Food & Drink
Greater Manchester chippy named one of the best fish and chip shops in the entire country
Taylors has been named in the ‘Official Guide to the UK’s Quality Fish and Chip Shops 2021’
An unassuming fish and chips shop in Stockport has been titled as one of the country’s highest quality chippies.
Taylors, which can be found nestled between an Iceland supermarket and a pet food shop in Woodley, Stockport, has been serving top-notch fish and chips since 1966 and is widely regarded as one of the best chippies in the UK.
Opened by Anne Wallace’s family fifty-five years ago, Taylors has earned itself a number of accolades over the decades, including an OBE from Prince Charles for Anne’s commitment to training her staff and serving the community.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Anne spoke of the shop’s three-generational history, noting how her mum was still frying fish right into her nineties.
Taylors Fish & Chips Stockport / Facebook
Taylors Fish & Chips Stockport / Facebook
She said: “My mum was still frying fish and chips when she was ninety-two and I think it kept her young. My dad died when he was seventy-five so she was on her own for twenty years, the shop was a lifeline for her.
“I’d like to think we have more of a work-life balance than she had. We do as much as we want to do, very much involved, but we have brilliant staff.”
Anne offers apprenticeships and NVQs to the younger members of staff who join her, as she believes an investment in her staff results in top quality customer service. She noted: “Customer service is just as important as the product and for some of our customers, our staff will be the only people they speak to that day.”
And all this hard work has evidently paid off because Anne pointed out that on Fridays, over 200 fish can be sold within a peak three-hour teatime period.
Taylors Fish & Chips Stockport / Facebook
Taylors Fish & Chips Stockport / Facebook
Taylors has even made it into the ‘Official Guide to the UK’s Quality Fish and Chip Shops 2021’ North West category.
Run by the NFFF Fish & Chip Quality Accreditation Scheme, the guide aims to find chippies throughout the UK that give their customers the best quality fish and chips, assessing them against its own quality benchmark and rewarding successful applicants who pass an inspection and taste test with the ‘BIG Q’ Quality Award sign.
Other chippies to make the list in the North West category include The Good Catch in Hale, the Big Fish Trading Co in Blackpool and Pisces Fish and Chips, Lancashire.
Taylors Fish and Chips, Woodley Precinct, Woodley, Stockport SK6 1RJ
taylorsfish.co.uk
Food & Drink
Wetherspoons selling cheap pints from as little as £2.15 starting this week
Calling all beer lovers!
Pub chain Wetherspoons has announced it is hosting a 12-day celebration of all things ale — with pints costing as little as £2.15, starting this week.
The chain’s Real Ale Festival runs from Wednesday March 22nd to Sunday April 2nd, just in time for beer garden season. Exact prices will depend on where you live but the average cost is still expected to be below £3.
A range of 30 ales will be included in the deal, which is part of the pub chain’s real ale festival, from citrusy IPAs to deep dark rubies, available at extremely tempting prices across all of its pubs.
Some of those beers – 24 in total – will also have been brewed especially for the Wetherspoons event. Vegan and gluten free beers will also be on sale as part of the festival collection. Included in the selection of tipples will be offerings from leading British breweries as well as brewers in countries such as Switzerland, USA and Belgium.
Wetherspoon operations director, Martin Geoghegan said: “The festival is a great celebration of real ale. It will allow our pubs to showcase a selection of superb beers over a 12-day period, at great value for money prices.
“It will also give our customers the opportunity to enjoy a number of beers which have not previously been served in the pub, including those from overseas.”
The annual festival arrives as Spoons prices have risen by around 7.5 percent and a number of its venues have been put up for sale. Despite this, boss Tim Martin said that he remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the brand’s future.
The full list of ales is:
- Robinsons Brewery, Citra Pale Ale 3.4% ABV
- Rooster’s Brewery, Blind Jack 3.7% ABV
- Wainwright, Amber 4.0% ABV
- Butcombe Brewery, Vincent 4.0% ABV
- JW Lees Brewery, Vanilla Cream Pale 4.0% ABV
- Vale Brewery, Brass Monkey 4.0% ABV
- Exmoor Ales, Upside Brown 4.2% ABV
- Hook Norton Brewery, Merula Stout 4.2% ABV
- Theakston Brewery, Double Cross IPA 4.2% ABV
- Adnams Brewery, Extra 4.3% ABV
- Daleside Brewery, Seafever 4.3% ABV
- Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery, 1822 4.3% ABV
- Greene King Brewery, Spring Break 4.4% ABV
- Sudwerk Brewery, Reeds Ale 4.4% ABV
- Glamorgan Brewery, Fresh 4.5% ABV
- Redemption Brewery, Steam 4.5% ABV
- Brombeer Compagnie, Freddy Export 4.6% ABV
- Titanic Brewery, EBA 4.6% ABV
- Cairngorm Brewery, White Lady 4.7% ABV
- Orkney Brewery, Cliff Edge 4.7% ABV
- Liberation Brewery, Defiant ESB 4.8% ABV
- Moorhouse’s Brewery, Totemic 4.8% ABV
- Saltaire Brewery, Triple Choc 4.8% ABV
- Batemans Brewery, Spring Breeze 5.0% ABV
- Hawkshead Brewery, Five Hop 5.0% ABV
- Nethergate Brewery, Umbel Magna 5.0% ABV
- Sambrook’s Brewery, Valhalla 5.0% ABV
- Oakham Ales, Buckle Up! 5.2% ABV
- Otter Brewery, Head 5.8% ABV
- Cambridge Brewing, Flower Child IPA 6.0% ABV
Food & Drink
Zouk’s bottomless curry buffet is back for Ramadan with an entire stuffed lamb
It will be available for everyone throughout the entirety of Ramadan — Zouk have it covered!
