LUNYA : SPANISH CUISINE (UK)

Spanish Cuisine isn't something I know very much about. I've only had it once in my life and this would be the second time trying spanish cuisine. I know about the cheeses, the cured meats and paella. I definitely have tried paella before. Anyway, we decided to head down to a renown famous restaurant by the name of Lunya. It is in a popular district for good food and great atmosphere.

The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated. They have many sculptures on sale there inside the restaurant. There is a bar at the bottom which has spanish ham hanging from the ceiling. We were seated upstairs near the window which has a very nice view. 

The place was already crowded and filled with noise and chatter. 

We decided to order jointly. All of us wanted to try the paella. I know typical, but we didn't know what else to eat. But the paella here in Lunya is well known, so we figured why not. We also had a platter of goat's cheese, with grapes and very thin crackers. We also had several cured meats. Different slices of pork, chorizo being one of them. We then were finally served paella which takes at least forty five minutes to cook. 

The cheese was absolutely delicious. Monte Enebro, which is made out of goat's milk and have won some awards. It had the usual sour taste from the goat's milk and was creamy. It paired well with crackers of which I had for the first time ever and grapes. 

The meat platter was delicious with several slices of different cured meats. It had the oily and nutty taste to it. The slices were thin as it was overpowering if eaten in large quantities since when cured, the flavour is concentrated like how dried fruits are especially sweet. 

Finally we had the paella, which is something almost like a risotto. It is rice cooked with some moisture still retained, like congee but with less watery substance and less thick. It is mixed with many different spices and ingredients like seafood or chorizo. It has this orange near red colour. The paella was really good, rice cooked well and not crunchy, as this is the mistake often made with paella and risotto. 

I have to say eating in Lunya was a good experience. The servers were friendly and the food and atmosphere was a delight. For the price of the food wasn't half bad. I really recommend coming here. It is a good experience. 

Location: Manchester M3 2BB Barton Square Manchester

Opening times:

Monday – Wednesday   10.00am – 9.30pm

Thursday                          10.00am – 10.00pm
Friday                               10.00am – 10.30pm
Saturday                           9.00am – 11.00pm
Sunday                             10.00am – 9.00pm

This is Sharon, signing off this week's post. Stay tune every week for more. 

SIAM SMILES : THAI CUISINE (UK)

There's a Thai supermarket underground in China Town, hidden admist the other supermarkets on the street.  It's normally a supermarket but they have also a small restaurant inside. The space inside is very limiting, restricting to only a couple of tables.

This place isn't as famous as the other thai counterparts in Manchester. It's definitely considered a hidden gem. Only spotted by a those who read newspaper food columns or deferred there by a friend.

We ordered a few meals including a dish that is similar to hainan chicken rice. The rice is herb infused and with steamed chicken. It was a little hard on the top but either wise it was delicious to eat. The chicken was soft and not overcooked or undercooked.

We also have ordered papaya salad, which have crunchy peanuts adding to the texture. The young papaya was sliced into thin pieces along with carrots, cabbage, and tossed with a light salad sauce. I tasted connotations of chilli as well as fish sauce and lime juice. But that's as many as I guess.

There was egg noodles with crispy skin duck broth. The broth I think was the highlight of the evening. It was sweet from the duck and I nearly fainted from eating the duck meat slices with the egg noodles. The noodles were sublime, it was tangy not too soft and have the right texture to chew on. It was cooked to al dente.

There was also pork knuckles that were braised for hours, marinated with a good sauce. It was sweet and soft to eat with the herb infused rice. The soup that came along with the dishes was a good palate cleanser. I assumed it was chicken broth.

There was also crispy pork belly with rice. I hadn't crispy pork belly in a very long time, and it was so good to finally enjoy one. It came along with the rice and like the description it was crispy and crunches between your teeth.

Overall the meal was enjoyable, with a good drink of ice milk tea on a hot weather that was surprising in Manchester.

 Address: 48A George St, City Centre, Manchester M1 4HF

Opening times:Sunday       9:30am–7:30pm
                        Monday       9:30am–7:30pm
                        Tuesday      9:30am–7:30pm
                        Wednesday 9:30am–7:30pm
                        Thursday     9:30am–7:30pm
                        Friday          9:30am–9:30pm
                        Saturday      9:30am–9:30pm

This is Sharon signing off this week's food blog. Stay tune every week for more.

