Eats

Affordable steak house Flat Iron confirms opening date for first Manchester restaurant

It's happening! Stay calm everyone!

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 6th March 2024

Flat Iron, the steak house that is renowned for its affordable prices, has confirmed new details of its very first Manchester restaurant.

The restaurant brand, which has sites across London as well as in Leeds and Cambridge, is taking over the old Blacks outdoor clothing shop on Deansgate.

Landing slap bang in the heart of Manchester – and just a few doors down from arguably the city’s best steak house, Hawksmoor – Flat Iron has confirmed it will be open for business early this summer.

The menu is simple, and led by their signature Flat Iron steak priced at just £14, which sees the underrated featherblade cut of beef cooked and butchered with skill.

There are sides including beef dripping chips, creamed spinach, truffled macaroni cheese, and crispy bone marrow garlic mash.

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There’ll be a selection of wines including their very own Malbec, blended in the south of France, alongside draft beers and signature cocktails.

When it opens, Flat Iron will have 150 covers in the two-storey restaurant on 200-204 Deansgate.

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The Grade II-listed building was first opened in 1908 as the Royal London Friendly Society, and its interiors have now been remodelled by architects Macaulay Sinclair, who will be displaying as many of the original features as possible.

Original timber flooring, glazed brick walls, riveted steel columns and original parquet floors have been revealed and restored.

Flat Iron is opening a restaurant in Manchester (this is the Leeds site). Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Flat Iron is opening a restaurant in Manchester (this is the Leeds site). Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Flat Iron sides include mac and cheese. Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Flat Iron sides include mac and cheese. Credit: The Hoot Leeds

Speaking of the opening, Flat Iron’s Founder, Charlie Carroll says: “Opening a restaurant in my home town of Manchester is a big deal to me and a long time coming.

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“The food and drink scene is so exciting at the moment and just keeps getting better. I can’t wait to be a tiny part of it.

“I fell in love with a beautiful historic building on Deansgate in 2018 and six years on we are finally opening this summer.

“Flat Iron is about unpretentious, top quality steak, available to all.

“I am passionate about delicious beef and proud to bring Flat Iron to the city where I grew up and where so many of my friends and family live.”

Flat Iron will open on Deansgate in Manchester in Summer 2024.

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Featured image: The Hoot Leeds

Eats

Inside The Black Friar as Salford pub unveils incredible floral display

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Inside The Black Friar as Salford pub unveils incredible floral display

Spring has really sprung in Salford – legendary pub The Black Friar has just revealed a sensational makeover, with gigantic flowers sprawled across its frontage and a new seasonal menu to go with it. 

The historic pub is celebrating the changing of the seasons with both a striking floral installation and a menu that celebrates spring and Salford in equal measure. 

Most Mancs will by now have spotted the 4,000 flower-strong installation that now adorns the front of The Black Friar, with bright pink, yellow and purple flowers spilling from a gigantic pink tap. 

And all those florals continue inside, with the pub’s Tavern – previously a cosy winter hideaway – now filled with trailing blooms and woodland installations, just off their award-winning garden.

Cheshire-based artist Kelly Louise Chapman is the woman behind this sensational transformation of the much-loved gastropub. 

As for the pub’s kitchen, they’ve crafted a new very seasonal and very British menu, with plenty of nods to Black Friar’s Salford roots. 

There are dishes like a Boddingtons braised ox cheek (the pub still proudly displays its Boddingtons sign outside), aged beef tartare, butternut squash and ricotta tortellini, and pan-roasted cod fillet. 

Spring small plates at The Black Friar pub
Spring small plates at The Black Friar pub
Delicious spring drinks
Delicious spring drinks
Inside The Tavern at The Black Friar
Inside The Tavern at The Black Friar

A popular item from the Valentine’s Day menu – the Cornish crab vol-au-vent – will be sticking around on the spring menu, along with an enhanced grill section that includes a lamb Barnsley chop cooked over coals. 

Then for desserts, you’ll be spoilt with a banoffee knickerbocker glory, and passionfruit panna cotta. 

And for drinks (because this is a pub, after all), The Black Friar has put together a range of seasonal drinks like a rose sangria sharer, and non-alcoholic sodas like kaffir lime and coconut. 

Ben Chaplin, head chef at The Black Friar, said: “This new menu is all about celebrating the best of spring produce. 

“We’ve carefully crafted each dish to highlight fresh, seasonal ingredients and bold flavours, adding new depth to our offerings while still delivering the comfort that will always be associated with The Black Friar. 

“My top recommendation and personal favourite dish is the Slow-Cooked Boddingtons Braised Ox Cheek.”

Neil Burke, owner of The Black Friar, commented: “We wanted to bring a taste of spring to The Black Friar, inside and out. This floral installation will transform the space and bring sunshine and smiles, whatever the weather! 

“My top recommendation on the new menu is the Cumbrian Spiced Lamb Scotch Egg. It’s EXCEPTIONAL.”

To find out more about The Black Friar and to book a table, visit HERE. 

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Team behind award-winning Higher Ground to open new Bar Shrimp seafood bar in Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Team behind award-winning Higher Ground to open new seafood bar, Bar Shrimp, in Manchester

Higher Ground, one of Manchester’s very top restaurants, is to open a brand-new seafood bar later this year.

With Bar Shrimp, they’ll be bringing a brand-new offering to town, with cocktails, beers on tap, British seafood and snacks.

Bar Shrimp will come from Daniel Craig Martin, Joseph Otway and Richard Cossins, who at this point are a well-oiled operational machine.

They’re the team behind proudly British bistro Higher Ground, which grows much of its own produce at its Cinderwood Market Garden and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand within a year of opening.

The same team are also behind Flawd, the beautiful waterside wine bar at Ancoats Marina.

And they’ve cemented themselves as one of Manchester’s most widely acclaimed hospitality teams – even Rick Stein says Higher Ground is one of the best places to eat in the entire country, which is high praise indeed.

Bar Shrimp, set to open in Manchester this winter, aims to be a ‘relaxed and focused bar with delicious food’.

They say: “Whether it’s a beer after work, some food with friends or after dinner drinks late into the night, Bar Shrimp will be a dynamic space where the music and energy evolves throughout the evening where everyone and anyone can come together for a memorable experience.”

They announced the news this morning on Cerys Matthews’ BBC 6Music Show.

British seafood with a side of cocktails? Sounds alright to us.

A location, opening date and more info on Bar Shrimp will follow – stay up to date with their latest HERE.

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Featured image: Supplied

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