Gnocco Frito
Electrik
To give them their simplest description – these Gnocco Frito are in fact PIZZA DOUGHNUTS! Yep – Electrik make little pillows of pizza dough which are then salted and then topped with tomato sauce, pesto mayo and Parmesan cheese. These little buggers are around 3x more addictive that anything else you’ve ever tried, even including 1. Pringles, 2. Crack and 3. Biscoff Spread. So be careful and only order one tray and not 3 like I tried to do.
Vanilla Brûlée Doughnut
KRUM Doughnut @ Escape to Freight Island
I went down to the brand-new extension of Escape to Freight Island last week – The Ticket Hall it’s called – and I was really rather impressed with what they’d managed to do. Alongside my pint of Camden Lager and taking seemingly endless videos of the place, I treated myself to a Vanilla Brûlée doughnut from KRUM – which had just that second been blasted by a blowtorch for that characteristic burnt sugar crisp of the brûlée. They should be available on Deliveroo pretty soon too.
Quack Fries
Viet Shack
Can a visit to Viet Shack ever truly be complete without ordering (and then devouring) a portion of their legendary Quack Fries? The answer to that question is, of course, a resounding NO – and so a quick stop off at the Arndale Market this week resulted in Hoi Sin sauce all around my mouth and a very big smile on my face as I tucked into one of the best lunch options in the city ever.
Carton of Magic Rock – Pink Lemon Daze
The Hillary Step
Huddersfield-based brewers Magic Rock have created this sour beer – PINK LEMON DAZE – which is a Strawberry Lemon Daiquiri Berliner Weisse and once my lips touched it – I was in love. We were down at The Hillary Step in Chorlton to check out their new ‘Liquor Store’ that’ll be serving up booze during lockdown and I just couldn’t resist getting a big carton of it to take home. In fact, I’m still drinking it now as I write this. Trust me – it’s ace.
Rag Pudding
Jackson’s Farm Fayre
A rather obscure Oldham speciality, considering I’m back in the mother land (and living with my mother) I thought I’d tuck into one of these beauties once again. It’s been around 15 years since I last had one and my word – I’ve missed ’em. If you’ve never had a Rag Pudding it’s basically beef and onions wrapped in suet which is then boiled. They’re a lot nicer than they a) sound and b) look.
Margherita Pizza
Don’s at Home by Don Giovanni
With lockdown now back in force, any knock or rattle on the front door of the house signals a break from the monotony of lockdown life and usually gets every single person (and the dog) really, really excited. We were even more excited this week as a delivery from Don Giovanni arrived and it contained all the ingredients needed to make 2x margherita pizzas. I did and they were fit. They also offer up gnocchi and pasta kits too.
Sour Cherry Negroni
Hawksmoor At Home
Anyone who knows a good cocktail will understand that the classic Negroni is right up there at the top of the list. This is primarily down to one ingredient – Campari. It manages to grab any other liquid by the scruff of the neck, give it a dust off, shine it’s shoes and make it 100x better – just by being there. Last week saw the ever-reliable Hawksmoor drop some cocktails off at my house and I was blown away with their Sour Cherry Negroni, and indeed – I was massively impressed with everything in there. Including a mind-blowing Brown Butter Old Fashioned!
