B.Eat Street - Friday Food Fight

B.Eat Street's Friday Food Fight started out, as you can probably guess, as a Friday evening event featuring a large selection of Manchester street food traders and unique restaurants serving up sample menus. They also offer up a big selection of cocktails and drinks on their bar.

The event has moved through 3 locations over the past year but is now currently residing within an unused space of the Great Northern Warehouse just off Manchester's Deansgate. It became so popular in its original location just over the road that they've started opening on both Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. This helps spread the number of visitor out as when it was just held on the Friday evening it was almost impossible to find a seat to sit down and eat. The queues for the food stalls could also be like queuing for a ride at Alton Towers during the school holidays! It also seemed that a lot of people would be there for the drinking more than the food too which never helped in getting a table. Because of this, I was little apprehensive about returning to the Friday Food Fight.

But with the promise of some old favourites, and some new names on the line up I figured it was about time B.Eat Street featured in the memoirs. 

Tonight's line up was due to feature the following names, not only from Manchester but from the length of the UK, with a special guest travelling up from Brighton. The line up included:
Piggie Smalls (@PIGGIESMALLSYO)
Viet Shack (@vietshack)
Coq o' The North (@CoqOtheNorth)
Dim Sum Su (@DimSumSU)
Lucha Libre (@LuchaManchester)
Diamond Dogs (@Diamondd0gs)
Dirty Food Revolution (@dirty_food)
Mei Mei's Street Cart (@mmStreetCart)
And Special Guest from Brighton - Fries Guys (@friesguysuk)

We arrived around 7pm which I expected to be the busiest time but entered via the manned door to the side of the Great Northern (next to the cinema entrance). You walk past the plywood tables and into a red tinted warehouse type space with a live DJ playing from a raised area. To one side of the hall is the bar, while opposite is a wall of food stalls from the various vendors. Between, the room is full of tables and benches with the odd oil drum dotted around forming a table or bin. It was good to see spaces at the tables and room to sit down and eat this time!

Seating Area

Drink & Cocktail Menu

B.eat street have improved the payment system opening a separate desk where you exchange money or pay on card to the value you wish to spend on food in exchange for poker chips. This seems to work well and it allows for card payment which wasn't possible at previous venues when you would pay the stalls individually. 

I was excited to see some new stalls to try and to revisit some past favourites. I'll admit I was very keen to try Fries Guys what with them having travelled all the way from Brighton, but it looked as though terrible traffic both around London and on the M6 had prevented them from arriving. 

Dirty Food Revolution

First stop was to a vendor we recently tried for the first time at another food event (See Previous Memoir Here), Dirty Food Revolution. I try not to visit the same places so soon after each visit but after winning a competition online for a free meal from Dirty Food Revolution I didn't need any more of an excuse to sample their burgers again. 

Dirty Food Revolution

Their menu was basically the same as at their last event, but at least it would give me the chance to test their consistency. There was a slight tweak to the fries being offered, still sweet potato fries but listed as having Dirty Seasoning and Vanilla Dusting on top. 

The burgers were the same mixes of sweet and savoury delights that I couldn't wait to sample again. 

Dirty Food Revolution Menu 1

Dirty Food Revolution Menu 2

As the fries were the only thing I didn't have last time I had to order them this time. 
I was a little apprehensive about fries with vanilla dusting, and I'd have to order to discover the surprise of the dirty seasoning. 

Dirty Fries - £3.00

The sweet potato fries were well cooked, crispy without being over done. They'd have been just like any other fries were it not for the dirty seasoning, icing sugar! Now I admitted at the time, if someone suggested putting icing sugar on my fries I'd tell them to get lost, but having tried these sweetened sweet potatoes I wouldn't need convincing again. Now, just to convince others that this is a suitable topping for fries. The vanilla topping I didn't notice though. 

As I engulfed the fries, I waited for the burgers to be cooked. In the background the thick patties on the grill looked delicious. I soon remembered the last time I tried these. 

