A Manchester vegan restaurant is serving an all-vegan roast with mock ‘meat’ and all the trimmings, putting an ethical twist on the British Sunday classic.Keen to see if it’s worth the hype, I took a trip down to try it out for myself – and left feeling pretty impressed.
Not being a vegan personally, I enlisted the help of two friends of the plant-powered persuasion to accompany me to get a real feel for every option.
Suffice it to say, it was a success and, whilst I won’t be converting to veganism any time soon, it’s nice to know that there are options out there for when I feel like being ‘good’.
With three different roast choices on offer, Wholesome Junkies is the first restaurant in the city centre to venture past the usual vegan choices of mushroom Wellington and roasted squash and go all-out with a variety of mock meat options.
Meats have been created in partnership with Liverpool vegan brand CB Sushi, using their mock beef and turkey joints to give vegans the feeling of a ‘proper’ roast.
Glazed ‘turkey’ roast at Wholesome Junkies with Mabel’s vegan Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings. / Image: The Manc Eats
‘Beef’ roast at Wholesome Junkies with onion gravy, Mabel’s vegan Yorkshire puddings and all the good bits. / Image: The Manc Eats
Think glazed ‘turkey’ filled with stuffing, medallions of ‘beef’ and crispy deep-fried oyster mushrooms, all served with lashings of onion gravy, ‘buttered’ seasonal greens, glazed carrots and parsnips, deep-fried stuffing balls, crispy roasties and fluffy Yorkshire puddings created by Mabel’s.
Having tried all three, I have to say that my favourite was the turkey. It’s actually my least favourite meat to eat, so it was something of a surprise to find I enjoyed the vegan version much more than the real thing.
The texture was spot on, and there was none of the dryness you typically associate with the bird. Washed down with a pint of locally-brewed Cloudwater Fuzzy Hazy Pale Ale, it absolutely hit the spot.
The deep-fried oyster mushroom roast at Wholesome Junkies. / Image: The Manc Eats
Cloudwater’s Fuzzy Hazy Pale Ale. / Image: The Manc Eats
Coming in a close second was the deep-fried oyster mushroom roast, which was so packed with flavour that it almost felt like I was eating fried chicken with my Sunday dinner.
As for the beef, it didn’t really do it for me – tasting more of herbs than red meat, but then, I don’t suppose there are many vegans queueing up the block for a bloody meat substitute.
Wholesome Junkies has long been a favourite with Manchester vegans. First shooting to fame in 2018 with an appearance on BBC2’s Million Pound Menu, owner Chelsea appeared on the show to ask for 95,000 to open her own vegan junk food restaurant.
Prior to that, she’d been running her Wholesome Junkies concept as a street food pop-up at sites like Grub and Ancoats General Store.
Whilst her bid to impress the BBC judges was not successful at the time, the TV appearance put her on the map and within a year she had her own Arndale market stall.
Fast forward a few more, and in 2022 she opened her first bricks and mortar restaurant – taking over the former Umezushi site at 4 Mirabel Street.
Since moving in, she’s completely transformed it: decking it out in bright colours and filling every corner with quirky little ornaments and decorations.
Strings of fairy lights, hanging mushrooms and frames filled with pictures from local artists all make the small space feel incredibly warm and welcoming – and our visit the restaurant was absolutely packed.
At a time when so many vegan restaurants seem to be closing, it was an absolute joy to see so many bums on seats during our visit.
Veganuary might almost be over, but if you’re a vegan – or simply just trying to cut down on your meat consumption – it’s definitely worth giving this one a go.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Bundobust and Madre announce bold new Indo-Mexican collaboration
Clementine Hall
Two of Manchester’s best-loved casual dining spots are joining forces for a limited-edition collaboration.
Bundobust and Madre will be teaming up this summer to create a menu inspired by two world-famous street food cultures – India, and Mexico.
The Indo-Mexican menu will feature dishes like ‘Naanchos’, and plenty of other Desi-flavoured Mexican dishes.
It’ll be mashing up iconic ingredients, techniques, and flavours, with a menu of brand new spice-packed dishes and cocktails combining Desi and Mexican influence.
So, what can we expect?
Mexican street food classics chimichanga and quesadillas get the Desi treatment, while Bundobust’s Indian street food favourites like chaat get a little Latino heat.
All paired with spicy summer-time cocktails, as a homage to Mexican drinking culture, plus the return of Bundobust Brewery’s new golden Cerveza, SANJA Mexican Lager.
We can’t think of a better place to spend our summer evenings to be quite honest.
On the menu there are crunchy Indo-Mexican ‘naanchos’, topped with salsa verde, crema, tamarind, onion, coriander, and a punchy pickle masala.
Madre and Bundobust are teaming upNaanchos, from the Bundobust x Madre menu
There’ll also be a ‘Tikkadilla’ – a corn tortilla packed with oyster mushrooms, red tikka sauce and Oaxaca cheese, with a side of desi birria sauce for dipping.
That’s alongside masala chimichanga, birria-ani, and corn chaat.
Then you can wash that down with a cashew colada, an avocado lassi, spicy mango margs and loads more.
The Indo-Mexican menu will be available at all Bundobust and Madre locations from Monday 14 July until Sunday 17 August 2025.
Northern Quarter cafe to give out 100 FREE slices of cake to celebrate its birthday
Emily Sergeant
A little Northern Quarter cafe is celebrating a big milestone this week, and is giving out 100 free slices of cake for the occasion.
Nibble is turning eight this week, and nothing makes a birthday better than cake.
The female-run independent cafe on Oldham Street in the heart of the Northern Quarter first opened its doors to hungry Mancs back in July 2017, after owner and manager Lauren had dreams to take her business of selling brownies at local artisan markets and turn them into a cosy cafe of her own that catered to people with all sorts of dietary requirements.
The cafe has since been acknowledged by tastemakers as one of the most accessible places in Manchester.
Not only is Nibble known and loved for serving up some of the best homemade bakes in the city, with something for everyone to tuck choose from, but they also provide a tasty selection of all-day brunch dishes, salads, and sandwiches, as well as corporate catering too.
So of course, to celebrate eight years of the lovely Nibble team feeding the good people of Manchester, the business is giving away free slices of birthday cake on Friday.
Nibble NQ is giving away 100 free slices of birthday cake / Credit: The Manc Group
After doing something similar to celebrate their birthday last year, this time around they’re taking things once step further, as it’s not just 100 free slices of scrumptious cake you can get your hands on, there’s plenty other prizes too.
Nibble will be ‘levelling up’ and throwing in some ‘hidden surprises’ in the form of vouchers, giving people an opportunity to win a free brunch, brownie box, or coffee and cake.
To be in with a chance of taking away one of the 100 free slices of birthday cake, all you’ll need to do is head to Nibble on Oldham Street this Friday (11 July) and line up outside the cafe from 9:30am, then you may just be lucky enough to start of your day in the sweetest way possible.