With the international day of love right around the corner now, it only seems right that The Botanist – a chain that’s been known for its imaginative food and drink creations for quite some time now – would be one to launch an impressive array of dishes for those looking to celebrate the special day with some proper good comfort food.
The popular chain – which has a number of restaurants in Greater Manchester, and across the North West region – says its Valentine’s menu has been designed for “savouring the moment together”.
This is probably why all the dishes on the one-day-only lineup is especially for two people.
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The Botanist has launched a date night menu that’s available on Valentine’s Day only / Credit: The Botanist
Available to tuck into only on Valentine’s Day (Wednesday 14 February) itself, couples can begin their night with a refreshing strawberry and elderflower mojito on their arrival, followed by a whole melted camembert baked in a sourdough loaf and accompanied by a sweet onion marmalade and crispy garlic croutons to start.
Of course, Valentine’s Day at The Botanist wouldn’t be complete without those three little words… ‘famous hanging kebabs’.
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For thee main course, the sharing kebab includes either chicken, lamb kofta, and Thai red prawn, or the vegetarian option of crispy halloumi, teriyaki mushroom, and vegan meatball, on a triple-skewer rack, and served with coleslaw, houmous, and flatbread.
The menu is made up entirely of sharing dishes for two people / Credit: The Botanist
Then, to finish things off and satisfy those sugar cravings is The Botanist’s signature warm cookie dough, which is served with a choice of either s’mores, Oreo, Crunchie, or salted pretzel toppings, and is topped off a scoop of vanilla ice cream – and two spoons, obviously.
Talented mixologists have also created a love-inspired cocktail menu especially for the night in collaboration with Channel 4 show First Dates, and the drinks are available in all 24 of The Botanist bars across the UK.
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Live music will soundtrack the Valentine’s Day evening too, with talented resident musicians performing from 7pm onwards.
The Botanist’s ‘Valentines Date Night’ menu is available on Wednesday 14 February, and will only set you back £30 per person for three courses and a cocktail.
All First Dates collaboration drinks are priced separately at £9.25 each.
The standard menu is also available alongside for those who fancy their favourite Botanist dishes.
Featured Image – The Botanist
Food & Drink
Salford industrial estate bakery with incredible cinnamon rolls to open new site
Daisy Jackson
Mayya Bakery, a local ‘hidden gem’ with incredible cinnamon rolls, is set to open a brand-new bakery that will make it significantly less hidden.
Until now, Mayya has been quietly trading from an industrial estate in Salford, where it’s built a great reputation for its bakes despite an off-the-beaten-track-location and relatively little social media fanfare.
It opened its doors in 2024, operated by former primary school teacher Meli and her husband, dentist Oguz.
This is an artisan bakery with a real Turkish flare, with plenty of comfort food like freshly made gözleme (or gozzies for short) and bigger dishes if you fancy sitting in.
Their counters are stuffed with sweet bakes, like their perfect cinnamon rolls, plus loaves, babka, cookies, and homemade cheesecake.
For bigger dishes, you’ll find breakfast dishes like Turkish eggs, Simit (a traditional sesame bagel) breakfasts, and menemen.
The counters at Mayya Bakery’s current locationIncredible cheesecake at Mayya BakerySigns on Chapel Street Salford for the new Mayya Bakery
And now Mayya Bakery has revealed plans to open a new location in a much more prominent spot in town, with signs appearing in the windows of a unit on Chapel Street.
The sign reads: “Everything is homemade – including this picture.”
It also quips: “They called us hidden gem… not hidden anymore.”
Mayya will open on Chapel Street soon – keep an eye on our food and drink Instagram page The Manc Eats for the latest.
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of one Greater Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few ocassions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd February 2024 
