Reviewing lunch time food and evening dining in Manchester's city centre
Posts tagged Beef
Panama Hatty’s, Brown Street, Manchester
01 year ago
by The Hobbit
in Restaurants
A number of us were kindly invited out by the company we work for, all paid for of course. My brain quickly flicked into review mode and as we could choose which eatery to go to, I managed to persuade the lads to opt for Panama Hatty’s. Having eaten there before and liking what I had, I decided to give it another go and inform the regular Manc Munch visitors of the experience.
We were seated in the restaurant which is coolly decked out with a Mexican theme but done with a bit of style and doesn’t come across as tacky. As I began to scan the menu, I suddenly could hear this sizzling sound and a nice waft of fried veg hit me. The couple on the next table had ordered the sizzling fajitas, I was instantly sold and decided to try the beef ones to mix it up a little.
I was surprised at the size of the portions on the hot plate, the beef was cooked with sautéed onions and peppers with lettuce, grated cheese, salsa and sour cream as the other fillings. Normally my experience (Well when I make them at home) is the balance between the filling, tortillas and extras is all out of kilter, Panama Hatty’s got it spot on. We were given four tortillas and you could fill each one with all the fillings until you could barely wrap the tortilla, and at the end of the meal nothing was left.
Overall the meal was excellent, the beef, onions and peppers were cooked well and were not too greasy as to drown the flavour or put you off, and the extras filling were very fresh and tasty. I would recommend Panama Hatty’s as I have had two brilliant meals from there now, the meals maybe slightly over priced but for the overall quality of the meal justifies the price and I will be going back there to try the evening menu.
Barburrito, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
21 year ago
by i_am_big_g
in Fast Food Chains
Tricked into paying for lunch for 2 of us, we ended up in Barburrito. As typical blokes, we both had “the ultimate burrito” as there was a big poster advertising it as we walked in.
This allowed us to have double portion of any filling (I had chargrilled steak twice, SW had shredded beef and chicken), onions or peppers, rice, refried beans, chilli sauce, guacamole, sour cream and grated cheese.
As its Barburrito, we splashed them with lashings of tabasco to add that little extra.
Honestly, they were massive and we both enjoyed ours thoroughly.
The only gripe we both had was the size of the bottomless cups they provide – they were tiny and required constant refills.
At £7.50 each, it makes for a very expensive lunch and reminded me why I avoid it normally. I will be going back, but only when I have saved some money!!
Grand Buffet, 48/50 Withworth Street, Manchester
11 year ago
Curry buffet – All You Can Eat/Eat All You Can for £8, includes refillable soft drink.
Curry, unlike say, Chinese food (or a platter of chicken drumsticks) does not lend itself well to the whole Scoff What You Can buffet deal. Reason being you reach your curry-consumption limit by filling up an awful lot quicker than you do when topping off your duck pancakes with rice + noodles + more rice + more noodles all smothered with miscellaneous meats and sauces. Which is odd, because they’re very similar dishes in theory. Meat, sauce, rice. Maybe it’s the spiciness of curry that brings you to a halt faster.
I found myself deep into my third plate of curry buffet when, embarrassingly, my body came to a complete stop and I was no longer able to feed. The curry sweats intensified as I briefly considered the possibility of me suffering a minor stroke there and then. Eventually I realised I was undergoing the curious condition of being “full”, whilst still having food on my plate. My “raised-in-the-80s” instincts kicked in as I thought of all the starving children in Africa and I anxiously endeavoured to at least finish all the meat remaining on my plate, but to no avail.
The food itself was actually good quality for a buffet, freshly made, loads of choice, all the old favourites: tasty chicken tikka massala, potent madras, beef and lamb dishes, veggie options, rices, naans, for some reason onion rings, poppadum-preaches, the works. Also included was the option to run along the drinks machine topping your beverage up with ginger ale, irn bru, coke, sprite and everything else into one eye-watering glass of George’s Marvellous Medicine.
The kicker, however, was the price. £8 is far too much for what it is – you can get a nice meal for that in city centre. Maybe Grand Buffet works best as a one-off treat when there’s a few of you wanting a spicy curry fix, or maybe if you’re in the middle of an all day session and need sustenance quick; and with a sort of out-of-the-way cafe ambience, it suffices but doesn’t impress.
Go, Arndale Centre, Manchester
01 year ago
by The Hobbit
in Food Shops
Meal: Large Beef Baguette, with Cheese and Salad.
Having become fed up with the so called “quality baguette’s” from other unnamed establishments (you know who you are), I decided to give “Go” a go (wake me up before you go go). They offer a large option for their baguette’s which is right up my street; combined with the “build your own” ethos I was anticipating a high standard of sandwich.
I decided to give the beef a try. In my opinion choosing a beef based meal at these types of places sorts the men out from the boys (or cow’s from the calves). It was surprisingly tender and easy to chew for a cold piece of beef, but lacked a bit of taste for my palette, a pinch of salt could have worked wonders. The baguette itself was excellent, crusty but not too much to give you jaw ache and tasted like proper bread (instead of drying wall paper paste like other places), the salad was also nice and fresh.
The decor was quite funky and the place seemed to be kept very clean and tidy, it could have been a cool little place to eat lunch. Sadly it is situated on one of the main walk ways of the Arndale Centre, with some of the tables very exposed. With all the troglodytes that amble through dragging their knuckles, this could certainly put you off the quality food on offer; I recommend the take out option.
I would definitely recommend Go for the quality and cost compared to other places, sadly the location isn’t ideal, I will be going back to try one of their pizza’s.
Giovannis Deli, New York Street, Manchester
01 year ago
Meal: Hot Big Beef Panini (Beef, mushrooms and cheese)
I expectted a lot from this meal and ordered with anticipation and excitement, oh how wrong I was. Although the panini was hot and of a substantial size to quench your appetite for the afternoon, the beef was over cooked and had become rubbery making it hard to chew. The cheese and mushrooms were a nice touch which gave the meal added taste if a little greasy.
The service was good and the staff were pleasant enough. You can see the food being prepared which is always a thumbs up in my book and the surrounding are nice if you would like to eat in.
I would recommeded a hot panini from Giovannis, due to the size and variety, but stay clear of the beef!
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