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Where to find the best alternative Christmas dinners in Manchester 2021

Think festive donuts, pizza, burgers, toasties, fry ups and loads more

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 9th December 2021

Whilst there are a million different places in Manchester to go for a traditional Christmas dinner, if you’re looking for something a little more alternative then we’re got you covered.

There are always some great festive specials on offer in the city, but – possibly thanks to last Christmas being cancelled – Manchester’s kitchens have truly outdone themselves this year, with one literally reinventing the cheese wheel in the process.

From festive fry-ups to a bottomless mulled wine brunch, Christmas tree donut boxes, Christmas kebabs, a mince-pie-Eccles-cake hybrid, pigs in blankets-topped parmos and loads more, keep reading to discover where to find the best alternative Christmas dinners in Manchester this year.

A Christmas sausage and stuffing camembert pie

Classic baked camembert, but make it proper Manc with the addition of a wrap-around sausage and sage and onion stuffing roll with added chilli cranberry sauce. That, in a nutshell, is exactly what Potter’s Pies have done with this latest creation.

Not for you? They’ve also updated their sausage roll-pie hybrid, making it extra festive with added turkey, roast potatoes, crunchy stuffing, cranberry and a pig in blanket sausage roll lid.

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Festive fry ups with all the trimmings

Image: Idle Hands

Idle Hands ‘world famous’ festive fry ups are now flying out of the kitchen and onto plywood tables right through the month.

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Loaded with such delights as pigs in blankets, sprouts, mushroom and chestnut stuffing, cranberry sauce and maple parsnips, plus all the usual fry up suspects, this is a cheeky twist on a roast if ever we saw one – and we’re absolutely here for it.

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A bottomless mulled wine brunch with peanut butter and jelly French toast waffles

Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group

Where: Firefly

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Firefly has launched a Christmas bottomless brunch that comes with UNLIMITED mulled wine and special Christmas cocktails, prosecco, G&Ts and more.

As for your food, think peanut butter and jelly French toast waffles, a Firefly breakfast with all the trimmings or some gorgeous baked eggs with chorizo and feta.

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Pigs in blanket and fried stuffing-loaded Parmos

Image: The Manc Group

Where: Parmogeddon

Parmogeddon at Hatch has got some special festive breaded chicken parmos loaded with stuffing balls, bacon, pigs in blankets and oodles of cheesy bechamel sauce. You’ll even get a little pot of gravy to pour on top.

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On top of that, you’ll also find loaded Xmas fries topped with everything from pigs in blankets and deep-fried stuffing to bacon, brie and cranberry on the menu throughout December.

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Christmas tree and candy cane snowflake donut boxes

Image: DGHNT
Image: DGHNT

Artisanal donut baker DGHNT has created a beautiful Christmas-themed box for the month of December, with four individually-flavoured creations inside.

Available from 10 – 22 December, flavours include a candy cane-topped white chocolate glazed donut with mascarpone whipped cream and a Christmas almond donut with edible holly.

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Italian pigs in Italian blankets AND sage and onion mozzarella sticks

Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria is a solid favourite at any time of the year, but it’s safe to say that the team is pulling out all the stops for Christmas.

Think massive mozzarella sticks rolled in sage and onion stuffing mix and served with a tangy, spiced cranberry dip, and Littlewoods’ pork chipolatas roasted in Calabrian nduja, wrapped in smoked pancetta rashers and served with a cinnamon honey dip.

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Christmas kebabs with ‘festive’ smileys from a Michelin star chef

Birmingham-based Michelin star chef Brad Carter opened his One Star Doner Bar at Escape to Freight Island earlier this year, selling some of the most indulgent kebabs in the city. Now he’s doing a Christmas version, and it sounds very special.

Think turkey and stuffing shawarma, topped with Paxo mayonnaise, cranberry hot sauce, shredded sprouts, onion and cabbage, plus festive smiley faces loaded with fried sprouts, lemon and pepper.

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A Christmas cheese platter feat. a Christmas cracker garlic bread burrito

Image: American Pies

Where: American Pies

For the ultimate Christmas cheese platter, you’d do well to visit American Pies – who’ve created this stunner in the name of the sweet baby cheesus (we joke).

Think nduja-crumbed burrata in blankets with hot honey, deep-fried Goude filo lollipops, bacon, cranberry and brie cheesy garlic knots, turkey meatball sliders, festive tots with whiskey and orange sauce, a Christmas cracker garlic bread burrito and jalapeno and cheddar stuffed jumbo pigs in blankets.

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A Christmas burger with beef-fat fried Christmas pudding

Image: Slap and Pickle

Where: Slap and Pickle

Called ‘All I Want for Christmas’, think two Swaledale beef smash patties, smoked bacon, cranberry Wensleydale, pickles, Paxo mayo, red cabbage, lettuce, and a fried slice of Christmas pudding. For veggies and vegans, there’s a plant-based version too – served in a bright green bun.

