There is a bar in Manchester doing a bottomless brunch with paella and endless sangria and we are already obsessed.
Forget your bangers and eggs. Ninety minutes of non-stop sangria calls for something with a little more heft, and Abeja Tapas Bar has just the thing. We’re talking about paella, naturally.
First originating in Valencia, today the ever-popular Spanish rice dish can be found all over the country with different local variations on offer depending on whereabouts you go.
At Abeja, a southern Spanish kitchen run by chef Ana Villegas beneath Alvarium, you’ll find two different interpretations: a mixed meat and fish stock paella with squid, prawns, clams chicken, or a vegan-friendly offering with artichoke, red pepper, broad beans, green bean and mushrooms.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Priced at £16 for the paella alone, or £32 to go bottomless with 90 minutes of non-stop sangria on the side, whether you’re on the sauce or not there’s still plenty of incentive to visit this Granadian gem.
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Paella is served in individual portions on beautiful crockery with tiny dollops of aioli on the side. Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find a host of popular tapas dishes like charred padron peppers, juicy shell-on prawns, Spanish tortilla, bravas and a selection of Granadian meat and cheese.
Going beyond the well-known every day, there are also some more unusual dishes to dig into. Ana’s berenjenas fritas (aubergine fries with molasses, akin to vegan churros) are a must, as are the Iberico pork tenderloin pinchos.
Sangria options, meanwhile, are extensive with five different styles on offer. Alongside Abeja’s signature red and white sangria, you’ll also find tequile and rose, lemon and ginger and cherry blush sangria on the menu here too.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
With sangria by the glass usually priced at £8.50, and jugs costing £32, it’s well worth heading down to Alvarium on Sundays to make the most of the bottomless offer – essentially getting you a free paella and endless drinks for the price of a jug any other time.
Booking is required as the paella takes some time to prepare, therefore the deal will only be available to tables with advance bookings. Alvarium and Abeja’s bottomless sangria offer is available from 12.30 to 9pm every Sunday.
To find out more and reserve your table, visit the Alvarium website here.
Feature image – The Manc Eats / Alvarium
Manchester
Historic hidden library in Manchester city centre reveals £11m transformation plans
Emily Sergeant
Ambitious plans to transform one of Manchester’s greatest historical hidden gems have been announced.
Founded all the way back in 1806, The Portico Library – which is hidden in plain sight on Mosley Street, in the heart of the city centre – played a central role in Manchester’s rise as the world’s first modern city, and since then, it has been serving as a window into the past and a providing a place of inspiration for anyone who needs it.
But now, these new transformation plans, titled The Reunited Project, will ensure the building not only survives, but also thrives as the UK’s most sustainable historic library for generations to come.
The Portico Library‘s transformational scheme is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and will look to ‘reunite’ the historic building’s three floors for the first time in over a century, creating a fully-accessible and sustainable cultural library.
Crucially, plans will see a step-free entrance and lift installed to make the library accessible to all.
There’ll also be new exhibition and event spaces introduced as part of the scheme to explore the stories of Manchester’s communities and the city’s heritage.
There will a Northern Bookshop, showcasing regional and emerging writers, and independent publishers, as well as a creative Portico Kitchen, which will celebrate the city’s food culture, writing, and history.
A place for school groups, families, and all people to explore Portico’s collection and experiment creatively also forms part of the plans.
“Portico Reunited is about more than restoring a building,” explained Dr Thom Keep, who is a Librarian & the Chief Executive of the Portico Library, after the transformation plans were submitted to Manchester City Council.
“It’s about opening doors to stories, ideas, heritage and communities across Greater Manchester.
“These plans secure Portico’s future, unlocking the power of heritage to inspire Manchester’s visitors and residents to explore, share, and celebrate their stories and the city’s literary and global heritage.”
If the plans are approved by the Council, The Portico Library will close for around 18 months for construction, during which it will continue to engage the public through its ‘Portigo !’ pop-up programme.
Featured Image – Portico Library
Manchester
Manchester City youngster Nico O’Reilly earns surprise England call-up
Danny Jones
Manchester City youngster Nico O’Reilly has earned himself a surprise England call-up for this upcoming international break.
The impressive young utility player, who has been deployed as both a defender and a midfielder under Pep Guardiola, has proved to be a popular member of the squad among Man City fans.
A north Manchester-born academy product, O’Reilly has represented the Three Lions throughout various age groups across the youth level, but this England camp will be his first senior call-up.
Yet another local lad flying the flag for 0161 in the national team.
The 20-year-old arrived at St George’s Park on Monday afternoon along with a number of ther young English stars such as Myles Lewis-Skelly, Elliot Anderson, Jarrel Quansash, who have recently been integrated by national team boss, Thomas Tuchel.
O’Reilly has been added to the squad following the withdrawal of fellow defender Reece James, with the Chelsea fullback having picked up yet another injury in the Premier League.
As detailed by England Football: “The Chelsea captain sustained an injury playing for his club over the weekend and has been ruled out of England’s October internationals following medical assessments.”
With O’Reilly able to play not only in defence but on either flank, as he has already done in Guardiola’s ever-fluid system, the versatile Man City rotation player isn’t just looking more and more like a first-team star but could soon be a capped England international.
Looking forward to seeing more of this on the big stage:
As you can see, Pep has continued to deploy him in even the biggest of games, and it seems as though he’s clearly impressed Tuchel enough to make him first in the queue to replace James.
Rightly so, we’d hasten to add; it remains to be seen whether or not he will feature in the two upcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia.
Commenting on the moment of recognition, City expressed their pride and congratulations, insisting that the decision “also helps further cement what has been a quite magnificent start to the season for the 20-year-old” in which he’s already made nine first-team appearances across all competitions.
That now makes the number of Greater Manchester-born/based players in the current England squad to four (just one of those being from Man United in Barcelona loanee Marcus Rashford) – an admittedly smaller number than we’ve come to expect over the years.
Nico O’Reilly signed a fresh new deal at Manchester City just last month.
Georgina Pellant -
15th September 2022 
