Manchester hotel restaurant The Refuge is serving a roast for you AND your dog
Pet-friendly hotel Kimpton Clocktower also provides a full pet setup in the room, with a pet tuckbox, pet guide to the best dog-friendly places to visit, toys and treats
A hotel restaurant in Manchester is serving up Sunday roast dinners for dogs and we are completely obsessed.
Award-winning eatery and bar The Refuge, located inside the pet-friendly Kimpton Clocktower Hotel on Oxford Road, is already highly-rated for its Sunday roasts but it’s about to get even more popular after adding a new ‘roast bowl’ for pets to its Sunday menu.
Introduced as part of the venue’s new spring food menu overhaul, four-legged friends now have their own answer to The Refuge’s legendary Sunday dinner – allowing them to dine in style alongside their owners.
Comprised of a mini roast, the new pet ‘roast bowl’ features a selection of meat, veggies, and a dash of pet-friendly gravy (no onions or garlic to worry about here).
Image: The Refuge
Image: The Refuge
Owners, meanwhile, are also in for a treat with the choice between a traditional roast or one of The Refuge’s famous sharing platters (a mixture of grass-fed rump of Lancashire beef and half a roast Cumbrian chicken plus trimmings, with the option to add-on a lamb shawarma shepherd’s pie for an extra £9).
All roast platters are served with thyme and salt roast potatoes, glazed carrot, seasonal greens, Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese and pan gravy, whilst individual roasts come with roast potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding and a selection of vegetables.
Vegans are also welcome, with a plant-based Sunday dinner option of vegan wellington, roasted celeriac, duxelles, red onion, kale and potato.
Speaking on the new menus, Stephanie McIver, General Manager of The Refuge said: “The new menus at The Refuge are a fresh and inventive take on feasting and sharing with friends and family.
“We welcome anyone and everyone to our dining space and we expect the new additions will be highlights for all our guests this season.
“At The Refuge we extend our invitation to dogs which is a continuation of Kimpton Clocktower Hotel’s dog-friendly policy, making all dogs welcome alongside their human guest counterparts and offering dogs their very own Sunday roast dinner.”
Image: The Refuge
Image: The Refuge
Guests with pets are encouraged to book a PAWfect stay at Kimpon Clocktower Hotel to enjoy an overnight stay with breakfast, along with a full pet setup in the room, a pet tuckbox, pet guide to the best dog-friendly places to visit and a toy and treat or two.
Pets at Klimpton Clocktower Hotel are welcome to stay with their owners for free, with no extra charge placed on the room.
For more information on The Refuge and to book a table visit here. Guests looking to order a Dog roast bowl are encouraged to make this request when booking a reservation at The Refuge.
Featured image – The Refuge
City Centre
The NBA is coming to Manchester for just the second time ever
Danny Jones
In another major coup for Manchester, the NBA is coming to our shores for just the second time in history, having only been played in the UK on a relative handful of occasions.
This is nothing short of a massive milestone for the city.
Having last crossed the pond back in 2019, the NBA has only visited 0161 once before over a decade ago at the old AO Arena, and there’s only been a total of 19 transatlantic meetings up until now.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, being confirmed as part of the NBA’s new European slate, Manchester is also set to be one of the first venues in the UK to ever host a regular-season game.
JUST ANNOUNCED: @NBA The NBA, Co-op Live and @ManchesterCityCouncil have today announced that the NBA will bring a regular-season game to Manchester for the first time ever in 2027, a monumental moment for the city, the venue, and UK sport. Read more here: https://t.co/6hR5g8XsxXpic.twitter.com/PRCCqb2Zaw
NBA Europe have managed to secure a three-year programme of matches that will feature as part of the league’s normal competitive season.
Kicking off next year and running until 2028 at the very least, the current deal will see the much-loved sport watched worldwide first land on the continent for a pair of games next year in Berlin and London, before heading to Paris and our very own Manchester in 2027.
Florida’s Orlando Magic and Tennessee’s Memphis Grizzlies have already been announced for the first two games, although Manchester’s match-up is yet to be confirmed at this early stage.
With Basketball England being officially headquartered within the wider Etihad Campus, there was no question that the Manchester NBA fixture was going to be held at Co-op Live.
As well as being not just the biggest indoor entertainment venue of its kind in England but all of Europe, the arena has also recently welcomed the likes of the UFC, WWE and multiple boxing matches, proving it can serve as the perfect host for premier live sporting action on a global scale.
Speaking in the wake of the seismic news, the Leader of Manchester City Council and representative for Burnage, Bev Craig, could only echo how big a deal this is for the region.
“Manchester once again has shown what a magnificent draw it is for major events, and we are thrilled to welcome the NBA back to our city”, she said. “This city is known for big names, big games and a reputation for showcasing world-class events on the biggest stage possible.
“With a growing basketball scene in Manchester, this event feels like the perfect fit and will give so many people in our city the chance to see what the best athletes in the sport can do on our home turf.
“When it comes to delivering world-class events, we know that Manchester is now firmly on the map. Now, working with our partners, we want to continue driving investment towards our city, creating new jobs, increasing growth and providing new opportunities and experiences for all of our residents.”
Once again, the exact date, timings and teams set to play at the Co-op are still yet to be decided, but having also sealed the BRIT Awards ceremony for 2026, it’s set to be a truly momentous couple of years for the arena and the city as a whole.
A giant robotic snail is sliming its way into Manchester city centre this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you find yourself in Manchester city centre this weekend, then keep your eyes peeled for a big robotic snail.
It’s not a sentence you hear every day, but this weekend and this weekend alone, a ‘breathtaking’ giant robotic snail will be sliming its way into the heart of Manchester city centre as part of Manchester Museum‘s plan to bring free family fun to the masses this summer.
Luma, a nine-metre-long inflatable, robotic snail – who has been brought to life by creative robotics studio, Air Giants, who are also responsible for the giant cat currently sleeping in the Museum’s Exhibition Hall – will be leaving the four walls of the Oxford Road-based Museum and heading down to St Ann’s Square.
St Ann’s Square’s newest visitor is part of the Museum’s free family programme centred around their The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years exhibition.
Luma’s visit will give Mancs the unique chance to have fun with this otherworldly being.
Like the sleepy cat, Luma the snail uses air flow to move around, and draws inspiration from the extraordinary range of flexing and contorting motion that’s found in bio-mechanics to create ‘beautiful’ movement.
Part artwork, part a feat of engineering, Luma has a gentle, welcoming and otherworldly presence, and invites members of the public to get up close, responding to their movement and touch in the process.
A giant robotic snail is sliming its way into Manchester city centre this weekend / Credit: Supplied
“Luma is a joyful and hopeful work which champions both nature and technology, and reimagines what robots can be for,” Manchester Museum said in a statement.
Luma the snail will perform in St Ann’s Square this weekend on both Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August from 10am-4pm.
Georgina Pellant -
3rd April 2023 
