Two of Manchester’s beloved independent eateries have announced the launch of a takeaway Christmas Day service to make the festive period a little less stressful.
Tucking into a hearty meal is no doubt one of the real highlights of Christmas day, but having to adequately plan and prepare for the whole thing to go off without a hitch, and then ensure everything is cooked to perfection, is really quite the task.
It can stress even the best of us out.
Which is why both Trof and Herd – two popular restaurants in the heart of the Northern Quarter – have today launched a service that lets you place an order for your Christmas dinner to be pre-made and collected to take all that worry away.
How brilliant does this sound?
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With “no pre-dinner stress, no big shop and more importantly, no pots to wash” Trof’s Ultimate Christmas Dinner Kit can simply be collected from the restaurant from Christmas Eve – between 10am – 4pm – and then all you’ll need to do is follow the super-simple reheat instructions for a delicious three course meal.
To start, you can chose from Celeriac & Apple Soup (truffle oil, chives) or VEChicken Liver Pate (winter chutney, sourdough toast), for the main course, it’s a choice of either Roast Cheshire Turkey (roast potatoes, bread sauce, pigs in blankets, gravy), or Mushroom & Cranberry Wellington (roast potatoes, gravy, seasonal vegetables), and then for dessert, it’s either Christmas Pudding (with brandy sauce), or Buche De Noel (chocolate yule log) with dark chocolate sauce.
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The Ultimate Christmas Dinner Kit is priced at £35 per person, and includes a bottle of Prosecco for two people.
Trof NQ
Designed to “take the stress out of Christmas day cooking” with everything prepared as much as possible so you can “enjoy more time out of the kitchen and more time getting merry after this dreadful year”, Herd’s Christmas Trimmings Hampers could be a real lifesaver.
Each hamper comes loaded with everything you need to accompany the perfect Christmas dinner.
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You can take your pick from a hamper for two (£35), four (£55), or six people (£75), and if you feel like pushing the boat out a little further, you can also add on a Herd fillet of beef wellington to you hamper for the ultimate Christmas feast.
The Christmas Trimmings Hampers are available to purchase now for collection from the 22nd – 24th December and will come with full reheating and cooking instructions, plus a little Christmas treat.
Herd NQ
Not only does this concept take huge weight off your shoulders at a busy time, but it’s also a great way to help out local / independent hospitality businesses when they truly need it more than ever and are feeling the lasting effects of lockdown.
This is brilliant and unique way to do your bit for hospitality if you can this year.
You can find out more information about Christmas offerings and place your orders via the Trof NQ website here, and through the Herd NQ website here.
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The Manc Group has partnered with Deliveroo to help local restaurants deliver during lockdown as part of our #StillServingMCR campaign.
Working alongside Deliveroo, The Manc will ensure all restaurants on the service will get the amplification they need across our social platforms. We’ll update our one million-strong audience on your latest updates and deals and we’ll create conversations with the masses about our favourite scran from your menus.
Basically, we will champion you, and we will go above and beyond to do it.
Manchester pub brilliantly exposes ‘dumb dumb’ criminal after attempted break-in
Daisy Jackson
A pub in Manchester city centre has shared hilarious footage of a bungled break-in, and made a rather sarcastic swipe at the criminal in question too.
North Westward Ho is the stunning boozer launched back in 2023 by the team behind Pomona Island brewery.
It’s in a prime city centre location, just off Market Street and Cross Street, and has been decorated in the style of a historic boozer, with dark wooden details, ornate tiling, wall sconces, and oil paintings.
But North Westward Ho has recently caught the eye of an unwanted patron, who attempted to break the door down in quite a ridiculous way.
CCTV footage shared by the bar shows a man running full-pelt into the locked, reinforced door, bouncing back some distance into the road.
He tries four times before giving up, hopping back on his bicycle, and disappearing.
The pub said it’s not normally bothered by criminals these days, with no cash on site to make it worth their while, adding that it’s usually only ‘the real dumb dumbs’ who attempt to break in.
Then they dialled the sarcasm up to 100 and laid into the man caught on CCTV.
They wrote: “Once in a lifetime you get this kind of Machiavellian genius, a man so smart that he’s always three steps ahead.
“It doesn’t feel great at first because you know you and your pane of toughened glass are no match for his mental dexterity, but then… You start to respect it. You realise you have to up your game. You have to think like him, live like him, become him.
“If you see me banging my head against a brick wall with no trousers on, dribbling on myself with a glazed expression, I’ve either been on the Factotum or I’m trying to get inside the mind of my Moriarty here.
“Well played sir, you didn’t get in this time and if you had, it really wouldn’t have achieved anything, but you made us all have a good laugh. And maybe that’s the real point.”
Pomona Island then added: “Ram raid on a bicycle.”
Northern Quarter cafe to reopen after TWO mysterious closures
Daisy Jackson
Morning Glory, a Manchester cafe that has mysteriously closed twice since its launch, is set to reopen again this week.
The sunny yellow cafe, which makes a playful nod to the Oasis hit with its name, opened in the Northern Quarter last summer.
It was created and launched by much-loved local influencer Zack Hipps, and was known for its coffees, matchas, and Manchester tarts.
Then in May this year, Morning Glory quietly closed temporarily, with forfeiture notices appearing in its windows while Zack assured fans things would be sorted out soon.
In late July, the cafe teased its grand reopening, with a post captioned: “Did you miss us? Cos we missed you.”
But then just days later, the doors were closed again.
This time, it seems like Morning Glory is back for good – music to our ears – with Zack sharing a statement addressing a ‘harsh reality check and very public lesson to learn’.
Manchester Tarts at Morning GloryInside Morning Glory, which will reopen this week
In his statement, the local business-owner has promised that the cafe will be back ‘stronger than before’, with ‘a lot of cool things planned’.
Morning Glory will also be handing out freebies, including speciality drinks, coffees, and house-made Manchester tarts to the first people to visit on its grand reopening day this weekend.
Zack’s statement reads: “Entering the Manchester coffee scene was incredible, but as a first-time business owner, it was also a massive learning curve.
“I’ll be honest: I got caught up in all the things I wanted Morning Glory to be – great coffee, a great space, art, events and somewhere that felt part of the community. I didn’t spend enough time focusing on the business side of making all of that work, leading to our closure. It was a harsh reality check and a very public lesson to learn.
“But I’ve been putting the work in behind the scenes, and we are moving forward stronger than before.
“If the Gallagher brothers can come back, so can we! We’re excited to share that we are officially reopening on 3rd October from 10am. To say thank you for all your support so far, we’ll be giving out 15 of our NEW special drinks, 85 regular coffees, and 100 house-made Manchester tarts to the first people through the doors. Come say hi!
“We will also be hiding a few of our yellow sloths around Manchester for a free coffee every day for the rest of the year – keep an eye out for clues on the 10th October.
“I want to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in phase one of Morning Glory. From the team behind the bar, to the people who helped make our art, events, and collabs happen, to the suppliers, and to every single one of you who came and tried us out.
“As we enter Season 2, we’ve got a lot of cool things planned. We are building on our favourites, expanding the range, bringing back fun events, and showing you more behind the scenes.
“See you on the 3rd Oct! Zack and team. Morning Glory x”
Emily Sergeant -
19th November 2020 
