Almost Famous NQ - Manchester

Suffering from one of the worst hangovers of my entire life, what better time for me to head to my local burger bar and see what they've been up to? To say the previous 7 days for Almost Famous had been a week to forget was something of an understatement and I was intrigued to see whether all this bad publicity may have had much effect on business.

Over the past week they'd suffered from the following horrendous press:

First, the Great Northern branch was shut for 24 hours after a visit by the Councils Environmental Health Team (as reported by the MEN here)

Then they were hammered by various bloggers and the national press for a dubious display in the toilets of the new Leeds branch, here and here amongst others.

Personally, I think there has been more than enough commentary on both of these issues and (for now at least), this blog is solely focused on restaurant and food reviews so forgive me for not wading in this time and instead trying to focus on any positives I could find. 

Having been to the Great Northern branch of Almost Famous on several occasions (including a visit which I blogged about previously here) I decided to stumble into to the latest addition to their family at the far end of Edge Street, which is above another restaurant in their ever-growing empire - Lust, Liquor, Burn. Strangely, the entry is slightly tucked away in that there is no clear signage above the door and the only give-away as to where the entrance was hidden was a doorman and member of staff armed with a clipboard directing people upstairs. I suppose they're still in that situation where being even vaguely hidden is all part of the excitement but when you've got a giant restaurant at the other end of the city personally I think that boat has slightly sailed. 

So had the press they'd had to deal with made much of a difference? It was actually quite difficult to judge as I was in and out fairly quickly (quite literally fast food) but it was very quiet early evening on the Friday night. It was the usual order at the bar with your table number job and for 2 burgers, a side of fries, a cocktail and a soft drink the bill came to £27 which was certainly reasonable. 

Burger wise I went for the Famous Burger - their 'standard' toned down burger consisting of a beef patty, american style burger cheese, a bit of salad (lettuce, sliced tomato and red onion) then the big mac style burger sauce bringing everything together nicely.

Triple nom - this one is a double burger, with cheese slices, then a big helping of pulled pork soaked in barbecue sauce and then more of the big mac style 'famous sauce' jammed into the brioche bun.

It probably helps that I'm familiar with the menu now so know what to order, but the burgers seemed a lot more under control and not bursting at the seams like they used to be - a real positive for me of this was that the great flavour of the meat was not completely overwhelmed by the toppings.  The options seemed to be almost identical burger-wise to that in the Great Northern branch (albeit burgers cooked rare are an option here) with a few new sides and a special burger of the week which in this case was a Greek option which definitely including Tzatziki - the mind boggles. I appreciate that they know their market and a lot of the attraction to AF is these over the top too big to eat jaw locking burgers but they just leave me totally cold. 

The unexpected highlight of this whole meal was the "Love Hate" fries which appeared to be normal French fries mixed with a few sweet potato fries and then absolutely lathered in a mixture of meltd butter and Marmite. I adore Marmite and this took me immediately back to 1000's of slices of toast I've eaten over the years with exactly the same topping - it's total genius for Marmite lovers out there.

I have a giant soft spot for MeatLiquor who are now just a short train journey away in Leeds (as of the 9th September) and since they are heavily rumoured to be rapidly approaching Manchester I'd assumed in all honesty this would probably be my last visit to AF. But despite all of the self-induced bullshit that seems to be surrounding them at the moment at the heart of things they're still churning out fantastic tasting burgers and those Marmite fries alone will ensure I'll be back for some more before long.  

 

Byron Burger - Manchester

I hadn't been to a branch of Byron for several years but was off down to a First Chop brewery social and found myself on that side of town in a dire situation (Fire and Salt BBQ had just announced they were cancelling serving food down there last minute);  therefore in a desperate panic for some fatty carbs before drinking any beer. So, would Byron save the day?  

It was a lovely summers day and they were making the best possible use of the huge space they have with the outdoor tables on John Dalton Street well filled. The huge doors on the side of the restaurant were wide open which resulted in a lovely breeze within the restaurant, it was a really genuinely pleasant spot to sit off at.

330ml cans of beer for just under a fiver always feel like a bit of a piss take, I know it's only a little shy of the 375ml in a bottle but cans just feel so cheap. I got stuck into the Byron Pale, which is brewed by the Camden Town Brewery and was perfectly serviceable but nothing particularly special - it really reminded me of a slightly watered down very of the Camden Town Pale.

