All Star Lanes

Saturday night came around and we didn't fancy the night in this week, but also wanted something to do in Manchester besides the usual meals. 

One of the group had been suggesting All Star Lanes for a while, and as much as I'd wanted to go and try their menu, I'd just always had better offers. This week though, the option of food followed by bowling seemed like a great idea so off we went. 

Set in the ever popular Great Northern Warehouse, just off Deansgate, All Star Lanes has tough competition from the likes of Almost Famous and Lucha Libre either side of it. To sit between these 2 restaurants you've got to have the food game on check, so we thought we'd see if it had. 

All Star Lanes

All Star Lanes is noticeable for its full glass front and bright orange signs above the doors. Inside the place is huge! It's sort of split into 3 areas, the bar area as you walk in, then the restaurant area with a bowling alley in the back. 

Bowling is reasonably priced for late night bowling, and priority is given to people who have dined in the restaurant, but you can just turn up for a game if you wish.

We arrived for a late evening meal, around 8:30 and was told there'd be a 15 minute wait for a table. This gave us time to grab some drinks at the bar and check the place out a bit. 

All Star Lanes has a sports bar vibe about it, I suppose as you'd expect from a bowling alley, but the dining area is well segregated and so you aren't overpowered by TVs and loud music while you're eating, so you can still enjoy a sociable meal out. 

Celebrity Signed Bowling Pins

Bowling pins signed by Paddy McGuiness and the cast of the Inbetweeners

Around the bar area there's a cabinet with a vast array of bowling pins with various celebrity autographs on. Then on the wall I noticed a half cask with plaques on entitled "whiskey hall of fame". On closer inspection this was a £100 whiskey serving but if you bought it you had your name on the wall. As well as being a meat fan I've also grown to love my whiskies over the last couple of years, so I had to ask what it was. Apparently it was some 125 year old Rye that they found in a basement somewhere but there isn't any left now so unfortunately the meat memoirs weren't able to get their names on the wall. 

Whiskey Hall of Fame

After having a good luck around and enjoying our drinks we were ushered to our table in the dining area. 

The dining area isn't huge but I suppose not everyone comes for the food here, there's drinking and bowling to be had as well. The waiter (sorry I forgot his name) was soon over to introduce himself and offer recommendations off the menu. I took his advice for the starter but opted for my own choice on the main course. 

The menu was a reasonable size with enough choice to satisfy everyone. 

Starters

Mains and Sides

I'd opted for the recommended fried "popcorn" squid with garlic mayo. These were served in a delightful little chinese takeaway box with a dipping sauce on the side and chopsticks for those that have the finger coordination. 

Popcorn Fried Squid with Garlic Mayo dip (£6.50)

The popcorn squid was very good, the outer fried coating wasn't too greasy and was seasoned with some chilli flakes, but alas, little more than traditional squid. The garlic mayo complimented the squid well and didn't have an overwhelming hit of garlic. 10/10 for presentation though. 

My partner opted for the BBQ chicken wings. Small chicken wings on a hot plate covered in a sticky BBQ sauce with a side of blue cheese dip. Tasty, but nothing new I'm afraid. 

BBQ Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese dip (£6.50)

For the main course I'd opted to try one of the All Star Lanes burgers. I'd heard that the burgers here are very good, but with Almost Famous just next door could I be lured back to All Star Lanes given the choice? 

Burger Options

I decided to go for their top of the range, King Pin burger. A treacle cured bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried macaroni cheese croquette and finished with the usual salad. Sides are optional, originally I was going to choose the seasoned sweet potato fries but I asked what the "monterey jack corn grit chips" were. Apparently a soft corn bread with cheese, fried into stick shapes. I was intrigued and so ordered these. My other half opted for her favourite sweet potato fries.

We were all asked how we'd like out burgers cooked and we were told they come pink as standard. I was happy with this so would take them how they come.

The mains arrived not long after the starters were finished. 