Elsewhere, you’ll find loaded ‘All The Trimmings’ fries, Biscoff cheesecake and plenty more.

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A Christmas dinner cheese toastie with all the trimmings

Image: Northern Soul

Where: Northern Soul

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The Christmas dinner cheese toastie at Northern Soul is the stuff of legends. A special that people look forward to every year, it’s slathered in gravy and stuffed with sliced turkey, pink lady stuffing, cranberry sauce, cheese, and topped with a pork lollipop.

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A ‘White Christmas’ pizza with turkey dinosaurs, stuffing, and pigs in blankets

Where: Crazy Pedro’s

Crazy Pedro’s December special always comes with a festive twist – and this one is pretty solid. Featuring turkey dinosaurs, pigs in blankets, stuffing, gravy, cranberry and sage on a cheesy white pizza base, it’s available all month.

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A festive mince-pie-Eccles-cake hybrid

Image: Batard

Where: Batard

It doesn’t look much, but this buttery beauty is everything you want out of a festive pastry treat this Christmas. Created by small-batch bakery team Batard, it fuses the traditional Eccles cake with a mince pie filling for the ultimate naughty indulgence.

A ‘Boxing Day Burger’ with curry sauce,  sprout bhajis and fried chicken

Image: The Manc Group

Where: Yard and Coop

Yard and Coop’s ‘Boxing Day Burger’ is absolutely massive, stacked with buttermilk fried chicken, butter chicken curry sauce, topped with sprout bhajis and curry-salted parsnip crisps. But that’s just the start of things.

There’s also the ‘Winner Winner Christmas Dinner’, which comes with fried chicken piled on top of cheesy mash, pulled chicken and sage stuffing, Yorkies and all the trimmings; plus gin and cranberry infused negroni wings, sticky marmalade chipolatas and loads more.

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Yuletide Christmas pizzas including ‘Mistletoe and Swine’

Image: Nell’s

Where: Nell’s

Nell’s has created three festive pizas this year – one for meat-eaters, one for veggies, and one for vegans (full disclosure: the slices don’t actually come out shaped like Christmas trees, as far as we’re aware).

‘Mistletoe and Swine’ combines mozzarella with Sykes Fell cheese, guanciale, sausage, sage and onion crunch and chilli, whilst ‘Pigs in Blankets’ offers a veggie alternative with veggie bacon and Beyond Sausage. Vegan option ‘By the Baubles’, meanwhile, comes loaded with spinach, sprouts, facon, roquito peppers, leek and lemon.

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Festive gourmet kebabs and giant stuffed Yorkshire puddings

Image: The Manc Group

Where: Bab

These beautiful-looking gourmet kebabs at Bab have been given the festive touch, loaded with the likes of roast turkey, pigs in blankets and sprouts, brie, cranberry and chilli sauce – or lamb chops with green peas and mint sauce.

There’s also an unsung hero on this festive menu, a giant Yorkshire pudding filled with roast beef, veggies and Bab gravy. If you’re not feeling a kebab, this is the one for you.

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Mince pie empanadas

Image: The Manc Group

Where: Peru Perdu

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Peruvian eatery Peru Perdu has created a festive empanada for the season, combining the traditional Spanish turnover with the English mince pie.

Served with cream for dipping, inside the classic empanada casing you’ll find sweet mincemeat. According to the restaurant, it’s the UK’s first ever mince pie empanada.

News

Top 10 cheapest UK areas for first time buyers revealed – and two are only an hour from Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Houses

The 10 cheapest areas to buy your first house in the UK have been revealed, and two are only an hour away from Manchester.

After it was revealed that more than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline, which means that they’ll now be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra as of yesterday (1 April), the cheapest places to get your foot on the property ladder in 2025 have now been named.

While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000.

So if you’re looking to buy your first home, this is a list to keep a close eye on.

Handing over the keys to a new house
The top 10 cheapest UK areas for first time buyers have been revealed / Credit: Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)

Property platform Rightmove has crunched the numbers and come up with a top 10 list for those on a budget and considering lower-priced areas they can move to, with the Scottish town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire being named the cheapest area for a first time buyer to get onto the property ladder, as the average asking price for a typical first time buyer-type home here is just over £84,000.

Scotland keeps on pulling through, as the twon of Greenock in Inverclyde is second on the list, with an average asking price of £88,862, followed by Grimsby in third at £93,427.

As far as the North West is concerned, no residential areas in Greater Manchester have made the cut this time around, but the region’s two representatives on the list are only around an hour away from Manchester.

