I tried the Manchester roast with a dedicated cauliflower cheese menu named the ‘UK’s best’
With eight different styles of cauliflower cheese to choose from alone, it's safe to say that Ducie Street Warehouse has created something truly special here.
Right, let’s talk cauliflower cheese for a moment. A non-negotiable on a roast dinner, I like mine steaming hot and encased in cheesy bechamel, slightly charred on top and oozing in the middle.
Truth be told, I’m more attached to cauliflower cheese than Yorkshire puddings (blasphemy up north, I know). Miss a Yorkshire off my roast and – as long as I’ve not ordered beef – we’ll be absolutely fine. But forget the cauliflower cheese? Well, I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive you.
Then at the start of this year, its Sunday roast offering was named the best in the UK. So, in the interests of roast-loving Mancs everywhere, I dutifully trotted down to give it a go. The things I have to do in the name of journalism, honestly.
Macaroni cauliflower cheese at Ducie Street Warehouse. / Image: The Manc Eats
Rosemary roasted leg of lamb roast with the biggest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen at Ducie Street Warehouse. / Image: The Manc Eats
Mentally prepared to eat my body weight in cheese, I’d already familiarised myself with the menu. Ok, technically two menus. Ducie Street Warehouse has a separate one just for its cauliflower cheeses: with eight different styles to choose from.
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We’re talking cauliflower cheese with vintage cheddar, freshly shaved black truffle, bacon frazzles, garlic and herb crumble, four kinds of cheese, blue cheese, macaroni, plus a cheezy option for the vegans.
According to the team, it’s ‘the ultimate Sunday side that deserves a place of its own.’ I couldn’t agree more.
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As for the rest, its separate ‘Sunday with Sides’ menu also seemingly has it all. Dry-aged local shorthorn beef sirloin, W.H. Frost premium chicken breast, rosemary roasted leg of lamb and a weekly-changing vegan roast ‘with all the trimmings’.
Add to that its promising-sounding ‘Slice Of ‘SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE’ – a carvery-style mixed-meat plate priced at £27.50 – and it does seem like they’ve really thought of it all.
Cauliflower cheese topped with Frazzles and bacon bits at Ducie Street Warehouse. / Image: The Manc Eats
Cauliflower cheese topped with freshly grated black truffle at Ducie Street Warehouse. / Image: The Manc Eats
I opt for a pink leg of lamb, whilst my cheese-eating partner in crime goes for the beef (which also comes out beautifully pink). Both are served with crispy roasties on a mountain of seasonal veg, topped with the biggest singular Yorkshire puddings I think I’ve ever seen.
Gravy is generous, but there’s an extra jug plopped onto our table too – just in case. Being a gravy glutton, I pile it on. It comes out a bit thick for my liking, but still tastes delicious nonetheless.
As for the cauliflower cheese? It’s worth every bit of hype it gets. We try the umami-rich black truffle, blue cheese, macaroni and Frazzles options, filling our tiny table for two with an absolute mountain of cauliflower.
As ever, my eyes are bigger than my belly, but I give it a good go: packing up the rest to take home and eat in bed later.
I won’t beat around the bush. This is a deceptively BIG roast. Granted, we did order four portions of cauliflower cheese on the side, but still. Some roasts look good but lack substance. Not this one. This is the roast that keeps on giving.
Further add-ons include Tuscan pork stuffing, honey-roasted heirloom rainbow carrots, maple roasted parsnips, lemon and garlic broccoli gratin, macaroni cheese, plus extra Yorkshire puddings and gravy, not that we can manage it.
I’d definitely go back with a group, though, and see if we can get through it all. I honestly can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
‘Hidden’ Manchester cocktail bar shuts down after only six months
Daisy Jackson
A cocktail bar in Manchester city centre that opened only last December has reportedly closed down, with its final service today.
Ego Death, a ‘hidden’ speakeasy-style bar in the Northern Quarter, told CLASS magazine that they were told by backers that they would have to close.
It opened under the steer of acclaimed bartender Cressida Lawlor, co-founded by Beau Myers, who also founded the original Almost Famous.
The bar is beneath newcomer smash burger joint Super Awesome Deluxe and accessed through an unmarked door within the takeaway.
Shortly after Super Awesome Deluxe opened, Almost Famous went through a high-profile closure of all of its restaurants this year, later bought out and reopened by D2.
And now just six months after launch, Ego Death looks set to be closing for good.
Cressida told CLASS: “The team here is wildly talented so the goal now is to get them into jobs so they can pay their bills and keep a roof over their heads.
“No one wants Ego Death to die and I think we’ve made enough of a stir in the six months that we’ve been open to find a new site and investment.
“Our last day is going to be Sunday, so anyone who can get here for one final party should come down.”
She later added on Instagram: “Truly gutting but there is always light in any form of darkness. Come see us this Sunday for the final service as we go through a true ego death.”
Ego Death came from the same team behind Socio Rehab (which if you remember it from 2004 was a bit of a local institution) and had a cocktail menu inspired by the speakeasy bars of New York City.
Behind the bar the stars were bourbon and champagne, plus cocktails inspired by the Big Apple – including one named after Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones.
Beau Myers, co-founder at Ego Death said at the time of its opening: “It’s been 20 years since we opened Socio Rehab so it seems pretty poignant to be opening another amazing cocktail bar. We changed the landscape of cocktail bar culture then and that’s something we’re trying to do again.
“We’ve partnered with Cressida Lawlor to make this dream happen. She’s a total firecracker and reminds me a lot of myself 20 years ago, she’s the future of cocktails and bartending and has that maverick spirit.
“Together we’ve created Ego Death, hidden in a basement behind an unmarked door at the back of a burger shop will be this cocktail haven. An underground escape throwing out the best classic cocktails, bourbon, and champagne from top level bartenders.”
This Manchester bar serves a bottomless cheese fondue with endless beer and wine
Georgina Pellant
There’s a bar in Manchester serving a bottomless cheese fondue with endless wine and beer, and it honestly sounds like the perfect treat.
While it might scream cosy winter night in, with a huge outdoor terrace, The Mews is also a firm favourite during the summer months.
Add in a board of melt-in-the-mouth charcuterie, springy pieces of garlic sourdough and a host of crunchy cheese biscuits, and you’ve got yourself the ideal afternoon if you ask us.
But there’s more. Alongside all that cheese and meat and bread, included in the price of The Mews’ bottomless fondue, cheese lovers can also enjoy 90 minutes of non-stop drinks.
Bottomless cheese fondue at The Mews on Deansgate in Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Costing £37.50 each, included in the deal is a huge pot of melted Italian Fontina cheese served with homemade garlic croutons, sourdough crackers, and slices of British charcuterie.
You’ll also get to enjoy an hour and a half of endless pints of house pilsner and carafes of red or white wine to enjoy alongside.
Serving up to six people, the bottomless cheese fondue is available only when you pre-book, so make sure to get in touch ahead of your visit to let The Mews know that you’re coming.
If you’re not on the sauce, you can opt for the cheese fondue alone. Without the booze, it’s quite a bit cheaper at £25 for one, and £2.50 on top for any additional people who want to get stuck in.
Housed up on Deansgate Mews, just behind the main hustle and bustle of Deansgate, there’s plenty of space inside as well as a large, secluded terrace that is quite the suntrap (when the Manchester sun is shining).
Georgina Pellant -
3rd February 2023 
