The best places to eat in Manchester as Food & Drink Festival confirms 2020 award winners
The winners of the 23rd Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards have been announced at a virtual award ceremony at MODA Living Apartments in Manchester.
The best food, drink and takeaway services in Manchester were confirmed this week – as Manchester Food & Drink Festival (MFDF) announced the official winners of their prestigious awards ceremony.
The 23rd MFDF Awards was hosted online as a virtual ceremony at MODA Living Apartments on Monday (October 5) – with the ordinary format and categories changed to reflect the sterling efforts of the hospitality sector during a deeply challenging year.
Presented in partnership with headline sponsors Just Eat, the festival awards “celebrated the innovation, resilience, altruism and successes that have taken place within the industry”, with new awards designed to recognise the industry’s innovations since lockdown.
Categories for 2020 included Best DIY Delivery Food Offering, Best Food and Drink Box Delivery, Best Innovation and Lockdown Heroes.
Wholesome Junkies
Votes were cast by the public in the days leading up to the ceremony – which saw the camera cut to winners once they had been revealed by star presenters Noddy Holder, Rhian Sugden, Clint Boon, John Thomson, Victoria Ekanoye, and Sair Khan.
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There were wins on the night for Rudy’s, Shindigger, Wholesome Junkies, Cork of the North and Escape to Freight Island – as well as a special award for Mary-Ellen McTague who recruited an army of fellow hospitality workers to feed heroes on the frontline.
The full list of winners for Manchester Food & Drink Festival Awards 2020 were as follows:
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BEST ONLINE ‘AT HOME’ FOOD AND DRINK CONTENT SPONSORED BY MODA ANGEL GARDENS
Recognising the best online food and drink content shared during lockdown by Manchester’s chefs, producers and industry experts.
Cork of the North– For their live wine tasting masterclasses broadcast via social media.
THE BEST RESTAURANT TAKEAWAY ADAPTATION SPONSORED BY JUST EAT
Recognising restaurants who have adapted their business model, menus and offering to provide a takeaway/delivery service during lockdown.
Rudy’s Pizza– 9 Cotton Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5BF
BEST DIY DELIVERY FOOD OFFERING SPONSORED BY ROOMZZZ APARTHOTELS
Recognising the restaurants, chefs and businesses who have created ‘do it yourself’ recipe delivery meal kits for people to create their own restaurant quality meals/dishes at home.
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Northern Soul – Grill it Yourself Kit – Unit 10-11 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PN
BEST FOOD AND DRINK BOX DELIVERY
Recognising the best food and drink delivery boxes created to serve the community with fine food and drink during lockdown.
ShinDigger Brewing Co – Beer Delivery Boxes In Under 3 Hours – Unit 11, Springfield Lane Industrial Estate, Salford, M3 7JQ
BEST INNOVATION SPONSORED BY HUN WINE
Recognising the most impressive business innovations by food and drink operators during the COVID-19 crisis.
BEST ONLINE VEGGIE/VEGAN OFFERING SPONSORED BY MEATLESS FARM
This award recognises the restaurants and food businesses that have provided innovative and exciting menu options for vegetarian and vegan diners via takeaway/delivery services during lockdown.
ARTISAN DRINKS PRODUCER OF THE YEARSPONSORED BY FRANKLIN & SONS
This award recognises the plethora of fabulous local drinks producers, from gins and ciders to ales and meads, if it’s produced in Greater Manchester and tastes great, we want to celebrate it.
This category recognises quality coffee takeaways during the COVID-19 crisis. This category is an adaptation of The Coffee Shop of the year award and only recognises those businesses that were able to stay open via takeaway.
Recognising those individuals and businesses who have provided continued support for the wider community, the food and drink industry and Greater Manchester as a whole during the COVID-19 Crisis..
Recognising someone who has contributed something outstanding to the food and drink industry in Greater Manchester.
Mary-Ellen McTague from The Creameries and Eat Well MCR.
Phil Jones, The Manchester Food and Drink Festival Founding Director, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to recognise our brilliant hospitality sector during this extraordinarily difficult time.
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“MFDF is proud to celebrate such a wonderful range of businesses and individuals, all showcasing the strong stuff that our local industry is made of. There’s been huge amounts of innovation and creativity – even during such a tough time, we’ve much to celebrate.
“Congratulations to all the winners, and nominees – the Festival will continue to support the industry however it can over the coming months.
“Roll on April 2021.”
MFDF itself has been rescheduled to take place in April.
Stay up-to-date with what’s happening in and around Greater Manchester via The Manc’s What’s On section.
Eats
The Manchester restaurant serving up the ‘world’s hottest curry’ for just a few days
Danny Jones
City centre favourite Zouk is serving up ‘the world’s hottest curry’ again to celebrate National Chilli Day next week.
