Meat and three. It’s an absolute staple when it comes to dining out in the south of America, but most people in Manchester have probably never heard of it.
Simply put, a meat and three restaurant is one where – as the name suggests – you pick one meat and three sides from a selection that typically spans the likes of fried chicken, beef and pork chops, vegetables, potatoes, green beans and macaroni and cheese.
This is southern food at its best, taken straight from the heart of America’s barbecue tradition.
The term is thought to have originated nearly 100 years ago in Nashville in the 1930s, at the employee cafeteria of May Hosiery Mill.
Back then diners were served a choice of meat and vegetables, plus bread, for just 25 cents, and whilst prices have definitely gone up since then, in essence, the food remains the same.
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This is hearty, home-cooked food that feels like a warm hug on your lowest day – and now, it’s landed right here on our doorstep in Manchester.
Enter Kong’s Meat and Three, the newest concept from the team who brought us fried chicken burgers with chicken skin crackling, not to mention Manchester’s favourite fried chicken roast dinner.
Founded by fried chicken head honcho Tom Potts, who in a previous (pre-pandemic) life was the bar manager at Oldham street’s fusion ramen spot CBRB, dishes like BBQ ‘pit beans’, mustard seed potato salad and collard greens all feature as regular sides.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Elsewhere, you’ll find a creamy three-cheese macaroni, flatbreads, red cabbage house mayo vegan slaw and hunks of corn on the cob slathered in butter, chilies and more. Boiled broccoli and carrots? Get out of here.
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We cannot stress it enough: this is pure comfort food.
A significant upgrade on the British ‘meat and two veg’, the beauty of meat and three, in part, lies within its rules.
Anything that’s not meat counts as veg (yep, really) meaning that gravy, mac and cheese, and even bread must all bow down and submit to reclassification. Some things you just have to accept.
Even better, everything on the menu here, with the exception of the tater tots, is made in-house, from scratch, with a whole lot of love. That includes house sauces like mustard and madras mayo, Korean hot sauce and big jugs of gravy.
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Using thigh meat, Kong’s signature buttermilk chicken is brined for three hours, rolled in a secret spice mix, then double-dredged for a crispier texture. Brisket is slow-cooked overnight for a minimum of 12 hours until it’s ultra-tender and falling apart.
Pork belly is steamed, scored then oven roasted for a final hour until it is so crisped up and crunchy you can almost hear it crackling as you pore through pictures of it on Instagram. It’s a meat eater’s heaven – but also sells vegan tendies for those of the plant-based persuasion.
As well as offering up daily meat and three plates (or, rather, should we say trays), Tom has also just added new sandwiches to the menu – taking his three staple meats and folding them into chunky baguettes or brioche, with a fulsome heap of tater tots on the side.
This is not so much in the meat and three tradition – but it’s very on-brand for Kong’s. The original signature chicken sandwich features, only natural as the dish that launched the brand and Tom’s new life as a fried chicken impresario.
There’s also a relatively traditional Vietnamese-style pork belly banh mi, stuffed with pickled carrots, pate, crispy pork and coriander, and a beef brisket french dip that combines everything we love – crusty baguette, slow-cooked brisket and a sweet, homemade onion chutney with a jug of gravy to dip it all in.
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All said and done, this is pretty close to sandwich perfection.
Open Wednesday to Sunday at Northern Monk Refectory between 12 and 10pm, get yourself down for a solid scran. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
No trams to run on major Metrolink line as ‘essential’ work to repair Victorian-era tunnel starts this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Travel disruption is expected across the next couple of weeks as ‘essential engineering’ work begins on a major Metrolink line.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that a reduced service will run on the Bury line this weekend, as work to replace ‘defective’ beams supporting the roof at Whitefield Tunnel means that no trams will run between Crumpsall and Bury on Saturday (10 May), or between Whitefield and Bury on Sunday (11 May).
Some weekend and overnight working is said to be ‘necessary’ to secure and protect the overhead line equipment, so that the beam replacement work can be completed as ‘safely and quickly as possible’, according to TfGM.
A crane is planned to be in use for the beam replacement work at times.
Closures on the line from this weekend come after the successful completion of preparatory work at the site, following the discovery of a defective beam.
