The Kitchens

A number of Manchester's best street food sellers have recently been given the opportunity to occupy a permanent location within Manchester's Spinningfields area. 6 restaurants are going head-to-head against each other, 7 days a week, to be given the chance to open their restaurant on a permanent basis in the same location, The Kitchens.

The Kitchens

Most of them will continue to travel around and showcase their food elsewhere but, with some having had difficulty recently in selling from their normal locations, it provides a great opportunity to settle down somewhere for at least 12 months. 

The 6 food vendors are:

1. Mumma Schnitzel - fried chicken 
2. Bangers and Bacon - pork based meals
3. Hip Hop Chip Shop - fish and chips like no other
4. Chaat Cart - Indian Street food
5. Wholesome and Raw - Fruit and veg in more ways than you can imagine
6. Yakumama - Latin American Street Food

We've reviewed some of these in the past and so most reviews here will be kept quite short, but with some of them going missing for a few months now we were keen to check them out again. 

So with Thursday evening being the opening night, the Meat Memoirs headed straight there after work to check it out. 

Set right beside the canal in Spinningfields, 3 restaurants occupy each side of the open Irwell Square, in the middle they are constructing decking and seating areas for those busier times. As it was opening night, the party atmosphere was in full swing, with a DJ playing and all the food sellers queued up. 

With Bangers and Bacon the most fresh the meat memory, having reviewed them quite recently after attending one of their chefs tables, (READ THE REVIEW HERE), we headed their first to see what they'd brought to the Kitchens. 

Bangers and Bacon seemed to have the most extensive menu of all the sellers, with a large selection of plates to choose from, each containing pork in one way or another. 

Bangers and Bacon Menu

Bangers and Bacon breakfast menu

Without much description on the menu, we opted for the Pig Mac. Unsure if we were going to receive some sort of pork based version of a Big Mac or Macaroni cheese containing pork we awaited the result patiently. The wait wasn't long before I was handed a tub of large pasta covered in cheese and mixed with huge chunks of gammon. 

Bangers and Bacon Pig Mac (£5.00)

Large chunks of pork mixed with thick cheesy pasta topped with
Bangers and Bacon own pork cracking type prawn cracker

The cheese certainly wasn't the main ingredient as can sometimes be the case with macaroni cheese. There was just enough to soften the pasta and create a smooth creamy sauce. The thick cut chunks of gammon/bacon could be found throughout the tub and tasted excellent.  A simple dish from the Bangers and Bacon team but excellent none the less. 

Bangers and Bacon are situated between the Hip Hop Chip Shop stall and Mumma Schnitzel stall. So it it made sense to try these next. 

Both Mumma Schnitzel and the Hip Hop Chip Shop have featured in the Meat Memoirs before from a previous visit to Guerrilla Eats (READ THE REVIEW HERE). 

Mumma Schnitzel used to attend the food festivals around Manchester and operated out of a van in the Spinningfields area during the week. However, they haven't been seen for some time and so their presence here was great to see. 

Mumma Schnitzel

Their menu still consists of breaded fried chicken portions used to create simple burgers topped with their own made sauces, and they're still creating fried halloumi options of a similar nature to go with the chicken. 

Mumma Schnitzel Menu

We opted for their simplest chicken schnitzel burger which contains a fried chicken potion, with salad and Mumma Schnitzels own mayo and sweet chilli sauce. 

Mumma Schnitzel - Chicken, Mayo & Sweet Chilli (£5.00)

Biting into these burgers still reveals one of the most moist chicken portions I've ever eaten. The light fried coating adds a crispy texture to compliment the moist chicken inside. 

Mumma Schintzel's sweet chilli sauce adds a firey hit and tastes incredible, while their own made mayo counters it with a cooling taste. The burger is contained within a soft brioche bun and finished with fresh salad. 

Then it was on to the Hip Hop Chip Shop. 

Hip Hop Chip Shop

Again, we've featured them before in the Meat Memoirs from Guerrilla Eats previously but we enjoyed their fish and chips so wanted to try them again. We chose the "Meat Junkie" box from their menu. 

