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Burlesque show, late-night parties, and more happening in Manchester over the festive season

Quarter House, Hula, The Fitzgerald, and the newly-opened Man With The Fish are four venues with plenty packed into December.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 29th November 2021

A handful of restaurants and bars in Manchester city centre have unveiled new Christmas menus and events happening over the festive season.

With the arrival of December merely a few days away, and the most wonderful time of the year right around the corner, plenty of the city’s best-loved hospitality venues are gearing up for Christmas and New Year by revealing seasonal food and drink menus and themed events to help get Mancunians in the festive spirit.

Quarter House, Hula, The Fitzgerald, and the newly-opened Man With The Fish are four of the Northern Quarter’s vibrant venues with plenty packed into December.

New Year’s burlesque shows, late-night Christmas parties, and new limited-time festive food and drinks offerings are just some of the things you can get stuck into at each of the four popular venues – which are all owned by the Northern Hospitality group – over the next month.

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So, whether you’re looking for a quiet place for lunch / dinner, or a night to remember in the city centre, there’s sure to be something that takes your fancy.

Here’s what’s in the festive calendar.

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Quarter House

Stevenson Square

Quarter House / Credit: Instagram (@quarterhousemcr)

Located on the bustling Stevenson Square, Quarter House is one of Manchester’s most laid-back restaurant bars that’s serving over 14 beers and ciders on draught, speciality cocktails, and hearty food all year round, cheffed up by one of the North West’s leading multi award-winning BBQ chefs.

But for this Christmas, the extensive food menu has some new festive additions.

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In celebration of the season, a trio of turkey treats have been added to the menu – Turkey Fries, Turkey Tray, and Turkey Tacos – as well as the undeniable and indulgent menu stand-out, the ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ burger, which is an aged steak burger patty topped with double cheese, maple bacon, smoked Turkey, sausage and cranberry stuffing patty, Vimto BBQ sauce, sprout top slaw and a candy pigs in blanket pinwheel lollipop, served with fries and a pot of gravy.

You can find out more about Quarter House this Christmas here.

Hula

Stevenson Square

Hula MCR / Credit: Hula

Also sitting on Northern Quarter hub Stevenson Square, Hula – which is the original and best Tiki experience in Manchester – is known for transporting you to a 1950s-inspired tropical slice of paradise, with lots of hedonistic fun, exotic cocktails, and shake-your-booty dance beats that make for one of the best nights out you’ll have in the city centre.

It’s also the ultimate afterparty venue for the Christmas parties, and it’s open from 5pm until late everyday for those who don’t want the party to stop.

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You can find out more about Hula this Christmas here.

The Fitzgerald

Stevenson Square

The Fitzgerald / Credit: The Fitzgerald

Yet another Stevenson Square gem, the “Northern Quarter’s atmospheric drinking den” The Fitzgerald will be hosting a number of events throughout the festive period, including the continuation of the ever-popular monthly comedy night on Thursday 16 December, with doors opening from 7:30pm and the show starting at 8pm.

And then, on New Year’s Eve, there will be a special Burlesque show by Bad Bunny Burlesque, with tickets from just £10 on Skiddle.

You can find out more about what’s happening at The Fitzgerald here.

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Man With The Fish

High Street

Man With The Fish / Credit: Instagram (@manwiththefishmcr)

Newly-opened Man With The Fish – another laid-back Northern Quarter bar that’s situated on the bustling High Street – is the ideal place to hit up after a busy day of shopping, during your lunch hour, after work, or if you want to party the weekend away.

Upstairs in the venue is focused around beer, with 15 different lines and huge selection of bottles and cans, as well as an amazing cocktail list, and a good selection of wine, while downstairs is the basement club that’s open Friday and Saturday nights until 3am.

There’s also rooms available for private hire for any last-minute Christmas parties too.

You can find out more about Man With The Fish this Christmas here.

