Foundation Coffee House | July #Yelp Event | Manchester, UK

This was a very pleasant event at a fantastic venue. Foundation Coffee House is situated in Sevendale House on Lever St., Manchester, on the corner of Stevenage Sq., and is a prime location for rush hour commuters passing through. It has only been open since around the beginning of June, but I think it will soon be a hotspot for many as the place looks great and offers such an amazing variety of coffees, teas, smoothies, cakes and other foods.

From the outside, peering in through the large windows, you can see how open the coffee house is and such big space filled with natural light! The aesthetics of the Coffee House was inspired by the cofounder’s (Adam Chapman’s) family background as he comes from a long line of engineers, and working with designers No Chintz, presents a space that is minimalist in design, and has a strong barebones engineering theme running throughout with steel columns and a cemented floor.

On arrival, as usual we were greeted by Jonny and had chance to mingle with others within the Manchester Yelp Elite before partaking in the evening events, which would consist of a passionate talk from Adam, sampling any and all products that Foundation has to other (and I mean all! Cakes! Coffee! Smoothies! Award winning Hot Chocolate!You name it!), and ending the evening with another passionate talk from the designers about the finer details of the Coffee House. Not to mention, we were served bottled beer and wine, which is always welcome at these events! But before all of that, we were offered Espresso Martinis to kickstart the night. Not sure how these would go down with non-coffee drinkers, but I thought they were tasty!

During Adam’s presentation, you could instantly tell how passionate he was about his new venture, giving us an insight to the origins. He used to be a police officer in in Manchester before turning his attention to opening a gym named QDos Fitness, and whilst meeting with the designers during numerous meetings in coffee shops to bring his concept to life it sparked a new idea about setting up a no franchise coffeeshop. Adam really knows his coffee, and even declared himself as a “coffee geek”. He careful chose the coffee himself after visiting a roasters in Cornwall and creating a brilliant menu of different coffee drink, mixing it up with different nutrients; you can have coffee for energy to last the whole day (for real!). The coffees on offer a more than just a “caffeine kick”, and you understand that this has been a big journey for Adam and the whole Foundation team.

Some of the coffees highlighted in the presentation and recommended by Adam are the Bulletproof, which is a mixture of coffee with ghee, and a Kevlar, which is butter and coconut oil missed with an American coffee.

I sampled the latte, which was exceptional! I am a convert. When I am in the area, this will be where I’ll be getting my coffee! And I will definitely sample the rest of the menu.

The pricerange is great! I’d say it was mid-range when it came to some of the franchised coffeeshops, but the quality is far greater. A lot of care has gone into the establishing the menu and the servers a really knowledgeable about all the items. Foundation does not mess around with several sizes; you get a to-the-point cupsized coffee, which I find to be brilliant. People just want a coffee! They don’t want to be burdened with choosing a size or forced to give their names to ensure they receive their orders.

Cakes and sandwiches come from a caterer so there is no need to cook on the premises and using local good quality caterers and bakery. Very simple! Why have a good range of cakes, both healthy and vegan. Probably the most vegan ranged cakes for a non-vegan specialised eatery. I sampled the carrot cake and it was delicious! I am a big fan of coffee and cake, and Foundation provides a great combo!

Overall, it was a great event, and I spent some time chatting to Adam, who is a very nice guy and passionate about Foundation Coffee House. It is likely you would see him when you visit, and I look forward to stopping by soon for a coffee, and maybe some cake!

There is on final thing to mention: the toilets are remarkable! I think most people find toilets in most places to be avoided, but not here! Adam made a point to mention that these were constructed with the same quality throughout the Coffee House and endeavours to uphold the high standard for maintaining them. The pictures on the doors indicating the “gents” and “ladies” are Adam’s grandparents, which is a really nice personal touch.

Thanks to Jonny, Adam and all the staff at Foundation Coffee House. See you soon!

Elite Event: Yelp’s ‘One Night In India’ | ZOUK Tea Bar & Grill Review | Manchester, UK

My second #Yelp Elite Event, this time at ZOUK Tea Bar & Grill, has seriously raised the bar for this community. What a FANTASTIC evening of great food and amazing entertainment.

