Amma's Canteen

Amma's Canteen - photo courtesy of Amma's Canteen

This is going to be a short and sweet one from me, but I have to tell you guys about this place.

Nestled in between Chorlton and Didsbury (no man's land), opposite the massssive Southern Cemetery graveyard (stay with me, people), is Amma's Canteen. You'll have probably driven past it a few times and not really noticed it, as it's on a row of small shops, easily miss-able with a blink of an eye.

I'd heard a few mumblings about the place on social, and so last Thursday, Hannah, James, Jak and I made the way to no man's land to see what the fuss was about.

First of all, it's BYOB which is great, and even better when you realise you've got a bottle of unopened red from that one weekend where you managed to abstain from drinking.

We went on a Thursday evening and there were about four other tables eating. It's not massive, so definitely book if there's more than four of you. The atmosphere was very chilled and friendly - our waitress was great.

This isn't Indian food as us Brits know it. It's South Indian street food serving small plates... essentially Indian tapas. You won't find any korma here, which is fine by me.

I'll get straight to it, as that's essentially what we did on Thursday - we ordered pretty much everything off the street cart menu bar 4 dishes (I think there are about 14) so we had a LOT of food - but it was so delicious we polished it all off.

They're great as they cater for meat eaters, pescetarians and veggies / vegans alike - there's so much choice. The emphasis really is on flavour rather than the 'meat source', which gets a thumbs up from me.

From memory, we ordered:

Chilli paneer: The paneer was absolutely incredible. Big, chunky and a really generous portion, it came with a gorgeous sauce and lots of veggies- almost like a mini curry. Would have eaten two portions if I didn't have the rest of the menu to devour! My favourite dish..

Masala Vadai (4x pieces of falafel with a red cabbage slaw). Very very flavoursome and not hideously deep fried like some falafel can be.

Spiced Sundal - slow cooked chickpeas with chilli, mango, coconut and lime; really refreshing and I loved the addition of coconut - this was a great side 'filler' dish, but if you're veggie definitely get the paneer and falafel to go with it!

Chicken 65 - apparently this is a famous bar snack in Chennai - deep fried spicy chicken, really, really good!

Tamarind wings - can you ever go wrong with sticky chicken wings?

Beef dukka: slow roast beef, pearl onion and coconut - this was gorgeous, pulled beef with crispy veg - no sauce, but I really liked it dry. Great portion size here too.

Pepper squid - I'm not a massive fan of squid, I have to really be in the mood for it, but I tried a little bit and was pleasantly surprised! Again, comes with loads of peppers and onion (a big win in my eyes!).

Sauteed prawns - king prawns with red chilli, crushed shallots and coconut. These were amazing and the prawns and veggies were coated in a gorgeous light sauce.

Well, you'd think after that we'd be full, but we decided to order "just three" main meals to finish us off.

We ordered two dosa's (Indian pancakes) - one beef and one potato and spinach. They're massive and come with a nice dipping sauce. I'd never get pancakes as a main usually, but these were great.

Jak also ordered an amazing chicken curry pot - spicy, pulled chicken pieces in a gorgeous spicy, thick sauce that was literally "me in a dish" - it came  with pancakes, not rice as a side.

One thing I'd say is that you really get the feeling that the food has been cooked with care, and passion - does that make sense or just sound odd? To explain a little better, the chef came out and chatted to us for a while and wanted to know where we'd heard about their place (I think he might have been the owner.. could be wrong), and explained why they'd chosen the seemingly random location. He said that they couldn't choose between Didsbury and Chorlton so chose somewhere slap bang in the middle to attract both tribes. Clever, and I bet they've saved a fair bit on rent too!

It was a good 'double date' venue but I also think it would be great as somewhere to come as a group where you can all order loads of bits and share.

It's a fifteen minute walk from Chortlon and probably a bit longer to West Didsbury / Nell Lane, but trust me, it's worth the short Uber ride.

They also feature on a Manchester Confidential article about restaurants locals don't want you to know about - you can read it here.

Their website is ammascanteen.com - check out their menu there.

We'll definitely be back - Indian tapas is amazing!


I'm hopefully going to do a few posts on my favourite restaurant gems, so keep an eye out for more!

