Eats

‘Boxing Day Burger’ and massive Christmas platter on Yard & Coop’s festive menu

The "home of Buttermilk chicken" has completely transformed its menu this Christmas.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 24th November 2021

Manchester’s beloved fried chicken shack and the home of “birds, booze, and beats” has got some pretty tasty treats on its festive menu this year.

With the festive season right around the corner, and Christmas set to be here before we know it, plenty of Manchester’s independent bars and eateries are gearing up for what is always one of the busiest times of the year in the foodie calendar by giving their menus a seasonal re-vamp to add some limited-edition dishes.

Yard & Coop – which sits on Edge Street in the heart of the Northern Quarter – may be popular all year round and raved-about by both locals and city centre visitors alike, but it’s festive food offering is sure to get people talking more than ever.

The “home of Buttermilk chicken” has completely transformed its menu this Christmas.

One of the stand-out festive menu additions this year has to be the ‘Boxing Day Burger’, which, as the name suggests, pays a worthy homage to the unofficial national day of leftovers by giving “Boxing day vibes in a bun”. The burger combines fried chicken thighs dunked in a rich ‘butter chicken’ curry sauce, with lime pickle, pomegranate, mango, and mint yoghurt in a toasted brioche.

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The £14.50 burger is then topped with the also-new sprout bhajis, and served with sweet potato fries and curry-salted parsnip crisps.

Yard & Coop’s festive food offering is sure to get people talking more than ever / Credit: Instagram (@yardandcoop)

Another headline-grabbing festive dish has to be the ‘Winner Winner Christmas Dinner’ platter, which is buttermilk fried chicken breast with cheesy mash, pulled chicken and sage stuffing, two Yorkshire puddings, parsnip crisps, sticky marmalade chipolatas, and creamed shredded sprouts with chestnuts, all served with Yard & Coops original recipe cranberry ketchup and lashings of delicious gravy.

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Some of the other festive treats on the menu to tuck into include the ‘Festive Negroni Wings’ served with cranberry ketchup and zesty orange, and the ‘Sprout Bhajis’ topped with lime pickle, orange dressing, pomegranate seeds, and a mint yoghurt drizzle.

The “home of Buttermilk chicken” has completely transformed its menu this Christmas / Credit: Instagram (@yardandcoop)

If you’ve never grabbed a bite at Yard & Coop before, then all the restaurant’s chicken is farm-to-fork within 48 hours, and is then coated in buttermilk and tossed in its secret recipe crumb to keep it crispy.

The menu “celebrates the whole bird”, from individual cuts with home made sauces, to epic burgers, and quirky large plates.

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Yard & Coop is also getting into the spirit by serving up a handful of festive street food dishes from its own stall down at Manchester Christmas Markets.

Read more: Everything you need to know about the Manchester Christmas Markets 2021

You make a Christmas booking on the Yard & Coop website here.

Featured Image – Instagram (@yardandcoop)

Eats

First Look: Fitzpatrick’s – Stockport’s new Irish Bar gets off to a stunning start

Danny Jones Danny Jones Fitzpatrick's new Irish bar and grill opening Stockport

Stockport has a brand new Irish bar as the growing Greater Manchester trend continues, with Fitzpatrick’s officially debuting to the public on Thursday, 19 June.

Taking over the former Bask site just outside the train station, Fitzpatrick’s is the borough’s answer to American sports bar meets an Irish pub and grill, with live music, a wide array of food and more.

Founded by the man who now shares his name with the already lively boozer, John Fitzpatrick – a.k.a. local producer, musician and DJ, Jon Fitz – the venue has big shoes to fill following its predecessor, but is already off to a very strong start.

We had the privilege of walking in on opening day, and the place was absolutely packed to the rafters from the off, and we didn’t even stay until the end. More fool us…

As you can see, it hasn’t taken them any time at all to get an atmosphere going; good weather on their inaugural day, but the free-flowing beer, classic pub food flying out of the kitchen, and musicians reeling off classic Irish folk music did most of the heavy lifting.

Plus, that beer garden and covered outdoor terrace area are pretty perfect in any weather, to be fair.

