Team Bricki's Merry Mancunian Mini Break DAY THREE

[princessnicki]

Check out day but we planned to stay most of the day in the city. Check out threw us as it was 11am not 12 so we had nothing planned before our lunch reservation. We left our bags at the hotel and had a wander around the city. I remembered Primark has a Friends Cafe so we called in for a milkshake in Central Perk. We managed to grab a seat by the sign.

We had a Caramel Frappe and Hero Frappe (Caramel, Chocolate, Coffee)

We took a selfie on the sofa by a picture of the famous fountain

You may be surprised that lunch was at a chain today but when Brett received an email from The Alchemist offering him a free main course for his birthday, i decided to check out the cocktail menu and the new additions sounded amazing! The Alchemist is somewhere we used to visit quite frequently in the early days of our relationship but it seemed to dip in quality a few years ago. This wasnt the case in the New York Street branch in Manchester though, the setting, food, cocktails and staff were all excellent. We had a fabulous lazy afternoon eating, chatting and enjoying a few cocktails.

We ordered Chorizo and Cheddar Dough Balls, these were gorgeous, dough balls packed with Chorizo and you inject in your own liquid cheese.

Brett fancied the Tacos from the starter menu so he got the Sharing Platter, which was 6 tacos, 2 of each Crispy Prawn, Hoisin Shredded Duck and Cauliflower Cheese. He loved these, there was lots of filling inside and it was all very tasty.

He also got a side of Katsu Fries which he struggled to finish as the Tacos were so filling

I got French Dip Steak Sandwich (Beef Fillet, Cheese Sauce, Green Peppers, Burnt Onions, American Cheese, Sweet Mustard Mayo, Rocket. With Smoking Rosemary And Secret Truffle Dipping Gravy). Oh my gosh this was delicious- steak was a perfect pink, liquid cheese, rosemary flavours running throughout with a gorgeous strong flavoured Truffle Gravy to dip the sandwich in. I would definitely order this again! I upgraded my fries to Salt and Pepper Fries which were also very tasty.

Our cocktails were amazing- we concentrated on the new additions to the menu and we enjoyed everything we tried. They still do the little bits of theatre for most of them.

Bubble T (Patron Silver, Briottet Crème De Peche, Giffard Mango, London Essence Peach And Jasmine, Apple Boba). This was supposed to be an alcoholic version of the Asian Bubble Teas. It was fruity, refreshing and easy to drink. The boba balls took Brett by surprise as they were very sour

Flash Gordan (Glenmorangie X, Kings Ginger, Plum & Honey Syrup, Lemon, Magic Fire!) This was really strong but had a good flavour from all of the different elements. We missed capturing the special effect but they set a piece of paper on fire to represent Flash Gordan

Dry Iced Tea (Appleton Signature Rum, Briottet White Choc Liqueur, Lemon, Vanilla Cola Foam). This was like a Long Island Iced Tea in terms of the flavours of rum and lemon, but it looked like a cup of tea when you poured it altogether.

Smokey Paloma (Mango & Chilli El Jimador, Pampelle, Bristol Syrup Company Gomme, Schofferhofer Grapefruit Beer). This was probably my favourite of the day. It reminded me of Epcot with the Grapefruit Beer and it had a nice kick of heat from the chilli Tequila. It was spicy, fruity and slightly bitter.

Affogato (Discarded Banana Peel Rum, Averna Amaro, Giffard Salted Caramel, Homemade Cold Brew, Mini Magnum). This was Bretts favourite, he let the magnum melt into the rum and coffee and it made a great flavour.

Cheeky Vimto (Chase Sloe Gin, Whitley Neill Blood Orange, Bsc Cherry Vanilla, Vimto Jelly). This was really fruity and refreshing, it tasted like alcoholic vimto.

Pear-ple Rain (Briottet Pear Liqueur, Honey, Prosecco, Purple Rain). I enjoyed this one as i love Prosecco but i couldnt really taste anything else- maybe i didnt leave the purple mixture to settle for long enough

Poison Apple (Avallen Calvados, Briottet Apple Liqueur, Bristol Syrup Company Lime Sherbet, Giffard Salted Caramel, Wine). I thought this was going to be too strong for me but it wasnt, it was really sweet and easy to drink

We will definitely be back to finish the new drinks that we missed and i need to have that sandwich again- the food pleasantly surprised us!

We had another walk and headed into Bretts favourite store- Selfridges! He loves to look around here at all of the shoes and clothes. And of course his favourite section- Aftershaves! He has a large collection of these and although he loves all of the Spicebomb range and Dior Savage, he is a big fan of buying aftershaves that are hard to find or exclusive to one store, and we found plenty today that have gone on his list of future purchases. We spent ages wandering around here and could have spent a fortune but we are waiting for our flights to come out so decided to be good for once.

We were supposed to go to Flight Club on Bretts actual birthday but they changed their opening times so we had to push it back a day. As an apology they offered us a bottle of Prosecco or 6 beers so we gratiously accepted the beers. They were chilling in an ice bucket waiting for us when we arrived

Flight Club charges £10 per person for 90 minutes on the oche which is a bargain especially if there is two of you. There are 6 games to choose from and you can take as many pictures or videos as you want on the screen. Our favourite game was Demolition where you start with 180 points and you need to knock it to zero as quickly as possible. Snakes and ladders was fun too. We absolutely loved this experience, we had such a laugh- i expected to be awful at darts but i only lost by a couple of games and i managed to get the bullseye a couple of times.

They video your winning shot and play it back in a slow mo action replay, which was hilarious. All your pictures, videos and action replays are emailed to you.

