Viet Shack & Siam Smiles Cafe, Manchester

Two of the current venues receiving adulation from the Manchester based bloggers are Viet Shack based in Arndale Market and Siam Smiles Cafe in Chinatown who serve up Vietnamese and Thai food respectively.

Mrs Nom is a regular at Viet Shack for lunch and for the price it provides a refreshing alternative to regular sandwiches. Billed as Vietnamese street food the summer rolls with king prawn are light and packed with vermicelli and vegetables, they are great paired with the house made peanut sauce.

The bánh mì baguettes are one of the signature dishes of Vietnam and this version with chicken and pickled vegetables. The flavours of this were much more vibrant and interesting than ham and cheese sandwiches.

Out of all the dishes that we have tried the one that did not live up to the hype was the beef on rice, we found the beef a little dry.

Overall decent for a quick lunch but we can't wait until they branch out in their own space in the Northern Quarter. We've not had many pleasant experiences in Arndale Market, with limited seating and people generally leaving the tables in rotten states with rice all over the table and a lack of cleaners. Probably the most off putting is people going from table to table begging for money or food, not that we are chastising them for doing so but it is not something you want to encounter whilst eating.

Siam Smiles Cafe is essentially a supermarket with tables along the side offering a range of Thai dishes. The Thai language menu on the reverse side of the English menu is a little longer which amused me, whilst Chinese restaurants tend to have whole different menus altogether for Westerners!

We ordered a range of dishes to share including noodle and rice plates which were all a little disappointing. Kow moo krob, crispy pork belly with rice and pork sauce was quite bland with the pork belly a tad burnt and a surprisingly small portion. The kow ka moo with braised pork joint fared a little better but the advertised Thai broccoli didn't make it to the plate, being replaced with cucumber.

The two yellow noodle dishes we tried were kuai tiew roast duck soup with morning glory and bean sprout and kuai tiew moo dang, with roast red pork, sliced pork balls, bean sprouts, spring onion and choi sum.

The only dish that stoodout was a spicy mixed seafood salad with mussels, prawns and squid. With the flavours being interesting and with just the right amount of kick in the chilli.

Perhaps being Chinese and regularly eating quality roasted three meats has had an impact on my opinions on the rice and noodle dishes. The dishes are priced quite competitively at £5.50 and up but the portion sizes reflect it.

Moretti Gran Tour, Manchester

We were invited to the Manchester leg of the Moretti Gran Tour held by Birra Moretti featuring some of the top Italian street food vendors from London in conjunction with beer from the hosts. Held at the old Granada Studios the event was mainly indoors with a few stalls outside. Although I’m not a keen drinker of beer, Mr Nom was happily gulping down bottles of Birra Moretti in the hot weather.

Instead I was more interested in the street food on offer which included arancini balls by Arancini Brothers The porcini and taleggio was our favourite of the two on offer, the other containing tomato, saffron and mozzarella.

Pasta e Basta served up two variations of gnocchi, a beetroot version for the veggies and one with slow braised pork shoulder. I enjoyed the beetroot gnocchi more out of the two especially because of the creamy gorgonzola sauce.

Our favourite stall had to be Gurmetti who served up torta frittas. Extremely light puffed dough topped with thinly sliced pork cheek and served with parmesan cheese on the side. This was the only stall where we had seconds and we will be sure to visit them on Leather Lane next time we are down in London. 

The Cheeky Italian were serving panzerotti fritti. Deep fried calzone to order with pork & beef meatballs, tomato sauce and fontina cheese, the casing looked really heavy but it was lighter than expected. 

Outside Pizza Pilgrims were whipping up margarita pizzas. Although amazingly we witnessed that some people felt the two minute wait for the pizza to cook in the wood fired oven was too long and joined other queues which were even longer!  We weren’t complaining however as it meant we got our pizza fix quicker. The most popular stall of the night was probably Forza Win serving up porchetta sandwiches, the glistening and charred meat looked good on the spit roast but we were too full to try it.

Onto dessert which was provided by the popular Gelupo, which has to be some of the best gelato I’ve had in the UK. I was craving this the minute I saw the stall but I knew I had to try the savoury food first. I was a bit greedy and ordered three flavours during the first visit. All the flavours were too tempting so I requested smaller scoops of melon, which was so pure and my favourite, mint stracciatella and pistachio. I made Mr Nom go back for seconds. However to my surprise he came back with full sized scoops of ricotta & sour cherry and blood orange which were ideal to cool off in the sun.

What a great event it was, it gave us a little taste of Italy and if this is what we can expect to find in Italy then it will be high on our next holiday list. 

