Jul 13th 2008
It’s been a week of many ‘meals out’, and I’m starting to feel the strain. Today was Pizza Express with my parents and the niece and nephew (my initial thoughts of salad obviously falling by the wayside). Last night was another good meal at Chilli Banana with friends, who shockingly had never been, so that pitiful situation has now been rectified successfully. And earlier in the week we had what has become a semi-regular girls meal out - a gossip/catch-up over dinner with ‘the girls’ - and also what is turning into an opportunity to gradually eat our way round Wilmslow. [...]
Jul 10th 2008
I fear my resolve may be weakening. If you’d asked me a couple of weeks ago, I was all geared up to go to Summer in the Park this weekend at Platt Fields Park in Manchester. It appears to be a foodie paradise - essentially an opportunity to stuff your face all day courtesy of some of the best restaurants in Manchester, whilst also sampling tasty titbits from a producers market, watching demonstrations from some of the country’s best chefs, and as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also poetry, comedy and a whole music festival part too. (I have to admit to never having heard of most of the bands, but then I’m a foodie, not a muso!).
But, having stared out of the window all week at the rain as it poured, and the wind as it blew, I have to admit that standing in a muddy park with rain dripping off the end of my nose whilst trying to eat from a soggy plate is currently not up there in the ‘things I must do this weekend’ list. Oh dear. We’ve not bought tickets yet, but we’ll be watching the weather closely over the next couple of days - it might be a case of turning up on the day if the sun is shining. Watch this space.
Update - Saturday: We wimped out. It’s pouring!!
Jun 25th 2008
We were going to the cinema tonight, but we got fooled into thinking the sun was going to shine longer than five minutes and decided to stay home. The sun has of course now disappeared, so I’m watching the football on TV, with a tall G&T and a box of chocolate fingers. Classy.
We did manage some culture on Saturday night though, when we ventured out to the Library Theatre in Manchester, to see an Alan Ayckbourn play. This presented us with the quandary of where to eat that was nearby and would cater for an early sitting. [...]
Jun 15th 2008
I decided we needed a bit of ‘culture’ today, so we went to visit the Lindow Man exhibition at Manchester Museum. We’d had a late brunch so didn’t bother to eat before we went out. Subsequently come 3pm I was starving and losing interest in looking at bog men, Egyptian mummies and stuffed animals. We nipped across the road to KRO Bar to grab a sandwich and enjoy a beer out in the sunshine. H’s falafal and tzatziki wrap looked tasty, and the chips were good, but my ploughman’s sandwich was deeply disappointing. It may be a small gripe, but having some cheese in there is always a good start!
The sandwich came on two rolls (ciabatta? not sure) with frilly lettuce poking out all round like a little valance sheet on a bed. This misled me into thinking it would be a nice, juicy, salad-filled sandwich. Wrong. There was indeed a big piece of lettuce, but there was also a huge amount of pickled onion, and a massive slathering of Branston pickle. And on top of this? The measliest, tiniest sprinkling of grated cheese they could possibly get away with. It was barely there. If I’d closed my eyes I would’ve missed it. Depressing. Very depressing. I mean really, how hard can a ploughman’s sandwich be?!
Jun 15th 2008
The first time I visited my brother in Brooklyn, I was slightly envious of the ‘neighbourhood restaurants’ they had at their disposal. H has reminded me that these do well because nobody in New York has a big enough kitchen to cook in. Be that as it may, I’ve always wished I lived somewhere that had eateries like this - not chains, not gastro pubs, but individual, one off restaurants catering for the locals.
A while back we discovered that just such a venue exists in Macclesfield. [...]
