The food was absolutely superb – high end and imaginatively put together. And great value at £18 for two courses or £22 for three. The venue is stylish and vibrant (although a little on the cramped side) and the staff were friendly, fast and attentive.
And that’s all from me. I’m just going to let the pictures talk for themselves.
And trust me it all tasted as good as it looks. Contemporary fine dining of such high quality so reasonably priced is a find.
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Yesterday I ate one of the best meals of my life at Where The Light Gets In. But the food was only one factor within that tremendous experience. Thank you for the education in experiencing food and dining in a completely new way Sam Buckley!
From the minute we walked in it felt different and special. The space is beautiful – it’s been both an old coffee storage warehouse and a 1930’s dance hall. It gave Jamie and I instant aspirations to own a massive loft apartment. Shove our Victorian semi – we want to go minimalist, high ceiling-ed, big windowed urban loft! Total furniture and utensil envy too. All the chairs were original Ercol and had been sourced from across the country. And the glasses, decanters, ceramics, cutlery were stylish, neutral and tactile too. I spent periods of my meal just staring at the beautiful objects on my table.
Anyway back to our arrival. We were greeted by Sam Buckley the chef and founder of the restaurant. He was smiley and chatty and quick to get into an excited conversation with us about the comfort and supportiveness of Ercol chairs. And this very much sums up the approach at WTLGI – friendly and open and involving. They have 25 covers and all six staff do both front of house, cooking and all other tasks combined. So they all bob about serving, in the kitchen, pouring you wine and chatting to you about your dishes. It’s a very friendly intimate vibe. Oh yes and I forgot to mention the kitchen is slap bang in the middle of the restaurant. You can see everything close up.
The lounge areaThe open kitchen – this was the view from our table!
Sam took us over to the lounge area pictured above and brought us a very light and tasty sparkling welsh wine and a gorgeous starter which involved sprats and I’m not sure what else. The truth is my recollection of the precise dishes of last night are sketchy because:
a) you aren’t given a menu so I’m having to rely on memory
b) I had the wine flight so I was pretty pissed by the end of the night
However I’m going to do my best to root around in my hungover head and dig out what I can remember of this marvellous night of eating and WTLGI’s unique immersive dining experience.
Once we’d had our sprats, we were taken to our table and started cracking through the courses. All brought to us by different members of staff and explained on delivery.
Have a look at the pictures below and you’ll get an idea of the sensational food we were served. All of the ingredients were either foraged or sourced locally and very seasonal. Highlights for me were the warm spelt bread with whipped butter and chicken salt; the beef and fennel sauerkraut and a lovely fish dish with brill that had both grapes and some kind of seaweed in it (the salty seaweed and sweet grape combo was divine).
The whole meal was an adventure on so many levels. I loved being in the minimalist surroundings of this beautifully designed loft like restaurant. The simplicity of the decor and utensils allowed the food to be the true star of the night. It was fascinating watching the staff prepare all the courses metres away from us. How they remained so calm and harmonious in that kitchen on opening night is beyond me! Of course the food itself was beautiful, gentle and thought provoking and as importantly the service was engaging, passionate and informative. The staff wanted us to know where the food had come from and how it had been prepared. I’m well and truly up for that. I want to know where my dinner has come from – if it’s been foraged from Chorlton Water Park or Lyme Park, or if the beef is from a farm in Wales. I loved the stories behind the dishes. It brought the whole experience to life for me.
Spelt bread, whipped butter and chicken salt; sprats; beetroot ravioli with hazelnut custard; onions with elderberries and brothRaw ox heart with unripened quince; brill, grapes and seaweed; pear and pine pre-dessert; beef with fennel sauerkraut
The night was polished off with a slice of apple cake with raw milk ice-cream, an incredible local cheese board with the sharpest apples in the world, rosehip marshmallows tossed in grated chestnuts and original source Ethiopian Coffee made in Lancashire.
