Bill's New Menu Launch | Manchester, UK

Food and cocktails are great at Bill's!  The new food and cocktail menu looks great and from what I sampled, tastes superb too.

On entering, we were welcomed with a Hedgerow Fizz, which is Prosecco with a raspberry dropped in for added flavour.  We were then shown to the back area leading to the backyard, which was our area for the evening.  This was an event perfect for a big crowd of Yelpers to enjoy and sample three of the cocktails on offer and the food.

Bill's is situated on John Dalton Street, just by the likes of Panacea and Byron Burger, and from the exterior, looks like it would fit perfectly in a botanical gardens environment.  Inside is light, colourful and beautifully decorated with a simplistic and natural wood design.

Once settled, we were served samples of the food in the form of canapés.  First was watermelon and sesame-crusted feta.  Delicious!  This offers a great fruity combinationw with the warm coated feta.  Other canapés offered were crab and falafel sweet chilli doughnuts, which only had subtle taste of crab, but nonetheless, very tasty!  Also, the tomato bruschetta were very flavourful complemented by mint pesto.  One canapé to highlight is the chicken liver parfait because, despite being so tasty, seems to be quite rare in Manchester.  The chicken liver was complemented by sweet chutney, which added to the flavour.  The final sample of food on offer was the crispy calamari, and it smelt and tasted delicious.  If you are not a fan of seafood, then maybe this is not for you, but if you are, then you are in for a treat!  I will definitely be back for more.  The servers were very knowledgeable in the food they were presenting, and it was a pleasure to listen to the passion they had for the food and the menu.  It is truly a commendable service.

Afterwards, we were delighted with a classic Victoria Sponge, and regular and mini scones.  Amazing.  The Victoria Sponge was very creamy and very tasty.  Big thumbs up!

The cocktails menu seems to follow the country club summer style, which is genuinely welcomed.  We sampled a gin and elderflower cocktail named Bill's Country Garden with lime, apple and cucumber.  The other cocktail was a Bramble Mojito, which was a rum and blackberry cocktail.  These cocktails had a very nice floral and fruity summery taste, and would be perfect on a beautiful sunny day (or as we are in Manchester, a nice restaurant on a rainy day.)  PS, it was not raining on this particular day, which made evening more fitting.

Bill's event was a fun-filled evening with great food, drinks, company and regular Yelp shenanigans.

[Find this review and more on http://mcrphil.yelp.co.uk]

KRO Bar | Manchester, UK

Nestled perfectly on the Oxford Corridor and amidst the student populous, Kro (a "Danish Village Pub") constantly has an influx of visitors from lunchtime to evening, and as other reviewers have highlighted, this is probably to its detriment, as this popularity means that Kro may struggle to compete during Academic vacations or entice customers from other parts of the city centre.  Nonetheless, the service, standard, food and variety of drinks on offer are superb.

I seem to be a regular, especially for lunch, as I am visiting on average 10 times per year.  It is also great if one attends Manchester Academy for a gig, as it is just over the road.

The food is good quality, however, it often seems to be low on stock for certain items, such as the Schnitzel.  This has occurred too often.  My recent visit, I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which was marinated in Kro's special sauce on toasted Focaccia bread.  The sandwich was delicious,  The marinate was tasty and creamy and the pulled pork falling apart with every bite.  The menu is Danish cuisine, which comprises of Frikadelle, Schnitzel, a variety of burgers, sausage and fish (mackeral, salmon, etc).  I often have the Schitzel which comes with a fried egg on top, or the chicken burger.  All very tasty, and I have always been more than satisfied with the quality.  A friend of mine would recommend the Vegetarian Meze. 

Kro offers a variety of drinks, especially one of my favourite brands König Ludwig Weißbier, which is a wheat beer from Bavaria.  Kro is also good for coffee and cake!

The decor in Kro is quite rustic and minimal, but I it doesn't take anything away from the service or food.  Most importantly it has a small beer garden at the front and rear of the building.

[Find this review and more on http://mcrphil.yelp.co.uk]

The reasons why I'm IN: I vote REMAIN in the EU #StrongerIn

There has never been any doubt where my vote would lie in the EU Referendum.  I'm IN

Britain IS stronger remaining in the EU, financially and politically.  The EU offers collegiality, especially with information to ensure Britain and the whole of Europe ARE safer together.  It also provides consistency throughout, enshrining equal pay and employment rights, and even though Britain currently goes beyond the base levels of minimum wage, and the variety of leave (mat, pat, sick, etc), by remaining in the EU it ensures these base levels are protected, which would not be guaranteed if Britain breaks from the EU.

Businesses flourish because Britain IS part of a bigger community, and with all global businesses there are no borders, and it would be foolish to put restrictions on these businesses by forcing them to renegotiate hundreds of trade deals and change the way their businesses are run in one country all because they deviate from standardised legislation and policies.

I missed the memo when Britain 'lost its control' for it to be in a position where it feels it must "take back control".  As far as I am aware, we vote our representatives in Europe who speak for us.  Unfortunately, MANCHESTER (and the Northwest) elected several UKIP members as MEPs who have often failed to turn up AND vote.  So are these the people who can be trusted with our economy, public services, and future if we break from the EU?

