One of the Northern Quarter’s best restaurants and bars has announced its shock closure, adding to a tidal wave of hospitality casualties.
Cocktail Beer Ramen and Bun – better known to most of us as CBRB – announced the news this evening with a frank and heartbreaking statement.
In it, the late-night Oldham Street business outlined the ‘massive financial strain’ it’s been facing, describing the obstacles that are ‘affecting everyone in the hospitality industry right now’.
CBRB stressed the staggering costs of goods and the doubling of energy bills as the ‘massive factors’ that have forced their hand.
They wrote: “It breaks our heart to have to make this decision and please know, it has not come lightly or without months of deliberation, meetings and rescue plans.
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“Countless discussions about a way out of the sh*t that wouldn’t end up coming to this.”
CBRB. Credit: The Manc GroupCBRB. Credit: The Manc GroupCBRB. Credit: The Manc Group
CBRB, which specialises in huge steaming bowls of ramen, delicious small plates and award-winning cocktails, took the time to thank all the customers who have supported the hugely popular independent restaurant over the years.
They also urged people to get out and support their local favourites before it’s too late, writing: “We can guarantee they’ll need it. So many amazing ideas and talented businesses in our industry are struggling and closing almost every day now and they need your help.”
CBRB’s final day will be this Sunday, with bookings and walk-ins operating as normal.
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CBRB’s statement in full
This is probably the hardest thing we’ve ever had to write. The worst news we’ve ever had to deliver.
This Sunday will be our last.
The last noodle pull. The last blue drink. The last dinner service.
We want to be as honest with you as possible. After all, it’s you lot that make this place what it is and it’s you who have kept us going as long as we have.
CBRB wouldn’t be where it is today without your amazing love + support over the last 4 years…
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The business has been under massive financial strain, that we have unfortunately been unable to pull ourselves out of. The obstacles that have been affecting everyone in the hospitality industry right now. The cost of goods sky rocketing. Energy bills more than doubling. They’re all massive factors and they’ve all made it extremely difficult to continue doing what we love, without compromising on quality.
It breaks our heart to have to make this decision and please know, it has not come lightly or without months of deliberation, meetings and rescue plans. Countless discussions about a way out of the sh*t that wouldn’t end up coming to this.
So for now we just want to thank you. For making this tiny little kitchen and bar become something way bigger than we ever imagined. For making coming to work the last 4 years so much fun. For all the lovely messages, the constant support, for bringing your friends and sharing the love for the food we create.
Thank you for supporting your local Girl Gang. But for now, it’s over.
If we can leave anything behind it’s this. Go and support your local independent bar!
Eat out at your favourite family owned restaurants. Order that takeaway from your local small business. Because we can guarantee they’ll need it. So many amazing ideas and talented businesses in our industry are struggling and closing almost every day now and they need your help.
Bookings and walk ins will operate as normal this week and we’ll keep on slinging the noods and pouring the drinks until the second we have to leave.
2018 – 2023
This week will be a bittersweet one. Come see us for a drink.
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Big love, Team CBRB x
Featured image: The Manc Group
Eats
Manchester champagne bar launches new £155 menu of ‘exceptional’ single-bite dishes
Daisy Jackson
The UK’s first dedicated champagne boutique, Portfolio, is finally ready to launch its restaurant experience – and it’s like nothing Manchester has seen before.
The luxury champagne bar on Bridge Street has unveiled a new restaurant concept built entirely around ‘the perfect bite’, with diners able to enjoy up to 18 single-mouthful dishes for £155 per person (or 14 dishes for £135pp).
At lunchtimes, Portfolio will offer a 10 course menu for £75pp, with an optional wine pairing.
The intimate nine-table restaurant is the latest venture from acclaimed chef Julian Pizer, formerly of Another Hand and Edinburgh Castle, who says he wanted to focus on the one bite guests remember long after a meal has finished.
Rather than serving traditional tasting menu courses, every dish is designed to be eaten in a single mouthful, paired with some of the world’s finest and rarest champagnes and wines.
Diners are encouraged to tackle each course in one go – no matter how tempting it might be to savour it a little longer.