We had the best evening! We felt incredibly spoilt and very privileged a) to be at the WTLGI for the opening night and b) to be a part of something so unique and special.
Sam really wants to bring the craft of food to Manchester, to help his guests learn, watch, taste and appreciate the process of making incredible, intuitive food. It knocked the socks off Jamie and I. It’s not a cheap night, but is it value for money? Absolutely – for the quality of what you experience it’s an absolute bargain. Seek it out and let the light in!
Original source Ethiopian coffee made in Lancashire; rosehip mashmallow petit fours, cheese board; apple pie with raw milk ice-cream
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This is going to be a ‘quickie’ write up as Jamie and I are feeling coldy rather than amorous! I’m not feeling at my most effusive, but I wanted to share what a great lunch we had over at Burnt Truffle in Heswall, the Wirral.
Burnt Truffle is part of a sister chain – it started with Sticky Walnut in Hoole in 2011, Burnt Truffle itself opened in summer last year ago and the Hispi recently opened in Didsbury.
Burnt Truffle is small, understated, unpretentious and just classy. On offer today (sunday) was a two course menu for £18 or three courses for £22. For food so posh, that’s a bargain. We debated on how many and which courses to go for, and as the puddings looked especially tempting we went for main and pud.
I was delighted with my main – caramelised cauliflower and couscous, spiced shallot bhaji, manchego cheese and toasted almonds. It was beautifully presented and just a really unusual and winning combination of ingredients – the highlight being the gorgeous bhaji which was sprinkled artfully over the plate.
Caramelised cauliflower and couscous, spiced shallot bhaji, manchego cheese and toasted almonds
Jamie ordered chargrilled pork collar, caramelised pineapple, herb pearl barley, squash puree and hazelnuts and his dish was as impressive in flavour and appearance to mine. The pork was juicy and tender, the pineapple a lovely sharp contrast to the meat, with the pearl barley as a nice earthy background.
Chargrilled pork collar, caramelised pineapple, herb pearl barley, squash puree and hazelnuts
And then my favourite bit! Pudding time. I went for the obvious girly choice – hot chocolate pudding, popcorn ice-cream and toasted almonds. In honesty although it was really tasty, it was a bit too predictible in it’s flavours for me – it wasn’t much different to me eating Ben and Jerry’s chocolate brownie ice-cream at home – blunt and unsurprising in it’s chocolatey sweetness. I need to pick my puddings better in future!
Hot chocolate pudding, popcorn ice-cream and toasted almonds
Jamie’s dessert was far more unusual – tonka bean custard, fromage blanc, dark chocolate and hazelnuts. A good combination of different textures and flavours with the bitterness of the chocolate and the crunchiness of the nuts providing added interest.
Tonka bean custard, fromage blanc, dark chocolate and hazelnuts
We both really enjoyed our sunday lunch at Burnt Truffle – it’s great value for money as the food is high end, super tasty and beautifully executed. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the staff were all really pleasant and attentive and it’s just a cosy little place. It’s in a lovely part of the Wirral too and if we’d been feeling a little better we would have headed down to nearby West Kirby for a wander on the beach.
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I found Diana Henry’s ‘A Change of Appetite’ knocking around at a friend’s house and had a little nosy. I was quickly transfixed as the theme of the book is Diana’s own personal quest to discover beautiful inspiring food that is coincidentally healthy too. I liked her writing style – it was honest, funny and elegant. Diana wrote it at a time when she herself had been told by her doctor to lose weight and lower her blood pressure so she’s not preachy at all. Her writing remains inquisitive and passionate throughout – she just wants to educate herself as to how to eat incredible food that is good for her, and she is generous and charming in sharing her journey.
So I bought myself a copy and this book is an absolute cracker! The dishes are inspired by many cuisines, but the Middle East, Far East and Scandanavia feature regularly. Every dish felt like a food education in delicate flavours and quite different to anything I’ve ever eaten before.