Shoryu Ramen

As you enter Shoryu Ramen (which has just opened on Piccadilly, Manchester), you're greeted with a loud gong and the staff cheer your arrival... which was great for us, as we were running 20 minutes late and so were quite thankful that they were so happy to see us!

The place was teeming with people (a great sign), and the atmosphere was stylish, but very relaxed, with white wash stone walls, low hanging lights, gold detail; not to mention being bathed in natural light thanks to its two glass walls.

If you're from Manchester then you'll know that the Piccadilly area really struggles with its reputation (and if you've visited Manchester it's probably the bit in the city centre that made you wonder why you came..), so I'm really pleased it's getting names like Shoryu to tempt people back to spend time there.

Before I get on to the good stuff (spoiler alert: the ramen is incredible), one thing James and I both commented on was how friendly all the staff were. Not just to us, but to every table - chatting away, offering friendly advice and generally being lovely and attentive. They were really busy but always made time to put a smile on people's faces, and that created such a nice atmosphere. Big shout out to Duncan too (Shoryu's answer to Michael McIntyre?!), who was really funny and a great host.

For drinks, James went for the manly Okinawa Sunrise (mint, mango puree, orange, maraschino, red rum and grenadine), and I had the Avocado Nikkei (blended avocado, namazake, pisco, agave syrup and lemon) (FYI I have no idea what namazake or pisco are but the drink tasted lush so there we go).

They both hit the spot perfectly and weren't sickly sweet like some summer inspired drinks can be.

When Duncan was talking through the menu, the wagyu beef bun jumped out at me, as did the pork belly bun... this picture does not do the soft, fluffy bun justice. It was heaven. The pork belly was thick and so tasty - the bun came with a spicy sauce which was just to my taste. The wagyu bun stole the show though, with a gorgeous flavour and really 'light' feel.

Wagyu beef bun

Pork belly bun

Us being us, we also ordered the Duck teriyaki from the jumbo hakata yakitori menu, and the king prawn tempura.

Oh my gosh, I don't know what to start with, duck or prawn. The duck was absolutely amazing - skewered and coated in a gorgeous teriyaki sauce with a slightly crispy skin, it was incredibly moreish.

The tempura on the prawns was lovely and light, not too heavy and worked so well with the big juicy prawns - I was so impressed.

When it came to ramen, we knew we had to get a Tonkotsu - Shoryu specialise in Tonkotsu - a rich pork broth that cooks for 12 hours, and is topped with barbecue pork belly, nitamago egg, kikurage mushrooms, spring onion, sesame, ginger and nori seaweed.

We got the Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu, which came with fried shallots, and it was gorgeous. The soupy broth is soo tasty - you could eat that on its own and be satisfied! The portions are huge and it's a lot of fun watching the person you're with not splash broth everywhere...

I really liked the shallots and spring onions in the pork dish, they brought the flavours to life for me - it's incredible how the noodles pick up all the different flavours.

As I'm a huge (huge huge) fan of Thai inspired cuisine, we also got the Green curry ramen - a really spicy, coconut-y soup with king prawns, chicken karaage (fried), menma (bamboo shoots), nitamago egg, red chillies and of course, loooads of noodles.

My green curry ramen (and teriyaki duck in the chopsticks)

This was my absolute favourite dish and I was gutted at how full I got towards the end as I couldn't finish it! If you like Thai green curry, I promise you you will love this dish.

After a good twenty minutes or so of letting our food go down, more drinks (this time, Asian beer!) and chatting, we were offered dessert. Despite being so full, Duncan persuaded us to try a tiny little Japanese pudding called Mochi (Japanese icecream balls, essentially). James chose salted caramel and I went for sesame. These were the perfect size for having something to satisfy that sweet craving.

Each part of our meal was absolutely delicious, and come on.. how nicely are those ramen bowls presented?! It's a great spot to with friends after work, or to grab a lush meal if you're out shopping or fancy food and drinks and a genuinely friendly service!

Shoryu Ramen kindly invited me down, but you know I wouldn't ever write about or promote a place that I wouldn't go to again - and I really, really urge you to go and check this place out! We'll definitely be back. Thank yooou Shoryu Ramen. 

PS if you're looking for more Asian inspired recipes and reviews in Manchester - here's a few of my others... here, here, here, and here!

Sunday Roast @ Saison, West Disbury

When I left university and waved goodbye to my student house, Didsbury became home. West Didsbury to be precise. It was the first place outside of Bristol that felt homely and comforting and like the sort of place I would like to live.