On The Bab, London

Continuing the Korean trend around Shoreditch, On The Bab brings Korean inspired street food to the area. Situated on Old Street it is only a couple of minutes from Jubo on Rivington Street. I visited last week on the first night of its soft launch where 50% was offered off the food bill. Occupying a small space tables are packed tightly together with a small wall facing bar table to make the best use of the space. An open kitchen provides diners full a view of the theatrics of the dishes being prepared.

Sticking to the small dishes section of the menu I had to order my favourite Korean dish, Yangyum chicken. Served with crush peanut and a sweet spicy sticky sauce this is one of my guilty pleasures. The chicken was nice and moist and the sauce was perfectly balanced between sweet and spicy. Coupled with ice cold Hite this is one of lifes simple pleasures.

Being a fan of beef bulgogi I ordered it from the On The Buns section of the menu, not fancying a filling rice dish.  The fluffy buns were much bigger than I had anticipated and were a bit messy to eat with the sauces breaking up the bun, the beef however was not as flavoursome as I hoped with it being bulgogi.

Other dishes that had me intrigued were the Bab Twigim, described as Korean style kimchi and cheese arancini with koba spicy sauce. These came piping hot straight from the fryer and were very additive. Cheese and kimchi with rice seemed a strange combination but worked quite well together.

From the Twitter feed I noted that the plum tea was a big seller so I had to see what the fuss was about. Not being very well during the week this was the perfect drink, hot sweet fragrant plum tea. This was seriously soothing without being too sweet.

Other dishes I tried included the classic Jap Chae and pan fried chicken dumplings. The glass noodles were topped with egg which was new to me, the dumplings however were pretty average. Some of the bigger dishes on the menu look quite interesting including stews and bibimbaps. They were also very generous portions from what I could see.

Mughli, Manchester

We don’t often try Indian/Pakistani cuisine; this post is the first of its kind on the blog following a visit to Mughli on Wilmslow Road, Manchester.  One of the reasons being that Mrs Nom and hot food do not mix well, we broke the trend however following glowing reviews and the introduction of an interesting menu with smaller plates showcasing Indian/Pakistani street food.

Anticipating the heat from the food we ordered a jug of mango lassi rich in yoghurt along with refreshing watermelon lemonade to help cool Mrs Noms taste buds when the going would inevitably get too tough for her.  The drinks menu has a large range of cocktails and mocktails on offer. 

Like a kid in a sweetshop we ended up ordering too many smaller dishes as starters including Pani Puri, beautiful parcels filled with chickpea and potato chaat topped with sweet yoghurt, red onions and pomegranate seeds. These were light and fresh helping to cool down the fiery sensations from the other dishes. Gunpowder chips, chilli sweet potato fries which packed a punch. The tamarind masala fish, chunks of masala battered haddock in a chilli tamarind & lime dressing had the biggest kick of the all the dishes and we were thankful for the mango lassi.

Halloumi menander, battered and fried spicy cheese pieces were a joy.  The Kati roll, generous amounts of smokey tandoori chicken pieces with spinach and red onions in a wrap.  It was so packed with chicken that we felt full after the starters and were dreading the rest of the meal. We skipped the charcoal pit section of the menu, but made a mental note as a must order next time after seeing the mixed grill arrive on the next table.

We chose two curries and a garlic naan, we were relieved to see reasonable potions of deboned lamb shank nihari and butter chicken with a couple slices of naan.  We were worried incase a large manhole cover sized piece of bread appeared as we had experienced at Akbars.  The nihari was filled with big chunky pieces of tender lamb which finished me off, the spices were subtle with the bone marrow juices showcasing the lamb. The fragrant butter chicken was a rich creamy dish and we struggled to make a dent in this and ended up having it boxed up to take away.

Mughli is far from the old school curry houses of the past, refreshing it’s offering moving with the times by bringing in delicious street food into a restaurant setting along with the classic curry dishes.

Camp & Furnace - Food Slam Fridays, Liverpool

Camp & Furnace are undoubtedly one of the current pioneers of the Liverpool food and drink scene. Making best use of the large warehouse premises they hold numerous events catering for all sorts of diner. We have previously posted about one of its Social nights, where small plates and sharing are the order of the day.  One of the mainstays introduced in the summer was Food Slam Fridays, a chilled out Friday evening event offering casual food and drink coupled with entertainment.  It has proved to be roaring success evidenced by the fact by the crowds it attracts and that it is still going strong now as we head into Winter.

The main attraction to us is the constant change and innovation in the food offerings; no two weeks are the same.  Sometimes dishes for forthcoming Social nights and supper clubs are tested at the Food Slams.  There is a constant stream of guest stalls, most notably Bakchich before they opened up shop in Bold Street. Over the last few months we have been at numerous Food Slam Fridays, below are a sample of some of the dishes.

