• Added: 22nd of October 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Restaurants

Manchester M4 2BS
0161 831 6700

Emma1973 said
Hard Pork Cafe
Wednesday evenings may not be the best time to visit! We had to wait 15 minutes for a table, however when we were seated there was only around another 10 tables eating, I can only put this down to the fact that there was only 2 waiters at the time who did do a sterling job though!

Our only real problem was with my starter of chicken wings, I had commented that they were not very hot to my daughter and as I worked my way through them they got colder, a bit pinker, and finally raw flesh. (Note to waiter, when someone tells you food is undercooked, dont argue that its supposed to look like that, go check it!)
Anyway it was whisked away, and taken off the bill.

My daughter chose to eat her pork chop without the bramley apple topping which was a pity as this was the only thing that made the meat moist, other than that it was overcooked and dry.
I had the Red, White and Blue burger which was perfectly cooked, medium as I asked and was pink like it should be. The only downside was the blue cheese which was so strong it was overpowering the taste of everything else, and I had to admit defeat!

Full kudos to the manager though, he came out and explained that the temperature knob on the machine that cooked the chicken had been knocked and was consequently not cooking the chicken through properly. Not only did he take off the chicken wings, but also gave us 50% off the rest of the bill, as we had just ordered 2 rather expensive cocktails as a treat I def wasnt going to complain!

I would also recommend not sitting in the booths at the back, halfway through our meal some god awful attempt at music started up next door, and was so loud the floor and table was vibrating!

All round it was ok, but I'm not rushing to go back!

• Added: 6th of October 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Food and Drink

Manchester M40 0JB
0161 688 6515

Emma1973 said
Average Joe
This really is your average little local store, the likes of which are dotted all over Manchester! And this little place is no exception!
It closes at 10pm, have no idea what times it opens, but always seems to be from 7am onwards!

Its a very small shop, in fact deceptively smaller than it looks from the outside, theres a very small newspapers/magazines aisle,also a small range of household goods, your basic stuff really, bread, milk, tins of soup, biscuits, cakes, etc.
But being Kalis wine the majority of the shop is filled with alcohol! It doesnt seem too expensive, they quite often have deals on, and lots of the drink is kept constantly chilled in huge fridges.

All round its a decent shop, you can pop in of a morning and pick up your paper, fags and 4 cans of Special Brew!

• Added: 6th of October 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Take Aways

Manchester

Emma1973 said
Waiting..and...waiting
Due to us losing the leaflet for Torino we made the decision to order through just-eat.co.uk, this seemed to go through quite easily and having ordered at 7.22pm we were promised a deliverly time of 8.05pm.
So 8.05 came and went, and went, and went, I decided to wait till 8.25 allowing them an hour.
I called them up, and enquiring about it, when the gentlemens english, which had appeared to be fine when we've been in there appeared to disappear. He knew exactly who we were, and promised it was on its way, I expressed concern it would be cold and he promised that wouldnt be the case, 15mins apparently!

I was just about to give up at 8.55pm when it appeared, and yes, of course it wasnt hot, it was only lukewarm. Not only that the 'free' garlic bread with cheese for spending over £15 was missing. But tbh I was starving at that point and heated it up in the microwave, figuring I really couldnt wait another 2 hours for a replacement! I should have waited because I then spent most of the evening recovering in the bathroom!

And the missing garlic bread isnt the only problem we've had with them! I'm sure the 16"'s we managed to order magically tranfsormed into 14"'s! And when we actually ordered in the shop, we got into the car and drove away, to later check the receipt, and find out we'd been charged full price for 2 12" instead of 'buy one, get one half price'

A pity really, as Torino do the nicest House kebab I've ever had in Manchester, but that cant make up for sloppy service and dishonest dealings!

• Added: 5th of October 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Restaurants

Manchester M14 5SU

Emma1973 said
Third time lucky?
We chose this restaurant based on its reviews, and because it looked nice! Al Bilal is not just your ordinary Indian restaurant though, rather strangely it also has a full Thai menu. I have to say the Thai dishes looked absolutely fantastic, but we were there for Indian, so maybe next time!

Firstly I have to say the staff are fantastic, very polite and very non-intrusive. Theres nothing worse than having a waiter hovering around you picking up your plate before your knife and fork are even down!
They were attentive, you didnt have to wait around for them, but it was undoubtedly one of the most relaxed meals I've had in ages!