Patties on the grill

For the burgers I opted for the Dirty Elvis burger, a chuck steak patty, american cheese, smoked streaky bacon, pork rind crumbs, maple syrup, sweet potato fries, all between a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Dirty Elvis Burger - £7.00

My girlfriend ordered the Dirty Swine burger, a chuck steak patty, mature cheese, smoked streaky bacon, frazzles, pork rind crumbs, dirty mayo, dirty BBQ sauce all between a brioche bun. 

Dirty Swine Burger - £7.00

The Dirty Elvis was another mix of sweet and savoury, as well as a mix of soft and crunchy. The beef patty was about as thick as the doughnut and in the centre oozed out a huge dose of maple syrup. The iced Krispy Kreme added a huge sugary boost, while the prok cumbs add a crispy bite. This is still one of the messiest burgers I think I've eaten to date. The sticky icing on the doughnut, the thick american cheese and the way the sweet potato fries fall out of the burger means there's no dignified way to eat this. 

Dirty Elvis - £7.00

Those with a sweet tooth might prefer the Dirty Elvis over the Dirty Swine. The fans of a more traditional burger wouldn't be left disappointed by the Dirty Swine. The thick juicy steak patty, crispy bacon & frazzles still makes this one of my favourite burgers. The Dirty mayo and dirty BBQ sauce do get a little lost in all these flavours. 
It's also a little less messy to eat than the Dirty Elvis. 

Dirty Food Revolution are obviously a fan of both sweet and savoury and aren't scared to mix the two. I'm glad they're brave enough to offer this menu and run the risk of people turning their noses up at it, because those that don't obviously love it (they sold out by the end of the night). They're also putting together some of the best patties I've found in Manchester. Hugely thick and really well cooked! 

Money for Meat: Competition win

Meat Rating: 10/10

Mei Mei's Street Cart

This was one of the vendors I hadn't come across yet so was keen to try it. Their menu board gave a brief description and diagram of the Jian Bing's (or Chinese style crepes) they were serving. Not something I'd come across before. 

Mei Mei's Menu

Mei Mei's had 3 different filling options, fried chicken, shiitake mushrooms, or a Beijing veggie option.  

We opted for the fried chicken option. These large folded crepes were freshly prepared in front of us, sprinkled with spring onions, covered in a hoisin & chilli sauce, before being filled with the selected filling and folded into an easy to hold package. 

Jian Bing

Both my girlfriend and I agreed that these were very good. The mix of flavours from the egg crepe taste and the onions combined with the sliced chicken was fantastic. The hoisin sauce added a great little kick towards the end which the crepe helped cancel out preventing it from being too overpowering. 

Money For Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 8/10


Coq o' the North

Coq o' the North have become a regular at the food fight recently. They offer up buttermilk fried chicken in fresh brioche buns. 

I used to say that no chicken burger could compete with a beef burger until I tried a certain Manchester street food vendor selling their take on a fried chicken burger, since then my mind has been opened to the fact that they can. So on this note Coq o' the North had to be tried. 

Coq o' the North Menu

I ordered their "lip tingler", a spicy buttermilk fried chicken breast on a toasted brioche and a bed of mayo, lettuce, onion & tomatoes. 

The price was one of the cheaper main dishes on the night. I waited for the chicken to be fried and saw the bed of large tomatoes and onion pieces being prepared. 

The Lip Tingler - £5.00

When the burger arrived it looked a bit salad heavy but I'd give it chance. Upon taking a bite my original theory was immediately restored. Although the salad and bun was fresh, the thin piece of fried chicken tasted a tad too salty. The batter was of a good breaded texture, and well cooked. The chicken breast was just too thin though, and after being fried was just too dry. The overall taste reminded me of a late night takeaway chicken burger. Too much salad, and an overwhelmingly spiced battered thin piece of chicken. 

Overall I was left disappointed in Coq o' the North. A real shame having had my mind opened previously to what a chicken burger can be.

Money for Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 2/10

Dim Sum Su

The final choice of the evening was the other vendor I hadn't heard of before, Dim Sum Su. Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese style of food, and the menu seemed to offer some Chinese favourites. Sue and John run this little business and although Sue couldn't attend the Food Fight this weekend John offered us a warm welcome. 