I tried the Corn Grit Chips first. At first I found these a different delight. A soft fried coating surrounded a soft textured cornbread and cheese center. The portion of these at first seems quite small with just 4 chips in the bowl but after finishing just 1 I could feel these were quite heavy to eat. The initial intriguing taste soon becomes a carbohydrate overload. 

Monterey Jack Corn Grit Chips (£3.00)

Time to try the burger I think. 

King Pin Burger (£11.00)

Cutting into the burger revealed the pink center of the thick meat patty. The last burger I had in Manchester, at the newly opened "Filthy Cow" (see the memoir here; Meat Memoirs Filthy Cow) also had the perfectly pink patties. It's been a good couple of burgers recently for this. Not too pink as I've had in the past in London  though, just spot on!

Wonderful pink patty of the King Pin burger

On top of the beef patty was the thick cured bacon. This was great quality bacon which could easily have been sourced from a local butcher or somewhere similar. It's coated in a thick sweet treacle glaze. This is then topped with thick melted cheddar cheese. Finally to top it all off, under the bread was the fried mac and cheese. This fried patty oozed cheesy sauce and soft cheese coated macaroni pasta. Perfectly cooked and not as heavy as you'd imagine (light as a feather compared to the Corn Grit Chips). 

My partner opted for the nacho burger and sweet potato fries. This was the first nacho burger I'd tried. The nachos give a great crunch to the burger and with a similar pink filled patty her burger was just as good. Although I would still have opted for the mac & cheese topped creation. 

Nacho Burger (£9.50) with side order of Sweet Potato Fries with cracked sea salt (£3.00)

Conclusion

All Star Lanes has a great night out in one building, with a well stocked bar, great selection of food and bowling to try afterwards. 

The food here isn't much different to many other places in Manchester, with the usual burgers, sides etc. However, the food they serve is presented better than many of the others around the same price mark. 

The starters were nothing I can shout to the memoirs about, and the sides that are different were just too heavy to accompany the burger meals. They may have gone better with a lighter main such as the fish or lobster though.

I should note though that the sweet potato fries that my partner had were some of the best seasoned sweet potato fries I've had. The cracked salt took just enough of the sweet edge off to stop the becoming over sweet by the bottom of the bowl. 

The burgers though were outstanding. The pink minced beef patties were juicy, thick and declicious. It's getting difficult to pick a favourite patty in Manchester now. The macaroni cheese patty on top was also incredible! 

All Star Lanes has tough competition next door, particularly when it comes to burgers, but they're managing to make burgers which compete. 

What lets them down though is the sides and the starters. There was nothing outstanding that would make me choose All Star Lanes over Almost Famous if I was stood outside the Great Northern Warehouse looking for a burger to eat. 

The bowling alley and bar area could definitely lure me back though, and if I was feeling peckish before a game in the red and white shoes, I'd be more than happy to have another of the All Star Lanes burgers. I'd probably skip the starters though.

I'll have to come back for a game on the bowling alley though, as after all this food we were all too full and drunk to consider playing in the end. My first ever turkey will have to wait yet again.

All Star Lanes bowling Alley (£8.95pp/per game at peak times)

http://www.allstarlanes.co.uk/venues/manchester-deansgate/

@AllStarLanesMCR

https://www.facebook.com/AllStarLanesManchester

Meat Rating: 6/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full

Almost Famous

Almost Famous is often regarded as the best burger restaurant in Manchester. Their success has been huge, expanding from a single small restaurant hidden away in Manchester's Northern Quarter to running 4 hugely successful restaurants throughout the North of England (2 in Manchester, 1 in Liverpool and their latest restaurant in Leeds). 
Their increasing success isn't down to expensive or extensive advertising either. They use social media to voice themselves online and apart from that, just let the food speak for itself. The food is obviously worth shouting about as word of mouth seems to be the main method of advertising for Almost Famous, and it's keeping their restaurants full! 