The popular tea bar and grill located on Chester Street just off Oxford Road is slap bang in the middle of student central and has hordes of patrons lining up day in, day out, to taste their incredible Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
Now, to celebrate every spicy-food lover’s favourite day, Zouk is putting on special, limited-time-only menu to cater to all you heat freaks and speaking collectively on The Manc‘s behalf (several of us having tried it), it’s no joke.
The World’s Hottest Curry will be available for five days from Monday 24 to Friday 28 February, with a challenge on Thursday 27 February with prizes to anyone who can finish the fiery karahi.
The dishes
When it came to coming up with the world’s hottest curry, Zouk didn’t have to look far for inspiration, they simply picked the world’s hottest chilli: the Carolina Reaper Chilli.
Combining the 1,569,000 Scoville scorcher of a chilli with their much-loved and already spicy chicken karahi and vegetable karahi recipes, they knew they were on a winner. You might have to sign a waiver to eat it but that’s all part of the fun, right?
Typically prepared in a wok and cooked over hot flames with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cumin to create the sauce base, the karahi originates from the Northwest region of Pakistan and has a great flavour. Depending on how brave you’re feeling, you can have it as a kebab or a full curry.
Credit: Supplied
That being said, this version does contain dried Carolina Reapers so you might not taste much beyond the heat of the sun after a few seconds. While the chilli is deemed suitable for human consumption, even Zouk’s chefs have admitted to struggling with the dish. Gulp. So, what can you win?
The challenge and prizes
Us Brits love a good curry and we already know that plenty of you won’t be able to resist the urge to take on the Reaper Challenge simply out of pride, so we might as well just tell you what you’ll have to eat in order to win the prizes.
Here’s what’s up for grabs:
Finish the full Carolina Reaper Curry (either chicken or veg) in one sitting (max eating time 30 minutes and no helping from companions), Zouk will give you the meal for free.
PLUS, a £50 Zouk Gift Card so you can come back at a later date to try their full menu (including some less omg-spicy options).
You’ll also get a Zouk Ice Cream Sunday to help cool off afterwards. Trust us, you’ll need it.
Issuing a statement for National Chilli Day and the Reaper Challenge, owner Tayub Amjad said: “Our food is usually more about flavour than heat but it’s National Chilli Day, and we know our customers love this challenge.
“For those who complete the challenge, you still have chance to come back and dine on us at a future date, so you will still get to experience the real Zouk too.”
What you thinking, Manchester? Are you up for taking on the world’s hottest curry?
Prestwich pizzeria Dokes announces closure as neighbourhood goes through big changes
Daisy Jackson
One of Prestwich’s best-loved independent restaurants has announced the end of its current chapter, saying that it’s become too difficult to operate with tighter and tighter margins.
Dokes, a pizzeria that also served arguably the town’s best roast dinner, has said that it’s going to ‘have to call it a day’ after three years in the proudly independent neighbourhood.
The news comes just months after Rudy’s opened its first Prestwich restaurant just across the road from Dokes, though that of course may just be a coincidence…
The restaurant comes from the same team behind Elnecot in Ancoats, and opened in 2022, promising delicious pizzas made with (wherever possible) British ingredients.
In a statement issued today, chef and owner Michael Clay said that ‘it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant’.
He wrote: “We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.”
He then teased that they would be keeping the Bury New Road site on, with plans to reopen as a new concept.
Prestwich has been growing in popularity in recent years, with a blossoming food and drink scene and healthily increasing house prices.
It’s on the precipice of a £100m overhaul too, which will see the Longfield Centre transformed and new facilities built near the tram stop, including a community hub, a new village square, a market hall, flexible retail and leisure spaces, landscaped outdoor and green spaces, a new travel hub off Fairfax Road and around 200 homes.
It’s always been a village packed with local small businesses until this year, when both Rudy’s and Gail’s opened up – prompting this heartfelt statement from another local indie.
Dokes’ full statement reads: “After nearly 3 years of trying our hardest, unfortunately we’re going to have to call it a day.
“Having originally taken on the premises in between the two lockdowns (remember them?!), we’ve been extremely proud of what we have achieved under sometimes unbelievably difficult circumstances. Our staff have been the cornerstone of this and we would like to thank them for all of their hard work. The feedback we have received over the past couple of years on their food, service and hospitality has been absolutely incredible and we are extremely grateful for the hard work they have put in and the commitment they have shown.
“We feel like we have created a product that you have absolutely loved and a space that you have enjoyed coming to and we now really feel like a part of the Prestwich community – and for that we can’t thank you enough! You came for the pizzas and stayed for the roasts and it’s been a lot of fun.
“Try as we might though, it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant. We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.
“So it is with a heavy heart that we are closing the door on this chapter BUT…we aren’t going to be leaving you completely…
“We have plans for the place which we will be updating you about very soon so please watch this space for more details. We hope you’re going to love it.
“As Dokes, Sunday 9th March will be our final service so please come down over the next couple of weeks, grab a pizza or a roast and say hello. It would be lovely to see you all. Bookings are open and the cellar is stocked so lets fill the little place up and go out with a bang!
The Manc -
6th October 2020 