But as per usual, reluctantly I will have to divide the meals into ‘favourites’ and ‘extremely goods’, so here goes:
Favourites
Pilaf of mixed grains, sweet potato and fennel with avocado ‘cream’. A sophisticated, subtle and uplifting dish. You really don’t miss having meat with this dish, there’s so much going on.
Shawarma chicken with warm chickpea puree and sumac onions. This was an indulgent and exotic plate of food and the chickpea puree was the star player – beautifully rich, nutty and flavourful.
Burmese chilli fish with hot and sour salad. The fish was excellent and spicy, but the salad just blew our minds – the sweet and sour was so fresh and just right. I loved the way Diana has taken very common English ingredients (savoy cabbage, radishes and cod) and created a Burmese dish!
Pilaf of mixed grains, sweet potato and fennel with avocado ‘cream’Shawarma chicken with warm chickpea puree and sumac onionsBurmese chilli fish with hot and sour salad
The Also Extremely Goods
Smoked haddock with Indian scented lentils. Inspired by kedgeree but made healthier by using lentils – a creamy, spicy, hearty and wonderfully warming dish for a chilly autumnal evening.
Mackerel with hazelnut picada. Basically a croutony, hazelnutty, orangey topping on fried mackerel. Yum!
Skewered chicken, with lime, chilli and mint salad. Gorgeously fresh and zesty with Thai flavours.
Chicken and squash with soy and star anise. A lovely Asian style dish, I loved the sweetness of the star anise and the orange zest. It was a warming, comforting dish and the chicken was super tender. Shame we managed to under cook the squash which was rather hard!
Scandi salmon burgers with dill and tomato sauce. A fresh and tangy dinner – the delicious yoghurt, dill and tomato sauce enhanced the flavours of the salmon burger.
Smoked haddock and Indian scented lentilsMackerel with hazelnut picada, scandi salmon burgers with dill and tomato sauce, chicken and squash with soy and star anise, skewered chicken, with lime, chilli and mint salad
I recently reviewed Jamie Oliver’s Everyday Super Food which I raved about, but Diana Henry’s ‘A Change of Appetite’ took healthy eating to another level for me. The food I experienced during this book was exotic, intriguing, surprising and incredibly delicious. I felt I learnt a lot about different flavour combinations from this book – particularly the joy and subtlety of sweet and sour. I found the recipes a little intimidating on initial browsing – they sounded very grown up and sophisticated and a little out of reach. But once you actually looked at the ingredients properly and read the recipes, they were very straight-forward. Do buy this book and cook from it – it will make you happy and accidentally healthy.
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I really prefer to write positive reviews about restaurants and don’t get me wrong, we did have a lovely and quite a tasty time at Grafene. However when you pay a lot of money for food it’s fair to expect more of the service and the food, and it didn’t quite hit the mark.
I liked the decor – the colour palette is teal, grey and yellow – which is a total winner for me and it’s an attractive, slick looking venue – but despite this it lacked a little soul and warmth in how it looked. And I wasn’t a fan of the bright stark lights – I thought it could have done with some subtle low lighting and candles. Well actually come to think of it, there were candles, they were just drowned out by the lights.
Slick decor at Grafene
Our waitress was an absolute sweetheart which goes along way in my books. She was very genuine and warm, but unfortunately she did get a lot of things wrong. First of all she allowed Jamie to order the taster menu and myself a starter and main and we later discovered this isn’t allowed and had to start again. When our cocktails arrived, Jamie’s Negroni came with an upturned glass of smoke and some pink flakes – which he had no idea what to do with – and neither did she when we asked. When we ordered wine, she didn’t realise they were out of stock of the Malbec until several minutes later. Whenever our food arrived they kept giving Jamie my dishes and me Jamie’s dishes. These are all quite small things and the waitress’ lovely manner, her super attentiveness and friendliness did win me over, but for such an expensive venue, I would expect the service to be smoother.
