Reviews

There was nothing romantic about Valentine’s Day 2012 for me. The date of my worst ever experience as a food blogger at Taps in Manchester’s Great Northern. I swore I’d never return; something I stuck to for two and a half years, even when asked directly by the restaurant. When I did go back last month it wasn’t because I was asked …

I’ve eaten plenty of piri piri chicken in my time and not all at Nando’s either, much of it in Portugal. Sadly it’s often disappointing though, even in its native land it can be dry and flavourless. So on my last trip I was determined to find the best piri piri chicken in Portugal and I think I actually did! It was …

If you’d told me in the late 90’s that I’d be making regular trips to bowling alleys in 15 years time, I wouldn’t have believed you for a second. I wasn’t very good at bowling admittedly but mainly because of the types of places we had available back then. You know those bright, garish mainstream chains – usually on retail parks – full …

Driving back to our apartment after a day of swimming, crazy golf and feeding Llamas at the rather odd Krazy World Zoo in Algoz, we stumbled upon Restaurante Sobretempero. It’s easy to miss though, as from the outside it looks more like a convenience store than a restaurant. But I’m glad we found it, as it turned out to be one …

I’ve lost count of the number of supper clubs I’ve attended since my first just over 12 months ago. But although there’s been loads, the majority have been run by the same few people (familiarity and all that; believe it or not I’m not generally mad about meeting strangers), so I’m always on the look out for exciting new ones …

I’ve always loved BrewDog; their beer and their bars. I used to love their food too; the BBQ menu was fantastic, featuring: tender ribs, brilliant burnt beans and a simply stunning smoked mac ‘n’ cheese. And I’m not ashamed to say I’ve made several visits purely to get my fix of their awesome fried pickles. So you can imagine my disappointment …

I had no intention of eating at the Davenport Arms in Woodford when I arrived, in fact, 15 minutes earlier I had no idea it even existed. It was a beautiful midsummer day in July, most of which I’d spent wandering around nearby Woodford Garden Centre before stuffing my face on fine produce purchased there during a picnic at Woodford …

I’d never claim to be a wine expert – in fact, i’m much more of a beer geek these days – but I have drunk plenty of fancy wines in some posh restaurants and always try to at least make an effort when buying wine. So when I was invited to the recent Tesco Wine Fair it seemed a great opportunity to …

What better way to recover from a long and tiring day at popular Algarve water park Slide & Splash than with freshly grilled seafood in the sun. That’s exactly what I needed and what I got at ‘A Paleta’ in Lagoa, just a ten minute drive from said water park. A Paleta doesn’t have a website and isn’t much to look at …

Last November I was incredibly excited when Lucha Libre brought their exciting Mexican food over from Liverpool to a large, plush new second site in Manchester’s Great Northern Tower. Sadly it didn’t quite live up to the standards of it’s older sibling when I visited, though to be fair it was in the restaurants first week of opening. I always …

Within 30 minutes of landing at Faro airport on Portugal’s Algarve coast there was only one thing on my mind, Piri-Piri chicken! Thanks to a bit of research before leaving home I had a couple of recommendations; after the first turned out to not exist or at least proved impossible to find I ended up at Restaurante Senhor Frango in …

If you’ve been to any new restaurant, event or craft beer shop in Manchester this year you can’t have missed the influx of beers from Hawaiian brewery Kona. Although I must admit to getting a little bored of seeing them absolutely everywhere, I do enjoy most of them. So when I was invited to Northern Quarter rib joint Cane & …

After the success of my first event with Great Ale, Year Round in Bolton Market’s Lifestyle Hall (Beer & Cheese Pairing) we couldn’t wait to put on another. We’d had many requests to repeat the cheese event – something I’d love to do in the future – but I was keen to do something completely different first. This time I wanted …

If you follow restaurants on Twitter like I do, you probably know all about Sticky Walnut in Chester. Owner and head chef Gary certainly has an interesting approach to social media. His self-deprecating tweets are incredibly refreshing while his rants at bad TripAdvisor ‘reviews’ are highly amusing, but it’s the fascinating insight into Gary’s professional (and sometimes personal) life that I follow …

This time last year i’d just been to my first ever supper club at the home of fellow bloggers who I now consider friends, Jamie and Anna, aka Manchester Foodies. Since then I’ve attended many others, with one of the highlights being their amazing American Feast back in February. I enjoy their supper clubs so much I’d go no matter what the theme, but …