Eats

A 1920s-themed ‘wine and murder’ escape room is coming to Manchester

Dinner and a live murder mystery show, followed by drinks. games and dancing

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 27th July 2022

An immersive 1920s-themed ‘wine and murder’ escape room is coming to Manchester later this year.

Called ‘Wine Escape’, it will combine theatrical murder mystery, ‘beat the clock’ games, a two-course dinner with plenty of wine (as the name implies), and late-night dancing when it opens inside the former Freemason’s Hall this Autumn.

Watching as part of a live show, guests will become embroiled in the drama of the Hawker Wine Estate and its wealthy owners, the Von James family, as they are thrown into the mystery and intrigue of the historic building around them.

Image: Manchester Hall

What starts off as an evening of celebration quickly turns dark, as lies, vengeance and deceit being to turn the party sour. From this point on, the onus is on guests to stick together and hold their nerve in order to beat the clock and make their escape.

The show, which is touring up and down the country until December, will move into Manchester Hall for two dates on October 14 and 15.

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Designed to have “a night out on the town” feel, guests are encouraged to dress up in the 1920’s style but whilst costumes are welcomed they are not compulsory.

Tickets include a two-course meal and a live immersive show performed by actors, followed by entertainment, games and then dancing.

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Image: Manchester Hall

Despite the name, wine is not included in your ticket price – however, there is a bar open on site selling wine, alongside other alcoholic and soft drinks. As for your meal, guests can expect to eat a chicken main and a chocolate-based dessert – although this is subject to change depending on suppliers.

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Priced at £64.95 per person, a discount is available for NHS, blue light staff and students. Doors will open at 6.30pm with an intermission during the show, then final drinks and dancing finishing off the night around 10.30-11.30pm.

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To find out more, visit the Wine Escape website here.

Feature image – Manchester Hall

Eats

Kool Runnings’ legendary Caribbean food truck is back in Old Trafford

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Now more than ever, we’re starting to get used to the fact that the food businesses we love often come and then go. But in the case of Kool Runnings’ Caribbean food truck, whenever it goes missing there’s always more than a little bit of a panic.

The legendary kitchen-on-wheels has been feeding its community for a quarter of a decade, and if it disappears – as it sometimes does – its loyal regulars start to fret.

Lately, the truck has been missing from its Old Trafford patch. As a result, fans have been left wondering what is going on and whether it might have closed for good, as so many great hospitality businesses seem to be doing at the moment.

Good news, then, that after a short hiatus, it is back: once again parked up in its rightful spot, slinging out its famous fried and jerk chicken, as well as handmade patties, massive dumplings, creamy coleslaw, mac and cheese, and plenty more to the waiting crowds.

Jerk chicken on the grill at Kool Runnings food truck in Old Trafford. / Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Owner Aval Saunders has been steadfastly feeding his community what is widely considered to be some of the best Yard food in the north since 1998, cooking late into the night out of his food truck with a little help from his sons.

He hates waste and will generally stay open serving until all the food is gone. Making everything from scratch, with fresh patties prepared daily, also means that everything is super fresh – but the days are long, and he works hard.

Queues here are common, especially in the summer when the smell of spiced meat on charcoal billows from the trailer and hungrily winds its way around the neighbourhood.

It’s unsurprising, then, that he felt he needed a bit of a break – telling us that he has just returned from spending time abroad recuperating in Jamaica.

“So yeah, we’ve been back home to Jamaica just to have a bit of rest because you know we’re busy we’re very busy,” he told The Manc.

“A lot of people missed us you know, since we come back a lot of people came back, complaining, kept saying ‘where were you guys, where were you guys?’ But we had to take a break because we’re tired innit.”

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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

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It’s dark and our pictures don’t really do it justice, but trust us when we say that the food here is worth every bit of hype that it gets.

A fixture in the community for some twenty-five years now, it’s become a longstanding favourite for whole generations.