As co-founder Pizer explains: “I’ve always been drawn to the most memorable part of any meal – that single perfect bite, the one you remember long after the meal.
Beef fat hash, beef tartare, horseradish and Bloody Mary gel, served on top of champagne corks Carrot tart, gooseberry, fresh curds in thin crispy pastryhiso leaf taco with spring shoots, citrus vinaigrette, blackcurrant wood
“This menu is built around that idea: big flavour, perfect balance, all in one mouthful, designed to sit seamlessly alongside great Champagne.”
Highlights include a chicken and oyster tempura skewer topped with sour cream and chives, a carrot tart packed with gooseberries and fresh curds, and a beef-fat hash crowned with beef tartare and Bloody Mary gel, dramatically served on champagne corks.
One standout dish is a decadent lobster roll enriched with pork fat, where crispy brioche provides the perfect contrast to sweet Cornish lobster, cucumber, celery and apple.
Elsewhere, a refreshing shiso leaf taco with spring shoots and citrus vinaigrette offers a palate-cleansing break before richer dishes including Chinese-style pork belly with white kimchi, and a duck course featuring breast, confit meatball and duck neck sausage.
Some of the paired wines with the Portfolio lunch menu in ManchesterInside Portfolio ManchesterSome of the paired wines with the Portfolio lunch menu in Manchester
Dessert arrives in the form of a kiwi marshmallow-style treat with blackberry, mint and a dusting of icing sugar.
The drinks are no afterthought either. Portfolio houses more than 250 champagnes from over 70 producers, and diners can add carefully matched champagne pairings to either the 14-course (£135) or 18-course (£155) menu.
With only 24 covers available at any one time, the experience is intentionally relaxed. There’s just a single sitting each service, meaning guests can linger over their food and fizz for as long as they like.
For those not ready to commit to 18 bites in one sitting, Portfolio’s bar remains open six days a week, offering a more casual snack menu alongside its extensive champagne list.
Pizer describes the concept as his chance to experiment freely and, above all, ‘make food fun again’.
You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Manchester’s Deansgate
Daisy Jackson
There’s a brand-new menu of smokehouse-style BBQ dishes being served up on a sunny terrace on Deansgate.
Motley, the neighbourhood bar and restaurant on the corner of John Dalton Street, has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen.
That means they’ve got a whole load of new dishes, slow-cooked over hickory wood, that are bringing a taste of a Deep South BBQ to Manchester city centre.
The smokehouse-style meats are all seasoned in-house and cooked for hours, for a perfect fall-off-the-bone experience.
It might be an authentic American smokehouse menu, but it’s firmly British too, with most products locally sourced.
You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Deansgate / Credit: The Manc Group
Motley are calling on local suppliers like Althams Butchers (established since 1856) for their meat, plus greengrocers R Noone and Son, and Cheshire Farm for their real dairy ice cream.
Signature dishes on the new menu at Motley include slow smoked brisket, seasoned in Motley’s signature rub before being slow-smoked for more than eight hours.
There’s also a beef short rib with a chimichurri sauce, and a pork belly strip that’s seasoned with sage and onion and finished with a panko breadcrumb crust.
And for the veggies, there’s a vegan smoked veg kebab with courgette, mushrooms, bell pepper, sweet corn and red onion drizzled with homemade BBQ sauce.
Motley has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen / Credit: The Manc Group
Prices across the board start from just £16, served with beef dripping fries, rainbow slaw, pickles and homemade beef gravy.
As for small plates, you can expect short rib bonbons, homemade corn bread, spicy chicken wings, bang bang cauliflower, mac and cheese, and frickles.
House favourites like steak, vegetable hash, salads, and burgers will remain on the Motley menu.
Victor Gonzalez, food and beverage manager at Motley, said: “Our new signature smoked dishes are all crafted and seasoned in-house then slow cooked for hours over hickory wood to create rich and smoky melt-in-your mouth flavours.
“From our slow-smoked brisket to our home-made sides, everything has been carefully crafted to bring an authentic taste of the deep south to Manchester and we can’t wait for guests to try it.”
Motley can be found at 2 John Dalton Street on the corner of Deansgate in the city centre.
Daisy Jackson -
8th February 2023 