The food was.....ok! Nothing absolutely fabulous, but not so bad I wouldnt go back, I just wouldnt have what I had that time!
The chutneys supplied with the poppadums were sightly lacking, only a raita, red onions, and mango chutney, nothing good and chunky, and nothing spicy!
The spiced lamb and lentil patties I had were quite odd, they tasted of cinammon! And that was quite overpowering. BF had battered mushroom which were nice, but the batter mix was definatly over-floured.

BF's Jalfrezi was excellent, and rated as one of the best he's had, even though it was so hot his nose and eyes were running at one point! My lamb Tikka Makshani was slightly disappointing, the lamb was beautifully tender, but there was only 5 pieces in a rather large dish of sauce. The Makshani is described as being with spices, tomato and cream, and it did resemble a rather thick cream of tomota soup, it also had a rather overpowering taste, which I couldnt identify, and which spoilt it slightly.

The Keema Naan and Leema Paratha were lovely, if a little greasy and very stuffed with lamb!
All in all, a very nice pleasant meal, reasonably priced, just next time I'll try something different!

• Added: 26th of September 2008
• Area: Bristol
• Category: Cafes and Coffee Shops

Bristol BS5 8AJ

Emma1973 said
Coronary on a plate!
Surely one of the best places in the East of the city to get a good old-fashioned full English breakfast!

The Fountain cafe has recently had a spruce up which has taken away part of its rustic charm! I can only presume the door no longer creaks, the floor isnt coated in cracked lino and the tables dont wobble and no longer have those wipe clean tablecloths on!

And not here will you get those healthy breakfasts, and they'd only recently come round to the idea of a vegetarian breakfast!
But the price is also pretty impresseive, for under a fiver you could get the King breakfast, 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 eggs, toast or fried bread, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried potato. Included in the price is a round of bread and butter and a cup of tea thats been stewed so long your spoon will stand up in it! And its all well cooked and fantastic!

Definatly not a thing to have regularly, but as a hangover cure probably one of the best around!

• Added: 26th of September 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Restaurants

Manchester M1 2AG
0161 238 8686

Emma1973 said
I spy.............
a little tiny buffet restaurant surrounded by rather huge ones! This restaurant is down some steps situated right on the corner and is easy to overlook! But make sure you dont! I'll recommend it far more highly than the Internation Buffet based on the other corner.

It is quite small but the buffet manages to pack in a fair few dishes! Theres also a range of starters and soups. Having been here twice now I wouldnt leave without trying the salt and pepper prawns, (no matter how messy they are!) as well as the chicken wings, and the chicken and prawn dumplings are to die for! Hence a few dirty looks thrown my way when I took a quarter of the container!

The restaurant itself is always clean and tidy and the staff unerringly polite. They do have rules such as only being able to occupy the tables for 2 hours, and having to pay for the meals in advance, but they seem fairly lax on this especially on weekday evenings.
Except the last time we went......... A group of rather raccous chaps came in and decided to sit right next to us. As it was a little late and they looked they had partaken of too many lemonades the staff asked them to pay in advance, which I can understand. Except that wasnt ood enough for them who started being rather loud for them, and they asked us (a family group) if we had paid already, so my daughter said No! We then had to listen to a whole tirade of it being a racist and 'colour' issue. Not appropriate in front of the kids!
Thankfully the staff stayed calm and firm and the men soon left!

I suggest you give this place a try even if it can be a little difficult to find it!

• Added: 26th of September 2008
• Area: Sheffield
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Sheffield S10 2LA

Emma1973 said
Wheres Wurzel?
Myself, BF and 2 family members went here for dinner after helping little sister move into her uni accommodation, as it seemed did everyone else around us! Virtually the entire pub filled up with familys with a uni age child in tow!

And theres a good reason for it! This pub is part of the TwoForOne restaurant chain, that is, you buy one main meal and get one free! Perfect for the impoverished student!

The food and problems are the same that you would get at any of these places, usually the young inexperienced bar staff who have difficulty processing the order, and then getting the wrong order.
And of course it would be right without having at least one dish cold which is what happened to the Goats cheese and spinach cannelloni! I also got the ordinary half roast chicken instead of the Kicking one which was a far jazzier one!
My BF had the mixed grill which he couldnt finish. Not because there was so much of it, and there was quite a bit, but because the steak had a layer of gristle on the bottom side which he couldnt gt his knife through, and half his gammon consisted of more fat than gammon.