Jamie trying to figure out what to do with his Old Fashioned Negroni and my Grafene 55 – Tanqueray gin, elderflower liqueur, pear and white grape juice
We kicked the night off with some cocktails, Jamie enjoyed his Old Fashioned Negroni, but found the unexplained accompaniment rather confusing. I was less impressed with my Grafene 55 – I thought that gin, elderflower liqueur, pear and white grape juice would be fresh and botanical. It was a) an offputting and synthetic shade of shiny purple and b) sickly sweet. So not for me.
Starters were good, Jamie had seared scallop, black pudding bon bon, courgette, proscuitto, chorizo puree – a classic combo that was well executed. I enjoyed my pea mousse, pea shoots, radish, Yellison’s goats curd – it was fresh and quite tasty, I just thought it lacked a bit of excitement and magic.
Seared scallop, black pudding bon bon, courgette, proscuitto, chorizo pureePea mouse, pea shoots, radish, Yellison’s goats curd
My main was more successful – seabream, pomme Anna, forest mushrooms, lobster bisque, leek. This really was delicious – the bream was perfectly cooked, I loved the crunchy potato fondant and the sauces were fab. So that totally hit the spot for me. Jamie’s salt aged ribeye, ox cheek and potato terrine, grelot, horseradish cream, onion puree went down a storm – it was meaty, fatty in just the right way and all the trimmings worked brilliantly.
Salt aged ribeye, ox cheek and potato terrine, grelot, horseradish cream, onion pureeSeabreem, pomme Anna, forest mushrooms, lobster bisque, leek
The courses were pretty small so we were 100% up for a pudding each. As per usual I opted for something chocolatey – milk chocolate brulee, blood orange sorbet, cocoa nib crumb, dark chocolate soil and Jamie went for a fruity number – baked goats curd cheesecake, strawberry sorbet, macadamia crumble, white chocolate soil. I found my brulee pleasant, but rather bland, I was looking for a kick or an intensity to it, but it was just a bit plain. However Jamie swore that his cheesecake was the best dessert he’d ever eaten so at least he was a satisfied customer! He enjoyed the combination of the creamy goats cheese with the tart sorbet and the crunchy crumble.
From my point of view I had a lovely evening out, the staff were charming, the venue is slick and I ate nice food. On paper that’s fine. I just felt there was something missing for the prices charged in both quality of service and food. My main course was at the standard I expected and really delighted and surprised me. However my cocktail, starter and pudding were all very average (although beautiful to look at). Jamie had a more successful meal than me, so maybe I was just unlucky in what I ordered. There’s a lot that’s really right with Grafene, but more distinctive and daring dishes and a smoother service would make it superb.
I have fantisised for years about what would happen if I actually made lovely homemade breakfasts. But I just carried on miserably munching my way through dull bowls of weetabix and porridge. And then FINALLY, I committed. For two weeks I would cook a different breakfast every day and just see how I got on.
To my surprise it’s been delightful, fun and rewarding. And bloody delicious! My morning tastebuds don’t know what’s hit them. And probably the funnest thing is how excited people have been on my social media channels. It’s seems to have really struck a chord with people – some have threatened to defriend/unfollow me for making them hungry, others have sent me pictures of their breakfasts or offered me suggestions as to what to cook next. Whenever I posted my brekkie photos on instagram in the morning I’d be excited to see the likes and comments come flooding in.
Every single breakfast has been tasty and relatively easy. I expected at least one fail, but they’ve all been winners. Luckily I’m a freelancer so weekday brekkies taking half an hour to prepare hasn’t been a problem – so most of these recipes you might want to save for the weekend.
Favourites
Sweet potato, black bean and avocado burrito, Simply, Nigella Lawson. Our absolute favourite – bascially mexican dinner for breakfast – full of spice and flavour and kept me full for hours.
Spiced baked eggs, Rachel Allen, Easy Meals. Beautifully simple and easy – bung eggs in ramekins with spices and a blob of creme fraiche and bake for 12 minutes. Superb.
