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Massive queues as NQ brunch favourite 19 Cafe Bar reopens after refurb

Fans of the hit brunch spot queued up in their droves as the cafe reopened its doors

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 13th March 2023

Massive queues formed up the street this weekend as fans flocked to the newly-reopened Northern Quarter brunch favourite 19 Cafe Bar.

This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot has become an absolute go-to over the years for all-day breakfasts and naughty pancakes, thanks in part to its chocolate bar-laden menu.

It has been closed for several weeks whilst undergoing a refurbishment but reopened its doors on Saturday with a brand new look.

Tucked away on Lever Street in the shadow of Piccadilly’s bus stops, if it wasn’t for the huge queues stretching down the road this weekend it would be very easy to walk on by.

The cafe is worth seeking out though, with its Biscoff and Kinder Bueno pancakes both big draws amongst its fans.

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Image: 19 Cafe Bar
Image: 19 Cafe Bar

Loaded with the likes of Biscoff crumb and spread, banana, ice cream and salted caramel sauce, or homemade Kinder sauce, Bueno, chocolate sauce, roasted hazelnuts and vanilla ice cream, if you’re in the mood for a treat this is where to find it.

There are healthier pancake options too and a strong list of brunch cocktails available from the bar, with pornstar and espresso martinis, Aperol spritz, bloody marys and mimosas all on offer from 9am.

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On the drinks front, you’ll find special hot drinks like gingerbread lattes and Terry’s hot chocolate served alongside proper builder’s brews, chai lattes, hot Biscoff, coffees and more.

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Image: 19 Cafe Bar
Image: 19 Cafe Bar

Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find traditional English and Irish fry ups, a bacon and black pudding benedict, salmon and avocado bagels, indulgent French toasts and loaded breakfast brioche buns.

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Extras are available to add on from £1.50, with options like fried eggs, toast, Bury black pudding, smoked salmon, hollandaise and halloumi all on offer.

Read more: Lizzo raves about Manchester bakery Gooey whilst visiting on UK tour

The cafe is reopened now with a brand new look, serving its hit all-day breakfast menu from 9am to 5pm seven days a week.

Feature image – 19 Cafe Bar

Eats

I went on a walking wine tour around Manchester and it might be the perfect afternoon out

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Manchester Wine Tours. Credit: The Manc Group

If you love wine, and you love Manchester, and you’d quite like to do something with your afternoon that celebrates both of those things, can I put you onto the Manchester Wine Tours?

This genius little event sees small groups of people heading across the city on, essentially, an organised and very sophisticated bar crawl.

Imagine Carnage, but instead of drawing on a t-shirt and slamming neon green alcopops, you’re dressed up nicely and visiting some of Manchester’s top food and drink businesses.

Manchester Wine Tours is owned and operated by Kel Bishop, a local food and drink writer and wine teacher.

Each tour is different, taking in different bars, different wines, and different people.

But as a general rule of thumb you can expect to meet up with Kel somewhere centrally, and follow her to around four different bars, sampling one or two wines in each.

You end up drinking roughly two-thirds of a bottle of wine, unless you get lucky with a small group like ours, where we definitely got a little more than that.

And each tour factors in a few points of interest, in classic walking tour style and for even more of a Manchester flavour.

On the Manchester Wine Tour I joined, our route included a few of the city centre’s newest wine hotspots, starting at Kallos, the fantastic greek restaurant in Salford that’s striving to have the largest collection of greek wines in the UK.

Here we tucked into their divine, puffed-up flatbreads and dips, as well as tinned octopus, all paired with a crisp sparkling Domaine Karanika Brut Cuvee Speciale.

Stop one on our Manchester Wine Tours - Kallos
Stop one on our Manchester Wine Tours - Kallos
Stop one on our Manchester Wine Tours – Kallos

Then it was on with the big coats for a walk back into the city centre to Sterling.

On a personal note, I’ve been working as a food and drink journalist in Manchester for a decade. I did not expect to have any surprises along the way.

But then Kel led us into the wine room at Sterling – not usually open to the public – and proved me wrong.

