A diner has opened in Sheffield where the staff are rude to you, and you’re encouraged to be rude back – and it won’t be long before Manchester gets its own taste of the Karen’s Diner experience.
The immersive pop-up dining experience has been exported from sunny Australia to the temperamental climes of the northwest.
It’s just landed in Sheffield ahead of a June opening in Prestwich – so, obviously, we had to take a trip over to see what it’s all about.
Full disclosure, if you’re mild-mannered and thinking of paying them a visit, brace yourself. Even writing this down is starting to give me the shakes again. I already knew it was going to be a bit full-on, but this was an ORDEAL – like the hospitality equivalent of being hazed.
Charming staff at Karen’s Diner. Credit: The Manc Group
It was also completely hilarious. You have to laugh, really, or you’d probably cry.
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‘Welcomed’ with hard, glaring stares, then shouted at for being late (which, to be fair, we were), we were led on a merry dance around the diner – circling tables four or five times – before the staff eventually showed us to our seats.
The diner itself looks like it’s been lifted straight from 1950s America, complete with checkered black and white tiles, red and white leather booths, and vinyl records pinned to the walls.
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There’s a predictably diner-esque menu of burgers and fries topped with American cheese that never quite seems to melt.
Spinning the wheel of shame at Karen’s Diner. Credit: The Manc Group
Throughout the hour we spent at Karen’s Diner – one of the longest hours of our lives – we were routinely humiliated: forced to spin a ‘wheel of shame’, do a fashion catwalk through the diner, drink ‘toilet shots’ or swirling Kahlua and Baileys, and wear customised paper hats that read ‘Vegan in Denial!’ and ‘Messy B*tch’ (they got that last one spot on for me, it has to be said).
We’re handed a colouring-in sheet and a handful of broken crayons, before our artwork is snatched away and torn to shreds before our eyes. The more talented creations – including one featuring a doodled penis – are pinned proudly to the walls.
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The toilet shots
With our customised hats
Our artwork being shredded
I ask for a napkin. It’s brought to the table, a corner torn off, and presented with a perfect ‘f*ck you’ smile.
A minute later, I ask for sauce. This is intentional – I want to be annoying, I want to see what they’ll do. My efforts are rewarded. The sauce arrives, along with napkins. I can’t believe my luck. Sauce and napkins for this messy b*tch? Perfect.
Not so much. The sauce is unceremoniously dumped, upside down, on the aforementioned napkin, then he promptly leaves. From there, it’s up to me to do what I want with it. Like any self-respecting sauce lover, I eat it off the napkin.
Image: The Manc Eats
As an ex-hospitality worker of some ten years or so, I myself have spent many years sullenly mouthing ‘f*ck off’ or some other insult under my breath at an annoying customer who’s taken things too far. It’s just a part of the job.
What I would’ve done in those days to work somewhere where I was not only able to shout it at their face, but be paid for the pleasure. In that regard, Karen’s Diner is a dream.
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Retail workers get it, hospitality workers get it. Sometimes the customer just isn’t right – and those customers, the really annoying ones, known in the industry as ‘Karens’, could do with a big telling-off.
Whether the people manning the tables at Karen’s Diner are actors, or incredibly disgruntled hospitality staff, we’re never too sure – either way, they never break character.
Every polite request of ours is greeted with a middle finger or an exaggerated eye roll, red baskets of burgers are dumped on the table with such force that all the fillings tumble out, and we’re so afraid to leave our seats that we have to wait for their backs to be turned to make a dash to the loo.
This is the place to go and get it – and when you’ve had enough, you’ll be bid farewell with a hearty ‘f*ck off’.
‘Classy, clever, confident’ – New Manchester restaurant receives glowing Guardian review
Daisy Jackson
Winsome, one of the newest restaurants on Manchester’s dining scene, has gone and received a seriously glowing review in The Guardian this weekend.
