It couldn’t have worked out better. We had nothing planned, and it was a mild November day with searing blue skies and a low afternoon sun.

Scanning through my Twitter feed on Sunday morning, I noticed a tweet about Castlefield Artisan Market, which is on the cobbles under the viaduct near Dukes 92.

With a great mix of food, vintage stalls and craft, this was the best market I’ve been to in a long time. Jazz was blasted out across the cobbles, with a troupe of dancers, doing a ridiculously cool dance routine. The upbeat music gave the event a really lovely atmosphere and gave everyone a smile on their face.

We stocked up on salt marsh lamb from Cockerham in Lancashire, as well as speciality sausages, cakes and delicacies from Taste of Anatolia, among many other delicious items.

This is exactly what Manchester has needed for many years, and I can’t understand why the council hasn’t been able to organise something like this. Although saying that, the best events come from innovative individuals doing something they’re passionate about. And in true Manchester fashion, this isn’t just any old farmers’ market – it’s so much more than that.

Castlefield Artisan Market will take place every first Sunday of the month, from 10am to 4pm. The next event is December 4 and there is a special Christmas market on December 23.

Come along and show your support.

Surburban Series plates by Lisa Mouncey, from Broadstone Mill

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Seeing as Australasia is the latest must-go restaurant in town we decided to check it out. Situated underneath the new Armani store, just off Deansgate, Australasia occupies what used to be the MEN basement, I believe.

Clearly a lot of attention has been given into making a basement seem, well, un-basement like. White floors, walls and furniture make it seem like you are sitting in a conservatory, with light just bouncing here, there and everywhere.

Our Australian wine waiter instantly impressed us by giving us a iPad to browse through the impressive wine menu. I was happy with a glass of the cheapest fizz (Thomas Mitchell Brut, Semillon, Trebbiano from Australia, £5.50) and across the table a Brazilian Pinot Grigio Riesling (£24.50 a bottle) was a good choice.

The menu takes in sushi, small Asian plates, big soups and main meals. However, it didn’t quite seem to gel together as much as it could do, perhaps because the influences are taken from such a huge continent.

For example, we ordered the Pork belly with pineapple curry (£14.50), but there was no rice on the menu. Chips or sweet potato mash were the only carbs on offer, which doesn’t seem very Asian – perhaps this is the Australian part of the cuisine?

However, that was the only slight criticism I can think of and every course had an amazing level of detail and flavour. The pineapple curry was beautifully made, with fruity highlights and small crunchy chunks of pork belly artfully arranged down the side.

My Ocean trout fillet (£18.50) came with a foam (which I scraped off) and was surrounded by a pretty arrangement of pancetta, mushrooms, caramelised onion and Maderian shallots. The rich, deep flavours of the mushroom and onion juices really highlighted the delicate fish beautifully.

We had started with a fantastically put together sushi and sashimi platter (£19.50). Generous portions of sashimi – including tuna and salmon – was served simply with California rolls and other sushi. There’s something about sashimi which makes you eat it slowly and respectfully, absorbing all the flavours.

Although the first two courses were amazing, it was the creative desserts (all £7) that really stood out. Tiny tasty sensations were plated together to form a sensational experience. Even on a terrible photo taken with my camera phone, how amazing do they look?

My pineapple-themed dessert involved passionfruit marshmallow which was a world away from marshmallow sweets and had the texture of what you think a cloud would feel like. Alongside this were pineapple parcels filled with a tangy sherbety pineapple puree, while a cool fresh pineapple sorbet pulled the trio together.

Similarly amazing was a Chocolate pave, with a tiny but perfectly made blobs of sour cherry thick jelly, Griottine cherries and a very delicate miso ice cream. Both desserts were surprisingly light and crafted so delicately and so impressive looking I kept showing the photos to people.

The attention to detail across the whole restaurant – food, wine, decor, waiting staff – was truly exemplary and Australasia has already made a great impression on Manchester, and this new kid on the block seems to have been welcomed with opened arms.

The bill came to around £90, which actually isn’t that bad when you see how much food we ate and were drinking glasses of wine instead of picking a bottle.

Apologies for the terrible quality of the photos. I hadn’t intended to write about this so had to take them with my mobile phone.

www.australasia.uk.com

Directions to Australasia

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Anyway, we were there and we were hungry AND they had a two courses for £12.95 offer on. The modern British menu definitely tempted our tastebuds so onwards we went. Showing its raw original brick arches to their full potential, the decor was understated, with a clean finish. So far, so good.

I got a severe case of food envy throughout the meal, with the other half’s dishes being much more appetising than mine. His starter of chicken liver pate was rich and smooth, and came with shallots to pile on the pate, a balsamic drizzle and locally baked bread. Look – he’d even started eating it before I took a photo.

My smoked salmon and sesame seed fishcakes were rightly tasty, but came with a mere drizzle of sweet green chilli dip. It was far from being a dip, and could have just been a damp plate – and actually didn’t taste of green chilli at all. Sweet red chilli sauce is sooo over, so a green chilli relish would have been a wonderful accompaniment but this thin drizzle just didn’t deliver.