Personally, I've reaped many benefits from being an EU Citizen.  Many years of frequent and cheap travel around Europe, especially Germany, and love going through the "EU" security gate at the airport.  I hate the rigmarole of visas and customs like in the USA.  The tactics I use to get to the front of the queue are astounding!

Due to ERASMUS (EU funded programme and exchange), I have collaborated with another leading European university (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) on best practices and process improvement; a great opportunity for my career and mostly funded by the ERASMUS scheme.  Plus, living in one of the World's best cities and experiencing and surrounding myself with the wonderful German culture.  I highly doubt this would be possible if Britain was not in the EU.

Finally, in reference to the EU immigrants:   Being in the EU has enabled myself to work outside of Britain, but also friends to work here in Britain.  Forgetting the huge financial contributions other Europeans make towards Britain's economy, what is important to me, is the contribution other Europeans (and International citizens) make towards our culture and lives.  Not to  mention, as I work at a university, I work with a diverse range of people of many nationalities (and not just the from the EU), who are specialists in their fields.  Not only do they enrich my life as colleagues and friends, they also enrich the educational environment that I work in.  Breaking from the EU would greatly hinder these opportunities.

I believe by leaving the EU it would limit our World making it smaller and isolating  ourselves from a bigger, better, safer, stronger European community.

I vote to remain in the EU.

I LOVE PIES | My review of Pie and Ale | Manchester, UK

I've visited Pie and Ale several times over the years, but not as often as I should have!  The food is genuinely delicious and offers a good variety and not the usual options for pies.  Another plus for Pie and Ale is, it has a great variety of quality drinks, such as Erdinger.  The best part is that one gets change from a tenner when buying two pints.  Always a bonus!

My recent visit was during the Champions League Final 2016.  This was for two reasons:  I wanted quality food after a long day and a cool place to watch the final.

Pie and Ale is divided into two sides, separated by the kitchen and bar in the middle, but this helps the place separate the types of evenings:  For an evening for beer, food and good conversation, enter through the door on the right; and to watch sport (cricket, football, etc!) enter on the left.  This section has one large projector screen and long bench and tables, which is great for groups, and it even has a VIP-type section on a mezzanine with a smaller TV Screen.

The evening was a great atmosphere, full but not overly busy.  I think it is a good spot to watch some sport ;)

As for the food; DELICIOUS !!  On this occasion I ordered the Hunters Pheasant pie:  Wild pheasant breast and cooked with onion, celery, sherry vinegar, carrots, parsnip and thyme with red wine gravy.  A dollop of mash potato accompanies the pie on top and it sits in a bed of gravy.  Initially, I though the gravy was too much, but the mash and pie soaks it all up and it was actually the perfect amount.  The pie was so tasty combining the pheasant and red wine and full of flavour from all the veg.

My friend ordered the Sticky Boar Balls:  wild Boar meatballs with cous cous.  It looked great, and I believe it tasted just as good!

[Find this review and more on http://mcrphil.yelp.co.uk]

Yelp goes to India - World Food Tour XL

I am a big fan of the food from Zouk.  The curries are so creamy and full of flavour, no matter which one you choose, and Zouk was the perfect venue to kick off Yelp's World Food Tour.

Zouk are great hosts and really go that extra mile to make their guests feel welcome.  The service is impeccable and all servers are completely knowledgeable when it comes to the food that they are serving.

When we arrived, all Yelpers gathered on the terrace, welcomed with canapés and cocktails.  The canapés included a very tasty chicken pate tikka bruschetta and falafel with a signature hummus.  the bruschetta was so nice, I had two!  As for the cocktails, I also managed to acquire two different ones for tasting.  The first was primarily gin and cucumber, which was a refreshing taste.  The other cocktail was a standard passion fruit mojito.  The mojito was my favourite as the smoother and fruitier taste was more satisfying.

When seated, we were presented with the usual poppadoms, chutney, etc., to nibble before the starter platter arrived.  The starter platter was incredible!  Such a variety to share and extremely delicious.  It contained veggie samosas, Nepalese chicken, chickpeas, and Sheikh kebabs.  All very tasty and all very filling; it was almost a shock to realise the main courses would be coming after this.

Now for the main, we were given pilau rice, and three beautiful curries.  At first, I thought my favourite would have been the buttercream chicken curry, which was the mildest.  I prefer spicy food, but I am also a fan of the buttercream, but this dish was quite sweet.  Another curry was another chicken curry with a dark creamy sauce; this was certainly spicier!  However, my favourite was the lamb curry.  Lamb meat, off the bone, which must have been cooked in the curry and the lamb just fell away and the sauce itself was very meaty and tasty, much like a stew.  Yummy!

The evening offered the usual fun and laughs amongst the Manchester Yelp Community, and it is always a pleasure getting to know new people participating in these events.  Not to mention the regular Yelp photo competition to win some alcohol.  Congratulations to the winners.  Well-deserved!

Thanks Matt for organising and Zouk for hosting a wonderful evening.

[Find this review and more on http://mcrphil.yelp.co.uk]