The scran on their maiden evening mainly consisted of pizza, chips and other easy-to-serve-up plates as they gradually ease into the first week or so of service, but with a full menu of burgers, pies, breakfasts and even Sunday roasts to come, we’re very excited to try the full gamut.

Regardless, the staff were pulling pints like pros, John himself had plenty of involvement greeting people and getting behind the bar, and the atmosphere was buzzing from minute one.

ln fact, that was arguably the best part about it all: there was that genuine feeling of a new community cornerstone being born, with the well-known Stopfordian reeling off names and recognising what seemed like almost every face that walked through the door.

You don’t get that everywhere.

A lay of the land at Fitzpatrick’s Stockport. (Credit: The Manc Eats)

Although this was their first proper day of trading, they had already gauged the kind of crowds they could expect by soft launching with friends and family last week.

That being said, as mentioned, there was a real tight-knit, community feel to the place, full of County kits, young families and older couples alike, all of whom seemed to be dovetailing together as if the pub had always been around.

SK is often dubbed one of those places where everyone kind of knows everyone, even despite how big the town is as a whole, and this definitely felt like proof of that perception.

There was even close-up magic from Stockport’s famous ‘Fingerless Magician’, Dean Lahan, who famously featured on Britain’s Got Talent and even featured for Team GB’s Para Ice Hockey squad.

Of course, there is some familiarity with the space having previously been Bask, but the location of the stage, a newly decked out bar and the large jumbo-tron style TV set-up for live sport in the centre of the room (providing prime viewing from virtually all angles) have made a big difference.

Based solely on the hordes of people that piled into the place the second the doors opened, we can’t wait to see what the gaff is like once it’s in so-called ‘full swing’. John and his team might just be on to something big here.

Speaking to The Manc, he said: “As a local lad, I wanted to put something into the space that reflects a lot of my history and culture. Music, food, sport and a great atmosphere are all things I love, so I wanted to reflect that in this gorgeous space.”

Open 4-11 from Tuesday to Thursday, 2pm until late on Fridays, and the same only from 1pm at weekends, we can imagine Stockport punters are about to be spending a lot of time in Fitzpatrick’s.

(Credit: The Manc Group)

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Featured Images – The Manc Group

Eats

Manchester bar announces huge giveaway of margaritas to celebrate first birthday

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Electric Shuffle has announced a margarita giveaway for its first birthday

A cocktail and shuffleboard bar in Manchester city centre is throwing a weekend-long party to celebrate its first birthday, and there are free cocktails up for grabs. 

Electric Shuffle is kindly offering to give all of us presents for its birthday, with an epic free margarita giveaway. 

That’s alongside an almighty party that includes resident DJs, live music performances, giveaways, exclusive offers, a cracking happy hour and a free photobooth. 

The Deansgate activity bar, which has 15 interactive high-tech shuffleboards to play, each one loaded with different game modes, is celebrating one year in the city centre between Friday 20 and Sunday 22 June. 

They’re throwing a three-day-long celebration, kicking off at 5pm on Friday with a giveaway of margaritas for the first 250 guests through the doors. 

Then there’ll be an Electric Shuffle birthday prize game, where each slide of the puck could unlock prizes like bar tabs, brunch tickets, branded merch, cocktails, pizzas and more. 

Singer-songwriter Luke McColl will be playing live during the evening, and you’ll be able to dive into a free photobooth all evening. 

Electric Shuffle Manchester
Electric Shuffle Manchester
Food and drink at the premium gaming bar
Food and drink at the premium gaming bar
Electric Shuffle Manchester turns one
Electric Shuffle Manchester turns one

Moving on to Saturday’s celebrations – expect happy hour deals all day long, like £4 pins and £7 Sarti Spritzes, complimentary shuffleboard hire (you need to pre-book HERE), a special late brunch session between 5pm and 7pm, and more prize giveaways. 

This part of the birthday party will be soundtracked by resident DJs and a live set from Elle Graham.

And if you thought that was the end of the party, you’re mistaken. 

On Sunday, Electric Shuffle will host free shuffleboard all day long.

All summer, there’ll be a Margs and Margs deal, where you can get two margarita cocktails and a margarita pizza for just £25.

Electric Shuffle’s first birthday celebrations take place between 20 and 22 June.

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

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