Eats

Where to go for the best desserts in Manchester this weekend

Now that cafes have reopened it's time to discuss desserts and Manchester is the place to go to taste some of the most delicious treats!

Jess Walmsley Jess Walmsley - 7th August 2020
Black Milk

Who’s got a sweet tooth?

Yeah, us too.

Now that cafes have reopened, it’s time to discuss desserts – and Manchester is home to some of the most delicious treats!

In the following list, we take a closer look at some of our favourite dessert location across the city and beyond – giving you a few potential options to indulge over the course of the weekend.

Grab a spoon….

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Shakedown

Withington

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Spells in the kitchen, magic in your first sip 🔮🥤

A post shared by SHAKEDOWN (@heyshakedown) on

Shakedown make some ridiculously good milkshakes – even have one tailor-made for Mancunians; the Manchester Bee Shake with Honeycomb Pieces, Honey Comb Syrup & Whipped Cream.

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There’s also an Oreo-infused shake packed with cookies and cream, and a tantalising menu chocked full of waffle creations from a classic flavour of fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce.

The pick of the bunch is perhaps the Road Block: Which is stuffed with Oreos, Crispy M&Ms, White Kinder Bueno, White Chocolate Drizzle and Nutella Drizzle.

Wow.

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View the menu and visit their website here.

Black Milk

Northern Quarter

Black Milk is on a mission to create the most extravagant waffles possible. And they’re doing a damn good job, too.

The waffles and pancake stacks here are out of this world, but Black Milk also has a great range of cookie dough, sickly sweet freakshakes (some are even topped with a slice of cake) and slabs of chocolatey goodness!

The brand also got exposure on Sky News recently; with owners talking about how they will be adjusting their creations for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme running throughout August.

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View the menu and visit their website here.

Archie’s

Oxford Road, MCR Arndale & Piccadilly Train Station

Archie’s has three locations in Manchester – popular among locals and VIPs alike for decadent shakes and waffle stacks.

One of the brand’s most popular fully loaded waffles is the Cookie Monster – which is topped with crushed Oreo cookies and then drizzled in chocolate sauce.

There’s also The Snowflake – a large waffle topped with crunchy Malteasers and finished off with lashings of white chocolate.

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Maybe skip lunch if you plan on dining at Archie’s to ensure you have enough room to eat it all up…

View the menu and visit their website here.

Ginger’s Comfort

Affleck’s Palace

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium

Ginger’s is the perfect place to go for a Mancunian-made ice cream.

An award winning real dairy ice cream business, this Affleck’s emporium offers a range of exciting flavours which even include vegan options.

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The flavours change quite regularly so there will always be something new to try on every visit; they recently served a vegan chocolate brownie flavour which went down very well!

When getting lost in Affleck’s, Ginger’s is the perfect pit stop to enjoy a scrumptious dessert and soak up the atmosphere.

View the menu and visit their website here.

Dessert Republic

Chorlton

Dessert Republic is a family business with a dedication to serving delicious and heavenly desserts to satisfy all cravings.

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The brand is particularly adept at Nutella recipes; whether that be on top of hot cookie dough, one of their freakshakes or fluffy loaded waffles.

Cornflake Cakes with custard are also on the menu – offering a lovely little trip down memory lane to when you were a kid.

DR use Swiss ice cream Movenpick to create their desserts and famous milkshakes – with many customers saying the flavours remind them of being on holiday (a feeling many of us are craving at the moment).

View the menu and visit their website here.

Slattery

Whitefield

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Just a short tram ride away from the city centre is Slattery, the home of desserts and all things chocolate!

The Whitefield shop is full of surprises – including the Strawberry and Marshmallow Kebabs served with two chocolate pots filled with white and milk liquid Belgian chocolate – perfect for ‘dunking’ in!

Or you could really test yourself and try their Chocolate Challenge. This involves a large portion of their American-style chocolate fudge cake, served warm, with a portion of homemade chocolate ice cream, a portion of fresh cream and two chocolate pots filled with liquid chocolate sauce. Add a glass of any of delicious hot chocolate and the challenge begins!

If you manage to eat all this (without the help of your friends) you will be rewarded with a Slattery chocolate medal and a 100g box of handmade chocolates.

View the menu and visit their website here.

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Frurt

Oxford Road

Frurt specialise in Frozen Yogurt (Froyo), with dairy and non-dairy options available.

The dessert spot has several locations scattered around Manchester, with more than 50 toppings (many of which are vegetarian, with some vegan) up for grabs.

You create your masterpiece by picking and choosing from fresh fruit, dry fruit, sweets, Chocolate and premium sauces such as pistachio, ruby and Bueno including warm sauces like biscoff and Nutella.

Yes, please.

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View the menu and visit their website here.

