We all love a good roast, and if you’re anything like us you’re perpetually on the hunt for ‘the best’ out there (your mum’s aside, of course).
Well, one restaurant and bar in Manchester has just been crowned the UK’s best to get a Sunday roast – and if you haven’t been, we strongly recommend putting it on your list.
Ducie Street Warehouse in Manchester city centre has just been awarded the gong of the best roast dinner in the country by Rate Good Roasts, an annual list that pits dinners up and down the country against each other in a never-ending search for the best of the best.
The Manchester restaurant, which has its own dedicated cauliflower cheese menu as part of its roast dinner offer, came in joint first place with The Hawthorn at Howarth.
Now in its fifth year, the Rate Good Roasts list also ranked Manchester eateries 10 Tib Lane, The Refuge, Kong’s Kitchen and Ate Days A Week amongst the best roast dinners of 2022.
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Image: Rate Good Roasts
Image: Ducie Street Warehouse
“Every roast is reviewed against ten categories that make up a special Sunday lunch,” the team at Rate Good Roasts explained.
“We score each of these out of ten to work out the score and rankings. The categories are meat, vegetables, sides, venue, drinks, value, potatoes, gravy, service and, of course, Yorkshire puddings.”
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The ‘Sunday with Sides’ roast at Ducie Street Warehouse includes options like dry-aged local shorthorn beef sirloin, rosemary roasted leg of lamb and roast turkey breast with stuffing and a pig-in-blanket, as well as a regularly changing vegan roast served with all the trimmings and a vegan Yorkshire pudding.
All plated roasts are served with ‘proper’ roast potatoes, a giant Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and gravy, with more sides available to order from £1.50.
Additional sides include extra Yorkshires and gravy, Tuscan pork stuffing, maple roasted parsnips, Honey roasted rainbow heirloom carrots, lemon and garlic tenderstem broccoli gratin, and macaroni cheese.
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As for cauliflower cheese sides, there are a total of seven different options available topped with everything from frazzles to truffle.
Scott Monroe of Ducie Street Warehouse told theManchester Evening News: “It was a bit of a surprise to get ranked first but, in the same breath, we’re not surprised because the quality of our roasts are just so good.”
“I’ve been here since the inception of the Sunday roast menu and I’ve been able to watch it grow from a concept into this absolute machine. We’re very happy to get this kind of recognition.”
Feature image – DSW
Eats
Free Glastonbury-themed festivals with pizza, tequila, and big screens to take place in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Glastonbury weekend is upon us, and to celebrate the UK’s biggest music festival in all its glory, Nell’s is hosting its own festivals instead.
Hundreds of thousands of people will be making the trek to the fields of Worthy Farm next weekend, as Glastonbury 2025 headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, and The 1975 bring the tunes, alongside a list of other talented names too big to even begin starting to reel off – as is always the case with Glastonbury, there’s something for everyone.
But for those of us not lucky enough to have bagged tickets to what is undeniably the biggest event in the British music calendar, not to worry, as Nell’s is where it’s at here in Greater Manchester.
The beloved New York-style pizza specialists – which now has four sites across the region – is turning two of its most popular restaurants into festival hubs next weekend, bringing all the spirit of Glastonbury to Kampus and Altrincham.
Manchester‘s thriving canalside neighbourhood Kampus will become home to the aptly-named Kampus Fest, while over in the Trafford town of Altrincham, Alty Fest will be in full force.
Nell’s is hosting its own FREE Glastonbury-themed festivals at Kampus and in Altrincham / Credit: Supplied
At Kampus, the gardens will be transformed into a city centre festival site for a free three-day party featuring big screens live streaming the full Glastonbury festival throughout, plus a pop-up market, face painting and hair tinsel stations, an outdoor tequila and margarita bar, happy hours, and of course, lots and lots of Nell’s pizza.
Altrincham is bringing you much of the same – the same big screens, the same tasty pizza slices, and the same happy hours, only over two days instead of three.
Family fun is also at the heart of both Kampus Fest and Alty Fest, so you can expect lots of crafting workshops and bunting making, accessory customisation stations, as well as all-day colouring sessions by Born to be Wild Child and Søstrene Grene.
Kampus Fest will take over the gardens at Kampus from Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June, while Alty Fest will take place at Nell’s Altrincham on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.
Both are FREE to attend, so get yourselves down there quick.
Featured Image – Supplied
Eats
Viral Manchester bakery The Flat Baker to open its very first cafe
Daisy Jackson
Hugely popular Manchester bakery The Flat Baker has announced plans to open its very first cafe.
The Brazilian-French bakery has become legendary in the city for its flaky croissants and pistachio-based treats.
For the last few years, it’s been operating out of a hatch in Ancoats, with queues often snaking down Radium Street from early in the morning on weekends.
And now The Flat Baker has announced an exciting next chapter in their journey in Manchester – their very first bakery and cafe.
The team will be taking over a unit on the same street, which will have space to house their baking operations as well as a sitting area to serve brunch and hot food.
They’ve announced that they’ll be retaining their much-loved hatch but expanding to a second site in the heart of Ancoats.
They hope this will drastically reduce any waiting and queue times and allow even more people to sample these incredible bakes.
In a statement shared on Instagram, they wrote: “We have been keeping a secret from you. This corner of Ancoats will never be the same, because it will be our new bakery, cafe and brunch!
“We have been dreaming of it for years – we almost closed a deal with another two locations in the past few years, but it didn’t work out.
“We were about to leave the plan of the new shop aside, we were very frustrated of how things were not working the way we planned it to…
“But everything happens for a reason! Who knew the building next door was just waiting for us…
“The two-storey building has just the right space for our baking operations, plus a sitting area and a space to serve brunch and hot food.
“Don’t worry, we won’t let our tiny hatch go, we will keep both locations. This will allow us a faster service, avoid the waiting times and long queues.
“For now we just want to share this great achievement. Growing a small business when you see many other places shutting is such a challenge. But if you never stop dreaming and work hard for it, the sky is the limit! We can’t wait for the next chapter to come. Matt and Deb x”
The Flat Baker Cafe is expected to open in Ancoats this summer.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd January 2023 
