We popped our heads into the brand-new Black Cat Club, a new competitive and social gaming bar from the team behind tapas favourites El Gato Negro and Canto right here in Manchester.
Opening its doors this month (Saturday, 16 March) from a stylish Brown Street den, previously home to the old Habas site, the maiden Black Cat Club is set to combine a small plates dining experience with entertainment and activities like shuffleboard, darts, table football, music and more.
With El Gato just down the road on King Street and Canto over Ancoats’ Cutting Room Square remaining two of the best places for tapas anywhere in the city centre, we were already pretty excited to see what the set-up was going to look like in person.
Safe to say that now we’ve had a glimpse of everything and taken a head-first dive into the food, we cannot wait for this place to launch. They’re also helping usher people in with a very enticing offer on the gaming side, but we’ll get on to that.
First announced last month, it is the games and interactive elements that are the star of this sister concept, promising to deliver the city’s first ‘immersive shuffleboard experience’, with four SHUFL tables and seven FlyBy dart stations and more at the heart of this competitive socialising bar.
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Although the combination might sound a bit left-field at first glance, with tapas and small plates all about sharing and creating a more social way to eat, it actually makes perfect sense when you stop and think about it.
Speaking of the food, there is a very healthy spread to choose from on the menu: buttermilk chicken bites with curry mayonnaise, corn ribs coated in paprika and garlic; salt and pepper ribs, Cajun chicken nachos, crispy cauliflower with sweet spicy chilli sauce and more.
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If you’re after slightly bigger portions to keep to yourself after you’ve just been humiliated by your mates at the oche, you can also choose from some very good loaded pizzas, ‘burgers and buns’, hot dogs with caramelised onions, fish finger butties, dirty fries and tasty wraps for meat-eaters and veggies.
As you can see, there’s plenty to feast your eyes on, both in terms of the menu and interior — which itself is like a crossover between a popular darts bar, a contemporary European drinking spot with lots of musical aesthetics, and the obvious dining room elements from their award-winning parent restaurants — but this place is also about having a tipple with friends.
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The menu is just extensive when it comes to drinks, with ice-cold pints, wines, spirits and a classic cocktails line-up featuring some of Black Cat‘s signatures: ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (a sweet combination of Discarded Banana Rum, Licor 43 and pineapple), the refreshing ‘Yuzu Spritz’ and a zesty ‘Sevilla Southside’ — now that is a little bit of us right there.
We can’t think of many prettier settings for a drink, some scran and tipsy shenanigans than set against the backdrop of original Manc brickwork inside a repurposed wine cellar, merged with green and copper hand-painted wall art, marble finishings, art deco fittings and booth seating for big groups.
That’s another big draw for this place too, by the way. Black Cat Club will be offering premium sports viewing experiences, showing all major UK sporting events with the added perk of table-top service — you only need to tap a button to order some food or an ice-cold beer.
Also housing a private space in the back, bookings can be made for up to 20 guests at a time for special events and big sports screenings, which is perfect timing seeing as Euro 2024 is just around the corner.
Last but not least, Black Cat has just revealed that to celebrate their official opening date on Saturday, 16 March (bookings are live as we speak) they will also be offering 50% off all gaming throughout March. Say no more.
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If you’re interested in going along to give a try and score yourself a discount on your games of choice on your way in, you can book for Black Cat Club HERE or by calling 0161 470 9375.
Inside Portfolio, the UK’s first ‘champagne boutique’ and bar in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new ‘champagne boutique’ is opening in Manchester this week, boasting more than 250 different champagnes to our city.
Portfolio will be a new bar and ‘immersive wine experience’, which will have one of the largest and most diverse champagne collections in the UK.
Mancs will be able to order champagne by the glass from just £12.50, along with plenty of accessible bottles.
To kick things off, Portfolio will open with a bar food offering that includes Welsh charcuterie, British cheeses and accoutrements, created by co-founder Julian Pizer, formerly of Another Hand and the Edinburgh Castle.
But later down the line, there’ll be a fun, relaxed tasting menu, ranging from a few bites to a full dining experience, obviously paired with the best champagne list in the country.
Inside Portfolio, you’ll be greeted by a striking champagne wall of 100 different bottles, plus a wall of photos from the team’s trips to Champagne in France.