Burger wise this time I tried the Classic Byron which features the Byron meat patty with cured bacon, a slice of mature cheddar and the usual garnish (lettuce, tomato, red onion) and sauces. A well balanced burger that wasn't so overloaded that it didn't hold together under eating pressure but that still felt like substantial. On this evidence for a chain they're doing things right and sticking to their principles of doing 'proper burgers' well.

One thing that I was surprised about was that they wouldn't cook my burger rare; medium or well done being the only options. I just had a look at the website and there's a message stating "We believe hamburgers taste best when cooked medium, but have also been happy to cook them however our customers want upon request. However, following the intervention of one local authority, we’re now going to have to say ‘no’ to the small number of you who want your hamburger rare." A real shame, a rare burger for me is a thing of beauty whilst I appreciate there are risks involved (however minimal) I just prefer the taste of a blue burger - perhaps this is something i'll just have to get used to when not in control of my own meat.

The Special at the time of visiting was the Miami Slice and was made up of the standard Byron burger, covered with a handful of crispy potato fries, what tasted like the standard Byron American cheese and hot sauce that was apparently created by a thin layer of melted Nduja tucked away that gave the whole burger an oily but not unpleasant finish. The bun was a sourdough bun but was very floury, more like a bun from a traditional british bakery than a typical burger restaurant. The contents of the burger was very good, I really enjoyed the kick of heat and the fine crisps on top gave an aditional crunch that would've been missing without the standard Byron bun. It was served with a small portion of pork scratchings, i'm used to the cheap ones in the pub and these were a more delicate version of those - pleased to report no hairs in sight either. Overall, a take on a burger that was new to me and that I enjoyed very much.

Courgette fries were a mistake - long slices of courgette that I presume must be dried before deep frying but that still just tasted really watery. The batter was crispy but pretty bland and when they were dunked in sauce to add flavour bits of the batter started coming away just causing a right mess. Some vegetables are just not made to be deep fried and watery courgette is certainly near the top of that list for me.

The classic Byron was a very solid 8/10 burger and the "burger of the month" was a tonne of fun. Quick shout out to the serving staff who were all extremely up-beat considering it was a busy Saturday lunch time, the service was fast and efficient. I feel like i've slightly overlooked Byron and will be keeping an eye more closely on their specials in the future. I do think that at just under £40 for two burgers, two beers and a side of courgette fries it was a shade more expensive than Almost Famous so they'd still be my preference but the standard of the food and imagination in the special can't be disputed. 

Barnyard - London

Barnyard is the latest venture from Ollie Dabbous, the head chef at his eponymously named restaurant which I am yet to visit but have heard nothing but praise for. When wandering the back streets looking for Barnyard it was quite refreshing that in a row of darkened doorways it was fairly easy to spot as the entire place has been decorated as a (you'll never guess) farmhouse. A white picket fence surrounds the front of the restaurant containing within tables fashioned out of planks of wood, aged metal tiles, corrugated metal walls and suitably industrial looking lighting.

At 2.15pm on a Monday we had the entire restaurant to ourselves which was a fairly odd experience in itself, I'd hope for the restaurants sake that we'd just missed the lunch rush and at least we had very attentive service on the bright side. To be fair to Barnyard, quite a few people seemed attracted by the decor outside and wandered up to take a look at the menu only to quickly walk away.

The menu is split by food type, on this occasion the headers were Pig, Cow, Lamb, Chicken, Egg, Vegetables and Puddings with 3-4 options under each section to choose from.

We started with drinks - I had a banana and rum milkshake which came served in a slim line milk bottle with a straw and was spot on, creamy but not too thick and with a clear note of rum which was extremely pleasant.

The Barnyard Iced tea was the second drinks choice and a bit of an odd one initially, the component parts of English tea, pink grapefruit, lemon, agave, Scotch whiskey and Mica beer combined resulted in an a light hint of weird scum floating on the top, almost as if the mix had gone off in some way. The flavour was similar to a good sour beer, bitter but the coldness with the hint of lemon made it refreshing at the same time. An unusual experience that got better the more I drank and I would need to try again to be clear whether it was actually enjoyable or just the uniqueness that got to me.

First starter was lard on toast, which I immediately regretted it as as clump of semi-melted lard dripped on to my trousers, presumably never to be removed. The snack itself was great, I'd pictured a thick slice of sourdough appearing but it was more of a Swedish crisp bread, lathered in the lard and with a hint of pepper which made for a fun fatty trousers destroying opener.