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Featured Image – The Fitzgerald / Man With The Fish

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Adventure golf, escape rooms, 2-for-1 cinema tickets, and more at Printworks this summer holidays

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Adventure golf, escape rooms, and 2-for-1 tickets to catch the newest blockbusters are just some of the things families can be getting up to at Printworks this summer.

With schools across Greater Manchester now out for the summer holidays, the city centre’s landmark entertainment complex is promising “family fun and fantastic food” – with a wide range of activities and offers for parents, carers, and guardians looking for exciting ways to keep the kids occupied to make the most of.

From film buffs, to puzzle masters and tee-off champions, Printworks assures there’s “something for everyone” of all ages to get stuck into over the next six weeks.

The venue’s escape room centre Escape Reality is offering massive 25% off all escape rooms between Monday – Thursday this summer, and you’ll have an hour to tackle a series of puzzles and challenges inside “uber-real” and “movie-inspired” escape rooms to make sure you get out in time and maybe even gain a place on the coveted leaderboard.

You’ll just need to use the discount code ‘HEATWAVE25’ at the checkout when you book online until 31 August to claim a 25% discount.

Escape Reality and Treetop Adventure Golf are ideal places to take the kids while schools are out / Credit: Printworks

For those looking for an “epic adventure” this summer, Treetop Adventure Golf has got an exclusive ‘Family Saver’ deal currently running, and it lets families with at least one child aged 12 or under choose to play a round of 18 holes for just £32, or 36 holes for £50.

The Early Bird deal will also be running every Monday to Friday throughout the summer holidays for those early morning risers, where you can tee off before midday and play two courses for the price of one.

If films are more your thing, then Vue’s ‘Mini Morning’ sessions – which are running every morning in the summer holidays from 10am – give both adults and kids the chance to experience big screen entertainment from just £2.49 per ticket, with a whole host of family-friendly flicks and some of the latest blockbusters ready to watch

2-for-1 cinema tickets are available at Vue all summer long / Credit: Printworks

Not only that, but you can also still make the most of ‘Meerkat Movies’ throughout the summer, and enjoy 2-for-1 film tickets every Tuesday or Wednesday with the Meerkat app by entering your code when booking tickets online, or showing the code to a Vue staff member when buying tickets at the cinema.

Read more: Adults-only ball pit, bingo, drag brunches and more coming to Printworks

If all that action has got you working up a hunger, then there’s plenty of children’s meal deals at different Printworks restaurants to tuck into afterwards.

wagamama and Chiquito are two of the Printworks restaurants offering children’s meal deals this summer / Credit: Printworks

Frankie and Benny’s, Nandos, wagamama, and Chiquito are some of the chains with offers on.

At Frankie and Benny’s, kids can choose a drink, main, side, and dessert from just £6.49, while at Nando’s, there’s a set menu for under 10s for just £5.95, and at wagamama, kids can become part of the koclub and tuck into tasty mini dishes from just £4 each, and at Chiquito, a main, side, dessert, and drink costs just £6.99.

The kids meal deal at O’Neills will only set you back £4.50, and they can pick a classic main meal, a side and a portion of veg, and finally choose a sweet treat to finish.

Find out more about summer at Printworks here.

Featured Image – Printworks

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From furlough to the hall of flame: the Wing Fest champions putting Manchester on the map 

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

This September the world’s biggest wing festival will return to Manchester, bringing together the UK’s best for a two-day event celebrating the humble chicken wing.

Set to serve a whopping 200,000 wings over that 48 hour period, expectations are already high for Wing Fest’s return this Autumn.

As it gears up to make its way back to the city, we take a look at some of the winners from years past to give you an idea of what to expect (and who to make a beeline for).

From established restaurants to pop-up concepts launched on furlough, there’s some real variety to be discovered here amongst the street food stalls – making Wing Fest a must-attend event for foodies that are serious about their chicken. 

