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]

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]

Cocktails in the City | Manchester

Cocktails in the City was a great event, offering 23 different cocktails from 23 popular Manchester establishments.  Lovers of gin and whiskey would be at home here, as mostly top class and top quality brands were celebrated.

The event in Manchester took place at the old plot where the remnants of the old Granada Studios still stand. Inside, the setting is bare and rustic, like most street food festivals and venues encompassing a hollowed out shell of an old building, factory, or warehouse.  It was the perfect setting for this event.  Close to the entrance offered guests to try out their surfing skills at HULA where they had a mechanical surf board to test balance and endurance.  This area had a very relaxed beach bum theme.  Nearby, guests could enjoy a round (or more) of UV Golf hosted by Junk Yard Golf.  

A stage was set up for presentations, and the first up was Tom from The Liquorists with the theme "Five Cocktails that Changed the World".  I've had the pleasure of taking one of The Liquorists Tequila Trails around the Northern Quarter, and it was brilliant.  Not to mention, Tom is a really nice guy, and remembers everybody, and is always happy for a quick chat.  The Liquorists presented a variety of cocktails accompanied by stories and facts, giving the audience a well educated session on specific cocktails.  We also got to sample some of the cocktails on offer.

Before one arrives at the main studio area, there was TATTU and Agave Garden occupying two rooms.  TATTU looked like a spicy oriental themed establishment with mannequins dotted around for guests to graffiti, and somber red lighting.  That was fun! 

The main studio had the remainder of the bars occupying differently designed stalls, and it all looked fantastic, from Narnia themed to Mad Scientists to Floral to rustic wooden; Cocktails in the City had it all.  Check out the photos!

I like whiskey and I like gin!  Therefore after having a look around and looking at the nifty cocktail brochure/event programme, I sampled the following:

Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned from Tipplesworth.  It was bloody lovely!  Woodford Reserve Bourbon, orange zest, sugar syrup and Angostura Bitters.  Perfect combo for a whiskey cocktail, and great first drink to kick off the evening.

A really flavourful gin cocktail by Cane & Grain called American Gangster made with Death's Door Gin mixed with "homemade" citrus & rhubarb cordial, Yuzu juice, fresh lime, Branca Menta Salt Solution, and Seline Air.  Very tasty!  I recommend this to all gin lovers!

My favourite cocktail of the night was Fairytale of New York, made with The Pogues Irish Whiskey by The Fitzgerald; mixed with plum bitters, cherry heering and Gomme, the cocktails offers sweetness to a whiskey cocktail, which should please both whiskey drinkers and non whiskey drinkers.   

Oriental Expression from TATTU made with Opihr Gin.  This cocktail was perfect to end the evening.  A cocktail that offers oriental spice mixed with ginger, bell pepper, lemon juice, lychee, and ginger beer.

As well as cocktails, on each night, the event offered food from three street food vendors.  On the night I attended was Bart's Dog Kart, Chaat Cart, and Poffertjes King.  All great vendors, and I opted for Chaat Cart's delicious Chicken  Burger, with an onion bhaji on top.  Yum!

Currency was easy:  guests purchased tokens at £6.50 a pop and then used the tokens for food or cocktails.

Fantastic evening full of wonderful stylish guests and a fantastic array of vendors.

Tequila Trail with Yelp Manchester & The Liquorists | Elite Event

This Yelp event was hosted by The Liquorists as they took us Yelpers on their Tequila Trail.  Fabulous!

A little about them:  The Liquorists founded in 2010 by Tom and now he is accompanied by Tyler.  They host an array of Trails, such as the Tequila Trail, which is what we participated in on the night, Didsbury Trail, cruises with gin, cruises with vodka, and many more.  Check out their website theliquorists.com for full details and prices range from £30-£50 per person, depending on event and day of the week (Weds-Sat), and £55 for the boat cruises.

On this particular trail, the guys work with brands & Manchester bars, specifically in the Northern Quarter, and the trails starts in Luck Lust Liquor & Burn.  It seems The Liquorists have a habit of taking people to bars they have not been before, and with each bar comes a different tequila.

In LLLB the tequila was Don Julio Blanco, and I learned that tequila can be given the same appreciation and drank like whiskey, especially the better quality tequila.  It is not only for shots at the end of the night after binging on every other alcoholic beverage there is out there.

The guys from The Liquorists are scholars of knowledge when it comes to tequila and the production and history.  It was blissfully educational, and another fun fact is Mescal is not always tequila but tequila is always Mescal.  Mescal is what one gets when a drink is distilled from agave.

To accompany the introduction and kick start the evening, fantastic food was provided by LLLB, and during the evening, in each bar, and with each tequila, a cocktail was provided.  Grouped with Don Julio Blanco in LLLB was Tommy's Magherita San Francisco;  this takes away the orange syrupy liquor and replaces it with fresh agave nectar,  and rested trails, topped with the freshest lines.  Provides a refreshing taste.  Top stuff!

So that we didn't get too settled in LLLB, it was then time to move on to Little Tokyo.  All bars on trail are a stones throw away from each other.  Here we were presented with Olmeca Los Altos Reposado tequila, which has a subtle oakyness to it.

Moving on, followed a Julio Don Reposado in Dusk til Fawn.  This tequila resembled more a whiskey with a subtle taste of vanilla.  I liked it!  This flavour comes from the tannins and vanilla in whiskey barrel.  Smooth!

We were treated to aged tequila in the Pen & Pencil with a Blueberry cocktail called Shades of Disco.  Here I learned that egg white can often be added to cocktails, and even though it has no flavour, it gives the cocktail a little body.

After lots of drinking, laughing and fun, the evening came to an end at El Capo with the final tequila and cocktail.  The tequila was an okay and rich Don Julio Anejo, top of the league in tequilas, and the cocktail was All the Fun of the Fair with a twist.  The rum in the cocktail was replaced with the tequila.  It was a fascinated cocktail as it was topped with butterscotch foam and popcorn.  Surprisingly very nice! 

A fantastic evening with the Yelp Elite, and a big thank you to The Liquorists for their knowledgable and fun hosting.  I would wholeheartedly recommend a night with them as I believe you will have a great night on one of their trails or cruises.

Once again, a tremendous Yelp Event organised by Matt, Manchester's Yelp Community Manager.  Kudos to you!