A no knives and forks stand served suckling pig with buttered pork gravy and chunky apple chutney (£5), the pork was melt in the mouth and as good as it looked. Apparently the whole suckling pig with head and all sparked some controversy but where do these people think meat comes from! We also chomped away on a cheese fondue (£4) with carrot sticks, gherkins and brioche.

The chippy tea stand served up beer battered sausage hotdogs with chip shop curry sauce (£5). This was rather heavy and salty leaving me feeling uncomfortable and full for hours afterwards!

We first sampled Bakchich at a Food Slam event. We ordered the Chicken shawarma and falafel platter (£6). It was a great platter with an explosion of wonderful flavours.

Sticky chicken with thyme potatoes (£4), a great snack with a pint or two!

At one of the larger Food Slams, I guess they differ in size due to weather and how close it to payday and other commitments etc, the Grand Garden menu was one of our favourite Food Slams.  Some of the dishes were a test run for one of the Social nights.  The highlight being a Sirloin Wellington with mild mushrooms (£7). Displayed as a gorgeous gigantic slab of sirloin encased a golden pasty we were worried the Wellington would be a little dry; but past the first few slices the meat was wonderfully moist and pink and well matched with the wild mushrooms.

Red Mullet with olives, tomatoes and basil (£6), this was a light summer dish, flaky fish with a range of tomatoes; it was a shame the skin was slightly burnt. Always wanting to try green tomatoes it was a bonus to see them presented with the mullet.

A ham hock terrine with pineapple relish and a crispy egg caught our eye, the dish was atractively presented. We particularly enjoyed the pineapple relish and the crispy egg which was lightly fried with a runny yolk. It was a very moreish dish, something worth reordering when it reappears!

Having a break from the food we went on to sample the cocktails at Slam Wars, a competition between Camp & Furnace and Berry and Rye. Mr Nom picked a Clover Club - Bombay Gin shaken with Noilly Prat, fresh lemon juice and raspberry jam. I chose the Aromatic Cherry Aviation -Tanqueray gin shaken with Maraschino liqueur, lemon juice and spiced black cherry syrup. The cocktails were beautiful and the added extras of the chocolate coffee beans were lovely little nibbles.  I’m sorry but I think Berry and Rye just edged the cocktail wars this time. 

We had been eyeing up the Wood Fire pizzas from Maltidas from the beginning. We settled upon the courgette, spinach and goats cheese pizza (£6), the toppings were different to our usual choices. We added a touch of garlic oil to the pizza which definitely lifted the flavours. The pizza was lovely, not heavy on the stomach with just the right dough depth and the toppings were fresh. Mr Nom loved the goat’s cheese and I guess I rather like it too! Normally I don’t like to eat the crust on pizzas but I had no problem with devouring them.

As we still felt peckish, we headed back to Grand Garden for Serano ham, honey and feta (£4) which was a good snack, and the lovely addition of mint leaves adding another flavour to the plate. We ended the evening with a white chocolate and pecan tart (£3). The tart was loaded with pecans, a fabulous dessert and the white chocolate was mellow and not too sweet, perfect!

Our favourite Food Slam to date which was epic given the choice and variety on offer.  We also met Steven Burgess, the food director for the first time and watched him in action as he prepared the most of the dishes.

Another Food Slam saw a Peruvian theme with flamed salmon, fresh lime, chopped tomatoes and passion fruit. It was the first time for me pairing fish with passion fruit; I found it created fresh and interesting flavours. The salmon was just cooked ever so slightly using a blow torch and very zesty lime juice was squeezed onto the fish. 

Chicken wings, spiced salt, tamarind and pomegranate salsa. The pomegranate salsa was great, one I might actually try to make at home.

Salt cold, pickled red onions and toast, it was lovely and not too salty. I have had salt cod before but this was balanced perfectly. I like the addition of pickled onions the acidity to cut through the dish.

A recent trip to the supermarket was side tracked due to a quick excursion to Food Slam. We stopped at the Chippy Tea stand where they were serving scallop & scallop, accompanied with malt vinegar, pea puree and pea shoots. The dish was even presented in one of the polystyrene plates reminiscent of chip shops. The potato scallop would of been better if it deep fried a little more and the scallop was just about seared on both sides. Mr Nom liked the malt vinegar gel as it was set and didn’t run all over the other parts of the dish.

We look forward to seeing what new dishes will be unveiled at future Food Slam Fridays. There is always a good range of dishes which cater for all including vegetarians. So if you’re looking for somewhere to chill after a long week then look no further to Camp & Furnace on a Friday night.