Manchester restaurant creates cheeky £69 per head Valentine’s menu
Intimating its innocence in the joke, Kala replied with the haloed face of an angel - but let's be honest, there's no way they didn't do this on purpose.
Top Manchester bistro Kala has revealed its Valentine’s menu for 2023 and it’s equal parts naughty, raunchy, and (if you’re a little immature like us) downright funny.
No, we’re not referring to the chef’s dishes (although they do sound absolutely stunning). Rather, the thing that caught our eye was the price: with loved-up diners being charged exactly £69 per head to enjoy the romantic supper.
Surely someone’s got to be having a laugh on this one, and we’re absolutely cackling. Their followers clearly think it’s funny too, that is if the comments on the restaurant’s recent Instagram post are anything to go by.
Shared with the simple caption “Love is in the air. Valentine’s Day bookings now open”, the original menu post on the restaurant’s page makes no reference to the tongue-in-cheek price.
Mini doughnuts with dark chocolate sauce, honeycomb ice-cream and a nice slab of home made honeycomb. / Image: Kala Bistro
Chicken liver pate, farmer’s chutney and wholemeal sourdough toast – a Kala classic. / Image: Kala Bistro
However, fans were quick to pick up on it and quickly commented with a mixture of amusement and approval – with one person simply sending a trio of crying-laughing emojis, followed by a set of clapping hands.
Intimating its innocence in the joke, Kala replied with the haloed face of an angel – but let’s be honest, there’s no way they didn’t do this on purpose.
After all, a quick look at the Valentine’s page on its website reveals this little nugget: “We always say people who love to eat are our kind of people, so HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to all you lovers out there!”
Read into that what you will.
The newly-revealed Valentine’s menu at Kala Bistro is priced at exactly £69 a head. / Image: Kala Bistro
One of Kala’s most recent specials, made with tuna tartare, pickled cucumber, sesame, and salt and vinegar crisps. / Image: Kala Bistro
As for the menu itself, for that £69 it offers some really good value with a total of five courses including bread and butter pudding with ‘burnt toast’ ice cream and a giant rack of lamb, salad, meatballs and gnocchi ‘to share’ as a main.
With bread and snacks to be enjoyed before starters, followed by mains including a huge roasted lamb rack ‘to share’, desserts, and a signature sweet to finish, it all sounds more than tempting.
Think nibbles like rosemary and thyme focaccia with olive oil and sea salt or seaweed crackers with oyster emulsion, followed by starters of BBQ Hispi cabbage with romesco brown shrimp dressing and salted almonds, confit duck leg with savoury pancake, crispy rice and cucumber relish, and burrata with truffled honey, rocket and hazelnut pesto, grilled sourdough and pickled grapes.
Dark chocolate mousse, coffee caramel, hazelnut praline mousseline, vanilla ice cream. / Image: Kala Bistro
Roast rump of lamb, Shepherds pie, watercress and spinach purée. / image: Kala Bistro
For mains, choices include the aforementioned roasted rack of lamb to share with salad, lamb meatballs and gnocchi marinara, or for the couples that want their own dish, there’s roasted chicken breast, poached halibut loin, and pan-fried potato gnocchi.
And for pudding, Kala’s rhubarb and pistachio trifle is served with white chocolate and a lemon thyme cookie, whilst elsewhere on the menu you’ll find sour cherry bread and butter pudding with Maraschino and burnt toast icecream, and a blood orange choux bun filled with salted dark chocolate custard, vanilla cream and hazelnut brioche.
Last but not least, you can also each enjoy a marshmallow Krispie to finish before heading home to enjoy a little naughty dessert of your own (or not, whatever floats your boat).
Northern Quarter favourite The Pen and Pencil announces massive 10th birthday party and huge offers
Daisy Jackson
The Pen and Pencil, an absolute staple for brunches and drinks in the Northern Quarter, is celebrating a major milestone this month with a huge party and some unbeatable deals.
The bar and restaurant will be marking 10 years on Tariff Street in September – and it’s only right that we all pile in to celebrate with them.