I must've liked it, as I lived there for three years and am still a huge advocate of everything it has to offer - Burton Road, the river, the cafes, independent shops and restaurants that keep popping up, I love it!

One restaurant I was particularly intrigued by was Saison, having known it as the Violet Hour when I lived there. Anyway, they got in touch with me via a group on Facebook and asked if I'd like to come down and give them a try - and I jumped at the chance to get back on Burton Road!

It was the day after we'd got back from Portugal and although it was still (surprisingly) warm in Manchester, we were both craving something really hearty and homely, so roast dinner it was.

BUT before we tucked into roasts, we ordered drinks & went to town on the starter menu.

We shared two dishes - the five spice chicken lollipops with a hoisin glaze, and the Didsbury eggs.

I was a little nervous about getting the chicken dish as anything meaty described as a lollipop doesn't quite sit right with me but oh my god these were delicious: just look at the detail in the picture above! The meat was so tender and the sauce was a perfect addition.

The Didsbury eggs were phenomenal; I'm partial to a Scotch egg most of the time but these were fab - crunchy on the outer edge, with a soft black pudding sausage middle, wrapped around a boiled quail's egg, with a runny yolk - ideal!

After some lovely rioja and beer for James, our roasts arrived. I went for chicken, and James went for beef. The beef is cooked medium rare and both come with Saison's 'signature stuffing' which.is.LUSHHH. So so good.

You also get a heap of seasonal veg, crispy on the outside / fluffy on the inside potatoes, and a huge Yorkshire pudding. Oh and an insane red wine gravy.

Now, I love holiday food as much as the next person (fresh seafood, abundance of bright fruit & veg etc), but it was so lovely after a week of eating this to tuck into a warming, wholesome roast; I was craving it massively.

We definitely didn't need pudding, but when we saw the specials board mention a chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice-cream and raspberries, we had it have it.

We dove right in and finished it in minutes (there's always room for dessert!). My favourite bit was the gooey layer on top of the cake, mixed with a spoonful of ice-cream. It was delicious. The perfect way to round off a roast!

We sat in the window and watched Burton Road bustle away; it was a great way to see of a Sunday. The atmosphere in Saison is soo chilled and relaxing, I'd absolutely recommend going for a roast, or a cosy drink in the window. Thanks for having me, Saison!


*Saison very kindly paid for my food. I paid for my drinks. All opinions are genuine and have not been influenced by their generosity - they really do do great roasts!

#EatPastaRunFaster @ Vapiano, Manchester

On what would have been a very ordinary Monday evening (dash from work to the gym, sprint it out, dash home, cook, tidy, shower, watch some alright TV before sliding into bed...), I wound up in Vapiano for dinner as part of their #EatPastaRunFaster campaign.

The ethos behind it is to debunk the myth we've been bombarded with over the past few years that carbs are the devil and to show that you can (and should) enjoy carbs as part of a healthy, balanced diet, *especially* if you're training.

I've been upping my running game over the past few weeks, sneaking in two ten milers and a couple of shorter, speedier runs too (#bragger). Now the weather is getting nicer and the evenings are lighter it's much easier to slot running into my workout schedule, and I love it.

I find it such a powerful means of stress relief and I get a real sense of achievement when I've reached a new distance or found a new running route. I've also recently been listening to TED Talks rather than music on long distance runs; I find them really inspiring and 'wholesome' to listen to - you should give it a go!

Anyway. Carbs.

We started off with a tour of the restaurant and got to know how the place works. You're given a chip card, and once you've chosen what you fancy eating, head on over to one of the chef stations and they cook it in front of you.

We had a good choice for seating and chose a high table with an olive tree in the middle.

Despite it being Monday night, the place did start to fill up and there was a lovely, chilled vibe to the place (I imagine this is different on a Saturday lunchtime or if there's a gig on at the Arena, though!).

To start, we went for the Insalata Caprese and the Piatto Antipasti. Oh my god. The mozzarella in the salad took me straight back to a restaurant called Mimi e Coco in Rome; so creamy and perfect against the fruity tomatoes and tart balsamic. I could've eaten that three times over (despite the portion size being HUGE), it was that good. The antipasti was amazing too; a generous helping of grana padano, roast veg, chorizo, salami and Parma ham, as well as a delicious slice of bruschetta. It was the perfect amount and we were both very impressed.

