Mother’s Day is nearly upon us, meaning it’s time to start getting your ducks in a row if you haven’t already.
Organising cards, presents and table reservations are just a handful of ways of showing we care, but really there’s nothing better than just spending a bit of quality time with your mum to let her know how much you love and appreciate her.
As we hurtle ahead towards April, with things only set to get more expensive, Manchester’s restaurants are doing us a solid by laying on various free meals, drinks and gifts for the special ladies in our lives to give us a helping hand. Goodness knows we need it.
From bottomless mimosas and endless Yorkshire puddings to Molton Brown goodie bags and complimentary glasses of fizz, keep reading to find out who’s giving away what this Mother’s Day.
Peter Street Kitchen
Image: Peter Street Kitchen
This lauded contemporary Japanese and Mexican fusion kitchen on Peter Street is offering all mums a complimentary glass of fizz when they come to dine on Mothering Sunday.
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Fine wines, Japanese whiskeys and signature cocktails abound on the bar, whilst on the menu, you’ll find a selection of exciting, modern small plates that combine the best of two, very different, cuisines.
All served within the stunning settings of the five-star Radisson Blu hotel, if you love a spot of people watching make sure to request to sit in the stone alcoves facing onto Peter Street.
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Ducie Street Warehouse
Image: Ducie Street
Image: Ducie Street
Mums can enjoy bottomless mimosas on the house this Mothering Sunday when they dine at Ducie Street Warehouse.
Those out celebrating can tuck into classic roast meats like dry-aged shorthorn beef sirloin, cornfed chicken, leg of lamb, and smoked free-range gammon, alongside a hefty selection of sides that includes its own dedicated cauliflower cheese menu.
Bottomless mimosas are only available in the first hour of the table booking for mums only. You must book online in advance, quoting how many mums are attending:
La Bandera
Image: La Bandera
Image: La Bandera
Mums can eat for free at Spanish and Catalan tapas restaurant La Bandera this Mother’s Day.
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When you order a minimum of six tapas plates, the restaurant will knock the three cheapest off the bill as a small way of saying thank you to Manchester’s tireless mums.
The offer is available all day on 27 March, but you must quote ‘MD22LB’ when booking to redeem it. Terms and conditions apply.
The Botanist
Image: The Botanist
At The Botanist in Manchester, mums will receive a special free gift as a token of appreciation when dining out.
The restaurant and cocktail bar is open for lunch and dinner bookings, with a special set menu offering Sunday roasts and hanging kebabs.
Two courses are priced at £25, three for £30, both served with tea and coffee included. Live music will fill the restaurant throughout the day, with a special roast just for children.
Zouk is on a mission to show the mums of Manchester how loved they are, chucking in a free boxed-up cupcake as well as a glass of prosecco or Shloer for all mums on 27 March.
The much-loved Indian restaurant will be serving up its famous Sunday roast sharing platters, built for two, four or six people.
Each one is loaded with three roasted meats and all the trimmings – with a Zouk twist.
The restaurant has also installed a beautiful flower arch and bench in its reception area so you can take a Mother’s Day family photo together as a keepsake.
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Cibo Manchester
Image: Cibo Manchester
This Mother’s Day, Italian restaurant Cibo Manchester will offer a surprise ‘gift for mum’.
Mums dining at the restaurant on 27 March will be given a ‘lucky dip’ scratch card on arrival that will reveal either a glass of fizz or a complimentary dessert.
They can opt for any dessert from the menu, with choices including panna cotta, tiramisu, profiteroles and gelato.
Motley Manchester
Image: Motley Manchester
Motley Manchester will celebrate Mother’s Day with unlimited Yorkshire puddings and gravy this year, as part of its Sunday roast offering.
In honour of Manchester’s mums and all the hard work they put in to keep us in check, on Sunday 27 March from 12pm until sell-out, guests can heap their plates high with as many fluffy Yorkshire puddings as they can muster.
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The offer is open to everyone dining – not just mums. Simply ask your server for more and they’ll happily oblige.
20 Stories
Image: 20 Stories
Manchester’s highest restaurant has partnered with Molton Brown to offer its diners luxury goodie bags this Mother’s Day.
Guests can opt to dine from the Sunday roast menu or tuck into dishes from the restaurant’s A La Carte offering. A special Mother’s Day rose and rhubarb cocktail, created by the bar team, has been paired to match Molton Brown’s latest fragrance.
There will be live music in the restaurant between 1-4pm, and the Molton Brown team will also be on hand offering hand and arm massages and fragrance profiling throughout the afternoon.
Feature image – 20 Stories
Eats
Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
The legendary Hulme community pub The Old Abbey Taphouse has been reborn
Daisy Jackson
The closure of The Old Abbey Taphouse was a real blow for Hulme and the surrounding university district area; the community pub was a bit of a local institution thanks to its grassroots music and inclusive atmosphere.
But now it appears that the spirit of the venue lives on, under the new name of The Abbey.
Some of the city’s most experienced independent operators – who have been behind venues like YES and The Deaf Institute, and music promoters Now Wave – will be the new custodians of this beloved local landmark.
The pub, which closed early last year, has now been carefully and lovingly restored ahead of its big relaunch, which will start in true Manc vision with an exclusive opening night gig.
The Abbey is reborn. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The vision for its new chapter will be ‘Old Pub, New Music’, creating a new home for grassroots live music and emerging artists.
There’s also affordable, hearty pub grub, including Pieminister pies, and a huge range of beers from local breweries and beyond.
Bringing The Abbey back to life are a core team of four: Ruth Hemmingfield, Wesley Jones, Jonathan Wickstead and Gareth Butterworth.
Ruth, Jon and Wesley are co-owners of YES; Ruth previously launched and programmed landmark Manc venues including The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and Albert Hall; while Wesley and Jonathan, through Now Wave, promote hundreds of independent gigs and live events each year.
As for Gareth, he’s the founder of the multi-venue festival Manchester Psych Fest, meaning that all of them have plenty of hospitality, late-night, live music and events experience between them.
The team behind The Abbey pub. Credit: Piran Aston
The rear of the site of The Old Abbey Taphouse will be extended to create a new dedicated live music and events venue, while the cherished beer garden is given a facelift with new decking and its own bar.
The Abbey has stood in Hulme since the 1890s, playing an important role in the area’s heritage – this is where activist Len Johnson managed to overturn the shameful ‘colour bar’ policies of the 1940s.
Its restoration and relaunch are part of the flourishing Manchester Science Park development.
Matthew Pazos, Senior Retail Commercial Manager at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Ruth, Wesley and Jonathan are the perfect custodians to breathe new life into The Abbey.
“Their reputation for running independent spaces in Manchester, alongside their live music expertise, will ensure this much-valued pub once again becomes a beating heart for Hulme and the wider neighbourhood.
“The reopening of The Abbey will create an inclusive new hub that welcomes everyone – from the Hulme locals who have looked after the pub over the years, to the Manchester Science Park community, university students, and the many residents and workers across the Oxford Road Corridor.
“We are delighted that such a culturally significant and important pub is set to open its doors once again.”
Ruth from the new Abbey team commented: “We love a good pub. With The Abbey, we’re excited about bringing a brilliant old pub back to life, protecting what people loved about it, and creating something special: a great local, alongside a vital grassroots music venue for the area.
“We’re honouring the pub’s history while building its future.”
Georgina Pellant -
18th March 2022 
