There’s nothing that sounds more inviting on a cold January evening than a lovely warming pie, so when we heard that The Black Friar’s now annual Pie Festival is returning once again for 2024, we have no shame in admitting we did a little dance.
In case you never had the pleasure, The Black Friar pub over in Greengate, which was resurrected and lovingly restored to an unparalleled level of personal glory back in 2021, serves some of the best you’ll find on the Salford side of the Irwell and a couple of years back they started their own Pie Festival.
Now entering its third edition, the public house and gourmet restaurant is bringing back the parade of meat and gravy, sweet and savoury, and pretty all things pie and pastry-encrusted in the New Year.
Best of all, not only are there some seriously enticing flavours on offer but this thing is also all about value for money and we can never resist a good deal.
Launching from Monday, 8 January and running all the way up until the end of February, The Black Friar will be helping warm your cockles all winter with some proper northern pies.
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Following rave reviews of Head Chef Ben Chaplin’s recipes from revered food critic Jay Rayner in 2022, the festival’s inaugural year, you can expect beloved menu signatures as well as an ever-rotating lineup of lip-smacking daily specials for two whole months.
Boasting flavours such as Creamy Chicken and Pancetta, Minced Aged Beef and Root Vegetable, as well as a Classic Fish Pie for their three fixed offerings, alongside a host of daily specials like a breakfast pie, curry fillings, sweet dessert pies and even a ‘doggy’ pie (man’s best friend’s got to eat too).
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Every single one of those is getting a firm Churchill the dog nod and a hearty ‘Oh yes!’ from us. Unbelievably, each pie will be available for just £10 and if you don’t mind spending more than a tenner, you can also grab their seasonal desserts like sticky toffee pudding, apple crumble and a gingerbread rice pudding for just £7 extra. Banging.
You can grab a side of chips, mash or seasonal veg for just £3 too. (Credit: The Black Friar Salford via Instagram)
£10 pies will be available all day every Monday and will be served until 6pm from Tuesday-Friday. Even if you don’t fancy a pie whilst the festival is on but still fancy popping in, the new 2024 menu will also have a range of winter warmers mains, including Grandma’s Pork Sausage served with mash and onion gravy, a creamy Mushroom Tagliatelle and a fragrant Vegetable Bhuna made with seasonal veg.
As for starters, we’re talking Boddingtons Rarebit with hen’s egg and chard (yeah, you heard us), White Anchovies on Toasted Sourdough, as well as Roasted Cauliflower with Ras El Hanout, harissa ragu, grapes and almond, just to name a few.
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And for dessert, we’ve already reeled off the seasonal specials but you’ll know there’s always plenty more to choose from when it comes to The Black Friar’s impressive gourmet menu. It’s pub grub done proper and never disappoints.
To book a table for the Pie Festival, head over to The Black Friar’s website HERE and if you wondering where it ranks amongst the best places to get pie in Greater Manchester, look no further:
Popular Manchester restaurant bar to give out FREE sausage rolls to people called ‘Greg’
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s much-loved restaurant bars is doing a free sausage roll giveaway next week… but there’s a catch.
The catch being you have to have a certain name in particular.
It was only last week that popular high street chain Pret A Manger announced it would be slinging out free sandwiches to any Mancs with ‘Nic’ in their name over the late May bank holiday weekend, and now Tariff & Dale is getting it on the giveaway action, and it’s all to celebrate the iconic event that is National Sausage Roll Day.
In case you didn’t know – which is very likely, let’s be real – next Thursday (5 June) is the day dedicated to all things sausage roll.
So what better way to mark the occasion than with free portions of Tariff & Dale‘s legendary meaty treat?
The popular Northern Quarter restaurant bar is known for its creative comfort food, craft beers and cocktails, and laid-back industrial vibe, with one of the cult-classic dishes on its menu having always been the honey pork sausage roll – which just so happens to be a whopping 15-inches long, by the way.
Resembling something more of a pork wellington than a sausage roll, if you will, the dish is crispy, golden, and glazed with honey on top.
But to celebrate National Sausage Roll day, instead of parting with £9.50 for a portion or £48 for the full 15-inch thing, people with one specific name can actually get a slice for completely free of charge.
Tariff & Dale is giving away FREE sausage rolls to people with this name next week / Credit: Supplied
And that name is ‘Greg’, because if we’re honest, when it comes to sausage rolls, we all tend to think of Greggs.
So whether your surname is Gregory or Gregson, or you’re simply just called Greg, then all you need to do to claim your complimentary slice of sausage roll heaven is head on down to Tariff & Dale next Thursday 5 June from 12pm up until 9pm.
Make sure you show your valid ID proving your name when you order at the bar, and get ready to stuff your face.
Failing that, anyone not called Greg will just have to pop into actual Greggs instead.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
Eats
Plans to open a brand-new pub on the site of the Rovers Return
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new pub is set to open in Manchester city centre net month, with treats in store like complimentary bowls of crisps, an outdoor terrace, and a games parlour.
The Stables Tavern is taking shape in the St John’s district, poetically on the same site that was once home to Coronation Street’s iconic Rovers Return pub.
They’re promising this will be a ‘historic tavern reimagined for today’s lover of a proper pint’.
The pub will come from Shiko Group, which is also behind Courts Club, where you can play tennis or basketball followed by court-side pints, and Side Street, a bar-restaurant-events space with a mid-Century interior.
Neighbouring the Bonded Warehouse, The Stables Tavern will join this rapidly blossoming new creative district, just across the yard from Caravan, The Trading Route and Aviva Studios.
Inside, punters will find multiple beer taps with local beers, served with complimentary bowls of crisps as well as a menu of pub snacks like handmade sausage rolls and local pies.
The pub will be split into three sections – an outside terrace, a main bar, and a parlour area at the back of the pub for live entertainment, old school games, and rounds of whiskey.
This might be a new district but it’s a historic area for the city – the same building was a busy watering hole back in the early 19th century for workers, merchants and visitors who made use of the nearby canals and cobbled streets.
It was then the home of the Rovers Return, back when this area was the home of Granada Studios.
Hayley Sammé, Marketing Director, said: “We’re so excited to bring The Stables Tavern back to St John’s. The area’s extensive historical backdrop and burgeoning hospitality scene provides the perfect landscape for a traditional British pub.
“It’s the perfect addition to the existing scene, and we hope it’s going to become a popular spot in our new creative district.”
The Stables Tavern will open at St John’s on Friday 6 June.
Danny Jones -
28th December 2023 
