A new street food offering has opened in Manchester, serving some of the city’s most outrageous loaded fries and hot dogs.
Diamond Dogs is hidden away in the courtyard of Green Arches – itself a hidden taproom – situated inside a graffiti-covered van.
There’s a surprisingly lengthy menu for a business who have carved a niche out of the humble hot dog, with various toppings, sides and fries on offer.
One of the biggest selling points is that every hot dog on the menu can be made totally vegan, from the classic Porky New Yorky to the fancier offerings.
So what exactly can you expect from Diamond Dogs?
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How do deep-fried black pudding bits, drizzled in curry ketchup and a dusting of curry powder, sound?
Das Deutsch – venison and pork bratwurst, sauerkraut, sweet German mustard and pretzels. Credit: The Manc GroupCurried black pudding bites. Credit: The Manc GroupCurrywurst from Diamond Dogs. Credit: The Manc Group
What about piping hot fries glued together with a double cheese blend, topped with crispy onions, blitzed beans, salsa, and chilli hot sauce?
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Or you could take it full Berlin street food-style, with proper currywurst and sauerkraut piled on top of skin-on fries.
Diamond Dogs have gone to the effort of making almost all the sauces on the menu from scratch, leading to one of the best dip-and-drizzle experiences in the city.
There’s the Pineapple Power hot sauce, which is slathered on the Shaka Aloha hot dog – a particular sandwich so messy, they have to serve it tightly-wrapped in foil to stop cheese running down your arms. Fans of a Hawaiian pizza will want to order this one.
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Fire fries at Diamond Dogs. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Green Arches. Credit: The Manc GroupThe Diamond Dogs van. Credit: The Manc Group
Another house sauce star is the House Kebabby Tomatah sauce, usually found drizzled over a lamb and beef kofta hot dog with fresh salsa.
On the side of every hot dog you’ll find a little pot of accessories, from salted pretzels to pork scratchings to pickles.
Diamond Dogs has parked itself proudly behind Green Arches, a relatively new addition to the city’s brilliant craft brewery and taproom scene.
The brewery taproom itself is nearly placed beneath one of the railway arches of the Green Quarter, and takes its green credentials seriously – the bar is almost entirely decorated in white and wood, but is covered in plants.
There are potted plants that are taller than most people and vines crawling up the curved walls.
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The green-tiled bar serves a brilliant range of flagship ales.
Diamond Dogs is open from 5.30pm to 9pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and until 10pm on Fridays. On the weekends it opens at 10.30am, closing at 10pm on Saturdays and 6pm on Sundays.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Eats
The cosy Peak District pub serving a pick’n’mix sausage and mash menu
Daisy Jackson
There’s a Peak District pub that’s turned one of Britain’s most beloved comfort foods into a full-on pick’n’mix.
Tucked away in the postcard-perfect village of Castleton, Ye Olde Nags Head is serving up a fully customisable menu of sausage and mash dishes.
We’re talking near-endless combinations of proper pub grub.
You start by choosing your sausages from a daily rotating selection (not a sentence you hear every day, but we’re into it).
Expect classics like Cumberland alongside more adventurous options like venison and mustard, or even wild boar and orange, plus a veggie sausage daily.
Then it’s onto the mash – you can go for flavours like cheese and onion, wholegrain mustard, or even black pudding mash.
Classic cumberland, mustard mash, and mushroom sauceVeggie sausage with cheese and onion mash and classic gravyTucking in
To finish? A choice of rich, hearty gravies and sauces to bring it all together, whether that’s a classic onion gravy, a peppercorn sauce, or a creamy wild mushroom sauce.
And if that wasn’t enough, you can even upgrade your bangers and mash pick’n’mix by having it all served inside a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Ye Olde Nags Head is a historic 17th-century pub, with a roaring fire in every room and cosy bedrooms upstairs.
Inside Ye Olde Nags Head pub in the Peak DistrictYe Olde Nags Head pub is near Mam Tor
It’s one of those flagstone-floored, beamed-ceilinged, mismatched-furniture type pubs that welcomes everyone in every state, whether you’re caked in mud from a hike or popping in on a coach tour.
Another of the pub’s specialties is the Derbyshire Breakfast, a hearty plate of sausage, smoked bacon, black pudding, free range egg, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread.
The pub also offers takeaway breakfast butties, so you can use it for both a pre-hike stop and a post-hike pint.
Given it’s just minutes from the ever-popular Mam Tor hike, this is one pub you’ll definitely want to add to your next Peak District day out itinerary.
The hillside farm in the Peak District making its own ice cream
Daisy Jackson
Did you know there’s a 300-year-old farm in the Peak District serving up some of the freshest ice cream you’ll ever taste? And yes, you can meet the cows that made it while you’re there.
Welcome to Hope Valley Ice Cream, a family-run gem where things are kept refreshingly simple: happy cows, proper farming, and seriously good ice cream.
Set in the heart of the Peak District countryside, this place is about as wholesome as it gets.
The ice cream is made on-site in the farmhouse, literally just metres from where the dairy herd are out grazing.
You can watch the animals, wander around the farm, and then tuck into a scoop or three perched on a milk pail stool, or a picnic bench (or even a decorative tractor).
Hope Valley Ice Cream has some amazing seasonal ice creams, like lemon curd, elderflower, and blackberry, alongside all the classics and a rather delicious tiramisu.
You can grab a cone, sit down with a coffee (again, made with milk from the nearby cows), or go all in with a freshly-made waffle if you’re feeling fancy.
Takeaway tubs from Hope Valley Ice CreamYou can get a mini pail of ice creamMeet the newborn calves at Hope Valley Ice CreamTuck into your ice cream on a milk pail stoolHope Valley Ice Cream
And if you’re the type who really loves ice cream? You can actually order a full pail of it, with four huge scoops plus whipped cream and sauce.
The farm itself is run by the Marsden family, who’ve been working this land for generations. It shows in everything – they’ve created a place that feels genuinely welcoming, not just another tourist stop.
Beyond the ice cream, you’ve got plenty of reasons to stick around. There are calves (including the newest tiny arrivals), plus donkeys and pigs to say hello to.
Whether you’re heading out on a hike or just fancy a drive into the Peaks, this is one pitstop that’s absolutely worth it – and honestly, it’s worth the trip on its own.
Daisy Jackson -
17th February 2023 