Fress

Northern Quarter

Fress are best-known for doing a banging bottomless brunch – but you should also know about their desserts.

From brownies to cookie dough and even a topped croissant, Fress have a fab range of new and exciting sweet treats ready to try.

Customer favourites include their Afternoon Tea selection which hosts a whole tier of Fess’s homemade goodies, from their Biscoff cheesecake to a stack of blueberry pancakes.

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When chatting to Fress, they teased to their newest item launching very soon which will be a new Dream Burger: A fully-loaded Nutella bun, Oreo , strawberries, ice cream, dream cheese frosting with edible gold leaf.

View the menu and visit their website here.

Midnight Delivery

Don’t fancy pigging out on a dessert in public? The Midnight Delivery is the dessert parlour for you.

This place makes all their tasty treats in Salford and delivers them straight to your doorstep through their app.

Their menu is vast and you can have anything from topped birthday cake flavour cookie dough with chocolate ice cream to a Galaxy caramel & Nutella cookie tower sandwich!

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There’s also fresh batches of brownies and share-size boxes of pick and mix perfect for any movie night.

View the menu and visit their website here.

V-REV Vegan Diner

Northern Quarter

Another spot to grab some great vegan pudding is one of the most popular Vegan diners in Manchester: V-REV.

At the moment they are working on a reduced menu – but there’s a couple of items definitely worth digging into

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These include the New York baked cheesecake with salted caramel pretzel pieces, Biscoff sauces, chocolate sauce and Biscoff crumb served with chocolate peanut butter cookie ice cream, and their thick vanilla and cookie-flavoured milkshakes.

View the menu and visit their website here.

Caramello

Didsbury

Caramello is a coffee shop and cafe located in the heart of Didsbury Village.

The spot is best-known as an all day breakfast and brunch location, but there’s also an extensive list of patisserie, gelato and desserts.

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Caramello’s elegant patisserie options like the Religeuse look insanely tasty, and there’s also a selection of sumptuous sundaes.

There’s even the option to create your very own dessert! That’s the kind of thinking we can get behind…

View the menu and visit their website here.

My Cookie Dough

Trafford Centre

A Tafford Centre pit stop isn’t the same without some warm topped cookie dough!

My Cookie Dough has reopened at the shopping centre – returning with a large list of flavours to try from Red Velvet to Fudge & Honeycomb (which you can customise by adding your own choice of toppings and ice cream).

My Cookie Dough also launched a Build Your Own kit which you can have delivered straight to your doorstep containing all the ingredients you need to make enjoy your My Cookie Dough experience at home.

These kits are fully customisable so you can choose exactly what goes into your box and have the freedom to create your own exciting combinations.

They are available to purchase through their website.

Hungry yet?

We bet you are.

Get out and explore Manchester’s vast dessert scene and see what treats you can find.

Eats

Two Greater Manchester restaurants have been named in Time Out’s 15 best restaurants in the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Time Out name two Greater Manchester restaurants among the 15 best in the UK

Not one but two restaurants in Greater Manchester have been named on Time Out‘s list of the 15 best restaurants in the UK.

The highly regarded lifestyle magazine is always pumping out these rankings across the board and with decades of pedigree behind them, it goes without saying that people still take their recommendations very seriously – ourselves included.

So, when we saw that a pair of local food spots were named on the most recent round-up, flying the flag for Manchester’s thriving culinary scene, we were obviously buzzing.

But what two places have they picked out?…

Erst – Ancoats

Erst Manchester best restaurants in the UK Time Out
erst manchester reviews
Erst leads the Manchester front on Time Out‘s best restaurants in UK (Credit: The Manc Eats)

In at number three on Time Out‘s list of the best restaurants in Britain was the ever-impressive Erst, which we can confidently vouch for serving up some of the best food in the city centre just off Cutting Room Square for over half a decade now.

It’s one of those places that feels like it should have a Michelin star even if doesn’t have one right now, building a glowing reputation around two core pillars: incredible natural wine and stunning small plates.

Genuinely not that expensive considering the sheer level of quality on show, the magazine writers Leonie Cooper and Lucas Oakeley spotlight offerings such as the Cantabrian anchovies that are “excellently sourced and devilishly salty” as well as “inventive plates” like the mussels in escabeche with Marinda tomatoes, lardo and sourdough. Hard agree.

Where The Light Gets In – Stockport

where the light gets in menu
michelin star restaurant stockport
Credit: Where The Light Gets In

Second up for Greater Manchester is going to annoy all those ‘it’s always been Cheshire’ die-hards but we’ll absolutely be claiming this one; it’s Where The Light Gets In tucked away on Rostron Brow, right near Stockport‘s historic market square.