Their original Manchester Northern Quarter restaurant unfortunately suffered a kitchen fire (it has since reopened if you can find it) which lead them to opening up a restaurant in the ever popular Great Northern warehouse near Deansgate. This was their first restaurant I tried almost a year ago and since then they've been my go-to restaurant for burgers. 

Outside, again, there's hardly any advertising indicating what this restaurant is. The Almost Famous name isn't visible anywhere outside. Just a neon burger with wings hangs above the front door. 

Front Door

Around the rest of the glazed building there's labelling suggesting a burger restaurant serving magical meats, but with a lot of the windows frosted over you can't see much inside, but they do give a couple of clear spaces to peer through for "cheap thrills". 

Burgers Get You Ripped

Peer here for "cheap thrills"

Magical Unicorn Meat for sale

When you walk in the process can be a little confusing at first but there's usually a member of staff just inside the door asking how many you'd like to seat and giving you an estimated waiting time. It's always busy whatever time I've been, particularly in an evening, but today's visit for the memoirs was an early Sunday afternoon visit for a burger lunch and so it was fairly quiet and we were offered a table straight away. When it's busier, the staff take a mobile phone number from you so you can wander off or spend time in the bar and they text you when your table is available. It's a great system I always thought, seen as they don't take bookings for tables, and the wait never seems to take as long as they estimate. 

Inside the room is fairly darkly lit with graffiti style drawings on the walls around the place in a "Disney-on-acid" style, giving it a different look to other clean looking restaurants. At higher level there's rules similar to those of fight club, edited to refer more to Almost Famous, and polaroid snaps of beautiful people eating dirty food. 

Bar Area

Disney on Acid

Disney on Acid

1st Rule of Almost Famous Club....

"Ninth and final rule; If this is your first time at Almost Famous club, you have to eat bacon"

We took our seats though and had a look over the relatively small menu. The menu offers a selection of 8 burgers to choose from ranging from the traditional plain cheeseburger (The Famous Burger), to burgers containing outrageous ingredients such as baconaise (bacon mayonaise) or beef Monster Munch crisps. Every now and again they bring up a special burger on the menu to order. 

Menu

For those who prefer their chicken or pork to their beef, there's an Awesome Frickin' Chicken burger or pulled pork roll to choose from. Or there's chicken wings available in each of Almost Famous' signature sauces (Redneck - BBQ, Suicide - hot sauce, or their Pho-King Amazing - Peking sauce).

The fries are a separate order and from the menu it's obvious they aren't your normal fries, with mixes of regular fries and sweet potato topped with bacon bits and baconaise, or waffle fries topped with pulled pork and BBQ sauce (Redneck sauce). 

Option of Fries

The ordering process isn't too obvious but is written on the side of the menu. You order at the bar when you're ready and food will be brought to your table. If you want cutlery, extra sauce or kitchen roll (which you'll probably need to clean your fingers) you have to go pick them up yourself from one of the little tables dotted around filled with these. 

My better half opted for the newest burger on their menu, the John Bender burger (£10). This includes a double cheeseburger, spiced sausage patty, crispy smoked bacon, JD waffle fries, a poached egg, baconaise and chipotle ketchup. For the side she opted for a portion of "Pig and Waffle" fries which are waffle fries topped with pulled pork, Redneck BBQ sauce, blue cheese sauce, chopped chillis and onions. 

John Bender (£10)

The meat in all the burgers is great quality ground steak. The cheap cheese slices on this burger are a bit disappointing but the flavour of them combines to create the taste sensation of this burger. The thick bacon rashers and the crispy waffle fries are soothed down by the perfectly cooked runny-yolk poached egg on top. The egg really makes this burger smooth to eat.   

Pig & Waffle Fries

The pig and waffle fries are cooked and seasoned to perfection. They're then topped with wonderfully moist pulled pork which is packed with flavor and doused with blue cheese sauce and Almost Famous' own Redneck sauce. The sauce has a slight tinge of spice to it but the real kick comes from the thick chopped chilli and onions (although this isn't overpoweringly hot, just enough to tingle the tongue). Overall the fries are fantastic, although one portion could easily be shared. 


