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

Honest Burger

The final stop on my London trip in the search for some of Londons best burgers lead me to Honest Burger. 

http://www.honestburgers.co.uk/

Honest Burgers have become famous in London for their success, coming from a small marquee to a chain of restaurants throughout London. They started out sourcing fresh meat down from a farm in Yorkshire and turning that into fresh meat patties to serve with simple rosemary seasoned fries they began to expand. They now have a total of 7 restaurants at the time of writing this memoir, all across London (Brixton - their original restaurant, Soho, Camden, Portobello, Kings Cross, Oxford Circus and Tooting). With this much success and growth the meat memoirs had to see if these burgers were some of the best in London. 

Having to catch a train from Kings Cross the Kings Cross restaurant was my choice for a lunch time burger. 

Arriving early lunch time I wasn't sure if there'd be a long wait or not but the restaurant was surprisingly quiet. 

The staff behind the bar quickly welcomed me and ushered me to a rustic timber table. The whole room is dry rustic timber with a white tile bar. There's an open kitchen and additional seating in the basement too but the ground floor is light and spacious with great views for people watchers thanks to the large windows around the restaurant. 

Interior

Light Rustic Interior

The staff didn't seem to give me much time to look over the menu before asking if I was ready to order. When I asked for a few more minutes. I was given no more than that before I was asked again. Feeling rushed I quickly made my choice from the flow chart style menu. 

The flow chart look of the menu is very simple to use. Chicken titles linked to the chicken dishes. The majority are beef dishes but there's a vegetarian title linking the dishes for vegetarians. 

Menu

Unlike every other burger restaurant sampled this weekend, and most others these days, honest burgers are served with salted rosemary fries rather than you having to buy fries as an additional side dish. 

They have a small selection of additional side dishes including coleslaw, chicken wings, onion rings and additional sauces to choose from. 

The menu reads as their name suggests. Honest. Simple. Burgers. With just 5 beef burgers to choose from I opted for the Tribute burger (£10.00). 

Beef patty, bacon, American cheese, burger sauce, French's mustard, pickles, onions, and lettuce. Sounded like a classic combination to me. 

The bottom of the menu notes that all burgers are cooked medium / pink unless other wise requested. When ordering the waitress made sure I was happy with this, which I confirmed I was after all the other "pink" burgers I'd eaten so far this weekend had been to my liking I thought these would be similar if not the same. 

To compliment the burger I ordered a side of onion rings too having not had any all weekend. 

The burger arrived after what didn't feel like very long but I was engaged in conversation passing the time. 

On a large enamel plate came a generous portion of fries along side a thick beef burger inside a perfectly round, perfectly golden bread bun. The size of the beef patty hid the salad and other toppings on this burger, with just an edge of onion and a dribble of mustard visible. 

Tribute Burger (£10.00) with Rosemary & Salt Fries

Take the top off the burger to reveal 2 slices of very thick bacon! It's great to see proper bacon on a burger and not that microwaved paper thin stuff. With American cheese stated on the menu it was never going to be much more than a cheese slice and that's what you get. 

Topless

The beef patty looked juicier than any of the weekend yet, and biting into it revealed why. 

Having been asked if I'd be happy with my burger cooked pink in the middle I expected a little pink colour to the middle, but this burger I'd describe as blue in the middle. It was bordering on barely warm in the centre. The beef was great quality, the patty almost falling apart like mince still. These were possibly the thickest patties sampled in London. So no complaints there. But the meat in the middle, although tasty, just shouldn't be that pink in a burger in my opinion, I'd have felt a little more comfortable had it been cooked more. 

Pink? More like Blue Centre

The side of skin-on fries were fried to a great crisp and seasoned well, not that the Rosemary seasoning was very obvious. They were well salted though.

The second side of onion rings were 5 large rings of onion in a crispy loose batter that easily fell away from the onion rings. They tasted good but were nothing outstanding. 

Optional Onion Rings (£3.00)

Conclusion

Honest burgers are obviously having a great success throughout London with their simple menu of classic burger flavour combinations. 

The staff in this restaurant seemed rather keen to take my order, and although it's a simple menu, when trying to take in the surroundings etc. I needed a little longer to browse the menu and decide. I couldn't understand their hurried attitude when the restaurant seemed so quiet. 

Honest Burgers use simple ingredients that are obviously fresh and well made. Their beef patties are some of the thickest available in London that I found, and I've never seen such a perfectly rounded and golden brown bread brioche bun. 

They've concentrated on perfecting the ingredients and combining this with simple sides it's working. I imagine it won't be long before they've expanded beyond the capital city into other areas of the UK. If they do, I only hope they don't loose their original intentions along the way. 

May be it was just this particular serving, or this particular restaurant, but to me a burger needs to be cooked more than this. Yes it tastes great. but there are reasons a burger needs to reach a certain temperature in the centre, and I couldn't be sure this burger had reached that temperature. I still ate it and to no ill effects, I just imagine that based on other restaurants idea of a "pink" burger, people won't be expecting something quite this pink. I'd also worry how long before one bad batch of meat gets through. I suppose if they source their meat from a particular farm and that farm can keep up with demands then hopefully the quality is controlled right up to mincing and patty making. 

It wouldn't put me off Honest Burger by a long shot though. Next time I'm in London I'll visit Honest Burger again and would hope to see them expand out of London. Next time I visit though I'll be sure to ask for the burger more towards well done, as may be my preference just didn't stretch to this extent of "pink". 

@honestburgers

Meat Rating: 6/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full