Food & Drink

This Manchester coffee shop is giving away 200 iced drinks for FREE tomorrow

Will it be the ideal weather for it though? Time will tell.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 15th July 2024

A popular coffee shop in Manchester will be giving away hundreds of free iced drinks to people in the city centre tomorrow.

Sure, it may not exactly have been the summer we were hoping for over these past couple of weeks, with temperatures a lot chillier than usual for the time of year, and the classic Manchester rain making itself pretty well-know, but independent cafe brand, 200 Degrees, has decided it wants to “turn up the heat” with a refreshing giveaway this week.

All to celebrate the launch of its new summer menu, the first 200 people through the doors of its central Manchester cafe will be able to get their hands a freebie.

Happening tomorrow (Tuesday 16 July) from 10:30am, the lucky city centre visitors will be given the choice of sipping on one of five new speciality iced drinks, all without having to spend a single penny.

The coffee chain says each new menu item has been curated especially for the summer, and there’s a flavour combination “for every palate” – with unique creations like the ‘Iced Spanish Matcha’, the ‘Dirty Iced Oat Chai’, and the ‘Salted Caramel Iced Oat Twist’ being just a few of the freebie options set to be on offer tomorrow.

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Customers are being advised to “get down early” to 200 Degrees’ site in Manchester city centre on Mosely Street tomorrow if they want to stand a chance of claiming the ice-cold offer.

This Manchester coffee shop is giving away 200 iced drinks for free tomorrow / Credit: 200 Degrees

Speaking ahead of the exciting limited-time giveaway tomorrow morning, Siobhan Lloyd, who is the Head of Marketing at 200 Degrees, commented: “It wouldn’t be a British summer without a bit of rain, but we’ve got the perfect selection of iced drinks to keep customers refreshed through the summer months.

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“Our baristas have created a twist on some customer favourites, and we can’t wait to share them with people across the country.”

As well as the five new iced drinks, there’s also a bunch of new food items that’ve just been added to 200 Degrees’ menu for the summer too, so if you’re feeling a bit peckish, you can grab a seasonal bite to eat tomorrow while you’re at it too.

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Make sure to get yourself down to 200 Degrees on Mosely Street from 10:30am tomorrow if you want to claim a free iced drink.

Featured Image – 200 Degrees

Food & Drink

Forget pub crawls – you can now go on a guided cheese crawl around Manchester

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Manchester is a foodie’s paradise and with so many options at hand why not break it down into individual food groups – starting with the dairy crowd pleaser, cheese.

Long gone are the draining pub crawls of the past, it’s time to make way for the new pioneer in the world of adventurous crawling, ‘The Manchester Cheese Crawl’.

There’s always lots of food and drink options flowing throughout our bubbly city spanning all cuisines and cultures so it comes as no surprise that the latest way to experience Manchester is via cheese, a staple of many citizens’ diets.

On the tour, there will be insider knowledge on-hand as you wander the streets and sample the creamy delights, assisting you with any dying queso queries and pecorino ponders that you need to get off your chest.

There’ll be plenty of familiar independents on the Manchester Cheese Crawl, including Northern Soul’s impressive grilled cheese sandwiches as well as more traditional cheese samples.

How could this experience get any better I hear you ask, how about a free glass of fizz to accompany those already impressive cheese selections? Yes please! 

Guests can expect to sample some of Manchester’s dairy delights while being directed by some of Manchester’s top cheese connoisseurs that are the real big cheese.

Groups who take the tour aren’t just treated to food and drink, they also receive free entertainment from their food guides who are prepared to make you chuckle with their incredible humour.

Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire Cheese, a cheeseboard staple, has been recalled
The Manchester Cheese Crawl will feature plenty of bites for curd nerds
A selection of dairy heaven displayed on a wonderful variety cheese board.
A selection of dairy heaven displayed on a wonderful variety cheese board.
Credit: Unsplash

Previous visitors have commented on their experience while taking the tour sharing the names their groups received with highlights such as ‘Shaken not curd’ and ‘Three blind mice’.

They really are serious about their cheeses, another previous visitor who went on the tour revealed their guide even had a name that perfectly fit the occasion, ‘Mel the babybel’. 

