I was meeting friends for brunch in Manchester and they asked me to pick a place to eat, the only caveat was that it must serve eggs benedict. We decided to try out The Pen and Pencil as I’ve heard good things about their brunches and my friends also found the menu acceptable. We went one Saturday at around 10:30am.
The Bill’s Backyard Party was a Yelp event and was supposed to take place in the outside area, but unfortunately, the sun had disappeared by the time evening approached. Fret not! Bill’s had a plan and we were shown to one side of the restaurant next to the backyard part. At least it was still bright and pleasant!*
I was first introduced to Bill’s Restaurant years ago by a friend who was looking for good places to eat breakfast in London. The breakfast impressed me at the time, so when I went back to visit London recently, this was a no-brainer, plus it was close to where we were staying! Less thinking, more eating! This review is of the Holborn branch in London.
It’s worth noting that Bill’s Restaurant has now expanded to Manchester and can be found just off Deansgate and inside the intu Trafford Centre. The menus are similar across all Bill’s chains.
Neighbourhood in Spinningfields hosted a Bloggers over Brunch event to showcase their new brunch menu. I’ve seen Neighbourhood before as it is situated right opposite Artisan and have been meaning to give it a try. This event gave me the perfect excuse to do just that and to meet other bloggers in the North West.
The event was organised by the lovely Stephanie from Ledigo PR and everything provided at the event was free to the bloggers attending. Opinions for the brunch are my own or owned by my fellow bloggers who tried dishes I did not.
One day I was walking down Lever Street when I noticed that a disused space has now been filled with lovely seating, books and tea cups. As I was on my way to do something else, I made a mental note to come back and check out this place when I had more time. Eventually, LivingSocial were doing an offer at Chapter One, where you can get an all-day brunch with tea or coffee for two for £8. Armed with my voucher, I made my way there one evening after work in November.
(I did want to do this on a Saturday brunch time but unfortunately my weekends were filled up and this was the only time I could conceivably utilise the voucher.)
When the cafe at Manchester Museum, Cafe Muse, shut down I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I had lost a local place to have a quick soup but on the other hand, I was excited to see what would be replacing it. In the past, Cafe Muse has had debatable food which I often felt was overpriced. With the announcement that Teacup (of Northern Quarter heritage) would be taking over, I was waiting in anticipation for the day it would finally be open. I had high expectations for this takeover and was keen to add another lunch place to my list. This is also fueled by the fact that they had open a stall inside the museum selling a few sandwiches, cakes, tea and coffee. As soon as The Cafe at the Museum opened, I decided to go over there with a colleague.
Phil: And that colleague would be me. Another lunchification option is always welcome of course. This one I see as most directly competing with Christie’s and Kro in terms of price, menu and location. Let’s see how we go along…
