We recently had the pleasure of staying at the understated and most definitely underrated Red Hall Hotel over in Bury, and got to try their stunning new Mélange restaurant while we were at it.
Now, we say underrated not because it hasn’t received glowing reviews in the past; the AA-star hotel has enjoyed plenty of plaudits over the years and currently averages 4.5/5 from over 900 reviews.
However, what we will say is that the food now being served from this quaint little outpost located in the tiny hamlet of Walmersley, just on the border of Ramsbottom (regularly voted one of the best places to live in the UK), is well worth more than the hotel’s three-star rating on it’s own.
Not only did we have the pleasure of staying in this charming little village getaway, but we were treated to a whopping 11 courses, followed by a morning meal, for a truly wonderful bed and breakfast vibe with all the added luxury of a Kayak Awards and 2021 Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice-winning destination.
The Mélange restaurant at Red Hall HotelSuch a striking room when you first walk in.Credit: The Manc Group
The first thing that struck us about the local favourite venue is that, despite being located beside Manchester Road, once you’re inside, it’s a quiet, tranquil and calming little escape from what is already a nice out-of-the-way escape from the bustle of the city and even Bury town centre.
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Even if not, how inviting the actual Mélange restaurant itself is definitely will; the golden sign glistening from the soft white dangling bulbs immediately catches your eye, and then you walk in to see the big conservatory and almost orangery-esque windows, with sloped ceilings and lots of light.
You get just as warm a welcome from the staff as well, which is a feeling maintained throughout your entire dining experience, as they really do communicate that sense of comfort whilst “drawing from mamma’s childhood memories and unforgettable holidays” through the food.
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Speaking of which…
Mélange – which quite literally translates to ‘a mixture’, often even hinting at things that don’t usually fit together – promises a fusion of British and Mediterranean cuisine, and delivers both familiar flavours but with plenty of contemporary punch and visual appeal.
We may have begun our meal with something as simple but satisfying as a mini round loaf of bread freshly baked in a cast iron pot with some acidic, tapenade-esque chutney, along with a couple of very refreshing and lemon-forward spritzes, but it didn’t take long before we dove headlong into indulgence.
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See, the trouble was the mezze: we wanted to try a little bit of something from each section of the menu, but we couldn’t help but be drawn in by starting with three selections from what was advertised as ‘small plates, big flavours’.
In actuality, what happened was a board featuring our trio of choice appeared, and the bowls that sat upon it were pretty filling on their own. It’s a good job we didn’t spring for the eye-catching charcuterie board as well, otherwise we really would have struggled to finish this feast.
We went for these naughty ‘nduja arancini, some ever-so-smoky chicken wings in a slightly spiced aioli, and quite literally the best halloumi fries you’ll ever try; we don’t know if it was the light fried batter, the perfectly tearable texture of the cheese, or the subtle hot honey dip, but they were incredible.
We also opted to try two more delicate, lighter bites to somewhat cleanse the palate – the corn and duck salad, both of which were fantastically balanced and still not skimpy on the portions either.
The point being is that, at this stage, we started to worry this, plus our main courses of maple-baked salmon (paired with the most impressively smooth and sweet potato purée imaginable), gambas al ajillo (giant black tiger prawns in garlic) and a stuffed, herbaceaous, rolled pork number might be overkill…
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Perfectly soft, gooey arancini with a slight heat to them.You could see the quality of the prawns before tasting it.That tweal on top alone was packed with flavour.Light, seasonal and yet more than a few mouthfuls.
Having said that, we still found time/room for another round of cocktails – again, sticking with the spritz theme (’tis the season, after all) – and just about managed to squeeze in two desserts.
The lemon posset was just tangy enough without being too tart and was devoured within seconds, while the cheesecake with an extra dusting of pistachio on top was superb. Topping each with a thin, honeycomb-design biscuit felt like a nice little Manc finishing touch as well.
We’ll confess, a fair few belt notches were loosened throughout the duration of this meal, but we kept persevering for a number of reasons: we wanted to get a comprehensive sweep of what’s on offer, we didn’t want to waste a morsel of food if possible, and most importantly, it was stunning.
Honestly, there wasn’t so much as an average mouthful of food all night. We can’t believe it’s taken us this long to try what’s being served out of the Mélange kitchen; pair that with a brilliant breakfast and relaxing stay at Red Hall itself, and it’s up there with one of the best hotel packages in the area.
Plenty of food and drink spots help, but the great in Greater Manchester, and we can’t say where exactly we’d rank this amongst all 10 boroughs, but we firmly believe you won’t find many better all-round hospitality offerings in Bury – if, indeed, at all.
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There are plenty of lovely day and evening walks nearby.Or you can just curl up content on the sun-soaked terrace.
I went on a walking wine tour around Manchester and it might be the perfect afternoon out
Daisy Jackson
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
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
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
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.
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.
‘Exclusive’ Manchester nightclub shares customer’s eye-watering £88k bill
Daisy Jackson
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.
‘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.”
Danny Jones -
4th July 2025 