Every drink will be served in exclusive Lehmann glassware imported from Reims, with more than 10 different glass styles and a strict no flutes policy.
There’ll be an open chef’s pass and sommelier station with bar seating, plus a working champagne cellar that will function as a private dining room and event space.
Portfolio champagne boutique opens in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Julian Pizer has created Portfolio with Cameron Foster, founder of Duex Six which specialises in providing exclusive grower champagnes to the UK.
They’ll be joined by Wayne Baxendale as food and beverage director, who has more than 30 years of global wine experience including from Michelin starred restaurants, and Nikolai Kuklenko as general manager, who previously held a role as Head Sommelier at Mana.
Portfolio will be a wine boutique packed with rare grower bottles and vintage prestige cuvées and hopes to ‘strip away the snobbery and make champagne accessible’.
As well as well known names, guests will be able to enjoy rare and highly sought-after cuvées, including Jacques Selosse, Ulysse Collin, Jérôme Prévost, Cédric Bouchard, Larmandier Bernier and Egly Ouriet.
There will also be vintage prestige cuvées from Cristal, Philipponnat, Pommery, Jacquesson, Pierre Peters and Bollinger, some dating back to the 1990s.
As Cameron Foster explains: “We want to strip back the snobbery of Champagne and make it a wine for everyone, whether that’s a quick glass after work, a special celebration, or discovering grower champagne for the first time.”
Portfolio will open on 9 December at 67 Bridge Street, Manchester, with the full restaurant experience launching in February 2026.
Popular American fast food franchise Shake Shack is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester is getting another big global franchise as Shake Shack is finally set to make its Northern debut.
With so many good burger joints and a million and one great places to grab a good portion of chips in town alone, they’ll have to hit the ground running to fight off the competition.
The well-known transatlantic multinational is nothing short of massive in the States, vying with the likes of In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Carl’s Jr. – also eyeing up multiple UK sites over the next few years – Whataburger and Wendy’s, just to name a rather large handful. Oh yeah, and Maccies, of course.
Yanks will debate until the cows come home (pardon the pun) about which is best, and many believe Shake Shack is right up there, so Manchester foodies have every right to be excited. Consider this a belated Thanksgiving contribution.
The New York-founded company already has multiple locations on this side of the pond, such as several in London, which is where we first sampled it for ourselves.
Other venues include Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford and Cardiff, as well as one inside Gatwick Airport; as for the brand’s first Manchester branch, Shake Shack UK no. 18 will be coming to the borough of Trafford and one of the biggest shopping destinations in the region.
But what sets this burger and milkshake-driven brand apart from the others?
Well, for starters, you could argue they’re not even most famous for their patties, buns or shakes; the first time we ever heard about Shake Shack was regarding their fries – specifically, the crinkle-cut shape and that very American-style cheese sauce.
They have long proved divisive among the masses, but those who love them go NUTS for the stuff, and you’ll find all manner of fakeaway recipes online of people trying to make their best imitation of the side and sauce, specifically.
Put it this way, Colonel’s gravy on KFC chicken is what cheese sauce is on Shake Shack fries. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but fans will stan this scran to no end.
Case and point:
My first time at Shake Shack 👌🏼💚 The cheese fries might be my new hyper fixation 🍟 pic.twitter.com/3HVwAgxRtD
Honestly, you’ll find countless examples of this kind of post on social media…
Richard Franks, Business Director at Shake Shack UK, said: “Manchester’s a city that does things proper; it’s full of heart, graft and great taste. We’re so pumped to be growing Shake Shack across the UK, and to be opening our first Northern Shack at Trafford Centre. We can’t wait to be a part of this city.”
The major mall and North West tourist attraction’s Centre Director, Simon Layton, added: “We’re really excited to welcome Shake Shack’s first Northern restaurant to the Trafford Centre.
“We know our visitors are going to love getting their hands on those iconic ShackBurgers and crinkle-cut fries. It’s a huge moment for the North – and we can’t wait for everyone to experience it with us in 2026.”
Opening in place of the Costa in the Great Hall, the opening of Shake Shack Manchester at the Trafford Centre is scheduled for next March. Exciting times.
Danny Jones -
12th March 2024 