Tucked away from the main bar, surrounded by wooden shelves glinting with different wines, we sampled a dry Chenin a New Zealand Lethbridge Chardonnay, and all realised we had been judging Chardonnay far too harshly.

Inside Sterling
Inside Sterling
Inside Sterling

It’s at this stop that Kel really breaks down the art of wine tasting, and how to build your understanding of a wine from sight to smell to sip.

Suitably warmed up, it was time for a dash across to Winsome, the new British restaurant that’s already been added to the Michelin guide, where we crammed around a centrepiece of wine bottle candles dripping in wax to discover the delights of the Greek Alkemi Xenomavro rose – my favourite wine from the night that I bought an extra bottle of to take home.

Each stop of the wine tour offers snacks as well as the wines, and for Winsome it was a delicate squash dish picked by the chef to compliment our drinks.

Manchester Wine Tours in Winsome
Manchester Wine Tours in Winsome
Manchester Wine Tours in Winsome

We also sampled a lethally good Terre de Zeus Xinomavro here – it was a good day for Greek wine.

By this point of the tour we’re like a slightly wobbly gaggle of baby birds, scurrying after Kel towards our final spot for the night – Beeswing.

The Kampus bar provided an Austrian Funkstille Zweigelt (ordered an extra glass of this, it was so good) and a The Good Luck Club Cabernet Sauvignon from the Barossa Valley, plus boards of charcuterie and cheese.

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My brain is like a sieve for wine facts (I’ve written up most of this by looking at the labels), but I guess that just means the Manchester Wine Tour will have a repeat customer.

Kel is an expert at reading the room and deftly tailors her tastings to suit each person’s wine experience. For some it’s just the pleasure of drinking a nice wine (here, have a top-up), for others it’s digging into the history and politics of the drink. Some just wanted to uncover a new bar or restaurant, playing tourist in their own city.

It felt as though all seven of us on our tour took something different away from the exact same experience – and is that not the beauty of good hospitality?

It’s all completely accessible, approachable and very, very fun.

You can find out more and book your spot HERE.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

‘Exclusive’ Manchester nightclub shares customer’s eye-watering £88k bill

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson 'Exclusive' Manchester nightclub shares customer's eye-watering £88k bill

A nightclub in Manchester has shared a picture of a recent customer’s bill – and to call them a big spender would be underselling it.

The luxury nightclub posted a photo of a bill that racked up to an eye-watering £88k.

Or, to be very specific, £88,589.60.

The flash customer was at The Continental Club, otherwise known as The Conti, an ‘exclusive’ bar and club on South King Street.

The bar is a drastic departure from the former nightlife spot which stood in its place – the building was previously home to South, a legendary underground club famed for its alternative soundtrack.

Now it’s got a new life as a nightlife haunt where, apparently, it’s not uncommon to spend the equivalent of a small terrace house on drinks.

The bar shared the picture of the receipt yesterday, describing it as a ‘record-breaker’.

The Continental Club has claimed that it’s not only the biggest spend in its own walls, but the most expensive bill to have ever taken place in any club in Manchester.

The Continental Club on South King Street shared the huge bill. Credit: Google Maps
‘Exclusive’ Manchester nightclub shares customer’s eye-watering £88k bill

Curious to see how exactly a person could spend £88k on drinks? Let’s break down some of the more expensive items.

Let’s kick things off with three bottles of Clase Azul Ultra Extra Anejo, a tequila which retails for around £2.5k but set this customer back £9,500 a pop…

Then there’s a couple of magnums of Dom Perignon rose champagne (£2,000 each), a few bottles of Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades Champagne (£1,500 each), and a few £950 bottles of Chivas Regal 25 whiskey.

It makes the £850 Grey Goose at the bottom seem like child’s play.

They also slammed at least 48 Red Bulls, according to the bill.

Then on top of that you’ve got a staggering £8k worth of service charge – some very happy staff went home that night, I’d imagine.

The Continental Club wrote: “Some come to sip…others come to set records. The biggest table spend to EVER take place in a club in Manchester.”

How the other half live, eh?

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Featured image: The Continental Club

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