Top 10 cheapest UK areas for first time buyers

  1. Kilmarnock – £84,325
  2. Greenock – £88,862
  3. Grimsby – £93,427
  4. Blackpool – £93,711
  5. Middlesbrough – £95,473
  6. Hartlepool £99,525
  7. Paisley – £99,570
  8. East Killbride – £100,814
  9. Ayr – £101,391
  10. Burnley – £102,848

You’ll have to cross over the border into Lancashire if you’re looking for a budget-friendly first time home, as Blackpool takes the fourth spot on the list, with an average price of £93,711, and Burnley also makes an appearance at number 10 with an average price of £102,848.

The North overall is pretty well-represented, with other towns and cities such as Middlesbrough and Hartlepool featuring in the top 10, but according to the data, Scotland is by far the cheapest country to get on the property ladder in the UK.

Paisley, East Killbride, and Ayr also find themselves on the list lower down, as well as the two aforementioned Scottish towns in first and second place.

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Experts at Rightmove explained that wage growth has unfortunately ‘outpaced’ the rise in average asking prices for first time buyer homes in the last five years, so while this has slightly increased the mortgage borrowing power of first time buyers, affordability is still said to remains ‘very stretched’ overall.

Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

News

A local baby bank is holding a vital fundraiser to stop it from closing for good

Danny Jones Danny Jones Save Our Baby Bank Trafford Greater Manchester fundraiser

A Greater Manchester baby bank is holding a vital fundraiser in hopes of preventing it from closing for good imminently.

For anyone unaware, baby banks are crucial organisations run largely by volunteers who help provide supplies to families in local communities, with more than 300 in use across the UK at present.

Through delivering much-needed aid such as clothing, prams, nappies and baby food, right through to direct financial support, they help keep parents and their children in good supply of essentials and much more – hugely important work at any rate, let alone during the winter and a cost of living crisis.

However, the Little Green Sock Project over in Trafford is at risk of permanent closure and was initially given until the new year to raise £200,000.

As seen in this moving video, the baby bank based over in Stretford Mall is in dire need of support and, crucially, the funds for a new premises.

They’ve been deeply moved by how Greater Manchester united in reaching into their pockets and sparing whatever they can to contribute to their fundraising target thus far – and they really are nearly at the finish line, which would mean safety for the genuinely life-saving service.

Fundamentally operated as a non-profit and volunteer-led charity, they naturally don’t have the means to just take over a new space on their own and with the current site set to be demolished very soon, a minimum of £200k is needed to find and fund a new location.

Having amassed over 90% of the amount needed, they’ve already bought themselves extra time, they just need one last push from us.

Urging people to donate what they can and share their fundraiser where possible, as well as welcoming corporate sponsorships should other local businesses wish to back them or get stuck through volunteering days, time is of the essence.

The Little Green Sock Project was only started back in 2022 and has already supported over 1,300 children, redistributing more than £240,000 worth of essential items like clothing, cots, prams, and stair gates to local families, as well as saving 20 tonnes of items from landfills.

It’s no exaggeration to say that they’ve changed and saved lives, both parents and children, and with the often difficult festive period approaching, their work is needed now more than ever.

There are just under a dozen baby banks in all of Greater Manchester, many of which are facing similar pressures. (Credit: Supplied)

Speaking on their efforts and the fundraiser, founder Catherine D’Albertanson said: “We believe that essentials needed for the health and wellbeing of children should not only be for those that can afford them. Our work ensures that no child in our community goes without essentials, but without new premises, we will have no choice but to close.”

Moreover, Little Green Sock Project is the only baby bank in the Trafford area and of the families it serves, 58% are single-parent households already struggling with the cost of raising children, while 29% are fleeing domestic abuse, often leaving their belongings behind to protect their family.

With their circular economy model, they also help reduce waste whilst providing “a trusted link between the families that have items to give, to those that need them the most”, with D’Albertanson adding, “If we lose this charity, we lose a vital safety net for many in our community.”

A service user commented: “It was a truly terrifying time when I was pregnant with my first child. I found myself completely alone, with a baby on the way, wondering how I could possibly provide for my son.

“Then I found Little Green Sock Project, and everything changed. Everything was carefully chosen, colour-coordinated, and presented in such a thoughtful way. It felt so special—like someone truly cared about me and my baby. That feeling is indescribable, especially for someone in my position.

“There are so many people like me with stories like this. It breaks my heart to think that the Little Green Sock Project might have to close its doors. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without your help, and I hope with all my heart that the community comes together to keep this lifeline alive.”

Manchester parents need this much-loved baby bank – let’s not let it fall away on our watch. (Credit: Andy Bate at Royal Foundation)

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Every pound donated goes towards helping find the Little Green Sock Project a new home, but people can help contribute in other ways, once again, by spreading the word or getting their hands dirty in person.

Greater Manchester never fails to amaze when it rallies behind causes like this, and we’re sure you won’t let us down this time either. Let’s keep the lights on the lifelines for local families intact.

You can donate now, or to find out other ways to do your bit, click HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Little Green Sock Project/Andy Bate – Royal Foundation (supplied)

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