Hip Hop Chip Shop Menu

The triple fried chips are still as crispy and delicious as previously, while their crispy battered onion rings were done in their glorious batter. 

I personally didn't sample the battered sausage as another member of the party ate this so I can't comment on this part of the box. 

Hip Hop Chip Shop - Meat Junkie (£7.00)

Hip Hop Chip shop seem to be another that tasted exactly as the meat memory remembered and they should be another strong name within the Kitchens. 

On the other side of the square, the remaining three restaurants can be found. Running out of time before our train we only had chance to try one more and so opted for Chaat Cart. 

Chaat Cart

Chaat Cart Full Menu

Unfortunately their full menu wasn't yet available on opening night but their most popular dishes were available. We opted to try the Puri Chaat. 

Chaat Cart Prawn Crackers

While we waited for this to be prepared, Chaat Cart had a wok filled with brightly coloured prawn crackers to snack on. These were crispy, fresh and flavourful! 

Puri Chaat (£4.50)

These turned out to be crispy parcels filled with cream, tomatos, onion and pomegranate seeds. These fresh flavour filled parcels would have made a great dessert after a spicy Indian meal.

I wish we'd opted for more of a main meal to really try what Chaat Cart has to offer. These parcels were fresh and tasty though, but when I return I shall sample more of their menu. 

The ones we didn't get to try:

Yakumama

Wholesome and Raw Main Menu

Wholesome and Raw Sushi Menu 

Conclusion

Unfortunately we'd run out of time to try the finial two restaurants in Yakumama and Wholesome and Raw. 

However, The Kitchens is set to be around for 12 months and with some of our favourite food vendors now available 7 days a week you can guarantee we'll be back to try the remaining restaurants as well as sample more of the menu from the others. 

The Kitchens should be a huge success. Set within the highly popular Spinningfields area it will appeal to early morning business folk, then again for lunch, and then draw in people frequenting the local bars in the evening. Despite it being set to the quiet end of Sprinningfields, the previous Spinningfield regulars and Manchester best known street food should attract a steady crowd. 

I for one will be back there before long to finish this review....

@_TheKitchens

http://thekitchensleftbank.com/

Kitchens Facebook page

Five Guys Burger and Fries

I first came across Five Guys Burger and Fries while on holiday in America a couple of years ago. Someone had told me to try it and when I did it instantly rose to the top of my fast food burger list! 

Ever since I hoped they'd open in the UK. Just a few months later I find that they are doing, under the simpler name of "Five Guys". 

Five Guys started out as a father and his 4 sons (thus Five Guys) in Virginia, USA, as his sons didn't want to go to college. They quickly became the fastest expanding company within the USA serving 100% ground beef burgers with a choice of unlimited free toppings, and fresh fries. 
Five Guys have been in the media over the years for famously declining to deliver to President Obama, who then had to go down and collect his order himself.

Also because of a certain, very popular, funny video review on Youtube by Dayumdrops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGkHRa64sDY


Having expanded throughout the USA and Canada, I suppose it was only a matter of time before they ventured into the UK. 

In July 2013 they opened their first restaurant in the UK, in Covent Garden. I'd visited that restaurant while I was in London not long after it opened, but longed for a restaurant around Manchester. 

My prayers were soon answered when they opened an outlet in the Trafford Centre. They then continued to expand throughout the UK and continue to open new restaurants almost monthly. 
Their most recent restaurant is located in Ashton-Under-Lyne. This being as close as one will get to my front door, I headed down there on opening day to feature Five Guys in the Meat Memoirs. 

Five Guys Ashton-Under-Lyne

Five Guys is in essence, a fast food restaurant. There's no avoiding that fact. 

Inside it's a combination of reds and whites with their trademark tiled walls with 5 rows of red tiles (to represent the Five Guys). The walls are covered in quotations taken from reviews and newspapers describing Five Guys as "heaven in a brown paper bag," and "the best burger you've eaten in your whole life." We'll be the judge of that though....

