A beloved burger from one of Manchester’s most prestigious restaurants has been voted one of the best in Europe.
Travel website Big 7 Travel has been checking out suggestions from its audience on their favourite burgers from across the continent over the past year and combining them editors’ expertise to round-up the ‘Top 50 Best Burgers in Europe 2021’.
This year’s list features some new and creative burgers from both tiny bars and big restaurants alike – and Manchester has a representative.
The ‘Hawksmoor Hamburger’ has claimed the 20th spot.
Hawksmoor is one of Manchester’s most popular restaurants / Credit: Hawksmoor Manchester
Hawksmoor – which started life in London and now has several branches across the country including Deansgate – is known for its grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood, British cheeses, and extensive cocktail menu.
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The Hawksmoor Hamburger is about as classic as a beef burger can get, served with Ogleshield or Stichelton.
Explaining why the burger earned itself a well-deserved place in the top 20, Big 7 Travel said: “Sitting in the bar here in Manchester with one of their classic burgers should be illegal it’s so much fun.”
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“Throw in some cracking cocktails and this is the sort of place where you’ll never have a bad night.”
Other British restaurants claiming places on Big 7 Travel’s ‘Top 50 Best Burgers in Europe 2021′ include Almost Famous’ Liverpool branch, Bread Meats Bread in Edinburgh, 7Bone Burger Co in Portsmouth, and Burger and Beyond and Bleecker Burger both in London.
Gasoline Grill in Copenhagen, Denmark – which is apparently winning awards left, right and centre for its burgers – took the top spot on the list.
Stockport bar that took a chance on Underbanks announces shock closure
Daisy Jackson
A bar owner who was called ‘mad’ for opening his business at The Underbanks in Stockport has announced he’s closing down for good.
The Cracked Actor was launched by actor Joe Patten back in 2019, long before the Underbanks was considered one of the coolest districts in Greater Manchester.
Joe said he ‘saw the beauty in those bricks’ and took a chance on the unit on Little Underbank, transforming it into a Victorian-inspired blues bar.
And although other operators told him he was ‘mad for opening anything on that street’, Joe proved everyone wrong, and The Cracked Actor became a real Stockport favourite.
Sadly, he has now announced that The Cracked Actor will be closing its doors in just a few weeks’ time.
Joe said that he wants the business to ‘go out at its height’, stressing that ‘it’s not a sad note we are closing The Cracked Actor – it’s more of a thank you for getting me all I had dreamed of’.
He wants to focus his attention on other projects, like The Banshee and Holy Diver.
His full statement reads: “So Stockport, its taken a long old time to make this decision. But some things have to end on a high. And boy its been a whirlwind.
“The Cracked Actor was my first bar in Stockport and has always weathered the storm. Sadly, these days I have a lot going on. And some things take away from the attention I can pay to my little bar. I want to call time on The Cracked Actor and go out at its height. It’s odd as I have always defended this bar against everything it came up against in this climate. I thought I would always pass this bar down to my kids.
“But it feels the right time to call time. This bar got me on the map and its opened the doors to soo much more that came afterwards. We now have The Bansbee and Holy Diver and exciting opportunities are always pulling me away from where I started.
“I want to focus on whats next and make sure what I’m doing has my full attention. So it’s not a sad note we are closing The Cracked Actor, it’s more of a thank you for getting me all I had dreamed of the day it opened.
“When I opened the bar 7 years ago every bar owner called me mad for opening anything on that street. Now its booming with bars that have come after wards. Some times you just gotta see the beauty in those bricks.
“I want to pay a massive thank you to my fiance Amy, whome without this bar would have closed 4 years ago. She took to it and saw how much it meant to me. And her Aiden and Oliver bought it back from a slump. Shes bought it back to all its glory and made it better than I ever could have,working endless hours.
“I want to thank all my customers many of of them who have been coming since day one Gary. TeJ & Gary, Boby Dylan, Simon and Ash, to name a few.
“We will be open for the next Two weeks to have a massive send of. And our final day to public will be Saturday 11th July. With a private send of on 12th.”
‘Rooted in India, made in Manchester’ – Punjabee Deli has big designs on the local food scene
Danny Jones
Launching a few months ago, this recently opened Indian deli, cafe, eatery and hangout concept is still in its infancy, but the brains behind this are not the new kids on the block here in Manchester: welcome to Punjabee.
Founded by Sapna Kumar, a familiar face on market stalls across Greater Manchester and across the North West, not to mention the owner of the well-known dessert brandVanilli’s, she’s one of the biggest characters you’ll ever meet.
And, you know what? Sometimes you have to be. This second-generation Indian-Mancunian is a would-be mother to many, as she considers lots of her loyal customers part of her extended family.