Boasting a green star from Michelin and an incredible wine-pairing selection to compliment every course, this vegetable-driven dining experience is one of the very best we here The Manc Eats have ever enjoyed.

The menu changes every time you visit and the entire place feels like something special and bespoke. Time Out describes it as serving up “plates of food have nothing to hide and showcase the best ingredients from the farmers and fishermen that chef/owner Sam Buckley has spent years building an intimate relationship with”, summing it by adding, “Sustainability has never tasted so good”.

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We’re obviously biased but there are definitely a few more places around Greater Manchester that we’d throw in that for Time Out‘s list but, who knows, maybe they’ll make it on there next year?

Either way, we’re just happy to celebrate two absolutely top-tier eateries in two very distinct parts of the region – it’s not all just city centre spots and it never will be.

Are there any amazing Manc restaurants that you think should have made the list?

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/Where The Light Gets In

Eats

The quirkiest pubs in Manchester, from wonky buildings to 7am pints to BYO chippy teas

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Pubs are an integral part of British culture, and nowhere does them better than Manchester – in our humble opinion.

We’ve got tiny ones, giant ones, shiny ones and ancient ones.

There are some that serve seriously fancy gastropub food and others that serve a whole menu of crisps – and one that just encourages you to bring a chippy tea in with you.

There are real ale pubs, craft beer pubs, taprooms, and pubs that also do pretty good cocktails.

Whatever your brief is for the perfect boozer, Manchester will have somewhere that fits the bill.

We’ve rounded up some of Manchester’s quirkiest pubs that offer something a little… unexpected.

Temple Bar, Oxford Road

It is always, always that trip to the toilets that makes you realise you’ve tipped over into inebriated – staring at yourself in the mirrors above the sinks thinking ‘Oh, yup, too many pints’.

Here in Manchester, it can also be a trip to the toilet that gets you sozzled in the first place.

The Temple – or Temple of Convenience to give it its full name – is a tiny subterranean drinking den that in the Victorian era, was actually a public toilet.

It’s so narrow you can almost reach wall-to-wall if you stand with your arms outstretched.

But down here you’ll also find a great selection of bottled beers, a jukebox, and bags of charm.

100 Great Bridgewater Street, M1 5JW

The Victoria Tap, Manchester Victoria

Victoria Tap is open in Manchester now
Victoria Tap is open in Manchester now
Inside Victoria Tap in Manchester
Inside Victoria Tap in Manchester

What makes The Victoria Tap such a little gem? For one, it’s taken what was a literal bin store and turned it into a genuinely beautiful drinking den.

For two, as it’s inside the train station, it’s got a departures board – the twist being that it tells you how many pints you can drink before your train leaves.

And to be honest, we’d quite like to use pints as a unit for measuring time forever more.

The new craft beer bar has also built a small beer garden on its far side, where trams slide past within inches of the boundary wall.

Victoria train station, M3 1WY

The Marble Arch, Rochdale Road

Come, venture slightly beyond your comfort zone of the city centre and Ancoats – for just beyond you’ll find one of Manchester’s very best pubs.

The Marble Arch building has been here since 1888, and to this day is one of the most impressive historic pubs in the UK.

Its tiled walls, ornate ceilings and mosaic floors, not to mention its roaring fire and its beautiful wooden bar, are just part of the charm.

One of the strangest experiences when visiting The Marble Arch is the way the bar seems to draw you in to it.

It’s all thanks to its gently sloping floor – some say it’s this way to make rolling barrels easier, others say it’s for cleaning, but out favourite theory is that it’s to encourage inebriated customers to totter back to the bar for another round.

73 Rochdale Road, M4 4HY

The Seven Oaks, Chinatown

Image: Geograph

By day, The Seven Oaks is a fairly normal pub – a lot of beer, a lot of sports, a lot of regulars.

But by night, it becomes the stuff of hospitality legend.

This is the pub for people who work in pubs, a place where the hospitality staff normally pouring drinks for everyone else can come and have their own after work – even if they happen to finish work at 4am.

Built for the people who work ‘the wrong 9-to-5’, if you’ve got proof of working in the hospitality industry, this Chinatown pub is the place to come for late night, or early morning, pints.

5 Nicholas Street, M1 4HL

Peveril of the Peak, Great Bridgewater Street

Image: Adam Pester

You cannot miss the Peveril of the Peak.

Not only is it clad all over in ceramic tiles in vibrant shades of chartreuse and mint green, but it also stands alone at the fork in a road.

Manchester’s only detached pub has been here since the early 19th century, with a jumble of cosy rooms arranged around a central bar.

Inside, there are all the best sorts of pub trimmings, like a jukebox and a dart board.

It’s also had the same landlady for 51 years – Nancy Swanick, 90, is pretty legendary in her own right.