"The best burger you've ever eaten in your whole life"

The queue system is formed from fresh sacks of potatoes and the odd box of peanuts which are free to try. This is worth noting for those with a peanut allergy. The restaurant locations have peanuts open to pick up while you queue, this isn't the case in their shopping center locations.

Queue system formed from sacks of fresh potatoes

Free Peanuts while you wait

After queuing, when you reach the till, you place an order using the menu overhead.

Five Guys Menu

There's the option of burgers or little burger. Little burgers are single burgers, while "normal" burgers are all double patties. The price varies on whether you opt for the little burgers or normal ones, and then whether you opt for cheeseburger, bacon burger, or the most expensive bacon cheeseburgers. 

There are also similar combinations of hot dogs. Or for the vegetarians, there's a veggie sandwich option. 

There is then a list of 15 additional toppings and sauces which you can pick from at no additional cost so you can have as few or as many as you like.

To accompany the burger, you can order a side of fries. Fries are ordered in "small," "medium," or "large" portions. A large portion is designed to feed 4 people, a small portion is suitable for a person eating alone. These are available in normal or coated with cajuan spices. 

Then for a drink you have the choice of water or lager. Or some of the Five Guys stores, like Ashton, are now offering milkshakes with 10 different flavours to choose from and all of which you can mix together no extra cost. You can also add bacon to your milkshake if you wish for no added cost! As this was the first Five Guys store we'd been to offering milkshakes, we would be trying one of these. 

Or, you can choose to be given an empty Coca-Cola cup to take to the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines as many times as you like. We'll get to these machines soon....


I placed my order. There are a few options you can't see on the menu overhead, but are available if you ask. You can be given an extra patty for an additional £2. If you wish you can order extra bacon and/or extra cheese to your burger/sandwich/hot dog for free also. 

I therefore ordered a bacon cheeseburger (£8.75), with an extra patty (+£2.00) and topped it with, extra bacon, extra cheese, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms and Bar-B-Q sauce. 
I accompanied this with a side of medium fries (£4.00) to share with my partner, and a milkshake (£4.75).
For the milkshake I combined chocolate, Oreo and bacon. I wanted to see how they included bacon in a milkshake so had to throw that in there. 

To say this probably should have been a chocolate overload it wasn't too bad. The milkshake was thick with large chunks of Oreo and bacon to be found throughout, although they did settle at the bottom after a while. The chocolate flavour wasn't too overpowering and the addition of bacon pieces worked a lot better than I thought it would. The bacon adds a savory hit every now and again to compliment the sweet milkshake flavours. 

While my partner accompanied her order with a Coca-Cola drink from the Freestyle machines.

After placing your order you're given a receipt and wait at the other end of the counter for your order number to be called. The preparation area is totally open so you can see your burger being created while you wait.  

Or you can go fill your drinks cup while you wait. This will quickly pass the time when you discover the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines! 
These machines have a touch screen face, and contain over 100 different Coca-Cola products, for you to choose from, and mix together until your heart's content. 
You'll often find people standing here just trying all the different flavours of drinks that you can't find elsewhere. 

Coca Cole Freestyle Machine

We couldn't list all the drinks here but to give you some idea, if you choose "Coca-Cola" you're then taken to another screen to choose 7 different flavours of Coca-Cola. This is then the case for Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta... etc. etc. 

Different Coca-Cola products to choose from

Different Flavours of Coca-Cola

And you can return to the Freestyle machine as many times as you like as long as you keep the cup! 

Five Guys Milkshake (£4.75) and refillable Coca-Cola Freestyle cup (£2.50)

By the time you've finished playing with the Freestyle drinks machine your order will probably be ready. 

When you go to collect it you'll be handed your brown, un-branded paper bag (which won't be folded over as Five Guys believe the burger and fries should be allowed to breathe). 

Brown Paper Bag of mystery

Opening the bag you may wonder where your burger is and why you've been given a bag of fries. Five Guys add an additional portion of fries to your bag to accompany the sized cup portion you may be expecting. This is why you they recommend you order a small portion for one person. Beneath the fries though you'll see a foil wrapped package containing your burger. 

