A huge vegan street food fair is coming to Manchester this month, bringing together some of the region’s most mouthwatering traders for a weekend.
Taking place at the popular Green Quarter street food hub Grub, plant-based foodies can tuck into a range of different vegan treats ranging from tacos and kebabs to sugary sweet bakes, pizzas and more.
With the date set for the last weekend of January, the festival will run for three days: starting at 5pm on Friday 27 January and continuing until 6pm on Sunday 29 January.
Those heading down can expect to find a number of street food delights, including vegan dumplings made with non-traditional fillings from recent Ancoats General Store pop-up trader, Desert Island Dumplings.
Image: Desert Island DUmplings
Image: Seitan’s Kebab
Known for serving a quirky range of dumplings stuffed with salt and pepper chickn, smoky cheez pizza, hoisin mock duck and cheezeburger, the menu here also features stacks of hash browns, chips and drunken noodles.
And that’s not all. If you’re lucky, you might also get your hands on some sweet dumplings – with previous favourites including lemon drizzle and Lotus banoffee (and served with a sweet dip, no less). Dumplings can be mixed and matched, too, so you can get a little taste of everything.
Elsewhere, you’ll find woodfired Neapolitan-style pizzas from Lancashire favourite Marley’s Pizza and a host of Mexican tacos from Nina’s Taco Truck, who will also be serving new dishes like nachos, ‘El Jefe’ burrito, and dirty fries topped with the likes of cheese sauce, jalapeno, red cabbage, crispy onions and chipotle mayo.
There’ll also be sweet treats from Drizzle City Bakes, known for creating fun bakes like red velvet and Oreo cupcakes, lemon and raspberry drizzle and rocky roads, plus more from That Vegan Bakery.
‘Manchester’s favourite’ vegan food fair is returning to GRUB this month / Credit: GRUB
And last but not least, Seitan’s Kebab will also be in attendance across the weekend serving up unique vegan takes on everyone’s late-night takeaway favourite, with the option of loaded fries on the side.
Drinks-wise, expect to find a fully vegan bar offering wine, cocktails, spirits, soft drinks and beer from local breweries, plus hot drinks from Alchemic Coffee’s pop-up garden bar featuring speciality teas, coffees, espresso martinis, mulled wine and hot chocolate. You can also expect music, vibes and lovely times.
Kicking off from 5pm on Friday 27 January, the vegan food festival at Grub will run from 5-10pm the first night, then all day on Saturday from 12-10pm. Its final day will be Sunday 29 January, with traders in situ from 12-6pm.
Feature image – Grub / Desert Island Dumplings
Eats
Northern Quarter favourite The Pen and Pencil announces massive 10th birthday party and huge offers
Daisy Jackson
The Pen and Pencil, an absolute staple for brunches and drinks in the Northern Quarter, is celebrating a major milestone this month with a huge party and some unbeatable deals.
The bar and restaurant will be marking 10 years on Tariff Street in September – and it’s only right that we all pile in to celebrate with them.
This spot is one of the city’s original bottomless brunch venues and is similarly famed for its happy hour offerings, and opened in 2015 to bring a taste of Manhattan to Manchester.
Pen and Pencil took its name from the infamous New York City bar that was seen in Mad Men.
And now as it turns 10 years old, it’ll be throwing one big party on Saturday 27 September, featuring 10 hours of DJs, free pints of Red Stripe at 10pm, and a special bottomless brunch offering.
Those DJing on the day will include Drag Race UK’s Banksie, as well as Les Croasdaile, Mark Hogg, Danny Ward and A Deeper Groove.
Pen & Pencil has amazing deals for its 10th birthdayPen & Pencil is a Northern Quarter OG
The Pen and Pencil 10th birthday party will kick off from 2pm and run until late – but if you can’t make that one, there’ll be celebrations all week (and, indeed, month) long.
On Tuesday 23 September, you’ll be able to play for double prize money in The Pen and Pencil quiz, as well as enjoying happy hour drinks all night.
Then on Friday 26 September, it’ll be an all-night happy hour, with free tequila shots at 10pm and music from DJs Nev Johnson and Gareth James from 7pm.
All September long, there’ll be 50% off food every Monday, two-for-£10 cocktails every Wednesday, £10 burgers every Thursday, happy hour all night on Fridays, 10 dishes for £10 and two bloody Marys for £10 on Sundays, plus DJs on Fridays and Saturdays.
There’s a new colourful art installation outside the venue inspired by the bar’s New York roots.
Owner Kevin Connor said: “We’re really excited to be celebrating being part of the Manchester community for ten years!
“New York’s Pen and Pencil was a classic steak and cocktail joint, and we’re proud to have created our very own iconic Northern Quarter hangout. We hope everyone will join us in celebrating ten years on Tariff Street.”
Walk-ins are welcome for The Pen and Pencil 10th birthday party on Saturday 27 September, but booking is encouraged – book your spot HERE.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Eats
Manchester restaurant to give out FREE katsu curries to people called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’
Emily Sergeant
In what is a small stroke of genius, a restaurant chain has decided to give out free katsu curries to anyone called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’.
Throughout September, award-winning restaurant chain Banana Tree – which has a Greater Manchester site down at Salford Quays – is shining the spotlight on its popular katsu creations, and as a clever way of celebrating National Katsu Day on 27 September has announced a pretty unique giveaway.
That’s right – the restaurant will be serving up katsu dishes to people called Kat, Sue, and every delicious variation of the names in between.
Anyone named Kat, Katie, Katherine, Sue, Suzy, Susan, Suzanne – or close enough to qualify, the list goes on – can head to their local Banana Tree restaurant, and all they’ll need to do is show proof of name and they can enjoy a free katsu dish of their choice, worth up to £16.75.
The chain’s kastu lineup includes three star dishes.
First there’s the much-loved Katsu Curry, as well as the all-new Katsu Burger, which is made from either a crispy chicken or veggie fillet, spicy mayo, puffed noodle crunch, and a drizzle of Katsu sauce tucked into a soft Shokupan bun with a side of salt n pepper chilli chips.
Then there’s also the intriguing newcomer, the Katsu Carbonara – which is described as being a daring East-meets-West mash-up and ‘unapologetically’ Banana Tree.
Banana Tree is giving away free katsu curries to people called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’ / Credit: Banana Tree
With each of these dishes usually priced around the £16 mark, the giveaway isn’t just a way of marking National Katsu Day, but it’s also a way to sample the some of the restaurant’s biggest crowd-pleasers entirely free of charge.
To avoid any confusion on who makes the cut, Banana Tree will reveal the full qualifying list of name variations on Instagram soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
“Our Katsu range is one of our proudest creations, so National Katsu Day felt like the perfect moment to have some fun with our fans,” a Banana Tree spokesperson said ahead of the giveaway.
The free katsu offer is available for four days only from Monday 22 to Thursday 25 September, and you just need to head to the Banana Tree website to sign up to the Big Flavour Club here.
Georgina Pellant -
20th January 2023 
