Four Manchester-born eateries have been named as some of the best in the world right nowby the Observer in its esteemed Top 50 list.
Bundobust, Trove, Yakumama and The Landing all feature in the prestigious foodie guide, which lays out the national paper’s favourite food highlights for 2022.
In the list of 50 things we love in the world of food right now, a group of ten critics for the paper pick out the fifty things they love most in the world of food right now – and Manchester has done pretty well.
Image: Bundobust
Newly reborn from the ashes of the pandemic as a family-friendly pizza parlour, former bar-restaurant Common gets an honourable mention in the list for its changing attitude to dining-in.
And Manchester Art Gallery is also given a nod, as the Observer praises ex-Masterchef contestant Adam Leavy for his ” quality sandwiches”.
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Keep reading to discover what the critics had to say about the rest.
Trove Bakery
Tony Naylor highlights Trove bakery’s chorizo sausage roll, calling the search for the definitive roll “a life’s work.” We completely agree.
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Trove baker Ruth Gwillim, Naylor writes, is no stranger to “moments of revelation” but her latest creation might just be the most revelatory yet.
Image: Trove
She has created a “sausage roll for the ages” – combining chorizo and sausage meat with French butter pastry, its filling peppered with fennel seeds.
“Where most sausage rolls cool and congeal into a stodgy lump, this sings even at room temperature,” he writes ebulliently.
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Bundobust Brewery
Vegetarian and vegan street food favourites Bundobust also feature prominently, except this time the focus is on its new Manchester brewery restaurant.
Read more:Bundobust has been secretly brewing its own beer in Manchester for eight months
Housed in a 100-year-old Grade II-listed building on Oxford Road, it boasts a custom-built 10-hectolitre facility capable of producing 20,000 pints a month – not to mention a talented head brewer in Dan Hocking, formerly of Uiltje.
Image: Bundobust
Naylor writes: “Good beer is essential to Bundobust: Bradford-born owners Marko Husak and Mayur Patel first bonded over the emerging craft beer scene of the early 2010s.
“Its IPAs and sours became the ideal foil for Patel’s food – meat-free Gujarati family recipes updated for the street-food generation”.
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Yakumama
Billed as “offering respite from the restaurant industry’s frothiest excesses”, this Manchester food truck turned restaurant in West Yorkshire is showered in praise.
Operated by Hannah Lovett and Marcelo Sandova, the Latin American-inspired cantina serves a short menu of colourful, meat-free small plates – all designed to share.
Image: Yakumama
Naylor is just as enthusiastic about the space (a 19th-century former Co-Op building in Todmorden, situatedon the border of West Yorkshire and Manchester) as he is the menu, writing:
“Beyond its ornate 19th-century frontage the airy dining room is fairly plain. There are plants. Art. Nothing showy.”
He continues: “The Andean-style crisp potatoes with kalamata olive sauce, smoked paprika oil and pickled peppers, topped with a boiled egg, embodies Yakumama’s imaginative use of vibrant sauces and pickles to create astonishing food.
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“An example of what is possible without meat or lots of money.”
The Landing
Not technically an eatery, more of a kitchen garden, this rooftop allotment opposite Stockport’s Merseyway shopping centre nonetheless still feeds Mancunians – albeit indirectly.
The latest kitchen garden for Where The Light Gets, according to Naylor it was inspired by a 2011 lecture on urban farming held at Manchester international festival and brought to realisation with the help of Manchester Urban Diggers (MUD).
In the summer, the WTLGI team is at the garden daily, uprooting and picking a veritable wealth of produce to create the constantly changing “Landing Plate” as well as coming up with specials, such as a “Stockport saag” made with Landing-grown shisho, spinach and curry leaves.
Image: Where The Light Gets In
Naylor writes: “Here, grower Nick Harlow cultivates, for example, numerous chillies, Andean tubers oca and mashua and “the sweetest” poona kheera cucumbers. “It’s 100% exposed, so it’s red hot up there,” says Buckley. “The greenhouse was 20C [in December].”
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Throwing in Gaggs from Buckley about growing lemongrass above Ann Summers, he also touches on the more serious point of utilising empty spaces for food production as well as flagging plans to host craft workshops and gardening days to “illustrate what is possible in urban environments.”
Feature image – Trove
Eats
This tiny hole in a wall is home to Greater Manchester’s best smashed burgers
Georgina Pellant
Bob over Salford way, and any burger fan worth their salt will tell you that there’s only one place to go for a smashed burger in this neck of the woods. Yes, we’re talking about Burgerism.
First founded in 2018, Burgerism has been quietly setting the standard for dark kitchens way before the pandemic made them so popular.
For years, it has been delivery only – drawing regular queues outside its Salford site and churning out thousands of its popular smashed patty burgers a day. More recently, the kitchen has gone exclusive on Deliveroo and is slowly expanding its empire across the UK with further sites in Liverpool and Leeds.
This year, the team also opened a second site on the other side of Manchester in Gatley.
As a result, Stockport locals can now enjoy their smashed patties, perfect potato buns and crunchy fried chicken without having to make the drive across town (once a regular occurrence, or so we’re told).