For the main carb fest affair, James went for the calzone (ham, spicy sausage, mushrooms, tomato sauce, mozzarella and chicken).

I went for gamberetti with a tomato and chilli sauce, and spelt spaghetti. Spelt is an ancient grain (a 'cousin' of wheat, if you will..) and so-say boasts more B-vitamins and iron than traditional pasta.

Dolci:

The campaign isn't called #EatCheesecakeGetLean, and we definitely didn't need pudding, but our lovely waiter highly recommended that we try their baked cheesecake (lemon and vanilla cheesecake, baked, served with a strawberry sauce). I also let slip that I was a salted caramel fan, and so out came the Cioccolata bianca (white chocolate and cream on a biscuit base with a salted caramel sauce and honeycomb). We also ended up with white chocolate icecream too, because, why not...

My favourite was the Cioccolata bianca, it was delicious.

I thought I wouldn't like the self-service element to the restaurant but I actually didn't mind it; in fact, it was nice to be able to choose your food at your own pace and I really did enjoy the fact that all the pasta is made fresh right in front of you.

Vapiano kindly treated me to dinner, however as ever, you know the drill, all opinions are very much my own.

Sometimes I feel like I'm in Barcelona..

Fresh fruit juices in la boqueria market - I had plantain + coconut milk... it was delicious.

First up, this post is lengthy one because: there are too many amazing places not to mention here and, a 3 day weekend turned into a 5 day holiday thanks to the French airstrikes.

The trip was made even more special by the fact that James surprised me and said we were going away to our fave spot in "Portugal", so I'd packed for the beach... it only dawned on me (thanks to doctored boarding passes and being so late I didn't have time to think about the departure gate), that we were flying to Barcelona as we were at the gate.

Naturally, as an organised control freak, I was panicking at this stage, thinking (read: accusing) James of looking at the wrong gate number. In fact I was marching up to the front desk to find out exactly where our gate was before James blurted out that we were in fact flying to BCN, and not only that... but he'd organised it with the other halves of some of my closest best friends from Uni, so we were all out there together!

FRIDAY

After an early alfresco continental breakfast of cappuccinos and croissants on a lovely boulevard, we had a quick walk around the neighbourhood before heading over to the apartment to meet everyone.

Our Air b'n'b host Alex recommended we try Vinitus for a lunch, a tapas restaurant on the same street as our apartment. It was fantastic. A decent bottle of red cost nine euros, and the tapas menu was extensive and very well priced.

Favourites included the cod with honey and aioli, crispy camembert, ham egg + rosti potato and the textured chocolate pudding.

Cod with honey + aioli, + crispy camembert @ Vinitus, Barcelona

Iberian ham & egg rosti

Because we hadn't seen in each other in a while (in fact we hadn't been together since the wedding in Thailand), it ended up being quite a drawn out affair with more wine, beer, and a seemingly endless supply of Tapas being summoned to the table to fuel our chatter.

We meandered back up to our apartment - I'm annoyed as the pictures just don't do this place justice! It was in a beautiful building with a large winding staircase leading you into the huge apartment space (four bedrooms, four bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a dining room and open plan kitchen) - we were all blown away. Seriously one of the nicest places I've ever stayed in. It was absolutely vast but in a homely, arty way. Having coffee each day on the balcony was the absolute dream, I'm telling you!

credit: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/10574270

There's more on air bnb here.

The owner, Alex, was great - really top bloke with a great sense of humour, full of brilliant recommendations and very accommodating. If there's 6 or more of you going, you should definitely check this place out. Carrer del Consell de Cent is about a five minute walk away from the placa de catalunya and an amazing location for bars / restaurants and tourist attractions.

We walked everywhere.

I love exploring on foot because you see so much of a city - I definitely appreciate a place more if I've walked around. We were walking around 20,000 -30,000 steps a day, so sensible footwear was a must.. As luck would have it, as well as flip flops for 'Portugal', I'd packed my newest pair of trainers - it was really fortunate actually; the team at Clarks had got in touch a few weeks before asking if I'd like to review a pair of their women's trainers - I'll be honest, at first I was a little skeptical as my memories of Clarks shoes conjures up the back to school days with my mum or dad pressing down on my big toe to see how much room for growing there was, and the chore of having my feet clamped in the measuring apparatus.

