While an industrial estate is not usually the first place you’d go when hunting for a new place to eat, trust us when we say that if you venture down to Piccadilly, you’re in for a very pleasant surprise indeed.
Bucking the trend for most trading estates, the archways and pre-fabs behind Manchester’s main railway station are surprisingly full of brewery taprooms.
Over the years, this part of town has become something of a favourite haunt for the city beer lovers, who regularly head down to get their hands on some of the freshest pints in the city.
But as well as hiding away all that beer, it’s also home to another well-kept Mancunian secret: Primo Bagels.
Faye Brown, one-third of the Primo Bagel team, holding her ‘babies’. / Image: The Manc Eats
Housed inside Cloudwater’s taproom, up the stairs of what looks, at first disconcertingly, like an office building, you’ll find this brilliant bagel and cookie pop-up run by three friends is getting pretty much everything right.
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Faye Brown, Niall Harley and Scott Shannon all used to work at Pollen bakery together, but during the lockdown they decided to branch out and launch their own delivery project together.
Primo has been going for a while but for the past three months, the team has expanded to the taproom every Friday and Saturday.
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Here, you’ll find them serving up a host of generously-stuffed bagels alongside sweet bakes, hummus and chips, fermented cabbage, and bialy – a Polish treat made using leftover bagel dough, baked with half a red onion inside.
The main draw is, arguably, a selection of eight different bagels, baked to perfection in flavours like salt, marbled malt, sesame, everything, pumpernickel, plain and poppy.
The main draw is a choice of eight different bagels, baked to perfection in flavours like salt, marbled malt, sesame, everything, pumpernickel, plain and poppy. / Image: The Manc Eats The main draw is a choice of eight different bagels, baked to perfection in flavours like salt, marbled malt, sesame, everything, pumpernickel, plain and poppy. / Image: The Manc Eats
Bagel baker Scott leans on tricks learnt during his time in the Pollen kitchen to make these chewy, traditionally Jewish delights, marbling malt through some and simply baking others with crystals of rock salt.
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The way it works is you pick your bagel, then your filling, and can opt to have hummus, chips and pink sauerkraut alongside for an extra £4.
Filling choices range from simple (think homemade hummus or house whipped cream cheese) to indulgent, with a salt beef, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing option bursting from its bready confines.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Elsewhere, you’ll find a spicy, pickled jalapeno schmear with bacon from Littlewood’s butchers; smoked salmon and ‘everything’ cream cheese with lemon, dill, seeds, onion and garlic; and a whipped Marmite cream cheese bagel with spring onions.
As for sweets, think brown butter and sea salt cookies with Primo proudly emblazoned across the front. It’s a wholesome affair.
Find Primo Bagel at Cloudwater’s Unit 9 taproom on Piccadilly Trading estate every Friday and Saturday from 12 – 6pm.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Dujour Bakehouse: yet more proof of why tiramisu and banana pudding are having ‘a moment’
Danny Jones
Banana pudding and tiramisu might be two of the biggest foodie phenomena around right now, and while each has a long history of its own, Greater Manchester’s fascination with them seems to be only just beginning, to the point where you have places like Dujour dedicated entirely to the duo.
Dujour Bakehouse, to give them their full name, is a story that started a few years ago, and whose latest chapter has seen them open up over at The Trafford Centre.
And upon paying our first visit, they had such a strong few hours that they were already running low on stock by the time we turned up.
Opening a simple stand within the Selfridges Foodall, the name might be a play on the French phrase for ‘of the day’, but make no mistake: this isn’t just here today and gone the next – they’re of the moment as these two ubiquitous desserts continue to dominate.
Popping up on the first floor of the large department store within the already giant collection of stores, Dujour is probably one of the smallest vendors within the entire shopping centre, but the somewhat unassuming yet classic-looking kiosk easily catches the eye.
In truth, it looks like a taste of France – what with the font and the striped canopy and signage that almost puts you in mind of a Parisian patisserie – and then you see the menu with just two items on it: banana pudding or tiramisu.
This makes for a relatively small operation, but the real fun is to be had with the toppings.
From all the sauces and toppings you’d usually expect with this sort of thing, to pretzels and even red velvet crumbs, this is about that extra little bit of decadence without going overboard.
There aren’t dozens of extras to choose from, so as to risk overindulging yourself and straying into sickly territory, but it easily satisfies any sweet tooth.
Being served in the takeaway, iced coffee-style cups also make it feel more grab-and-go, but don’t worry, the serving you get is plenty.
It’s also worth noting that this is very intentional, too; they have lots of experience running large-scale stuff, what with their dark kitchen in Bolton (where this all started back in November 2023) and their sadly short-lived setup in Leigh, but this feels like a conscious walk before running step.
They’ve clearly learned lots from both, and this latest venture does feel like it’s pitched perfectly, not only for the location but timing-wise, as well.
Yes, they may do way more at their OG unit, but this kiosk is very much capitalising on the ever-increasing craze and is already proving a hit even just with busy shoppers passing by.
Like with any trend, some people can’t stomach that saturation of a market, but we can safely say this Selfrigdes stand is one, well, we can more than comfortably stand.
If this sort of thing is right up your street, you’ll also be glad to know that they do wholesale and delivery across the region.
Once again, only a short trip out of the city centre or an easy option when you’re spending the day out shopping, this serves as yet another reminder that you should always venture out to the boroughs and find out what else Greater Manchester has on offer.
For instance, Rochdale Food and Drink Festival returns once again at the end of May to mark 10 years of the annual street eats celebration.
Mouro opens third coffee shop on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter
Daisy Jackson
South Manchester’s beloved independent coffee brand Mouro has opened its third location – and this time, they’ve headed to the Northern Quarter.
The stylish neighbourhood coffee bar has taken over a vacant unit on Tib Street, serving speciality coffee as well as sandwiches, cinnamon buns, and pastries.
The two-storey venue has been kitted out beautifully (but that’s no surprise – the team here are also behind So Marrakech in Altrincham).
There are comfy banquette seats in the window, marble and wood sunburst tables, terrazzo floors, hanging wooden lights, and all sorts of other carefully thought-out design details that set it apart from everything else in the Northern Quarter.
Outside, they’ve preserved a lot of the character of Tib Street, painting their sign directly onto the old brickwork above the door.
Mouro is already a well-established name in Heaton Moor and Altrincham, where it’s built up a loyal following for its house-roasted small-batch coffee beans.
In the Northern Quarter, you can pick up a bag of beans to take home with you – and if you do, they’ll make you a fresh coffee to take away with it.
Cinnamon buns at MouroInside Mouro on Tib StreetSandwichesThe newest Mouro opens on Saturday 15 MayMouro is opening in the Northern Quarter
Alongside those house blend and single-origin coffees, there’s a whole spread of cinnamon buns, including ones made with an espresso frosting (again, made with their own roasted coffee).
There are also sandwiches and other bakes to have in or take away.
Mouro will open its doors at 68 Tib Street on Saturday 16 May, with free coffees and matcha from 9am to 12pm on launch day.
Mouro will then be open Monday to Sunday, 8am to 4pm, and on Sundays from 9am to 4pm.
Georgina Pellant -
10th May 2022 