And now it’s time to put herself first for once. As she puts it, she’s no longer content just serving up everything for everyone else on a platter for free. Now she’s “ready to spice things up.”
No stranger to a soundbyte or a pithy tagline of her own – after all, she’s been working in this business for well over a decade now – the food speaks for itself, and as well for the vision of this place as she does.
Quite literally putting the bee in Punjabi (you’ve got to admire pun-game like that), this local-born mum of three and extremely dedicated indie trader is as much tied to her Manc soul as she is to herIndian heritage, and she’s all about bringing a ‘home to the plate’ approach.
Remember that scene in Ratatouille where the food critic eats that simple dish, and it takes him right back to his childhood and that feeling of being back in your kitchen/living room? That’s precisely the feeling she’s going for. In fact, we’d argue she’s already achieving it.
Many of her relatively small but equally hard-working crew are not only young people looking to get experience, but also existing hospitality staff who were left out of a job due to the ongoing cost of living crisis and obstacles facing the entirefood and drink sector.
But in the matter of just a few weeks, they’ve been trained up to help make authentic butter chicken, daals and pasandas that people take home for a truly hearty tea, samosas, pakoras, bhajis, Punjabi pasties, all of which are gradually drawing in more and more regulars each week, and so much more.
The mixed Indian snack selection alone is great value for money, and their stuffed lunch wrap for just a fiver is one of the best deals you’ll find anywhere in town on your dinner hour.
In fact, all the well-packed portions aren’t just well-presented in pristine air-tight packaging; they’re also super filling and satisfying, from the wide variety of homemade curries to the fruity lassis canned in-house. Everything is made in the prep kitchen around the corner, before being fridged next door.
You can tell how much experience this outfit has when it comes to catering and scaling up operations, as Sapna is also the baker behind Vanilli’s spin-off,Cake Bar Co., which she started during the pandemic on top of her other projects simply out of boredom.
The girl seemingly doesn’t sit still for even a second, at least not when she’s running these entrepreneurial arms, anyway.
Credit: The Manc Group
Her plans for thedeli and currently daytime-only eatery serve as yet more proof; the team are looking to deck out the space even further, with a bigger cabinet of wooden shelves to turn their already charming deli corner into an even fuller shop.
And then there’s a larger room downstairs of what used to be an old hairdresser’s: she’s keeping coy on that front for now, but let’s just say there’s a great bit of space to work with.
One thing we really appreciate is her acknowledging that going out for a meal, a drink, or even just a coffee is more expensive than ever.
With that in mind, she’s taken her mum’s sage advice and is keeping prices as low as possible, with the likes of the cheap bites at noon, chai for just £1 or totally FREE from 11:30am-2:30pm – an offer that is already starting to draw in steady crowds of meeting up even for a chinwag.
The stylish and colourful nook with bench-seating, cushions, coffee tables, decorated shelving and traditional jaali-style windows that simultaneously transports you elsewhere while making you feel like you’ve been invited into her front room for a brew and a bite to eat.
Let’s be honest, there are few better feelings than that kind of welcome.
Speaking to The Manc, she can never resist a good bit of wordplay, telling us: “We’re putting the chai [tea], back in community” – of which, like everything else, is all made completely in-house, by the way.
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Whilst trying to restore that sense of kindness and compassion that she fears might be slowly slipping away, she also says she’s not scared of mixing up the market anymore, both literally and figuratively.
Once a mainstay of the Ancoats Makers’ Market among many others, not to mention the vendor we know to boast two stalls at Stockport’s monthlyFoodie Friday event, she started with a love for baking and made it into a successful passion project.
Now she’s turned making small little pots of curry for her peers on artisan stalls and farmers’ markets into her next venture, and she no longer feels like she’s here to compete: “I am the competition”, she says, “and I’m ready to stir the pot.”
You’d be forgiven for getting slight Heisenberg vibes for a second there, but trust, if you pop intoPunjabee and meet this vibrant, funny and extremely driven woman in person, you’ll see for yourself that she’s all about positivity, moving forward and maximising good vibes.
She’s even looking into karaoke and supper clubs, as well as extending the opening hours on Friday evenings, on top of already being open seven days a week.
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Whether you’re stopping by for a cup of chai or taking out, you won’t be disappointed.
She still remembers playing ‘kerby’ out on the streets of Manchester and people gathering to eat their favourite scran, the sense of occasion people felt when paying a trip to the old Italian-style patisserie that they eventually took over.
Something that really stuck with us was this overarching idea that “through food we come together”, and she’s absolutely right.
We can’t wait to see how this place grows over the next year, and we sincerely recommend you come along to Radium Street and give it a try.
Lastly, we’ll sign off by telling you one final thing: translated into English, Sapna means ‘dream’, and this lady sure is thinking big.
Emily Sergeant -
10th August 2021 