SWEET MANDARIN: CHINESE CUISINE (UK)

Sweet Mandarin is an award winning restaurant, having won many coveted prizes including the AA Rosette, the F word which is a Gordon Ramsay Local Chinese Restaurant competition, and the chefs, sisters, also served the Prime Minister and Premier Li. They have published a cooking book and is sold in their restaurant here in Manchester and also on Amazon.

Their journey is shown on their website and also in their memoirs which is also available to be bought online. The restaurant is located in northern quarter between the many bars and restaurants. Northern Quarter in Manchester is known for being where the young will venture to. It's abundance of cafes, bars and restaurants make it a busy hub of interesting cuisine, merchandise and services.

Sweet Mandarin was right across from a Mexican themed bar. It was a rainy day, a day when we were celebrating our friend's birthday. It wasn't so bad as we got to hail a cab for the journey down to the northern quarter. We were meant to go to this pizza joint, but it was closed for renovation and we had to look about in the rain to find another place to eat, and we stumbled upon Sweet Mandarin.

It wasn't very big place but the atmosphere was warm with lanterns hanging above and oriental screens planted about. The waiters were friendly people and we greeted immediately at the door. The place didn't need a reservation and we were placed to a table.

I discovered halfway through the meal that one of the people who served us was actually one of the sisters, the very owners of the restaurant. I was surprised to find her face on the menus before us, with her sister behind the bar making drinks.

We ordered a platter of dishes, my friend being a vegetarian and I myself loving tofu, had some vegetarian dishes, and the birthday girl also ordered
some other meals as well. She loves meat. We decided on vegetarian fried rice, vegetarian appetizers, braised tofu and mixed vegetables, lemon chicken, and a creative new dish that puts a spin on the classic peking duck.

The vegetarian appetizers were vegetarian spring rolls, salt and pepper mushrooms, with seaweed. The fried rice was served with mixture of vegetables, like cabbage leaves and chestnuts. It was a well seasoned, taste great served hot and with the claypot tofu, which had braised tofu and vegetables, cabbage leaves, spring onions, ginger, onions and mushrooms. The claypot had a healthy portion of vegetables and tofu, with a generous amount of gravy.

The peking duck, which is called crispy aromatic duck on the menu. It was exactly as named. Crispy, with the duck dried to the bone, along with the skin, which had been marinated for a whole day with a blend of spices. It was served with pancakes, thinly sliced cucumbers and spring onions, and sweet bean sauce. This is all wrapped neatly into a roll and eaten by hand. It was crispy and though dry, you could still savor the taste of the spices left in the duck.

My friend who has never tried the peking duck found it to be delicious and ate most of the duck, to my amusement.

The lemon chicken had crispy skin and the lemon sauce has all the elements of a lemon sauce, not sweet like most chinese restaurants would do it but enough to complement the dish.

We also had drinks with the meal. A bunch of cocktails which were named after the zodiac. I had one in the year of the pig, which I was born in and my friends decided on monkey. Mine was lychee infused vodka, lychee juice, fresh lemon and a splash of ginger juice. The monkey was spicy ginger infused beer, lime and vodka. They were both delicious and best of all hid the taste of the alcohol.

I really recommend this place for those seeking chinese cuisine in Manchester but it is fairly pricey. The whole meal had a higher price than expected but I think it was worth it.

Location:
19 Copperas St, 
Manchester, M4 1HS,
United Kingdom

Phone:+44 161 832 8848


Opening hours:

Sunday

12:00 - 14:30

16:00 - 23:00

Monday

12:00 - 23:00

Wednesday

12:00 - 14:30

16:00 - 23:00

Thursday

12:00 - 14:30

16:00 - 23:00

Friday

12:00 - 14:30

16:00 - 23:00

Saturday

12:00 - 14:30

16:00 - 23:00

For more information go to this website:http://www.sweetmandarin.com/



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This is Sharon signing off on this week's episode. Tune in next week for more.

BAKCHICH LEBANESE STREET FOOD : LEBANESE CUISINE

I have never had Lebanese food before. It isn't something that I have much expertise in but I do believe it is a middle eastern cuisine, therefore it has meals like, sharwama, falafel, kofta, and so much more. The restaurant we had decided to go to is a chain restaurant, popular in Manchester and as well as Liverpool.