The asparagus dish was served cold and featured a slow cooked duck egg with lemon vinegarette and torn sourdough bread, decorated with yellow flower leaves and sunflower seeds. The vinegeratte was very tart and clumped up under the veg, it wasn't clear whether this was deliberate or had been applied too liberally but there was certainly sufficiently on the dish to make sure the flavour was transferred to all the separate parts.

Short rib - two bite sized chunks of grain-fed short rib in black treacle outer, with a slice of pickle and mustard sauce. The beef was spot on but it was a pretty miserly dish for £14 - definitely not the main-sized portion I was expecting for that price.

Chicken wings - a dish of extremely crispy chicken wings, I saw extremely and I mean as in tap the coating with with a knife and it'd crack never quite seen wings coated like these. They were generously sized wings, juicy and tender and not the soft flabby meat you often see - everything flavoured with smoked paprika, garlic and lemon that packed a punch.

Corn on Cob - another slight miss, the corn was cooked just as I like so it retains plenty of crunch and it was plenty buttery but there was just no real flavour until I took a bite of the charred section. It also came served with a dirty great bolt screwed into one end to use to hold it with. It never felt entirely hygienic if I'm perfectly honest.

Finally, a special shout out to the toilets which were up there with the most terrifying I've ever been in, I felt like I was in a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre as I wandered down a corridor lined with wood, doors with no markings and the toilet hidden away at the end of a long creepy corridor with banging in the kitchens at the side. I'll definitely be going back one day to hide away in one of the nooks playing chainsaw sound effects to make people lose their minds (not really).

I'm still a bit confused as to whether the decor is meant to be taken seriously or is just a bit of dumb fun trying to stand out from the crowd. The total bill came to £55 inc tip and drinks and whilst we had a good time and enjoyed the majority of the food, there was nothing mind-blowing that would have me rushing back, an enjoyable if a little forgettable lunch.

Home Sweet Home - Manchester

Home Sweet Home fills a hole in the NQ for cheapish (£6-8) decent sized portions of US diner style treats. They cover all the usual junk food mainstays with a solid brunch menu incorporating ‘bennies' (eggs benedict), coffees, waffles, French toast and cooked breakfasts. The core menu goes on to tick off other staples such as burgers, hot dogs, wings, chicken in a basket, some of the cheaper steak cuts, milkshakes (soft and hard!), loads of soft drinks and a couple of decent beers on draft. The main attraction is the cake cabinet stuffed with some of the most over the top cakes you'll ever see.

We're not talking ace of cakes design nonsense but real cakes that you'd actually want to tuck into themed in the most imaginative ways. Any kind of calorie control is rightly thrown completely out of the window.

On this occasion I tried the following:

Double cheeseburger with fries - despite being from the same family as Almost Famous, HSH take their own slant on burgers. Think well flavored McDonalds patties, decent in their own way but i'm so used to these inch thick rare burgers that everyone serves these days that this type of thing doesn't do much for me anymore. It was served with a mountain of fries which were well salted.

Goats cheese, red onion and spinach brioche - this was the special of the day and came served on a huge bed of salad. Since I was having a giant ice cream shake I thought I'd make a token effort at ordering a healthy version and this was a nice alternative to a burger - the brioche had plenty of filling and the flavours sat together well.

Latte - their filter is usually pretty decent but the latte didn't hugely impress, the base coffee had that soil taste you often get if beans are past their best. Honestly, if I wanted a strong fresh coffee in the NQ i'd head over to TeaCup or North Tea Power every time.

Shake - incredibly rich and thick ice cream and blueberry shake with fresh cream and fruit loops as the topping. Completely over the top and definitely very enjoyable as a result.

I had been on a run of bad service which had taken the shine off slightly and put me off dropping in for a while but things are definitely improving - the two waitresses who dealt with me on this trip were fantastic, very chatty and helpful. There were noticeably more staff hanging around than there had been previously so hopefully they've noticed the problem and dealt with it.

Home Sweet Home did exactly what I was in the mood for - well done comfort food staples served quickly and for a reasonable price. Food wise if I compare it to similar options within the city it doesn't hit the heights of Moose coffee for me with regards to but the cakes are the real highlight and not to be missed. 

If you're heading in late in the day (ie after work) then have a nose through the window as they do often seem to sell out by late afternoon which is a real shame as dropping in late evening for a piece of cake and a cold beer or coffee would give them a great late-night café vibe that the NQ could really do with. Now summer is here and the tables outside can be put to good use it's one of the most fun spots in the NQ for a quick lunch.