The only delight was the Mega Sundae for 2 which easily did for 4 of us, consisting of chocolate fudge cake, profiteroles, ice cream, cream, flakes and Crunchie Nuggets.

All in all, very average indeed, but wouldnt say this was typical of this particular chain after having a much more enjoyable meal at another of these restaurants last night!

• Added: 26th of September 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Take Aways

Manchester M40 0JA
0161 688 4500

Emma1973 said
Eyes too big for your belly?
This was the first pizza I had in Manchester and it was good, soooo good we've not ordered from anywhere else yet!
Its where I also came across the 16" deep pan, we just dont have them in Bristol. Its big enough to feed at least 3 people, although in this house we have it with all the toppings and theres usually some left over for breakfast!
It has all the usual toppings, and they are fairly generous with them. Although we have found they are around £2 more expensive than other places around, but it seems to be worth it!

If you like garlic bread this is also the place to go, and I mean garlic bread with a 10 metre knock down breath level. None of that garlic spray in a can like Pizza Hut, this is the proper deal and heaped on!

Delivery is also excellent, its always come sooner than the time stated, we've never had to call up to find out where it is, and its always been hot!
Mind you, that could be something to do with the fact its only a minutes drive down the road!

• Added: 26th of September 2008
• Area: Manchester
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Manchester M27 6PE

Emma1973 said
And His Merry Men........
The Robin Hood is a TwoForOne pub restaurants, that is buy one meal get one free, a bargain at any restaurant. But having previously been to another of the chains we had a voucher that for £10 allowed us to have a Tear and Share Garlic bread, 2 main courses and 2 drinks, seeing as most of the main meals are around the £7-£10 mark this was definatly good value.
So we took my daughter along as well. The Robin Hood is a very nice pub, but the music is way too loud, and not conducive for a quiet eating experience!

So we managed to order a Chicken Alfredo, Chilli meatballs with chips, and Spinach and Goatscheese cannelloni. I say managed, because at first the young barman couldnt manage to put in our special voucher and had to get the manageress to do it, not a huge problem as she offered us another meal as it was TwoForOne even thogh the menus says this cant be done! So we ordered the Asparagus and Brie tart my daughter had also been pondering over.

They had actually run out of Tear and Share garlic bread, so instead of the peculiarly leaf shaped garlic bread we got 8 slices of french stick garlic bread! When are main meals came, and not together unfortunatly, there was a nearly 10 min gap between ours and my daughters, what we actually got two CHicken Alfredos, Chilli Meatballs with rice and the Cannelloni. We pointed this out to the manageress who had bought them, and the poor womans face had dropped! It wasnt that much of a problem though, daughter gladly gobbled up the pasta, she got her Cannelloni so she was happy. And I've never seen a manageress seem so happy!


The food was good, hot and nothing to complain about! The only downside was that it had taken just a bit too long to get daughters food which meant it was too late to order dessert as the kitchen shut at 10pm. And they are gooooodd.

Well worth a visit!

• Added: 24th of August 2008
• Area: Bristol
• Category: Restaurants

Bristol BS1 5NA

Emma1973 said
Strippers and Soy Sauce
Bave New World was the initiator of the Karaoke Dining experience in Bristol, and as far as I know, the only left standing!
Its also a very bright modern place,at one end of the restaurant you have the tables, mainly seated in long rows, then at the other end, you have the stage ready for the moment you've stuffed your face and then are ready to receive your audience!

The food is set in very long serving trays at the far end of the room, theres the usual big mix of different chinese dishes, sweet and sour, curry, things in black bean sauce, as well as starters, of course chips as well!
But then you also have the soups and the peking duck. Theres also a wide range of drinks, with them being bar prices rather than restaurants. It can be a long walk from the food back to your table though so be wary of having too many drink and wobbling past the other diners!

New Worl proclaim themselves to be child-friendly, but I would be a little wary of this. We were going to be going there for my daughters 16th birthday and take along my 8yr old son as we had done on several occasions. But because it was a Saturday night I phoned to double check he would be ok to go.
And a good job I did! They informed me that they had no problems with children at anytime, but I was to be aware that they had a hen party that evening.
Not only that, the male stripper was booked for 7.30! Now I have problems with my 16yr old seeing a male stripper, let alone my 8yr old! Perhaps I'm a bit of a prude, but is a family restaurant the place for this? Admittedly it was a Saturday night, but even so, perhaps later on in the evening when most of the younger people would be gone?