Jonny Q. the Manchester Yelp Community Manager did a tremendous job organising this event, and picked the perfect restaurant to collaborate with. Situated on Chester Street  in the centre of Manchester, just off Oxford Road near the Manchester Metropolitan University, I have only visited this restaurant once before, but pass it almost every day. It has a beautiful terrace area outside, which has recently been refurbished creating a cosier environment. The terrace is also for endulging in flavoured Shisha, which the restaurant has to offer. I'm not one for smoking it, but the fruity smells are irressistable. We were greeted with fruity cocktails and as we gathered on the terrace before going inside to particpate in the evening's events. This was a great opportunity to mingle with a good 80 or so other Yelpers from the Manchester community.

Once inside, we occupied the upstairs area, which was a mezzanine overlooking the ground floor. It was a privelage to have this area for the whole event.

After settling at our tables, and Jonny's run down of the evening's events, we wee able to enulge in some appetisers and watch the first installment of the entertainment put on by Zouk. These were Indian dancing performers and so perfectly fitting for the event. Bravo Zouk! They gave a fantastic introductory performance. The appetisers were: Popadoms & Pickles and Samosa Chaat. Everybody loves popadoms and a good samosa, am I right? These samosas were absolutely delicious, but my favourite were the spicy chick pea chaat, which had the perfect amount of spice to them, and left me wondering why I don't have chick peas more often!  

Being delighted by the appetisers, we didn't have to wait long for the starters, and these were very generous portions. We were given the opportunty to "sample" the following starters: Chooza Chaat; Spicy Prawn Cakes; and Mozarella Balls.

My favourite was the Chooza Chaat, which was bite-size chunks of chicken and roasted peppers marinated in spices. Yummy! The Prawn Cakes were really nice and came with a saffron mayo to dip, and the Mozarella Balls were delicious with a subtle taste of mozarella surounded by Pakoa batter and tangy tomato chutney to dip. Just when we were done with these starters, out came Tava Lamb with mini wraps, chutney and pickles. The lamb was so succulent and crispy; perfect for making mini wraps. The starters were so much, and so nice, I and perfectly complemented each other. It was the best combination of food possible.

Whilst waiting for the mains to arrive (Chicken Khabani; King Prawn and Baby Spinach; Spiced Sea Bream; Lamb Laziz; and Nalie Gosht) we were entertained by another spectacle from the performers. When the mains arrived, we were once again treated to genrous portions, and fortunately for my table, we all had different preferences of he lambwhat we wanted to try. My focus was on the lamb dishes, which were accompanied by rice. I tried the Nalie Gosht, which was "hot rajistan style" lamb cooked and served on the bone and enveloped in a creamy curry. This was phenomenal! The lamb was cooked to perfection and so tender. Very tasty curry! The other lamb curry (Lamb Laziz) was milder and creamier "punjabi style curry", which resembled a Korma due to its taste and texture. But also very tasty. The Chicken Khabani was amazing, although I only had a small sample; it was marinated  in a spicy chili and tomato curry sauce. The prawn dish was accamponied by spinach and stir-fried with ginger and othe spices, and the Sea Bream was excessively cooked with garlic, which was my least favourite dish of the night. So this one would be for garlic lovers and the van Helsings!

 

Overall, the food left me very satisfied, and to be honest, left me full for the rest of the week. I would revisit Zouk in a heartbeat to try the main menu, especially as the food is so delicious, and has a great mix of veggie, meat and fish dishes to cate for everybody.
During the evening, most dishes were accompanied by a specific wine, and we receive a great education into the chosen wines. Such as the New Zealand Moko Black Sauvignon, which came with the starters and went very will with the Prawn Cakes and Chicken Chaat due to the fruity zest to it, and the Mozarella Balls and Tava Lamb came with my personal favourite: Calusari Pinot Noir from Romania. This wine also converted a non wine drinker, it was that good! And the wine did not stop flowing! We were delighted with Turkheim Reserve Riesling to accompany the Chicken and Prawn main, whic comes from northern France/German border, and complemented the spicy foods well. In addition, there was Borsao Rosado from Campo de Borja in Spain paired with the Sea Bream and a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon with the lamb curries. Such a big variety of wines paired with delicious foods, and you can tell that a lot of care and attention had gone into the menu. If any customers leave this restaurant dissatisfied, I would be really surprised, and I look forwad to returning, vey soon!

The performances throughout the evening were great touches and thoroughly enjoyed, which was appreciated by the whole Yelp community, and the management deserve a big round of applause for hosting the evening tremndously.