For my order I thought I'd try the special for a change, which was shown on a separate little menu. Entitled "The Famous Breakfast Club" (£10) it was constructed from; a double cheeseburger with pepper jack cheese, slow cooked bourbon brined pulled pork, honey beerios (Cheerios in beer), Bacon Rain (bacon pieces), chipotle ketchup and hollandaise mustard mayonnaise. For my side of fries I opted for my favorite "Bacon Bacon" fries (£4) which are a mix of seasoned regular and sweet potato fries topped with bacon rain (bacon pieces) and baconaise (Bacon mayonnaise). 

The Famous Breakfast Club

This was the first time I'd experienced this burger and to be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Cheerios cereal but I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did! The beer doused cheerios were sweet and delicious. The pulled pork, like the pork on the pig and waffle fries was juicy, moist and delicious, then the Redneck BBQ sauce adds even more BBQ flavor. 

The cheese on this burger was much more delicious than American type slices on the John Bender. Instead the pepper jack cheese was melted to a soft lava texture that softened the delicious thick meat patties. 

The patties are cooked to perfection. Just slightly pink, and made of top quality minced steak. The fresh brioche buns are soft and fluffy but they almost go unnoticed with all the flavor between the bun.  

The Famous Breakfast Club

The bacon bacon fries are my personal favourite. There's nothing too fancy about them, simple seasoned fries with just the right mix of regular fries and sweet potato fries, which are then topped with delicious baconaise and crunchy bacon rain (bacon pieces). It's common to find little bacon pieces like this are overcooked and burnt in other restaurants, but they're done to perfection in Almost Famous. 

Bacon Bacon fries

If ever taking anyone to Almost Famous I try steer them away from the plain fries, and encourage them to try bacon bacon or some other fries as they're almost as good as the burgers themselves. 

It should be a crime to settle for the plain burgers and fries at Almost Famous as their inventions need to be experienced by all. 

Conclusion

Almost Famous isn't your typical restaurant. I say that with two meanings. Firstly the burgers and food is like nothing anywhere else. The creations they come up with and flavors they put between bread and atop beef patties sometimes don't sound that inviting, but trust in their inventions and you will never be left disappointed. 

The second difference is that you don't get the service like a traditional restaurant. You order for yourself at the bar, you collect your own cutlery, napkins and sauces. The only service is that they bring your food to your table and they clean up after you. This is the common complaint I've read elsewhere, this and the staff attitude. I've always found the staff to be very helpful and friendly but found the bar staff a bit short with me on this particular visit. The waiter who brought our food over was very helpful though and made up for his colleagues service. And if you're willing to overlook the lack of traditional service the food will more than make up for it. 

You can't book a table, although this is becoming common in city centre restaurants, but it means there can often be a wait, especially during peak times, but it's worth waiting for. The text alert system they run during busy times works very well and allows you to reply and cancel your table should you change your mind while you're waiting.   

The burgers are the most flavorful, amazing creations put between bread (that I've found to date). It's easy to see why the word is being spread without any advertising. The beef patties are always cooked to the same slightly pink perfection, and always top quality meat. The burgers are topped with ingredients never considered by other places and it works very well. 

The sides are a similar mouth tingling sensation topped with more ingenious topping ideas which work wonders to satisfy the hunger pangs. 

Almost Famous own sauces all have a unique flavor which should be sampled while you're there. The hot sauce is just hot enough without being ridiculous, the BBQ sauce is smokey and thick sticky delight, and the Pho-king sauce is sweet sauce with a chilli kick to it. 

If you're in need of something to wash all this gluttony down with then their cocktail menu isn't to be skipped either. This, like their food, includes similar ingenious inventions (for example, an Old Fashioned topped with toffee popcorn?). I didn't have any on this particular visit, but will hopefully review these next time I visit (which I doubt will be much of a wait). 

Meat Rating: 10/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full