Legendary restaurant criticGrace Dent said that the British bistro ‘may well be my new favourite restaurant’, lauding chef patron Shaun Moffat’s ‘elegant but plentiful modern cooking’.
She said that there’s even a teeny touch of Toby Carvery in their Sunday offering, with meaty and saucy dishes and ‘cartoon-esque XL yorkshire puddings’.
Winsome opened back in March under the steer of three hospitality heavyweights – ex-Edinburgh Castle chef Shaun Moffat, former Schofields head bartender Tom Fastiggi, and Belzan founder Owain Williams.
It’s a beautiful, stripped-back space at the foot of the Whitworth Locke aparthotel and Moffat’s first venture as a chef patron.
Based on this Guardian review, he’s doing a pretty good job so far…
Grace Dent said of Winsome’s nostalgic yet modern menu (featuring dippy eggs and puddings that sound like school dinner puds): “This is Cool Britannia wearing a napkin bib with a side portion of rhubarb jelly and custard for pudding.”
Novelty crockery at Winsome. Credit: The Manc GroupChef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc GroupDippy egg and asparagus. Credit: The Manc GroupInside WInsome on Princess Street. Credit: The Manc Group
She also wrote that it’s ‘far from a novelty restaurant’ in spite of its animal-shaped crockery.
And Dent added that while there’s an element of fine dining, it’s unpretentious enough that you’re happy to smear it all over the tablecloths and, indeed, yourself.
‘Deeply nostalgic’, ‘forward-thinking fine dining without any of the faff’, is how she described her Winsome experience.
“This is confident, clever cooking that stays just the right side of earnest, or at least as earnest as a chef can be when he also serves up a dessert that is essentially a 1980s school sponge pudding with a scoop of milk ice-cream flecked with multicoloured sprinkles, or hundreds and thousands as they will for ever be known in my heart,” she wrote.
Grace Dent’s Guardian review concluded with: “Winsome may well be my new favourite restaurant, and it’s the new, big, generous beating heart of Manchester hospitality. It’s classy but come-all – bring your gran, bring your baby, no one need feel conspicuous.
“There’s something about the place that makes me want to use it as a canteen, not least out of sheer curiosity as to what Moffat will put on the menu next. Great cooking, and forward-thinking fine dining without any of the faff.
“Bring your appetite and don’t wear pale colours. Aaah, Manchester, you have so much to answer for. Winsome will seriously impact your waistline.”
Winsome said in a post on Instagram: “It doesn’t get much better than that! We’re over the moon, full of pride and could not be more grateful to the team who’ve worked so hard to help us deliver this dream.”
Hidden Manchester bar Mala to offer unique ‘movie night’ experiences inside private cabins
Thomas Melia
You can have your own private film experience inside little wooden cabins at a popular Northern Quarter bar this summer.
Manchester city centre secret garden spot Mala is hosting an event where you and your friends can enjoy a private movie night with food, themed drinks, and bucket loads of free popcorn.
Listed as the ‘Cabin Movie Night’, get ready to sit back, relax and watch a cult classic, all from the comfort of your own personal wooden hut.
The film you’ll be watching is very on-brand too, as it’s none other than none than ‘Labyrinth’.
This secret garden spot is hiding right in plain sight over on Dale Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and as well as hosting events such as these, they’re also home to some top tier eateries too.
Currently El Jefe, Doodles, Wok Bros, Christakis, D&X Caribbean, and Gulf are all serving up some cross-continental delights for you to enjoy in this marvellous space.
Some mouth-watering scran from El Jefe.Wok Bros have some delicious noodle boxes. Credit: The Manc Group
The Cabin Movie Night’ is the perfect way to round up your friends and watch a classic with a cocktail in hand.
There’s a handful of group packages available too at an additional charge, ranging from £30 to £50, which includes themed cocktails for each guest in the booking, and the cost of the ticket.
Georgina Pellant -
27th April 2022 