The decoration in the space was very stylish. The type that is modern and chic and incredibly spacious. The tables were made in this bronze colored metal, with visible stamps of nails across. The light was bright but the not the flashing in your face kind but the warm and inviting sort. They had food cans, condiments, jars of food, and utensils used for cookinf middle eastern cuisine, decorated around the place. There was a visible kitchen, and a bar where they would show how the food and drinks were made.

Not only is the decoration on point, the service staff was friendly and professional. They would often check up on us during our meal, asking us if we needed anything. The food also arrived quickly and was dressed up so nicely, it seemed to be a shame that it had to be eaten. The drinks were also nice, I had lemonade with rose syrup, which is refreshing, enough sweet and sour and fragrant with rose scent and taste. 

We ordered Kibeeh Shamiya, which is a grilled minced lamb meat wheat parcel with onions, pinenuts and served with yogurt sauce. As well as bourkhouri Halloumi, a type of cheese that has been harden to a point and grilled slightly, sliced and served with a salad. Kabsa blaham, a traditional rice meal served with stew lamb. 

Kibeeh Shamiya, the minced lamb was well seasoned, mixed with spices making it tasty. The salad was fresh and mixed with a simple vinaigrette. Bourkhouri Halloumi, the cheese is not to hard and easily broken apart, eaten with the salad and vinaigrette. Kabsa blaham, rice cooked with tomato puree with herbs and spices, the lamb stewed with the rice. It isn't dry, but it is definitely not wet like a risotto. Overall the food was made well and I felt the authenticity of it even though it is a food chain. 

For dessert we had upside down pineapple and almond cake. Which in the end looked more of a tart than anything, served with vanilla ice cream. It was warm and able to cut through easily with a fork, the pineapple giving sweetness as well as this tartness to the dish. I think the crust of the tart was crumbly but not too, well made and therefor did not fall apart immediately when cut through. 

Overall the food was made well and I felt the authenticity of it even though it is a food chain. The price isn't cheap but nor is it expensive. 

Bakchich Lebanese Street Food is located on Chester St, near Oxford road. It is very near the university. 

Bakchich Lebanese Restaurant,
4 Chester St,
Manchester,
United Kingdom.

Opening Hours:

Sunday — Thursday

11am–11pm

Friday - Saturday

11am-11.30pm

This is Sharon signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more episodes coming your way.
The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

YUZU RESTAURANT: JAPANESE CUISINE (UK)

I've only been in Manchester a fair amount of time, and I still do not know the city as well but I luckily do have friends who do. I've been brought to lots of asian food places and one of them is this japanese restaurant called Yuzu. Literal translation sour mandarin. I think the hardest part is naming something and trying to get it what you want it to embody. Well to me it is, I'm pretty sure everyone else find it easy to name like their book or something. I'm always making things harder than it seems, I do not know why. I'm trying guys.

Okay, so we go down to Chinatown. It's very near chinatown and right after the japanese restaurant we went to an asian dessert place nearby.

So anyway, going to it. The restaurant is quite a high class place, but not very big place with seating but I think that is what they're trying for. Cause as I have read in manga, yes I read mangas, I know, I'm a huge nerd, I love comic heroes too by the way. Anyways, it is always to my knowledge that food places aren't so big, they have to maintain a specific size, not sure why, also have seating near to where the chef is cooking because, well I don't entirely know, maybe to get closer to cooking experience, the show of it? I can't seriously tell though.

So we have like a few dishes to order. It was kind of pricey, but I really didn't mind. I had my favorite like order when I eat Japanese food, Udon with tempura platter, but there was like a different type of noodles, it's called Kishimen. It's flat and broad like a fettucine pasta. It of course does not have the same texture as a pasta, less sticky and more slippery since it's soaked in the broth. I love soup noodles, because of the flavorsome and wholesome taste you get because it's boiled with lots of ingredients and it's brought into the very spoon in which you drink it from. Oh the shivers of delight.