Serving up a range of stacked burgers, chicken wings and others sides, alongside Burgerism’s award-winning mains takeaway fans will find a whole host of other treats including lemon pepper, BBQ and buffalo wings.
Burgerism’s famous smashed burgers. / Image: The Manc Eats
Burgerism’s new site in Gatley. / Image: The Manc Eats
Fries come with the skin on, tossed in a signature house spice mix, whilst burgers are pressed down onto a hot grill using a super-secret smashing tool that the team will not reveal on camera for love nor money.
As for the main event, smashed burgers can be ordered as singles or doubles with optional extras like cheese and bacon.
There’s also the slawed-up Freebird chicken burger, which is deep fried and then dipped back into spicy oil for an extra kick.
Burgerism also makes all its own sauces in house. / Image: The Manc Eats
Burgers at Burgerism. / Image: The Manc Eats
Non-meat eaters are also well catered for, with ‘Veggied’ and ‘Veganed’ options both made using Moving Mountains ‘bleeding’ plant-based patties.
Last but not least, we have to give a shout out to Burgerism’s new dessert offering which sees the team partner with Leeds favourite Get Baked to serve up some of the fudgiest, gooey brownies we’ve had the pleasure of tasting.
With the salted chocolate brownie a solid mainstay, you’ll typically also find a special on offer. This week? A hot cross bun caramel brownie, in a nod to Easter. Don’t mind if we do.
To see the full menu click here and to find out more about Burgerism head over to their Instagram page here.
Oh, and to save on your next Deliveroo order from Bundobust make sure to use our code 5OFFBURGERISM when you check out.
Featured image – Burgerism
Eats
Three Little Words and Seven Brothers Brewery are moving into Kampus this summer
Georgina Pellant
This week, Manchester’s waterside neighbourhood Kampus has revealed that two of Manchester’s best-loved indie drinks producers will be moving in over the summer.
Manchester Gin’s bar and distillery Three Little Words will be taking over the infamous bungalow, whilst Ancoats’ favourite Seven Brothers Brewery will temporarily move into the neighbourhood’s red-brick Minshull Warehouse – previously tipped to house a new taproom from Cloudwater.
This summer, the brewery – first founded in Salford nine years ago by the McAvoy brothers – will open the doors to the warehouse serving up their popular family beers alongside a few Kampus specials.
With seating inside and out, once the warmer nights arrive drinkers can once again enjoy the Manchester neighbourhood’s canalside beer garden.
Image: Three Little Words
Image: Seven Brothers
Set to open officially from the long Easter weekend, for the first time tables and chairs will be nestled throughout the giant tree ferns and palms, with visitors able to sample the delights of the impressive foodie community – including Nell’s, Pollen, Great North Pie, The Beeswing wine bar and Yum Cha.
Elsewhere, in the Bungalow popular local gin distillers and cocktail pros Three Little Words will serve up a sleek cocktail menu – all made up from their portfolio of multi-award-winning spirits from The Spirit of Manchester Distillery.
First opened in 2019 by Seb & Jen Heeley-Wiggins, the founders of Manchester Gin, luxurious cocktail bar Three Little Words has since won awards for its signature menu of innovative cocktails.
Both will kick-start on Friday 7 April, with an Easter Weekender of booze, beats and eats in store – with Nell’s Pizza also joined by guest DJs throughout the weekend.
The season is a major moment for Kampus, the first year when the neighbourhood will have a full force of eclectic independent operators fully trading.
More names are set to join too. Red Light will lift the curtain on the insta-friendly Little David Street LGTBQ+ cocktail den, with the opening date to be revealed in the coming weeks, whilst taqueria and mezcaleria Madre is currently fitting out its space ready to bring its take on Mexican goodness to Manchester.
Seb Heeley-Wiggins, Master Distiller & Co-Owner The Spirit of Manchester Distillery & Three Little Words, said: “We’ve got such a loyal following and we’ve been on the hunt for a spot where people could enjoy our cocktails in a beautiful outdoor setting … spritzes in the sunshine.
“Kampus absolutely fits that bill and will be an incredible summer posting for our team. We’ll be bringing our signature menu as well as some seasonal creations unique to Kampus.
“There’s so much going at the neighbourhood that we’ll be in good company. We’ve already got celebrations planned throughout the summer months, where we’ll be collaborating with incredible brands and creatives, and we’ve got a big surprise in store for next month. We just need a long, hot summer now.”
Keith McAvoy, CEO for Seven Brothers, said: “We’ve been big fans of Kampus for a while so we jumped at the chance to put on a summer-long party and create a new beerhouse here. The historic setting is stunning and we know we’ll create, hands down, the best beer garden in Manchester.
“We’re a family run business, born here in Greater Manchester. Our Kampus run is a fitting celebration for how far the brewery has come with the incredible support of every person who’s ever enjoyed a SEVEN BRO7HERS pint.
“We’ll be in good company with our brilliant independent neighbours and encourage everyone to come spend summer with us.”
Seven Brothers will be open Thursday to Sunday every week all summer, whilst Three Little Words will open Wednesday to Sunday.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd February 2022 