Anyway. These were no chore to wear. They were so comfy and haven't rubbed at all, despite me wearing them for five days straight for over eight hours at a time. I'm really impressed with the design - it's a collaboration between Clarks and fashion designer Christopher Raeburn. I love the heel loop tab and the texture of the nubuck (leather).

How nice are they?!

On Friday evening we happened to stumble across something called the VanVan market at the port. It was a gourmet food and drink festival celebrating old vehicles, and tours round in convoy.

Burgers, burritos, waffles, cheese, churros and more, the smells from each stall were amazing. We drank red wine, soaking up the atmosphere and listened to a live band before walking into the Gothic Quarter.

SATURDAY

Running in Barcelona was a great way to explore at pace (and burn off some of the excess tapas / sangria!). I did a 5 and a 6 mile run here over the five days and what I found so beautiful about running was the variety of the terrain. From our apartment I ran down the busy placa de catalunya, down the infamous las ramblas, along the port and up to the beach, mixing bustling boulevards with wide open spaces, pavements and sand.

Nichola + I blew away the cobwebs with a slightly chilly run and came back ready to attack brunch.

We'd heard about Cosmo through Alex. A cafe-cum-contemporary art space, it was brilliantly edgy and just hipster enough to feel like I was back in the northern quarter in Manchester.

Brunch was fab, too:

I opted for 'Munch': toasted bread with oil and salt with avocado, egg and salmon, a cappuccino and an orange, carrot, apple and ginger juice.

I'd definitely recommend this place for brunch or coffee. It was bustling with groups of friends and young families - we were only sorry we couldn't sit outside!

After fueling up on that it was time to get touristy, including a trip to the Sagrada Familia, ascending one of the towers and creeping slowly back down its narrow, winding staircase. Despite not being overtly religious you can't not feel a sense of sublime inside; it's without a doubt a must-do.

Beautiful La Pedrera

For dinner that night, we walked around for ages (maybe an hour?) to try and find somewhere we all wanted to eat, weaving in and out of side streets in the Gothic Quarter and reaching new levels of hangry.

Kate's friend had recommended Palosanto and it was pure chance that we stumbled across it in our time of need.

I'm so glad we did. I had the best patatas bravas I've ever experienced. The atmosphere was great; groups of friends sat at high, long tables and waiters rushing back and forth with hot plates and jugs of sangria.

We followed suit...

James + I shared; patatas bravas (so, so good - crispy potato skin, fluffy inside, with a hot sauce and a garlic aioli sauce)

Iberian ham, olives + tomato, salt and oil on bread (this bread was a common occurrence in BCN in all restaurants, and it was a winner with me!)

Chicken wings (sticky soy sauce was greeeattt).

Spicy peppers (these were ridiculously moreish and amazing when you got a large salt crystal with one)

Egg + potato (I've never eaten so many egg / potato / ham combinations as I did last week - this simple dish works brilliantly and was a firm favourite).

The fried aubergine with honey was insane and I urge you to get this if you ever go.

I can't decide between Vinitus and Palosanto as to which was my favourite tapas restaurant - Vinitus was great and we liked it so much we went twice (and also because it was so close to our flat), every time we walked past the place was so busy. Palosanto was definitely the right place to eat on a Saturday night.


SUNDAY

In my book Sunday's are made for chilling and that's just what we did; after a breakfast of waffles and fresh juices we ambled along avenue diagonal down to the beach to relax...

Barcelona has everything - a busy city feel, a palm tree lined port, a beach, bars, history, art, architecture, amazing food, I could go on... It's the ultimate destination for a getaway - city or beach break!

Fresh fruit at la boqueria

Places we couldn't go to but really wanted to:

• Brunch + Cake - we tried three times to eat here but the wait was too long, the queue was always out the door with groups of people waiting outside. The reviews sound great and the photos look incredible - if you ever get in, let me know how it is!

• Green + Berry - I spotted this little jaunt on a walk to Av. Diagonal, but unfortunately didn't have time to stop. Looks like an amazing place for juices, healthy lunches to go and vegan treats!

Barcelona really reminds me of Nice, I felt so at home after a few days. It was one of the best trips ever, a top weekend! Thank you James + the boiz for surprising us.

Sunset @ the Princess Negresco