I have a love for tempura, it's meant to be not oily, and crunchy to the taste. Usually good restaurants do it very well, while others make it kind of heavy and oily. This one is really good, light, and definitely crunchy. It was an array of sliced eggplant, sweet potato and beans with giant shrimps. So there's always an extra plate of a type of dipping broth for tempura, well for some restaurants, not this one though.

I did not try the miso soup in the restaurant, not going to lie, dislike miso soup. I think there was a trauma when I was kid that brought me to dislike it so much but I can't remember what it is, and has cause me to hate it forever.

Overall, the meal was good, though I don't know if it was worth 16 pounds but they did use quality products from the taste of it.

They do not serve sushi just meals. So if you wanna eat that you could go to one of those rotation types of sushi places.

You could check out their website. This place is quite well known, and has a good reputation in Manchester. I, however had the best udon ever in Brighton, and ever since it cannot compare to anything else.

WEBSITE: http://www.yuzumanchester.co.uk/

Open: Tuesday — Saturday
Lunch: 12pm — 2pm(Last order 2pm, 2:30 on Saturday)
Dinner: 5.30pm — 10pm(Last order 9:30pm)

This is Sharon signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more episodes coming your way.

The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

MANCHESTER FOOD HUNTING- SEOUL KIMCHI: KOREAN FOOD (UK)

It's been raining for awhile in Manchester, since it's the start of the winter season. Malaysia's weather is usually tropical so I'm used to the rain, but it's mixed in with the cold air, making it so much worse. So I love how conveniently located this particular restaurant was. It's like a ten minute walk from my dorm to Seoul Kimchi, and not to mention the food is really good.

 They sell mostly Korean dishes, as well as Japanese ones. It was really good comparatively to other Korean places. From what I've been told, it is the most authentic and delicious Korean meal to every other Korean restaurant in Manchester. But it has westernised a bit, seeing as some ingredients can't be found here in the UK.

We ordered a set meal, consisting of Jeon (korean pancake), salad, korean miso soup, galbi (a beef stew) and matcha ice-cream. As well as being very well represented, there were also some side dishes. Traditionally served with a meal, like kimchi, kongjorim (marinated soy beans), marinated sliced potatoes( I'm not sure what the name is).

The korean pancake traditionally consists of sliced vegetables mixed in a savory batter and fried like a pancake. It's really delicious if done well, but if the batter is too thick, it would have this doughy consistency which isn't very good. Usual good pancakes will be crispy and not too oily. Korean pancakes would have kimchi usually in them, it is optional though. But others would have sliced vegetables, like in our's, spring onions, some capsicums, both red and green. It was seasoned well, and was crispy. The salad was just a typical leafy salad, with lettuce, rocket, and some sprouts, and capsicum, with a light caesar dressing.

Galbi was a braised beef stew, with carrots and onions and capsicum. It was a nice consistency of sweet and salty, delicious to the taste, with the meat so easily broken apart and therefore melting in my mouth. All the vegetables were boiled properly and not hard at all, and you'll be able to bite easily into it.

The miso soup, something I don't usually like drinking, is as salty as I remember. I have a biased view towards it but it taste like a normal miso soup, though with cabbages, and tofu in it. Miso soup has soy bean base and I don't know why I dislike the taste so much but my friend drank it finish so I assume it was quite good.

 I have to say, matcha ice cream is my Achilles heel. Actually anything matcha just have me sinking on my knees. I absolutely adore eating match base products, and this was delicious. There wasn't any over powering taste of matcha, or under powering that you can't even taste the matcha. This was jsut right. I love the dusty green colour of it, and I'll always be able to eat, even in a cold weather.

This place is a must visit in Manchester if you're looking for good korean food. But I have to say, that the food there is quite expensive, I assume because of the ingredients they have to procure from Korea. The price range well above six to eight pounds for a meal. That's like forty something ringgit or more, including extra dishes. 

They have a facebook page, where you can come and check it out : https://www.facebook.com/seoulkimchimanchester/

Address:

• 275 Upper Brook Street, M13 0HR Manchester, United Kingdom
• The opening times : 
  

  Mon-Sat:	11:30 am-3:30 pm 5:00 pm-9:30 pm
  Sun:	12:00 pm-8:00 pm

THIS IS SHARON. SIGNING OFF FROM THIS WEEK'S BLOG. LOG IN NEXT WEEK FOR JOLYNN'S TURN. 

The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com