Aval’s cooking has also amassed some famous fans over the years. Footballers like Sergio Agüero, Andy Cole and Rio Ferdinand, as well as sports personalities Usain Bolt and Tyson Fury are known to be regulars.

Even Ainsley Harriot of Ready Steady Cook fame has popped by the truck in the past for a scran, so we understand.

This is the sort of food that you just want to shovel in, no cutlery needed. Packed with flavour, then jerk chicken here is marinaded in a secret rub and then thrown on the grill until it’s blackened with smoke, whilst its accompanying gravy is thick, sweet and peppery with a nice hidden kick.

Thank goodness, then, that the Kool Runnings truck is back where it belongs. With the Longsight shop now looking like it’s permanently closed (according to Google, at least), we were starting to wonder where to go for our next fix.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

Eats

An award-winning pie and mash cafe is opening in Manchester

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

This month award-winning piemakers Great North Pie Co will officially open in Manchester city centre, bringing its high-quality goodies to Kampus for the very first time.

Serving up a modern take on traditional pie and mash dinners, a new, seasonal menu features four butter-pastry pies, stuffed to the brim using only the best ingredients from North West producers.

From 14-hour braised beef and ale pies, to roast chicken and mushroom and the company’s hero classic Lancashire cheese and onion, pie fans can expect to find classic flavour combinations done well at the cosy and intimate new space.

Each pie on the menu is served with a wide range of sides, with choices including buttery mash or proper home-style chips, cauliflower cheese, pickled red cabbage, mushy garden peas or chip shop mushy peas all served with roast onion and brown sauce gravy or the house curry sauce- the ultimate feed.

There will also be weekly comfort food specials such as lamb and pea steamed suet puddings, corned beef hash, Lancashire Hot Pot, and keema and chips.

Image: Great North Pie Co
Image: Great North Pie Co

To round off the perfect meal, puddings include school dinner-style sweet treats like chocolate sponge and custard and the classic sticky toffee pudding. 

Breakfast sandwiches will be served daily between 10:30am and 2.30pm and will feature quality versions of all the breakfast classics including Cheshire Smokehouse honey-cured bacon and Stornoway black pudding.

The drinks menu, meanwhile, includes the likes of Manchester Union Lager on draught, a selection of quality wines and proseccos, plus a handful of spritz style cocktails.

Read more: All the February Manchester restaurant deals, discounts and offers you need in 2023

With booth-style seating for 20 inside and an outdoor area seating area for up to 30 more overlooking the Kampus garden and canal, the cosy new pie cafe is the first resident to arrive on the cobbles of Kampus’s Little David Street.

Neil Broomfield, co-founder of Great North Pie Co, said: “Since we started making pies it’s always been an ambition to have a base in the city centre.

“We’d been looking for a while and as soon as we saw Kampus, Little David Street and the gardens, we knew it was the right place for us. While it’s our first city centre venue, we don’t have plans  to rollout out any more, as we place our focus on keeping the quality and consistency we aim for.

Image: Great North Pie Co
Image: Great North Pie Co

“We just want to concentrate on doing one thing and doing it well. The mix of traders coming into Kampus is amazing and we’re so proud to be part of it.”

Read more: Huge waterside food hall to breathe life into old Manchester warehouse

Great North Pie Co also has venues in Lake District’s Ambleside and in Altrincham Market.  Its products can also be found at monthly farmers markets, where they started the business, in locations such as Urmston, Knutsford, Northwich, Altrincham, Chester, Wilmslow, Chorlton, Bakewell, Macclesfield and West Didsbury.

The pie brand supplies pubs and restaurants nationwide and also supplies to the likes of Booths, Robinsons’s brewery, Dukeshill Hams, Manchester City Football Club, Stockport County FC, and other popular pubs and restaurants across the country.

Read more: A new Deep South-inspired dive bar is coming to Manchester’s Northern Quarter

Its new cafe will officially open its kitchen & bar at Kampus on Monday, 27 February, with its handcrafted pies available to take away cold as well as eat in.

Feature image – Great North Pie

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