The Botanist might be famous for its hanging kebabs, but have you ever heard of a hanging stack of pancakes?
It’s not the first time the restaurant has made this special, but it’s been a while since anyone’s been able to enjoy it due to the trials and tribulations of the past few years.
Until now, that is. After a two-year hiatus, the team is bringing back its signature sell-out special for 2022 – and it looks absolutely divine.
Offering a sweet take on the group’s trademark hanging kebab, in a Pancake Day twist miniature pancakes are hung from skewers with a choice of three different toppings.
Each served with a pot of sauce made specially to drizzle down the ‘kebab’, topping choices include the likes of chocolate brownie chunks and hot chocolate sauce, or marshmallow and strawberries with a lemon drizzle. Naughty.
Image: The Botanist
Priced at £6.95, the special pancake ‘kebabs’ will be available from 28 February and 2 March.
In a post that has been liked over 6,000 times, The Botanist shared the news with its Instagram followers earlier this week, writing: “Pancake Hanging Kebabs RETURN!
“To celebrate Shrove Tuesday our Hanging Pancake Kebab specials will be making a return between Feb 28th – March 2nd and we’re flippin’ excited!
“Chocolate brownie chunks and a hot chocolate sauce
“Marshmallows and strawberries with a lemon drizzle
“Be quick, once they’re gone, they’re gone!”
The Botanist has three locations in and around Manchester. The cocktail bar and restaurant can be found on Deansgate, in Didsbury village and in Alderley Edge – with hanging pancake ‘kebabs’ available at all three sites over the Pancake Day period.
As well as offering these naughty pancakes, the floral-themed ‘secret garden’ of food and drink is known for its extensive top-tier cocktail list.
If you’re heading down, make an afternoon of it and opt for something long and fruity to wash all those carbs down with. You won’t regret it.
Hotel Chocolat to open viral chocolate Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Hotel Chocolat is set to open a Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester city centre, and it’ll be absolute paradise for chocolate lovers.
The popular chocolate shop, which has stores across the UK selling delicious chocolate bars, boxes and more, is now preparing to branch out in town.
Hotel Chocolat then hit a new level of fame with its Velvetiser, an invention that creates velvety smooth hot drinks at the touch of a button.
They’ve been so popular, Hotel Chocolat is now opening Velvetiser Cafes across the UK – and Manchester is up next.
If it follows in the footsteps of the Meadowhall cafe in Sheffield, visitors will be able to customise their perfect hot chocolate from thousands of combinations.
There are 18 flavours, different milks, and a whole variety of toppings available.
Then you drink can be served hot, over ice, or as a choc shake.
Colourful hoardings for the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe have now appeared on Cross Street, just next door to the new Joe & The Juice.
A planning application has also been lodged with Manchester City Council.
Drake-backed fried chicken brand Dave’s Hot Chicken is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The huge LA-based fried chicken brand backed by Drake is heading to Manchester for the very first time this summer.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is set to open in the Printworks this August – the first UK branch outside of London and Birmingham.
The cult chicken brand has said that its new venue will feature an ‘industrial design inspired by Manchester’s rave scene’ (if we had a pound every time a new venue used that design style, we’d be as rich as Drake…).
Dave’s Hot Chicken is famed for its signature Nashville-style hot chicken, which is served in seven different spice levels from No Spice to Reaper.
Expect sliders, tenders, ‘next-level’ top-loaded shakes and slushes.
It’s grown so quickly that in 2021, it caught the eye of none other than rapper Drake, who is a ‘significant investor’ in the brand.
The fried chicken spot will be moving into the large corner unit at Printworks, which has previously been Busaba Thai, and Floripa, with 139 covers.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is coming to Manchester
Inside, it will feature towering ceilings, exposed steelwork, and laser lights, claiming to be a ‘full-on sensory trip, where music, light and fried chicken will come together to create a high-voltage experience’.
There will also be custom graffiti inspired by L.A.-based street artists Splatterhaus and Dehm.
Dave’s Hot Chicken still has hour-long queues down in London, several months after opening on Shaftesbury Avenue – next up will be a Birmingham branch in July before Manchester opens later this summer.
And this is just the start of a nationwide expansion.
Jim Attwood, Managing Director of Dave’s Hot Chicken UK, said: “Printworks Manchester is the ideal setting for our next UK site – right at the heart of one of the country’s most exciting cities.
“The new restaurant pays homage to Manchester’s legendary warehouse rave scene, with an industrial-inspired design and bold, high-energy atmosphere to match our signature flavours.
“We can’t wait to bring something fresh to this iconic venue and its vibrant mix of entertainment, food and culture.”
Dave’s Hot Chicken will open at Printworks Manchester on 8 August.
Georgina Pellant -
25th February 2022 