Zouk is bringing back its epic bottomless buffet, available throughout the whole of Ramadan, consisting of their best-loved dishes — including a whole stuffed lamb.
Every evening starting from Thursday March 23rd, the colossal all-you-can-eat buffet will be open for everyone to feast on — the perfect way for families to celebrate Iftar and break their fast.
Guests will be greeted with a gift of stuffed dates on arrival plus fruit chaat, dates and water on the table. Once seated, customers can go up to the buffet and enjoy the daily selection of food which will include salads, starters, curries, lamb raan and a selection of accompaniments.
Zouk have created two sittings this year, so the Ramadan buffet is available for a longer period of time each evening — with a rotating menu in case you want to come back for more.
There will be one sitting at Iftar with a second sitting an hour earlier or later, depending on BST. All you have to do is simply select the time that best suits you and your fellow diners when booking.
The Ramadan buffet is £25 per person for adults, £12.50 per child (under 12s) and free for children under five. Throughout the month, Zouk will also be supporting a number of local charities by donating both meals and money to help with the homelessness crisis across Manchester.
While walk-ins are welcome, it is advised to make a reservation to avoid disappointment. Get booked in here.
The rotating menu is as follows:
Salads (a choice of three every day including)
Mango
Kachumber
Tabbouleh
Mint & Cucumber
Starters (a choice of five every day)
Vegetable Samosas
Mixed Vegetable Pakora
Dhai Balahi (yoghurt based dish served chilled)
Chicken Tikka
Seekh Kebab
Chicken 65
Live Carvey
Whole Stuffed Lamb Raan (weekends)
Leg Lamb Raan (weekdays)
Curry (a choice of four every day)
Chicken Sindhi Biryani
Chicken & Spinach
Lamb & Potatoes
Dall Makhani
Tarka Dall
Accompaniments
Assorted Naan breads
Roti
Basmati Rice
Desserts
Mango Mumbai Mess
Raspberry Mumbai Mess
Gulab Jamon
Chocolate Brownies
Fresh Fruit
Food & Drink
This Manchester food hall has been named best in entire UK
Three Manchester food halls made it into the top 10 list
A food hall in Manchester has been named as the best in the UK for its ‘exceptional’ food.
Mackie Mayor, based in the Northern Quarter, beat competition from London, Liverpool and Sheffield as it was voted best in the whole of the UK. Two other Greater Manchester food halls also made it to the top 10; Altrincham Market House and Society food hall, coming in fourth and eighth respectively.
Mackie Mayor scooped the top spot and was praised for the ‘exceptional’ food from its many food and drink operators, while second place went to Italian-inspired concept Eataly in London.
The news was announced by global travel site Big 7 Travel and hospitality specialists Enjoy Travel, who teamed up to find the best food halls in the UK. Venues were ranked on several factors including range of cuisines, selection of vendors, unique and special events and overall atmosphere.
Mackie Mayor food hall is located inside an 1858 Grade II-listed market building that was once Smithfield Market Hall. The site reopened as Mackie Mayor following a huge refurbishment in 2017.
The Swan Street plot was given a total revamp by the same team behind Altrincham Market — led by Nick Johnson — after lying empty for years. The team behind both food halls also run the Picturedrome food hall in Macclesfield.
Featuring a range of food and drink operators, all under its huge glass roof, Mackie Mayor holds the capacity for almost 500 people. The current line-up of vendors includes Tender Cow, Eagle Street Coffee, Honest Crust, Pico’s, New Wave Ramen, Mumma’s, Chilli B and BlackJack Brewtap.
Taking top position above Eataly in London and Cutlery Works in Sheffield, the description for Mackie Mayor said it was ‘crammed full of top-notch food and drink vendors’ and one of Manchester’s ‘most popular spots’.
It added: “Honest Crust serves exceptional seasonal sourdough pizzas, FIN Fish Bar is beloved for its sustainable day-boat fish cooked whole over a chargrill and Baohouse serves up the steamiest little Taiwanese buns. At Tender Cow, punters can tuck into lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain. Groups of 10 or more people can book a table too.”
The other Manchester food hall making the top ten was Society, located in the long-vacated bar site next to Bridgewater Hall on Barbirolli Square, serving up a range of street food, craft beers and cocktails.
Current traders at the food hall include Chaat Cart, Yoki Social Table and Vocation brewery.
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