Dim Sum Su menu

On the front of the desk they had a couple of sample dishes, one of their peking chicken wraps and a box of their wontons. 

Sample Dishes

We opted for a portion of the home made Wontons to share between us. John explained that they'd started to dish up some black bean chicken wontons as well as the pork, prawn & peking chicken wontons and offered us a mixed box which we happily accepted. 

Wontons - £6.00

These wontons were my partners favourite dish of the night and they were definitely up there for me. These crispy, fried little packages were packed full of great flavours. Having a little box like this with a mix of different flavours in added to the excitement as you never knew what flavour you were biting in to. 

Crispy fried wonton skins

The seasoned meats inside the peking wontons were delicious and the peking sauce added a fantastic hint of traditional Chinese flavour. The black bean chicken wontons were equally as great. A tingle of spice from the black bean sauce around the minced chicken was a perfect amount of spice. 

Meat packed wonton with sweet chilli dip

I'll be following Dim Sum Su on social media to keep up to date on the future events they're attending, as I can't wait to try more from their menu.

Money for Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 10/10

Conclusion

B.eat Street's Friday Food Fight seems much improved, with its new location, the decision to split the event over 2 evenings and the ability to now take card really seems to have improved it. Oddly, it seems to have got quieter though. To me that's a bonus, as it just seemed too busy in the past. It's lively and atmospheric now, without having to spend half your evening queuing. 

There's a big list of food retailers attending each night, offering lots of different choice to customers. We were spoilt for choice. 

Overall, the Food Fight has become one of Manchester's biggest food events every week. It's easy to see why with their large bar menu, and even bigger selection of food on offer. I'll be back to the Food Fight before long no doubt, and we'll feature it in the Memoirs when we do. 

An apology to all those stalls we didn't get chance to sample on this visit. We just couldn't accommodate them all. There'll sure to be a memoir feature for you all in the future. 

Here are the menus from the other vendors from the night:

Diamond Dogs - Menu 1

Diamond Dogs - Menu 2

Lucha Libre Menu

Viet Shack

Piggie Smalls Menu

Piggie Smalls Signs

El Capo

It's been a short while since the last post so last night I thought it was about time we got another meal sampled for the memoirs. 

Last night called for a bit of Mexican at El Capo in the Northern Quarter. (@ElCapoNQ)

El Capo

This restaurant hasn't been around long (it opened earlier this year I think), but they've already established a big name for themselves so I had to go see what the hype was about. 

Comical Welcome Signs

We arrived at possibly the busiest time, around 8pm on a Saturday night, and were warmly welcomed on the door. We entered the first room which was full of people drinking, and loud music, but no tables set out. We had a sudden thought that this may be a small restaurant that stops serving food and becomes a bar in the evening (it wouldn't be the first restaurant that we'd come across like that). There was a staircase to the rear of the room near the DJ leading down to the basement though and we thought we best check down there before leaving to find somewhere else, and it's down here that we found the restaurant. 

Great Artwork

At the foot of the stairs is an incredible piece of art work on the wall facing onto a small but very busy little restaurant which looked as though we might have a wait for a table. We asked the friendly man at the bottom of the stairs and he said we'd have probably a 30min wait. Luckily I was also very keen to try the bar next door (the Whiskey Jar) so we took the time to grab some whiskies before our meal and came back at 8:30 for our table ready and waiting. 

Busy Little Restaurant

Great Decorations

We sat down and took in the authentic Mexican decorations on the walls and laughed at the stereotypical film on the projector (Nacho Libre). We took a look over the menu, which although not huge left us spoilt for choice. 

Menu

The menu offers a selection of both traditional Mexican and South American foods including Tapas, Burritos, Enchiladas etc. 

Appetisers and Wings

For a change my girlfriend and I decided to share a starter this time, opting for the small "Macho Nachos." Corn tortillas topped with cheese, beans and sour cream. They're also served with a side of guacamole and house salsa and a choice of either shredded pork, Columbian chicken, shredded carne asada, chilli con carne, or xocolate chilli. We selected the pulled pork option. 