As we were heading to sit at the bar to finish our drinks, Brett was presented with a birthday brownie and they sang Happy Birthday to him.

Brett was a little peckish on route back to the hotel so we called in Wolf At The Door in the Northern Quarter. This is a typical student indie bar kinda place where they do cheap but good quality food. They do a wide range of really tasty Tacos for £1-£2 each.

We got Char Sui Mushroom (Five Spice Roast Field Mushroom, Hoi Sin, Spring Onion, Cucumber, Sesame)

Jerk Chicken (Chicken, Jerk Beer Gravy, Onion, Pineapple Salsa)

Pork Pibil (Slow Roasted Shredded Pork, Chipotle Mayo, Pink Pickled Onions, Coriander)

Volcano Beef (Spicy Beer Braised Brisket, Crispy Fried Onions, Pickled Jalapenos)

Chippy Tea (Chips, Curry Sauce, Curry Dust)

Buffalo Chicken (Bunnys Original Hot Sauce Chicken, Pickled Carrot, Celery, Blue Cheese)

And a portion of Pizza Fries which was huge and packed with cheese, a lovely Marinara pizza sauce, Black Olives, Italian herbs and Pepperoni

We had a quick drink of Plantation Pineapple Rum and Ginger Beer

and Watermelon Sugar (Barcardi, Watermelon, Melon Liquor, Soda)

It was time to head back, collect our case and catch the train home to enjoy a few days at home to use up our remaining annual leave for the year. On arrival at our home station we saw Felix the station cat chilling by the platform.

Overall we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves, food on the whole was great, cocktails had more hits than misses, amazing activities that were great fun, a lovely musuem. There were some negatives like the hotel and just the general atmosphere in the city- there seemed to be a lot of dodgy characters about, also if you visit and dont like the smell of weed be prepared for that as its everywhere! It wouldnt put us off coming back and we will be here a lot next year for day trips to the theatre.

Now to start planning Bretts 40th! Thank you for reading

[formosagirl]

What a brilliant report. It sounds like it was a great break overall, all of the food and cocktails look amazing. Really want to try American pies, glad to hear they got such a great review from you two!

[princessnicki]

Originally Posted by formosagirl

What a brilliant report. It sounds like it was a great break overall, all of the food and cocktails look amazing. Really want to try American pies, glad to hear they got such a great review from you two!

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Thank you American Pies was amazing, weve added Giordanos to our Orlando list for next year now

[Goldia]

A great last day and of course you managed to fit in some amazing cocktails and food. A really lovely birthday celebration and despite the less than perfect atmosphere of the city it hasn't dampened your spirits and enjoyment of your trip.

Thank you for sharing all the wonderful photos with us

[princessnicki]

Originally Posted by Goldia

A great last day and of course you managed to fit in some amazing cocktails and food. A really lovely birthday celebration and despite the less than perfect atmosphere of the city it hasn't dampened your spirits and enjoyment of your trip.

Thank you for sharing all the wonderful photos with us

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Thank you Alchemist pleasantly surprised us- the food was very nice! Yes we had a fabulous time in spite of the couple of negatives. There is a lot to do in Manchester

[P&S]

Another fabulous day those cocktails look amazing Always been a fan of The Alchemist but it's a few years since I've been.

As a born and bred mancunian (suburbs) I'm not a lover of our city centre but I'm a massive lover of our people and spirit and I'm hoping the city centre can change as it's so steeped in history with some fabulous buildings

Unfortunately the dodgy people and homeless are in every city now as is the smell of weed

Thank you for writing this I've certainly seen a few places I need to visit

[princessnicki]

Originally Posted by P&S

Another fabulous day those cocktails look amazing Always been a fan of The Alchemist but it's a few years since I've been.

As a born and bred mancunian (suburbs) I'm not a lover of our city centre but I'm a massive lover of our people and spirit and I'm hoping the city centre can change as it's so steeped in history with some fabulous buildings

Unfortunately the dodgy people and homeless are in every city now as is the smell of weed

Thank you for writing this I've certainly seen a few places I need to visit

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Thank you apologies if i sounded negative but compared to London it was a bit of a bad atmosphere- we still had a great time though, some great food and great service, and i agree its a beautiful city of old buildings

[Geordieprincess]

We went to Manchester in half term. Agree the city was a bit iffy in places although we enjoyed the science and industry museum and food/cocktails (though not the service) at Boujee.
We stayed at Salford quays and that was quite pleasant and really easy on the tram into the city - might be an alternative next time. We went to the Alchemist on the quays and were quite impressed. Did I’m a Celebrity jungle challenge there too which was fun.

[smithlane]

What a fab last day, you made the most of every minute. I've wanted to go to Flight Club for ages now and tried to book the one in London for my birthday but was fully booked
I'll get there one day as it looks great fun! More yummy cocktails and food, those Pizza Fries look amazing

[princessnicki]

Originally Posted by Geordieprincess

We went to Manchester in half term. Agree the city was a bit iffy in places although we enjoyed the science and industry museum and food/cocktails (though not the service) at Boujee.
We stayed at Salford quays and that was quite pleasant and really easy on the tram into the city - might be an alternative next time. We went to the Alchemist on the quays and were quite impressed. Did I’m a Celebrity jungle challenge there too which was fun.

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I think it just surprised me because Leeds, York and London didnt feel that way at all but Manchester felt a bit rough at times. We follow Boujee on Instagram but havent been yet. I have stayed at Salford Quays before and agree its easy enough to get into the city from there. Glad you enjoyed your trip too