Postcard From...Manchester

A whistle stop tour around Manchester which includes fabulous pastries, doughnuts to devour and enough coffee to keep me wired for days.

First of all, a big welcome to you all! I was blown away by the response to the launch of this newsletter and I am so thrilled you’re all here along for the ride.

This is the first in a series of ‘Postcard From…’ posts that you’ll see in this newsletter, brief dispatches from different cities, which I am lucky enough to visit, and a quick roundup of the places I checked out whilst there. The coffee shop I hung out in, the bakery I fell in love with and anything else I find that I think you’ll find interesting. I leave for a three week work trip across the pond next week so expect a few dispatches from across the states.

Manchester

I have just arrived home after a weekend full of travel, with more trains, tube and bus journeys than I would normally fit into a couple weeks. It’s the end of summer, which means it’s also the end of a busy food festival season. This weekend I was at both the Manchester Food and Drink Festival and, at the opposite end of the country, the Thame Food Festival. Quite often when I’m visiting these towns for festivals, I get no time to explore the town or even enjoy the festival, it’s a quick in and out affair. For the festival in Thame I travelled two hours to get there, was on the stage for a total of 30 minutes, before getting straight back on the train for another 2 hour journey home. Manchester was thankfully a different story. I was there with a bunch of different authors from my book publisher and as we there as a big group, we went out for a wonderful dinner at El Gato Negro, a great Spanish restaurant in the centre of town. But as I hadn’t visited Manchester in  a few years I purposefully booked my travel to have as much time as possible to explore the city, these are some of the places I loved.

Siop Shop

Siop, Welsh for Shop. This almost 70’s vibe bakery, in the city’s Northern Quarter, filled with bright colours and quirky interior design, is rightly known for its doughnuts. Their reputation is well earned as the simple cinnamon sugar doughnut I had, accompanied by an excellent coffee, was classic done by the book, fried excellence. I was only sad to be there on my own as it restricted me to trying only one thing.

Just Between Friends

This coffee shop, a tiny hole in the wall affair, is another favourite in the Northern Quarter. With Assembly as their house coffee and baked goods from Half Dozen Other this is a great place to escape the rain (why does it always seem to rain when I’m in Manchester?).

Pollen Bakery

So good that I went two days in a row. I’ve been to Pollen before but its been so long they’ve had time to move out from their railway arch and open two beautiful bakeries. Their newest is next to the canal, across the water from the Gay Village, in the new Kampus development. Their flagship location, which happens to be my favourite, is also on the canal but over in Ancoats, a little less central but absolutely worth a visit. As I visited twice I was able to try a few different things and it’s easy to see why it’s such a favourite, the quality is incredible, the menu is wide-ranging and the coffee also excellent. I could tell you all about the amazing interior and design and how it’s in a beautiful location but really, all I really need to do is show you the food. If you’re in Manchester this is top of my list of places to check out.

Hashbrown breakfast sandwich with fried egg, cheese & hot sauce served in a soft potato roll