Hatch, the indie street food market nestled underneath one of Manchester’s busiest ring roads, has long been a popular choice amongst foodies on the hunt for something new.
With traders selling everything from perfectly-formed traditional Sicilian arancini, to Teesside parmos and a glittery crumble stall with unlimited custard refills, it has a well-earned reputation for housing some of the city’s most interesting food traders.
This month, the kitchen teams have put their heads together to launch a host of globally-inspired breakfast dishes which means we’ve now got another reason to get ourselves down Oxford Road.
With choices spanning Ethiopian and Eritrean-inspired fry-ups, sweet and savoury focaccia breakfast butties, and a special deep-fried French toast from the team at Parmogeddon, there are some really interesting new dishes to dig into here.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Of its more than thirty independent businesses in the village, a total of seven food traders are involved with globe-trotting dishes spanning the regions of North Eastern Africa, Brazil, Texas, Teeside, Australia Sicily, and Mexico.
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As for this weekend, breakfast is now being served every Saturday and Sunday with quality steak shop Block dishing up steak and eggs on sourdough toast with avocado and chimichurri from 10am.
Parmogeddon, meanwhile, is putting its signature chicken tenders on deep-fried French toast with crispy bacon and hot honey for the mother of all breakfasts.
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House of Habesha is delivering its very own twist on the full English complete with scrambled eggs, lamb sausage, fava beans, fried tomatoes, hash brown, and brioche toast, as well as traditional Etrian breakfast Fata (a shredded pitta stewed with berbere spices), Turkish eggs, and egg frittatas.
Meanwhile, T’arricrii has put together a line of breakfast sarnies that sound so good it’s silly. Made on home-baked bread, these new Sicilian butties comprise sweet options like Nutella and pistachio as well as the likes of Caprese and Caponata.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Elsewhere, you’ll find breakfast tacos, burritos and Mexican Breakfast Bowls, classic Mexican brunch dish Huevos Rancheros and buttermilk pancakes courtesy of the excellent Caroline Martins (ex-MasterChef and Great British Menu) and her Rio Mex team.
Add to that fresh and vibrant vegan breakfast bowls made using refreshing coconut water and super nutritious goji berries, as well as overnight oats and cacao smoothie bowls, and nourishing plant-based breakfast options from Herbivorous, and you really are spoilt for choice.
Starting on 19 August, Hatch will now be rising and shining at the earlier hour of 10am every Saturday and Sunday for breakfast.
The new Hatch morning experience is rounded off with a new collection of breakfast cocktails served at the Hatch Bar, alongside soft drinks, coffee, tea, and a selection of pastries and cakes courtesy of ASAP Coffee.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
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 -
14th August 2023 
