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.
‘Manchester’s best lunch deal’ that’s only available for two hours a day
Daisy Jackson
There’s a cafe in the centre of Manchester that’s had queues all the way down the street thanks to its incredible value lunch deal.
Although it’s been in Spring Gardens for two years now, Meridian has remained one of Manchester’s best-kept secrets online, thanks to its decision to stay totally off social media until recently.
That hasn’t stopped the queues though, and they’re all here for the same thing – a loaded £5.80 lunch box.
Tucked away just off Market Street, Meridian is an unassuming cafe operated by founder Dan.
It’s much more than a coffee shop, with a menu of Asian fusion dishes served in the cafe, as well as for grab-and-go lunches.
The lunch boxes start from just £5.80, which gets you a box absolutely packed to the brim with delicious Chinese and South East Asian items.
You start off with a base of either egg rice fried, chips, or noodles; then lash on a sauce like Malaysian curry, Thai sweet chilli, or satay.
Meridian in ManchesterThe Meridian lunch boxes in Manchester
As for the toppings, there’s a massive list including popcorn salt n chilli chicken, Japanese gyozas, roasted pork ribs, tofu bites, and crispy spicy beef.
Plans officially submitted for ‘vibrant’ new food hall in Wythenshawe
Emily Sergeant
Are you feeling hungry? Good, because a new food hall is on the horizon.
That’s right – plans to transform Wythenshawe Civic have taken another exciting leap forward this week, as Manchester City Council and placemaker Muse have submitted a planning application to bring a brand-new food hall to the town.
Set to be housed within the three units next to the former Peacocks store – which has now been demolished – the new food hall will become a ‘vibrant’ destination for independent and local food vendors to attract people with ‘delicious and diverse’ offerings.
Developers also hope the new food hall will keep the suburban Manchester town’s centre ‘bustling’ throughout the day and into the evening.
The announcement that the new food hall is in the works comes as part of the already-announced plans for Wythenshawe Civic – with work to soon begin on everything from the public realm, and outside space, to the vacant office space above the existing Iceland-store, which will also be transformed into modern new workspace to support local start-ups and bring new jobs into the town centre.
Developers also recently submitted three separate applications to create 422 new affordable homes for social rent across three locations in the town centre.
“Listening to local people over the last year and more, we know that Wythenshawe residents want more from their town centre – more things to do, opportunities to spend time in Civic and night time attractions that give the area a lift and attract visitors,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“This is the drive behind the Culture Hub. A place for local people with an interest in the arts to take part in creative activities, see a show or enjoy the cinema space – right in the heart of their community.
“This is another exciting chapter in the transformation of Wythenshawe Town Centre.”
Joel Chandler, who is the Senior Development Manager at Muse, added that developers are ‘moving at pace’ with plans to give the town centre the ‘regeneration it deserves’.
“The food hall will be a hive for a range of local outlets and will provide new spaces for the community to spend time in and give the town’s nighttime economy a major boost.”
Emily Sergeant -
24th November 2021 
