Eats

Inside Stray, Manchester’s least pretentious new cocktail bar tucked into a corner of Mackie Mayor

What a spot for one of the city's best new bars.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 3rd November 2023

A new cocktail bar is opening in Manchester this week, with Stray taking over a corner unit in the Northern Quarter that lends itself to the best people-watching in the city.

Stray has moved into the old Atkinsons Coffee unit on the corner of the beautiful Mackie Mayor.

And while a lot of cocktail bars open with a concept so convoluted you need a thesaurus to understand the menu, Stray is stripping it back to basics.

What’s it all about? Great drinks, great service, and a great atmosphere. Perfect.

The L-shaped bar bar comes with huge windows that look out across Eagle Street, with a row of window seats to perch on.

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There are cosy couches and little nooks to tuck yourself into as you work through Stray’s signature cocktails, a collection titled ‘Led Astray’.

These drinks are all made, wherever possible, with top-quality local ingredients, with the team infusing their own spirits and making their own cordials in-house.

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Inside Stray, a new Manchester cocktail bar at Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter
A Buckfast negroni at Stray in the Northern Quarter
Inside Stray, a new Manchester cocktail bar at Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter
Inside Stray, a new Manchester cocktail bar at Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter
Inside Stray, a new Manchester cocktail bar at Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter
Cocktails at Stray

You can expect an incredible margarita made with tomato vine tequila, a fig leaf pisco, and a rhubarb and pine gimlet, as well as all your usual classics made just how you like them.

Oh, did we mention you can find a Buckfast negroni in here? Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it…

The team have spent just as much time working on their non- and low-alcoholic cocktails too, so if you’re shunning the strong stuff you can still guarantee yourself a decent drink, whether it’s a booze-free marg or a mocktail reminiscent of a glass of pet-nat.

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The decor inside the bar itself is looped around that huge marble bar, with walls painted half and half dark green and painted brick and concrete.

So pull up a pew in the window, order yourself one of the city’s best cocktails, and watch the weird and wonderful world of Manchester go by.

Stray opens at Mackie Mayor on 3 November, and will be open 12pm-10pm Tuesday to Friday; 10am-10pm on Saturdays, and 12pm-6pm on Sunday.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away FREE drinks tomorrow

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

One of Manchester’s newest Instagrammable coffee shops is giving away free drinks tomorrow ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

With another long weekend right around the corner, and much of Greater Manchester and the UK fortunately looking set to bask in the springtime heat, popular coffee chain, Blank Street – which is one of Manchester city centre’s newest residents, with two sites in Piccadilly Gardens, and on the corner of King Street and Cross Street – has decided it wants to help the country “beat the 3pm slump”.

Ahead of the upcoming bank holiday weekend, the chain is inviting Mancs to “meet for matcha” tomorrow afternoon (Friday 3 May).

The exciting freebie offer is all said to be “inspired by data” that shows that almost half of office workers aren’t taking a break from their desks during the day, even despite research showing that this can boost productivity.

Hundreds of iced matcha lattes will be served up at Blank Street‘s Manchester branch on the corner of King Street and Cross Street between 3pm and 4pm tomorrow.

Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away free drinks tomorrow / Credit: Blank Street

For anyone “ice cold pick-me-up ahead of the long weekend”, but keen not to tip their employers off, the coffee shop chain has created an online tool to allow workers to discreetly add a matcha moment to their diary. 

The brand-new online tool will apparently help to “distract calendar snoopers” by creating a cleverly-named meeting and adding it automatically to Outlook, Google, or Apple calendars – with potential meeting titles that include plenty of corporate jargon to “provide the perfect alibi”.

So, all matcha fans need to do tomorrow afternoon is show the Blank Street team at their chosen branch a meeting in their calendar, and in return, they’ll receive a free small iced matcha latte of their choice from the chain’s delicious spring menu.

Blank Street’s popular matcha offering includes the Classic Matcha, the viral Blueberry Matcha, the silky-smooth White Chocolate Matcha, and the brand-new sumptuous Golden Matcha, so there’s something to “inspire every matcha lover to take a little time out”.

As matcha allows a slow release of caffeine, Blank Street says it’s the “perfect drink” to keep energy levels up throughout the afternoon when you’re stuck at your desk on a Friday.

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You’ll need to be quick though, as the free drinks will be given away on a first come first served basis, and only one will be allocated per customer.

So get yourself down to Blank Street on King Street from 3pm tomorrow.

Featured Image – Mai Eats Food (via Blank Street on Instagram)

Eats

Manchester’s viral sandwich shop Ad Maiora is selling HUGE butties for only 9p through Deliveroo

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Ad Maiora in Manchester is selling 9p sandwiches this week through Deliveroo. Credit: The Manc Group

Ad Maiora, the Italian sandwich shop that’s loved by Manchester City stars (and everyone else who’s sunk their teeth into one), is selling butties for only 9p this week.

The local business is famed for its authentic sandwiches filled with quality imported Italian ingredients, and for its super-sized versions of its delicious lunches.

And this week only, you’ll be able to pick up a hefty sandwich, called the Scran-wich, for only 9 English pence.

The limited-edition Schiacciata will have nine different components and weighs in at a whopping 500g (though it’s nothing on their 1kg beast we’ve tried before…)

Owners and couple Enrico and Daniela have spent weeks developing the perfect balance of flavours.

Each ingredient is sourced in Italy but inspired by places and sayings from Manchester.

So you’ll find spicy ‘supersonic’ salami, nowt better N’duja, mozzarella ‘footballs’, sliced Haçienda heritage tomatoes, ‘r kid Italian wild rocket, 0161 olives, lashings of mad fer it mayonnaise, ‘buzzing bee’ basil leaves and ‘let’s ave it’ red onions – all sandwiched between fresh homemade Scran-worthy Schiacciata bread. 

The Scran-wich and its 9p sale have been created to celebrate Deliveroo’s ninth birthday, and there’ll be 300 available to order through Deliveroo.

The limited edition 9p ‘Scran-Wich’, available at Ad Maiora in Manchester through Deliveroo. Credit: Deliveroo/Dominic Lipinski
The limited edition 9p ‘Scran-Wich’, available at Ad Maiora in Manchester through Deliveroo. Credit: Deliveroo/Dominic Lipinski
Ad Maiora is one of Manchester's best sandwich shops and loved by celebs and locals
Ad Maiora is one of Manchester’s best sandwich shops and loved by celebs and locals

Enrico and Daniela, owners of Ad Maiora, said: “We’ve had so much support from the local community since we launched, so we were very excited when Deliveroo asked us to create a special Ad Maiora sandwich dedicated to the city of Manchester in celebration of their 9th birthday.

“We hope our customers love the limited-edition ‘Scran-wich’ – we’ve really enjoyed creating a sandwich that celebrates our city which makes this SUPER limited edition and special!”

Steffi Morel, Deliveroo city manager for Manchester, said: “It has been an absolute honour connecting Manc foodies to the best local restaurants at the click of a button for the last nine years.

“To celebrate, we’ve partnered with one of Manchester’s new local favourites, Ad Maiora, who’ve created the ultimate birthday ‘Scran-wich’, which pays homage to the city with every delicious bite! Deliveroo customers will need to be quick, as there are only 300 available!”

Ad Maiora’s Scran-wich is available for just 9p from Tuesday 30 April until Thursday 2 May through Deliveroo.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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