Mexican Seoul

First up we spoke with hall of flame multiple award-winners Mexican Seoul, who have taken home a host of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards in recent years. 

Founded in lockdown after owner Ashley Chipchase found himself on furlough from his job, Mexican Seoul first attended Wing Fest as customers before deciding to give the street food festival a go themselves.

After winning three awards in a row, he made the decision to quit his job and go pro – right there on stage. 

Image: Mexican Seoul
Image: Mexican Seoul

Ashley told The Manc: “After getting furloughed from our jobs we decided to turn a negative into a positive and spent the next 6 months refining our home recipes and trialling different frying methods. 

“We ended up juggling a full time job whilst working street food markets at the weekend and prepping into the early hours of the morning. 

“We’ve been going to Wing Fest as customers since 2016 and it’s always been a goal to compete. We were lucky enough to be invited down and it really gave us a fantastic opportunity to showcase our menu and we are still blown away we picked up awards. 

“When we got invited on stage for three awards it was like a movie. Being recognised for what we do was amazing. They told us to say something on the microphone and we ended up quitting our daytime jobs there and then, on the stage, at Wing Fest.” 

Read more: The world’s biggest chicken wing festival is coming back to Manchester

Image: Mexican Seoul

Inspired to get into street food by fellow Wing Fest trader Wingman’s after discovering them in 2016, he also tells us he drew inspiration for his wings from the LA food truck scene – naming Korean-American chef Roy Choi as a particularly strong influence. 

The signature wings to look out for here at Mexican Seoul are the Gochu-Gang, made spicy with fermented Korean chilli paste then sauced up with added sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger, All made using free range, halal chicken that’s been brined for 24 hours in buttermilk chicken, wings are then double fried to create a signature crispy texture. 

That’s not all he does, though, Ashley also serves a range of different Korean-inspired tacos with special sauces made in house from scratch. 

Read more: Frankie’s has opened a Breville toastie stall inside the Arndale Market

Image: Yard and Coop

Asked how he feels about coming back to Manchester this year, he said: “Each time we visit we notice that the street food scene is growing rapidly… the last time we were there we found an amazing pizza place called Ramona that had one of the best Detroit pizzas we have tried in the UK.  

“We never thought we would be showcasing our food across the UK so it feels like an amazing opportunity be able to bring our Gochu-Gang wings to Manchester.”

Yard and Coop

Alongside Mexican Seoul, we also spoke with local Manchester-based winners Yard and Coop who have been a fixture of the Northern Quarter’s culinary scene since 2015. 

Owners Laura and Carl Morris took home their first Wing Fest award last year, scooping up third place in the Judges’ Choice Buffalo Wing category but tell us they ‘plan on coming back bigger and better this year.’

Image: Yard and Coop
Image: Yard and Coop

The pair, who tell us they have eaten in ‘just about every fried chicken joint in the UK and a fair few in New York and beyond’ say there are plenty of Americana influences to be found in their food before adding: ‘we will literally deep fry anything’.

They’re not kidding. Tihs Easter just gone, they deep fried a creme egg for a special – something that went down an absolute treat with customers. 

As for what their Wing Fest signature recipes will be this year, they say they’re ‘still testing recipes’ but will definitely ‘bring that extra level’.

They said: “At wing fest as we 24hr brine them then pressure fry so the meat falls off the bone. Then we buttermilk and crumb them with our secret recipe. Each wing has had so much love before it ends up on your plate!” 

“It’s our manor  – we are here to bring the title home where it belongs.” 

How to get Wing Fest tickets

Taking place this year from 24-25 September, tickets for Wing Fest Manchester 2022 are on sale now.

Combining wings, music, beer and bourbon across a two-day celebration of the best chicken wings the UK has to offer, festival-goers can expect to find over 20 different street food traders, restaurants and BBQ teams on site across the weekend.

To find out more and get your ticket, click here.

Feature image – Wing Fest / Mexican Seoul

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