No trams will run on a major Metrolink line as ‘essential’ work to repair Victorian-era tunnel starts this weekend / Credit: TfGM
As well as the suspension on services this weekend, as mentioned above, several other chances throughout this month and into the next on the Bury line are also to be expected.
No tram services will operate between Crumpsall and Bury on Sunday 25 May, and no again from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June, while no trams will run between Whitefield and Bury from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 May.
For the duration of all closures, replacement bus services will run between the affected stops on all the above dates.
Any so-called ‘noisier’ work is set to take place during daytime and evening working hours where possible, and several noise reduction measures – such as acoustic blankets and enclosures – also to be put in place during this.
Essential upgrade work to protect the historic Whitefield Tunnel means no trams will run between Crumpsall–Bury (Sat 10 May) and Whitefield–Bury (Sun 11 May).
We're replacing a defective beam to keep the line safe and reliable.
As always, the Greater Manchester public is being advised to ‘plan ahead’ if they are travelling.
“Whitefield Tunnel dates back to the 19th century,” explained Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, “and this essential work will ensure tram services can continue to safely pass through it for decades to come.
“This is a complex job, but we will do everything we can to minimise disruption to passengers, residents and businesses.”
He added: “I would encourage people who use the Bury line to plan ahead and check the Bee Network website, app, and social media channels for the most up-to-date travel information.”
I went all the way to Paris to test out Big Mamma ahead of Manchester’s most exciting new restaurant opening
Daisy Jackson
Hospitality heavyweights Big Mamma Group are finally heading to Manchester, opening a Circolo Popolare Italian restaurant in the city centre – so we nipped over to Paris to see exactly what’s in store for us.
In the 10 years since launching their very first restaurant, East Mamma in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, the group have spread their wings wide.
There are Big Mamma Group restaurants, under several different names, all over Europe – and although they all belong to the same family, each one is treated like a total individual.
Some have maximalist, kitsch interiors with animal print furniture, gilded ceilings and retro prints of men in Y-fronts; others are more traditional trattorias with exposed brick, terracotta floors and crisp white tablecloths.
These interiors are fun, which is so refreshing in an industry which sometimes takes itself a bit too seriously.
On our tour of Big Mamma restaurants in Paris I came across delightful details like a loo wallpapered in pictures of Rod Stewart, a cocktail menu designed like a retro football sticker book, and an ice cream parlour built into an old train station carriage.
Every corner is packed with whimsy and wonder and there’s a whole team dedicated to sourcing these little touches from antiques fairs, second-hand shops and independent makers, stashing them all in an Aladdin’s Cave of a warehouse. Each restaurant even has its own crockery pattern.
East Mamma, one of Big Mamma’s Paris restaurantsNo Entry cocktail barA Big Mamma speakeasyPink MammaLa Felicita food hallLa Felicita food hall
So yes, the interiors in Manchester will be similarly interesting and lavish.
Big Mamma Group has already confirmed that the huge two-storey Circolo Popolare trattoria will be inspired by a Sardinian Festa, meaning cosy alcoves, more than 8000 bottles of vintage booze, and a vast room inspired by an overgrown Mediterranean courtyard.
As it takes shape in Gary Neville’s £400m St Michael’s development, they’ll be moving in big sharing tables, antique trinkets, reels of twinkling lights and even an Italian wishing well ahead of the big launch next month.
But not enough of us are talking about the food yet – this is a restaurant group that sources its produce from 160 different Italian artisans to ensure that everything you’re eating as authentic and delicious as possible.
Food at Big Mamma
While the menus shift between restaurants you can expect hearty bowls of handmade pasta laced with truffle or tomato or cheese, crispy-soft pizzas layered in creative sauce bases (like zucchini cream or black truffle cream, along with their classic San Marzano DOP tomato sauce), and per iniziare starters like giant burrata balls, melt-in-the-mouth croquettes, and slivers of cured meats – all prepared in an open kitchen run by Campanian-born Alfonso Esposito.
And a show-stopper for Manchester will be an outrageous six-inch lemon meringue pie, with a wibbly wobbly tower of Italian meringue on top.
Circolo Popolare will officially open its doors on 6 June – and before then, there’ll be a very limited soft launch where you can snag yourself 50% off your bill. Sign up HERE, with bookings live on Monday 12 May.
Georgina Pellant -
18th February 2022 
