Scrumptious Scranchester - a food tour of Manchester that you won’t want to miss

Every time I visit I want to experience more — more of the pub and music culture, more of the craic that seems so deeply engrained in the fabric of the ‘Capital of the North’ and, of course, more of the amazing food culture.

For hundreds of years, Manchester has been a thriving marketplace for industry. Starting with textiles in the 1700s, the city went through major development during the 18th and 19th century following the Industrial Revolution. Immigration in the 1900s brought new citizens and with them new flavours and foods to a growing city.

There are many signature dishes linked to Manchester’s humble food roots. But now there is so much more to experience than the likes of Eccles cakes, pasty barm and mushy peas.

Manchester is a city that values creativity, and there is no shortage of that in the food scene, where new restaurants seem to be popping up every week.

This is why Manchester has some delicacies which you must try at least once in your lifetime, and there’s no better man to help you with that than Rob Kelly, the owner of the city food tour company Scranchester (scranchestertours.com; £70pp).

Rob describes his tour as a gastronomic adventure where you can taste some of the best food and drink the city has to offer. In reality, however, he gives you a real insight into the local food and drink scene — past, present and future.

His enthusiasm for all things Manchester is contagious and you can’t help but be drawn into the stories and history of the city. From the ice cream vendors of Ancoats’ Little Italy to the diets of the Victorian mill workers and birth of vegetarianism, it’s a feast for your brain and your belly.

The four-hour walking tour makes several stops to sample some truly amazing food, and although I don’t want to spoil all the surprises, I have to spill the beans on a couple of standout locations.

The cosmopolitan food hall Mackie Mayor is an 1858 Grade II listed market building on the edge of the Northern Quarter and is the only remaining fully intact building from the former Smithfield market.

Opened in 1858, it was originally used as a fresh produce market, but now this Mancunian icon is one of the city’s busiest food venues. It’s the perfect spot for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. In fact, you could eat and drink the whole day away without stepping out from under the amazing glass roof.

It holds around 500 people and hosts a variety of food vendors including Honest Crust Pizza, Tender Cow steaks, New Wave Ramen, Mumma’s fried chicken, and Chilli B Thai food, as well as beers and ciders from Blackjack Brewery.

We were treated to an amazing fish taco from Pico’s which honestly could not have been better. Here, light battered cod and fresh homemade tortilla join forces with delicious salsa verde, a smoky chipotle cream, pickled onions and some toasted corn. Trust me, the taste is sensational.

Equally good was the corned beef hash served to the group in Sam’s Chop House at Back Pool Fold. It came with a poached egg, crispy bacon and brown sauce and for me represented comfort food at its very best.

Another stop worthy of note was Tariff & Dale. This brilliant bar and restaurant on Tariff Street is a former showroom and warehouse for cotton spinners Ralph Waller & Co Ltd and is packed full of history — it even has a vintage hydraulic fabric press in the kitchen.

The building remains standing now thanks to the huge girders in the basement, installed after a direct firebomb on the building during the Manchester Blitz in the Second World War. It was fitting perhaps that there we were given a variation of a quintessentially British snack — a mouthwatering giant honey pork sausage roll with nduja ketchup.

I was lucky enough to stay for two nights in the city at what turned out to be my new favourite place.

CitySuites II offers a relaxing and sophisticated home away from home experience, with apartments complete with sleek kitchenettes, dining and living areas.

With two aparthotels standing proud in the up-and-coming Embankment West area, just across the bridge from bustling Deansgate, CitySuites is the largest aparthotel in Manchester.

These five-star apartments have everything needed to make your city break a perfect experience, from extra large bathrooms with complimentary The White Company toiletries to beds so comfortable you really won’t want to get up in the mornings.

They also have a gorgeous indoor pool, spa pool and steam room, a state of the art gym open 24 hours a day, a 24-hour concierge service and a co-working space.

It’s great for couples and for family visits and really brings you the luxury hotel experience combined with the comfort of your own space, with mod-cons like Sky TV and ultra-fast broadband.

Just a few metres away is Embankment Kitchen, their restaurant and bar (where you get an outstanding breakfast), and Embankment Cafe Co, which offers artisan coffees and freshly made sandwiches and cakes.

Within five minutes’ walk you’ll find the equally posh neighbours Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as Manchester’s Arndale and the designer stores of New Cathedral Street.

It’s also just a leisurely 20-minute walk to Piccadilly Station where you catch the train back to Manchester Airport, which was great when I flew back to Belfast on the Sunday morning.

After the brilliant food tour, I was concerned that Embankment Kitchen had a tough act to follow, but I really didn’t have anything to worry about.

Head chef Josh Singleton and his team are playing a blinder and sourcing the best-quality ingredients from around the north west to make everything in-house from scratch.

That attention to detail is evident in their food — served up by some of the friendliest waiting staff I have come across — and the laidback atmosphere in the glass-fronted building only adds to the whole experience.

The small plates are perfect for sharing, and new dishes include: pan-fried squid and chorizo with roasted peppers, garlic, chilli and honey; ham and smoked cheddar croquettes with parsley and garlic mayonnaise; and shredded lamb mini flatbreads with citrus slaw, pomegranate and mint yogurt.

There are some very tasty mains on the menu too, including garlic monkfish tail with Bombay potatoes, charred tenderstem broccoli, fresh herb oil and rich massaman curry sauce; and roasted shallot, chilli and garlic pappardelle with asparagus, broccoli, toasted pine nuts, grated parmesan and fresh herb oil.

I tried the chicken ballotine, filled with spinach and mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham, with sweet potato gnocchi, honey and rosemary baby carrots, roasted sweet potato and chicken butter sauce on the first night, and it was superb.

On my second visit I thoroughly enjoyed a starter of sweetcorn, chilli and coriander fritters, served with an Asian salad, soy and mirin dressing and chermoula sauce, while the 8.5oz fillet steak with peppercorn sauce, hand-cut chips, roasted tomato and mushroom and watercress salad was by the far the best-tasting cut of meat that I’ve had this year.

A great deal of preparation goes into making the steaks taste this good, not least marinating them in the restaurant’s signature garlic and herb sauce.

It was struggle to make room for dessert, but as I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge, I chose an incredible blood orange and passionfruit cheesecake with fresh raspberries which genuinely could not have been better.

Special mention must also be made of the restaurant’s cocktails. Unashamedly, I tried several, but the highlight was definitely the The Hacienda.

Named in honour of the famous Mancunian institution, the mixture of Havana Club Cuban Spiced, Disaronno, pineapple juice, lime and Maraschino may not quite transport you back to the British youth culture of the 80s and 90s, but I guarantee if you drink three of them, you will definitely want to head out clubbing afterwards.

Get there

To book the Scranchester food, visit scranchestertours.com or call +4407824617650. To arrange a stay at CitySuites II, visit citysuites.com.

Geoff’s trip was hosted; this story originally appeared in The Belfast Telegraph.