Food & Drink

Beloved Australian biscuits Tim Tams are finally coming to the UK

They're literally considered 'Aussie gold'.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 21st March 2024

Brace yourselves, Brits, an iconic Australian food staple and popular Antipodean snack is finally coming to the UK after decades of waiting -that’s right, we’re finally getting Tim Tams.

The beloved chocolate-covered biscuit with an extra line of chocolate through the middle is the stuff of legend amongst the Aussies and the Kiwis have a line to some of the stock, but despite having been going since 1964, we’ve never had the luxury of finding them on shelves here in the UK supermarkets.

Until now, that is.

Yes, after years of us crying out for Arnott’s Tim Tams to brought to British shores, they will finally be available at Waitrose shops across the country and via Ocado.

While specialist Australian stores and online retailers like Sanza have obviously stocked imports from Down Under like these before, this will be the first time Tim Tams will be made readily available in shops you’ll find on the high street.

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Mouths literally already watering. (Credit: Arnott Group)

Part of the love affair with the moorish malt biscuits is the widely adopted manner of eating them colloquially known as the ‘Tim Tam Slam’.

Here’s the very precise process from start to finish: take a small bite from one corner of the rectangular biscuit, repeat on the diagonally opposite corner; then lower one nibbled corner into the cup of tea and the suck your tea through the opposite nibble — then eat it, and FAST, otherwise it’ll disintegrate.

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In fact, we don’t trust you — here is the method from start to finish in the form of a classic British TV moment featuring Graham Norton and Australian singer Natalia Imbruglia:

Even more iconic than Margot Robbie losing her sh*t after receiving a pack on the red carpet.

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Speaking to an extremely happy ex-pat, they said: “They are, easily, the best biscuits in the entire world. Tim Tam Slams are elite. And no, they are NOT like a Penguin. They are infinitely better than anything on the shelves in Britain.”

So there’s your warning, don’t you dare compare Tim Tams to Penguins or risk facing the wrath of every angry Aussie in earshot.

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Better still, the biccies that’ll cost you just £2.50 already said to have launched here in the UK and are available in plain chocolate, dark and chewy caramel flavour.

Race you to buy out every single one in sight.

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Featured Images — Arnott’s Group/Tim Tams (via TikTok)

Food & Drink

A historic Stockport pub has officially become a listed building

Danny Jones Danny Jones The Angel Inn pub Stockport made a grade II listed building

The Angel Inn pub in Stockport has officially become the thriving Greater Manchester borough’s latest listed building.

Being granted Grade II-listed status following an extensive visit and survey by Historic England (HE), Stockport Market Place’s Angel Inn may have had a lick of paint amidst the ‘Old Town Revival’ over the last decade or so, but the pub itself was erected back in the 16th century.

Reopened as one of the area’s most beloved boozers back in 2018, whilst still maintaining key fixtures and that feeling of authenticity, it harks back to the town’s Cheshire roots and taps into a deep vein of local culture.

The assessment, which was completed earlier this month, means that Angel Inn has been recognised as having special architectural or historic significance – i.e. the definition of a listed building.

Writing in a post on social media, the government-backed English heritage organisation detailed that while the inn predates the Early Modern/post-medieval period, the Angel‘s frame is comprised of wood from the 15th century.

But it gets even more interesting than that…

As well as being one of a select few surviving, traditional wattle-and-daub structures in the UK – nearby Bramall Hall being another (and a technique that had died out by the 18th century) – a close inspection of the internal floorboards unearthed something truly fascinating.

It just so happens that tests by HE proved that one particular plank of flooring “was cut from a tree alive in 1086, the year the Domesday Book was completed: the oldest government record held in The National Archives, commissioned by William the Conqueror.

How bloody cool is that?

It’s also worth noting that it’s genuinely a brilliant boozer and one of the most popular watering holes you’ll find in the town centre, promising a cosy interior, an intimate little outdoor area out back and serving plenty of regional ales.

angel inn stockport listed building status
You only have to glance at the exterior to clue into its age, let alone what there is to be found inside.
how old is angel inn stockport?
Way back when.
Credit: Historic England (handout)/Stockport Archives

Although they say it’s likely that the floorboard in question was originally cut for an earlier building situated in the same location, it still goes to show how old this particular North West settlement is.

“The name ‘Angel Inn’ dates from as early as 1769, though the site’s hospitality roots extend further, with references to “Cotterell’s inn” used for sequestrators’ meetings in the 1640s, who met to organise the confiscation of property of supporters of King Charles I during The English Civil War”, HE went on to add.

Angel Inn is one of only a handful of venues like this in Greater Manchester and Cheshire; safe to say a lot of time, effort and money are being put into preserving these links to the past.

You’ll find Exhibit B just down the road.

Stockport Council secure in funding £1.6 million to help fix the roof of historic Bramall Hall
The ultimate example of ‘SK is Cheshire, not Greater Manchester.’

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Historic England (handout)/Stockport Archives

Food & Drink

‘Classy, clever, confident’ – New Manchester restaurant receives glowing Guardian review

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson British classics at Winsome, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

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 critic Grace 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 Group
Novelty crockery at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Chef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Chef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Dippy egg and asparagus. Credit: The Manc Group
Dippy egg and asparagus. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside WInsome on Princess Street. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside 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.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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