It’s sure to be a fantastic day with games and activities planned for all as you walk between the shops landmarked on the cheese-filled route.

Everyone on the tour also gets a small taste of the high life as they are treated to a Lancashire cheese handmade by a local star and celebrity.

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Starting at the Richard Cobden Statue and finishing on the always vibrant Tib Street, a quick google search reveals this walk isn’t too strenuous taking only 12 minutes but with many cheeses to get your whiskers on it will probably take around an estimated two hours to tackle.

Running this Saturday 16 November and planned to continue until November 2025 and beyond, you’d be emmental to miss out on this cheesy adventure.

If all this cheese talk has left you dreaming about your next foodie fix, tickets for ‘The Manchester Cheese Crawl’ are on sale and available here.

Featured Image: Unsplash

Food & Drink

Ornella’s – The tiny Denton restaurant vying to be named one of the best in Greater Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Ornella’s is one of those brilliant Greater Manchester restaurants that’s doing a totally roaring trade without rabbiting on about it too much.

From its tiny spot in the middle of Denton, this cosy Italian has got its head down and focused on cooking, and cooking really, really well.

The results speak for themselves. You will quite literally wait months to get a table here.

In fact if you’re thinking of making a reservation, you pretty much have two options – wait until next June, or eat lunch (as we did) at 11.30am on a Wednesday. Did the early hour stop me drinking a large Aperol Spritz though? Of course not. 

Ornella’s will always be worth the patience it takes to get your bum on a seat.

It all started as a lockdown project for Ornella Cancila, where customers would come and collect carefully-made Sicilian dishes from a bench outside her home.

And now it’s grown to be one of those local spots that Tameside residents are proud of, and everyone else in Greater Manchester is jealous of.

Inside Ornella's Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella’s Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella's Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella’s Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group

I’ve encountered a lot of people who have been to Ornella’s, and haven’t yet heard a single bad word said about it.

It’s actually on this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival shortlist, after being named the best affordable venue in the region last year.

Inside, there are just a couple of rows of tables in front of a deli counter displaying top-quality meats and other deli items.

Let’s get stuck into that main restaurant menu though, which is way more comprehensive than you’d expect for such a small space.

An arancini that looks exactly like Donald Trump. Credit: The Manc Group
An arancini that looks exactly like Donald Trump. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside another Ornella's arancini. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside another Ornella’s arancini. Credit: The Manc Group

There are a couple of different arancini on the menu, one of which looks exactly like Donald Trump – a rotund orange fried ball topped with a bright white wig of parmesan.

That one is stuffed with caramelised onion and saffron (unlike the real deal), while another comes with nduja and mozzarella with a hot honey drizzle.

A clear menu highlight is the pistachio carbonara with crispy guanciale pieces that burst in little salty mouthfuls against the rich and creamy pasta sauce.

There’s also a beef short rib that releases its grip on the bone with a gentle prod from a fork, falling into a pool of creamy parmesan gnocchi. It tastes exactly like how it feels to step into a warm house after being pelted by rain all day, or pulling on a pair of socks that have been warmed on a radiator. Pure comfort. 

The pistachio carbonara from Ornella's Kitchen. Credit: The Manc Group
The pistachio carbonara from Ornella’s Kitchen. Credit: The Manc Group
Pistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Pistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group

Truffle fans can’t go wrong with Ornella’s creamy truffle mafalde, covered in generous shavings of truffle and pecorino.

Ornella is generous with all of her cheese portions, actually – the sourdough garlic bread also arrives blanketed in the stuff.

I kick my feet under the table and actually giggle after taking a bite of the oven-baked conchiglioni shells, which are filled with pumpkin cream, sharp cheddar, pork sausage and a sourdough crumb. It flits from sweet to salt with every chew.

And then for desserts, you’ll find proper Italian pistachio gelato, served in a soft Sicilian brioche bun, and a Biscoff and white chocolate cheesecake that had me and my mate jousting with our forks for the last bite like really sh*t knights.

Ornella’s might not be a big space, but it’s destined for big things. Just good luck getting that reservation…

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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