Banana pancakes and berry compote, Delicious Magazine. Another easy one – blend batter ingredients (rolled oats, bananas, eggs) and fry your pancakes, serve with compote (heated up frozen berries). We loved this and it was so filling.
Bellinis, salmon, creme fraiche and chives, Great British Dinners, James Martin. This was a light and fresh way to start a saturday. You make bellini batter with 5 egg whites beaten to stiffness, so as you can imagine the bellinis are wonderfully airy.
Rice porridge and caramalised bananas, Every Day, Bill Grainger. This is effectively a sweet risotto – it did require 30 minutes of stirring, but it was well worth the wait, creamy and satisfying.
If you’d like to make spiced baked eggs why don’t you check out my YouTube video?
Also Very Goods
Raspberry and lemon muffins, Domestic Goddess, Nigella Lawson. Tart, sweet and yummy.
Sweet potato, chilli, cheese and seed muffins, Everyday Super Food, Jamie Oliver. Lots of different flavours going on here and I loved how super healthy they were.
Raspberry and pistachio trifle, Glorious British Grub, The Fabulous Baker Brothers. This was a tremendous looking dish as you layer up raspberry compote, granola and greek yoghurt and top with chopped up pistachios. Gorgeous!
Baked eggs in popped beans, cherry tomatoes and ricotta on toast, Everyday Super Food, Jamie Oliver. You fry up fennel seeds and cannellini beans and chuck in cherry tomatoes macerated with basil and lemon then finally throw in an egg to bake at the end. The lemony, basily tomatoes are sensational and the fennel seeds give it a lovely taste.
Apple and cinnamon muffins, Kitchen, Nigella Lawson. Appley autumnal deliciousness.
Tahini and tomato on toast, Every Day, Bill Grainger. Very lazy and wholesome.
Wholemeal and sesame scones, Rachel Allen, Easy Meals. Really nice – there’s treacle and sesame seeds in the batter which give the scones an interesting flavour.
Thin omlette rolls with cottage cheese and apple, The Green Kitchen, David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl. A sweet cinnamony apple filling to the omlette wrap is an interesting concept and I liked it.
Sweet potato hash, egg and pancetta, Perfect Plates, John Whaites. A divine and decadent breakfast
Apple and cinnamon muffins, sweet potato, chilli, cheese and seed muffins, rice porridge and caramelised bananas, raspberry trifleBaked eggs in popped beans, cherry tomatoes and ricotta on toast, banana pancakes and berry compote, raspberry and lemon muffins, spiced baked eggsWholemeal and sesame scones, sweet potato, black bean and avocado burrito, tahini and tomato on toast, bellinis, salmon, creme fraiche and chivesThin omlette rolls with apple and cottage cheeseSweet potato hash, egg and pancetta
The breakfast blog challenge has been a gift. Starting each day with a tasty exciting breakfast has made my mornings very colourful. I’ve adored doing it and I intend to incorporate new breakfasts into my routine far more regularly now (just not every day). Does anyone out there fancy setting themselves a breakfast challenge? How about a Saturday and Sunday breakfast challenge? Send me the pictures if you do.
Vivid Lounge is tucked away by a pretty section of the Ashton canal on Great Ancoats Street, it’s described as an ‘Eatery’ – cafe and lunch venue by day, friendly bar and informal restaurant by night. They specialise in great breakfasts, lunches, cakes and Thai bowls. So quite an eclectic mix.
Vivid was voted one of the 12 best sandwich shops in Manchester by the Manchester Evening News and featured in The Guardian – so I was looking forward to checking this place out!
We went for a quick after work dinner and glass of wine on a friday at 6pm. It was nice to be somewhere away from the crazy Northern Quarter drunken chaos where you could chill out and have a nice chat. It had a happy feel to the place! I liked the informal local vibe – I was guessing that the guys in there were mainly local workers and residents. Vivid Lounge is a little off the beaten track, so you kind of need to know about it.
