly very nice, the caponata was deliciously rich, the pesto in the peppers was lovely (Carluccio's pesto is the only shop bought one I ever buy, it's really very good indeed), the green beans were a bit of a non event with tasteless mint, there were a few massive caperberries which is always a good thing and some very nice olives. Served with two dry slices of ciabatta. It was a just what we wanted and fairly filling.
It's the main course I have trouble chosing at these restaurants, I often find the pasta dishes dull and tastless, the risottos are generally okay but far to big, rich and calorific for my liking, so I often rely on the specials as I did on this occasion.
So I'm starting now, but not with Japan!
We were away for the weekend in Morecambe for a wedding at the newly refurbished and restored Midland Hotel and by the time we arrived back in Manchester the afternoon after the main event, we were famished and I knew that there was nothing at all in the fridge to make a meal with - and when I say that, there really isn't as I am the self-confessed queen of making a meal out of nothing. We decided to go to our favourite Indian cafe, Al Faisal's for some of their delicious chicken tikka and the usual accompaniments of chick peas, rice, salad and some grilled minced lamb, but that area of town is currently in disarray due to the roads being dug up. By the time the traffic let us through, the shutters had just gone down. So we had to start again in our aim to eat. Carluccio's was our next prospect and we planned to meet our chum Adam there to have a gossip. Eventually we arrived about an hour after arriving in Manchester and we were suitably famished.
I've a funny relationship with Carluccio's, I think the stuff they sell in the shop is really good and great quality adn their deli counter is wonderful, but I'm always somewhat dissapointed with the menu, I've never quite put my finger on it, but that's the way it is.
Peter and I ordered the following to share as a starter:
Antipasto di Verdure £9.95
Roasted halved peppers filled with pesto, fresh green bean salad with mint, caponata, oven-roasted tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella.
Roasted halved peppers filled with pesto, fresh green bean salad with mint, caponata, oven-roasted tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella.
It was mostly very nice, the caponata was deliciously rich, the pesto in the peppers was lovely (Carluccio's pesto is the only shop bought one I ever buy, it's really very good indeed), the green beans were a bit of a non event with tasteless mint, there were a few massive caperberries which is always a good thing and some very nice olives. Served with two dry slices of ciabatta. It was a just what we wanted and fairly filling.
It's the main course I have trouble chosing at these restaurants, I often find the pasta dishes dull and tastless, the risottos are generally okay but far to big, rich and calorific for my liking, so I often rely on the specials as I did on this occasion.
Saltimbocca di Pollo £9.95
Chicken Breast Wrapped in Parma Ham served with Pesto Potatoes and Rocket.
I really don't like Parma ham but I decided no to ask them to cook the dish without as I really wasn't in the mood for a battle and I suspect that they wouldn't have done it very graciously so I just hoped that it would taste like bacon. It didn't taste like bacon, but had the very piggy taste I dislike about so many 'premium' hams, but it didn't really spoil the dish for me as the chicken was very good. Tender, tasty and plentiful served with perfectly cooked waxy potatoes with just a hint of pesto - I'd have liked more of that but then I can eat vast amounts of the green goo. The hot, wilted rocket was a surprise as I had been expecting a salad, it was much better than a salad as it soaked up the very abundant winey, buttery sauce very well indeed.
Overall it was a good meal when we were really in need of one, satisfying, pretty enough for me to want to take photos of it, reasonably priced and we'll inevitably go back as it's on our local circuit. Oh, the service was nice and relaxed and friendly too.
Carluccio’s
3 Hardman Square,
Manchester,
M3 3EB
Tel. 0161 839 0623
Chicken Breast Wrapped in Parma Ham served with Pesto Potatoes and Rocket.
I really don't like Parma ham but I decided no to ask them to cook the dish without as I really wasn't in the mood for a battle and I suspect that they wouldn't have done it very graciously so I just hoped that it would taste like bacon. It didn't taste like bacon, but had the very piggy taste I dislike about so many 'premium' hams, but it didn't really spoil the dish for me as the chicken was very good. Tender, tasty and plentiful served with perfectly cooked waxy potatoes with just a hint of pesto - I'd have liked more of that but then I can eat vast amounts of the green goo. The hot, wilted rocket was a surprise as I had been expecting a salad, it was much better than a salad as it soaked up the very abundant winey, buttery sauce very well indeed.Overall it was a good meal when we were really in need of one, satisfying, pretty enough for me to want to take photos of it, reasonably priced and we'll inevitably go back as it's on our local circuit. Oh, the service was nice and relaxed and friendly too.
Carluccio’s
3 Hardman Square,
Manchester,
M3 3EB
Tel. 0161 839 0623
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