127 Great Bridgewater Street, M1 5JQ

Circus Tavern, Portland Street

Image: Commons Wikimedia

In stark contrast to the Peveril of the Peak, The Circus Tavern is very much a pub you can miss.

This tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it drinking den is home to the smallest bar in Europe.

Don’t expect a massive selection of beers here – there simply isn’t room.

It’s the weeniest pub in Manchester and also one of its oldest, dating back to 1840 (though the building was here even earlier).

Back in the day, it used to be a regular haunt of circus performers (hence the name), and Manchester United players, including George Best.

86 Portland Street, M1 4GX

The Old Wellington Inn, Exchange Square

The Old Wellington pub in Manchester is one of the city's quirkiest. Credit: The Manc Group
The Old Wellington pub in Manchester is one of the city’s quirkiest. Credit: The Manc Group
The Old Wellington pub in Manchester is one of the city's quirkiest. Credit: The Manc Group
The Old Wellington pub in Manchester is one of the city’s quirkiest. Credit: The Manc Group

When you’re nursing your drink in the Old Wellington, you’re surrounded by masses of history.

The city centre pub is the oldest building of its kind in Manchester, dating all the way back to 1552.

Back in those days, the walls, floors and ceilings were all wonky, and the ceiling beams were so low that punters had to duck when they were walking around. 

The pub might be ancient, but strangely, it hasn’t always been here on Exchange Square. 

The medieval building actually used to be about 70 metres down the road, and had to be moved bit by bit and piece by piece after the IRA bomb in 1996.

Over the course of two years, both the Old Wellington and Sinclair’s Oyster bar were completely rebuilt in their new home here, where they still stand as two of Manchester’s most amazing pubs – and pull some of the city’s cheapest pints. 

4 Cathedral Gates, M3 1SW

Mother Mac’s, Back Piccadilly

Mother Mac's, a historic pub in Manchester, has closed down
Mother Mac’s, a historic pub in Manchester, has closed down

Back Piccadilly in the city centre isn’t exactly a wholesome location as things stand – there’s a lot of graffiti, rows of bins, the occasional rat, and (if you’re really unlucky) human faeces.

But if you travel back in time to 1976, things get significantly more bleak. We’re talking mass murder bleak.

A previous landlord of the Mother Mac’s pub turned and killed his wife, then his three children, then the pub’s cleaner, before setting the building ablaze and killing himself.

Mother Mac’s has now actually closed, with plans to turn it into a new pub called the Rat & Pigeon – which is fitting, given that’s mostly what will be walking past.

33 Back Piccadilly, M1 1HP

The Shakespeare, Fountain Street

Image: Wikimedia Commons

If you’re a fan of a ghost story, this is the pub for you.

The Shakespeare on Fountain Street – directly across the road from Primark – has had plenty of paranormal activity, if we believe the reports of its customers (who, admittedly, are likely to have been worse for wear).

Punters have reported seeing a flaming ghost at the top of the stairs, believed to be the spirit of a young girl who accidentally set herself alight while lighting candles at the inn.

It’s also said to be haunted by a former chef who hung himself here – you can apparently still see the rope marks on one of the ceiling beams.

Spooky past aside, The Shakespeare is a good-value pub with a menu of typical pub fare.

16 Fountain Street, M2 2AA

Briton’s Protection, Great Bridgewater Street

The Britons Protection. Credit: The Manc Group
The Britons Protection. Credit: The Manc Group
The Britons Protection. Credit: The Manc Group
The Britons Protection. Credit: The Manc Group

Famed for its Jack Daniel’s collection, the Briton’s Protection draws in whiskey fans from across the globe.

Every year the owners travel to Tennessee to make bespoke casks – and they’ve even created a Jack Daniel’s-themed room in a snug behind the bar.

Home to some exceedingly rare bottles, including one with an unaired Sinatra concert recording hidden in a tie clip, collectors pay thousands for bottles from the Manchester casks.

That’s not all, though. The pub’s history dates back to the Peterloo massacre, attested to by a mural in its hallway.

Not entirely historically accurate, look closely and you’ll spot some of the rebels bear a striking resemblance to famous Manchester footballers.

Apparently, the previous owner was a bit of a fan.

Great Bridgewater Street

Cask, Liverpool Road

This beautiful teal-fronted pub on Liverpool Road makes this list for a few reasons – the main one being that you can bring your chippy tea in with you.

Cask has become a firm favourite with Manchester beer-lovers in the two decades since it opened, boasting perhaps the most comprehensive selections in the city.

There are imports from across Europe, America and even further afield, plus a cracking selection of board games and a brilliant jukebox.

And yes, our favourite bit is nipping next door to The Fish Hut and bringing a chippy tea back to your table – you just have to agree to tidy up after yourself.

Liverpool Road, M3 4NQ

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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