Inside the grease soaked paper bag

The potatoes are never frozen and are shipped in and cut in store, then cooked in 100% peanut oil. This gives them a different taste to the fries you find anywhere else. Although, for those, like me, who aren't a fan of peanuts, rest assured, the peanut oil gives no taste of peanut to the fries. Instead it gives a less greasy sweeter taste to them.

Fresh potatoes - cut daily

The fries are well seasoned with the perfect amount of salt. They could be a little crunchier though. 
We ordered a side of the cajuan spices to mix them up a bit. This spice adds a slight kick to the fries if you prefer a bit of a spicier hit to your fries. 

After sampling the fries it was time to dig out the burger.

Foil Wrapped Burger

The foil wrapping has to be pried away from the burger as the melted cheese clings onto it. As you unwrap the foil, some of the toppings fall away as they're finally released. 
Although the foil keeps the burger as hot as possible, it does squash it quite a bit meaning it isn't that aesthetically pleasing. 

Bacon Cheeseburger (£8.75) plus extra patty (+£2.00).
Toppings (free) - Extra cheese, extra bacon, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, Bar-B-Q sauce

Taking a bite of the fallen piece of bacon before biting into the burger, the bacon is some of the crispiest I've had on a burger, without it being overcooked. Really gives a great crunch.

But now, on to the burger. 

The first bite reveals a soft juicy burger which perhaps didn't need the extra cheese slices. 
The ground meat patties are clearly better than those you normally find in fast food restaurants, but obviously they're not sized like some of the chuck steak patties you'd find in other restaurant burgers. They taste great though! The burger overall has a slight sweet flavour to it, although I'm not sure if this comes from the patties, the bread, or the toppings. 

3 patties coated in soft melted cheese slices with onions and mushrooms

The bread buns are obviously fresh but this doesn't really help them out as they aren't able to contain the burger contents without falling apart. The fact that they come out of the foil wrapping a bit squashed, and locked in with all the moisture probably doesn't help. 

The onions and mushrooms were cut in large chunks and provided great backup flavours. While the portion of Bar-B-Q sauce was subtle enough to add an extra flavour without drowning out the taste of the meat, cheese, bacon and bread. 

After finishing your burger I guarantee you'll have a few fries you've missed at the bottom of your paper bag, so go looking in there! 

Fries remaining at the bottom of the bag

Conclusion

Five Guys is clearly pushing its expansion throughout the UK with no less than 28 restaurants now available throughout the UK, and more coming. They always seem to be busy. Perhaps because many people haven't heard of them and want to give them a try, or may be everyone thinks similar to me, that this is one of the better fast food meals out there. 

The burgers taste fantastic, much better than you'd expect at any other fast food restaurant, and the fries are like no others! 

The use of fresh, unfrozen ingredients helps create a much better meal. 

However, all this comes at a price, which I personally think is the part that's going to put people off. A meal consisting of a bacon cheese burger, medium fries and a refillable drink will set you back over £15.00. I shouldn't compare it to the USA Five Guys, but the same meal over there cost me little over £10, which I thought was worth it, while the extra £5-£6 is a very premium price for fast food. There again, you could argue that this is premium fast food. When you can pick up a bigger steak patty in a broiche bun with fries at a sit down restaurant elsewhere for the same price though, you start to consider if Five Guys carries too high a premium price. 

I admit it's better than any other fast food available in the UK though, and when you consider some meals at the likes of Burger King may cost you in the region of £9, the extra five or six pounds for Five Guys for a better, fresher meal becomes more justifiable...just. 

Personally, Five Guys brings a flashback to having a great time in the USA. I enjoy the taste and easily consider it the best tasting fast food in the UK, and so I will definitely be back to Five Guys. 

However, I can understand why some people would be put off by the price before they even place their order. 

If the burger and fries are too pricey though, I'd recommend popping in just to try the Coca-Cola Freestyle drinks machines. I think I've only seen these in one other establishment in the UK, and for a refillable drink with almost every Coca-cola product ever created available, £2.50 isn't too bad! 

Meat Rating: 4/10 as much as I love it, the price kills it. 

Money for Meat: Paid in Full