The staff were super friendly and attentive and very relaxed, which is always nice. We ordered starters of deep fried tofu and thai fish cakes. They were delicious and fresh and I especially loved the tangy pickles that came with the tofu. And for our mains I went for a king prawn pad thai and Jamie chose pork and cassia leaf curry, thai pickles boiled egg and rice, with some extra pork skewers thrown in. The food is cooked by ultra friendly thai chefs (we met them) so unsurprisingly it was delicious, fresh and authentic. And I LOVE eating my dinner out of a bowl! I need more of that in my life.
As the evening progressed I noticed that whilst inside the thai bowls were flowing, Vivid’s outside seating area was becoming pleasantly rammed with drinkers. It looked like fun and again had that relaxed chatty vibe that is sometimes lacking in the Northern Quarter on a friday night.
King prawn pad thai, thai fishcakes, deep fried tofu with chilli and peanut dip, pork and cassia leaf curryA happy customer enjoys a Thai bowl, while the relaxed drinkers outside soak up the warmth from the heater
I would definitely recommend the Vivid Lounge – their Thai bowls are excellent, and it’s so nice to find somewhere in the Northern Quarter vicinity that hits the sweet spot of buzzy yet relaxed. I need to go back to try those breakfasts!
Thanks to Vivid Lounge for providing the food and drinks. All opinions and words are my own.
We were very excited about eating at The Refuge Restaurant at the newly renovated Palace Hotel.
We’re big fans of Volta which is also run by the Unabomber DJs so we had high expectations! Especially in the stunning surroundings of this iconic revamped Victorian building.
We weren’t disappointed, the interior is understated and contemporary, and still sympathetic to it’s Victorian origins. It’s pure class – and given that it’s a large historic hotel, it could very easily feel stuffy and formal, but it’s far from it – it’s superbly chilled.
Apart from the beautiful restaurant there’s a large and equally stunning bar area, and a delightful winter garden which is a bit like a very cool conservatory.
The bar areaThe winter garden
And yes the surroundings were fantastic, but you need more than that to be an exceptional restaurant – it’s the whole package that made our experience so right – because the service was wonderfully warm and the food was exceptional.
From the minute we walked into the venue, every member of staff was so attentive, but in a genuine way that made you feel very relaxed and happy to be there.
We had a lovely Northern Irish waiter who was delightfully helpful and just incredibly likeable. He talked us through our options and we committed to sharing plates. Within what appeared to be minutes of ordering our six plates arrived in succession.
And oh my goodness they were good:
Black daal – yum – the ginger and spices gave it a real depth of flavour.
Wild bass ceviche, perfumed fruit, coconut – a little over my head although Jamie enjoyed it, but I couldn’t taste much.
Fig, halloumi, basil, mustard seed – spot on – the salty cheese with the squidgy sweet fig was lovely, with the mustard seed adding a nice twist.
Salt cod croquettes – did exactly what was said on the tin – super crispy and crunchy outside without being either too oily or too dry with a delicious moist filling.
Radicchio and orange salad, pomegranate, orange blossom – I was a little indifferent, I found it a bit floral, but again Jamie thought it was great.
Slow cooked ox cheek, egg, Sriracha (a Thai chilli sauce) – my very favourite dish – melt in the mouth doesn’t even cover it. The ox cheeks were so tender and sweet and the egg was perfectly yolky and gooey.
Despite the fact that we felt pretty full after our sharing plates, we couldn’t leave without having a pudding. Jamie was eyeing up the cheeseboard, but I was done with savoury. So he agreed to share the pear tarte tatin and hazelnut with custard expresso. I would go back for this pudding alone. Pear, hazelnut and expresso unexpectedly is a dynamite combination – it was decadent, caramelly and beautifully chewy.
Jamie and I both agreed we’d like to be regular visitors at the Refuge – whether that’s the restaurant or the bar – it’s a place you feel welcomed, spoiled, elevated and inspired.
katyascakehole 