This spot is one of the city’s original bottomless brunch venues and is similarly famed for its happy hour offerings, and opened in 2015 to bring a taste of Manhattan to Manchester.
Pen and Pencil took its name from the infamous New York City bar that was seen in Mad Men.
And now as it turns 10 years old, it’ll be throwing one big party on Saturday 27 September, featuring 10 hours of DJs, free pints of Red Stripe at 10pm, and a special bottomless brunch offering.
Those DJing on the day will include Drag Race UK’s Banksie, as well as Les Croasdaile, Mark Hogg, Danny Ward and A Deeper Groove.
Pen & Pencil has amazing deals for its 10th birthdayPen & Pencil is a Northern Quarter OG
The Pen and Pencil 10th birthday party will kick off from 2pm and run until late – but if you can’t make that one, there’ll be celebrations all week (and, indeed, month) long.
On Tuesday 23 September, you’ll be able to play for double prize money in The Pen and Pencil quiz, as well as enjoying happy hour drinks all night.
Then on Friday 26 September, it’ll be an all-night happy hour, with free tequila shots at 10pm and music from DJs Nev Johnson and Gareth James from 7pm.
All September long, there’ll be 50% off food every Monday, two-for-£10 cocktails every Wednesday, £10 burgers every Thursday, happy hour all night on Fridays, 10 dishes for £10 and two bloody Marys for £10 on Sundays, plus DJs on Fridays and Saturdays.
There’s a new colourful art installation outside the venue inspired by the bar’s New York roots.
Owner Kevin Connor said: “We’re really excited to be celebrating being part of the Manchester community for ten years!
“New York’s Pen and Pencil was a classic steak and cocktail joint, and we’re proud to have created our very own iconic Northern Quarter hangout. We hope everyone will join us in celebrating ten years on Tariff Street.”
Walk-ins are welcome for The Pen and Pencil 10th birthday party on Saturday 27 September, but booking is encouraged – book your spot HERE.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Eats
Manchester restaurant to give out FREE katsu curries to people called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’
Emily Sergeant
In what is a small stroke of genius, a restaurant chain has decided to give out free katsu curries to anyone called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’.
Throughout September, award-winning restaurant chain Banana Tree – which has a Greater Manchester site down at Salford Quays – is shining the spotlight on its popular katsu creations, and as a clever way of celebrating National Katsu Day on 27 September has announced a pretty unique giveaway.
That’s right – the restaurant will be serving up katsu dishes to people called Kat, Sue, and every delicious variation of the names in between.
Anyone named Kat, Katie, Katherine, Sue, Suzy, Susan, Suzanne – or close enough to qualify, the list goes on – can head to their local Banana Tree restaurant, and all they’ll need to do is show proof of name and they can enjoy a free katsu dish of their choice, worth up to £16.75.
The chain’s kastu lineup includes three star dishes.
First there’s the much-loved Katsu Curry, as well as the all-new Katsu Burger, which is made from either a crispy chicken or veggie fillet, spicy mayo, puffed noodle crunch, and a drizzle of Katsu sauce tucked into a soft Shokupan bun with a side of salt n pepper chilli chips.
Then there’s also the intriguing newcomer, the Katsu Carbonara – which is described as being a daring East-meets-West mash-up and ‘unapologetically’ Banana Tree.
Banana Tree is giving away free katsu curries to people called ‘Kat’ or ‘Sue’ / Credit: Banana Tree
With each of these dishes usually priced around the £16 mark, the giveaway isn’t just a way of marking National Katsu Day, but it’s also a way to sample the some of the restaurant’s biggest crowd-pleasers entirely free of charge.
To avoid any confusion on who makes the cut, Banana Tree will reveal the full qualifying list of name variations on Instagram soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
“Our Katsu range is one of our proudest creations, so National Katsu Day felt like the perfect moment to have some fun with our fans,” a Banana Tree spokesperson said ahead of the giveaway.
The free katsu offer is available for four days only from Monday 22 to Thursday 25 September, and you just need to head to the Banana Tree website to sign up to the Big Flavour Club here.
Georgina Pellant -
19th January 2023 