Mains

Although we usually try to ordered separate things for mains so we can try as much as possible, we couldn't help but order an enchilada each, they just sounded too good. 

I opted for the shredded pork enchilada, while my partner ordered the Columbian chicken option. 

Before the waitress took our order to the kitchen she managed to get an extra sale out of me with an up-sell by offering me a side of Cassava chips. 

The Surprisingly Small Kitchen

We ordered a couple of drinks to the table with our order, and then eagerly watched the small service hatch in the kitchen for our starter to be ready. 

Despite how busy it was we didn't wait too long before the starter arrived. It's a shame to say though that I think our drinks had been forgotten as we had to remind the waiter who brought our food over about our drinks order. He quickly went to get them for us as we tucked into the nachos. 

Small Macho Nacho (£5.00)

The chips were the freshest nachos I've ever eaten. It seems that when you order nachos in most restaurants you get the standard chips out of a bag. You could immediately tell these weren't the same, these were fresh with loads of crisp. 

The guacamole and salsa on the side were incredibly fresh. Large chunks of avacado in the guacamole and tomato in the salsa, and not packed with heat to hide any defects in the recipes. I'd almost forgotten these nachos were meant to have pork on until I discovered the shredded pork beneath the top layer of nachos. How could I forget? I wouldn't be forgetting it again though as I took the first bite of it. Juicy and melt in your mouth soft pork. 

Fresh Sides of Salsa & Guacamole

So far so excellent. 

Our table was cleared and the mains soon followed. 

On each plate laid 2 thin enchiladas decorated with sour cream and melted chilli mozzarella. I'd sort of expected over filled rolled up tortillas on the verge of breaking point, so it made a welcomed change to see 2 tightly wrapped rolls instead. 

Shredded Pork Enchiladas (£8.50)

Columbian Chicken Enchiladas (£8.50)

Taking the first bite followed a similar pattern to the starter. The freshness of the tortillas was illustrated by the flour taste as I took the first bite. The shredded pork was the same as the starter, but that's what I'd expected, and hoped. The "chilli" mozzarella wasn't spicy in any way really but the creamy cheese flavour was noticeable. 

Shredded Pork Enchiladas (£8.50)

The unintentional side order of Cassava chips were a delicious change to the normal potato or sweet potato fries. These lightly fried little cubes of Cassava (a common crop found in South America), were delicious. Although I preferred the more heavily fried ones my self. 

Cassava Chips (£3.50)

After the food, what better more Mexican way to wash it all down than with a shot of Tequila? And El Capo offer a huge selection of over 80 Tequila's to choose from. We're no Tequila connoisseurs so just opted for the honey Tequila as we're a fan of most things involving honey. 

Cazcabel Honey Tequila (£3.50)

These were fantastic, a great honey flavour with a kick at the end that isn't overpowering. A great way to finish a great meal! 

Fire & Tequila

Conclusion

El Capo is a small fish making their way in the big pond of Manchester restaurants, and it's clear why their able to achieve this. Their Mexican food is delicious. Without packing their meals with as much spice and heat as possible, they're willing to let their fresh flavours speak for themselves. The meats in their recipes are cooked to perfection and the traditional Mexican and South American menu choices make an excellent change to the common menu choices elsewhere.

My only criticisms would be that it felt a little claustrophobic being packed so close to neighbouring tables, so next time I visit I'll probably try pick a quieter time to go. 

The only other criticism was that our first drinks order got lost in the hustle and bustle of the evening but the food and apologetic staff made up for it. 

The delicious Tequila was also some of the best I've ever had (so much so that I'll be on a hunt for a bottle of it once I complete this memoir).

So, if you're after a Mexican meal in Manchester, or you're a fan of Tequila, then make sure you take the short trip not far into the Northern Quarter and try El Capo. It's a fantastic little restaurant serving both excellent food and drinks! 

http://elcaponq.co.uk/

Meat Rating: 8.5/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full