I ordered the chorizo and artichoke risotto for my main course but was brought the pea risotto and then had to sit meal-less for another seven minutes while they re-cooked my order. Perhaps I should have stuck with the pea because the chorizo was just too salty and overpowering to go with the soft gooey rice, and I ended up leaving most of it. The artichokes were beautiful, but risotto is such a delicate dish it doesn’t need that big wallop of flavour from the chorizo.

Opposite, a tender lamb shank with thick chunky gravy and mash was a massive success. It was the small details – the bits of garlic in the gravy, the chopped greens in the mash, the crisped skin on the lamb – that really made it.

As restaurant urban myth has it, Mondays aren’t a good day to eat out because this is when the head chef has the day off. However, we’re still paying customers and there weren’t that many people eating for them to make mistakes and be all rushed. The main menu (not the offer we had) was quite expensive so I wouldn’t have been happy to pay top whack for the inconsistent level of food.

Too full for desserts – even for creme brulee – we strolled back through Castlefield to catch the last of the rays.

Choice Restaurant, Castle Quay, Manchester, M15 4NT
T: 0161 833 3400
W: www.choicebarandrestaurant.co.uk

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By taking numerous images of the same scene, including wide lens shots, close ups and different weather conditions, he layers different parts together to create a type of ‘photo painting’. The result is a very deep and detailed image full of atmosphere. Take a look at his photo gallery for all the images, including fantasy images created from Andrew’s imagination using different component photographs.

After a quick demo of Andrew’s skills we were set loose in Manchester, around Exchange Square and the cathedral. The weather created some beautiful light conditions, and with the arrival of the new Mayor at the cathedral with a gaggle of police motorcycles, there was plenty going on. The whole idea is that you should be able to take photos anywhere in Manchester without getting any hassle from the authorities, so we tested this fully by taking lots of photos of the police – and fair enough they didn’t bat an eyelid.

Below is a quick shot of @technicalfault snapping away over the River Irwell.

However, I would have liked some structure and a theme to the afternoon with some specific guidance around it. If we were working around a theme, it would have been really interesting to compare styles. I took plenty of images, but got a little bored and sun-wilted so went home early to lie on the sofa, erm I mean download my images.

So here’s a few pretty photos that I took this afternoon.

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After a late night with too much wine and then a 6.30am early start to finish off a project, I needed rescuing to make it through the rest of today. A hungover craving for food that involved not cooking or washing up propelled me, via the magic of the 192, down to Manchester’s Farmers’ and Producers’ Market at Piccadilly Gardens.

I’ve not been there for a while, so it was all brand new to me. I started off at the Orchard Pigs stall, who breed lovely happy pigs in Wrexham and then make them into pork pies for us Manchester people to eat. I’ve just nibbled a bit of the pork and cider pie that was recommended to me and it’s pretty good. There was none of that nasty jelly you usually get surrounding a pork pie. I think it cost £2.50.

Onwards to the Mango Ray stall, which had two huge pots of curry
bubbling away. I was tempted by the chickpea, spinach and new potato
curry, but went for the free range chicken and mango korma with rice
for £3.50. It was really tasty, not oily like a usual takeaway, and
actually had a bit of spice in it so beware if you’re a chilli wimp.

Next up to grab my wandering attention was i♥cake – and who doesn’t?
They had a stall set up covered in cupcakes with a big swirl of pretty pastel icing on each one. They’re possibly a little pricey at £1.25 each (or six for £6), but the chocolate one was truly delicious: rich, moist and moreish. I also bought a lemon and poppy seed one for Mr Manchester Is Ace, but haven’t touched it yet. Oh wait, I just tried the icing and it’s marvellous. They also have a blog called Cakey Love.

As Sarah Hartley pointed out in her Life Through Food blog, the world has indeed gone cupcake crazy. In fact, just a few weeks ago both the Saturday Guardian and the Sunday Times had big features all about cupcakes. But hey, I’m not complaining: more cakes = one more good thing in the world.

I also had a good look at the Caribbean food stall, which was serving rice and peas, jerk chicken and spicy sauce, in which I could smell the chilli from five feet away. This offering seemed to be doing well with the pensioners, who were queuing up to buy the spicy food, so I’ll be trying this next time. I bought a jar of pineapple and coconut chutney (£2.99), which is all fruity and spicy, lovely.

A couple of years ago, I went up to the Forest of Bowland and stayed in a trendy hotel called the Stanley House Hotel, where we had fillet steak from this part of the country – and it was absolutely beautiful. So I had a lovely chat with the bloke selling Bowland meat and bought a massive selection to fill up the freezer. The prices were good considering it’s ‘real’ meat and I’m looking forward to trying out the sausages, amusingly called the Manchester Dangler, which have Boddingtons in them.

Round the corner was a nice chap called Lee Ellis from Premier Hog Roast who was slicing up a hog roast (vegetarians look away now) to serve up with apple sauce on a nice barm. This is top of my list to try at the next market at the end of the month (along with the jerk chicken of course).

This market has been going for a good few years now, but could possibly do with a bit more publicity and support. I mentioned it on Twitter, and someone who had lived in Manchester for a few years had never heard it it, and then blogged about it on www.elgey.co.uk. It’s entirely possible that if you don’t walk past Piccadilly Gardens when the market is there twice a month, you wouldn’t know about it.

I’m going to make a real effort to get there and support our Northern farmers, and yes, I’d rather pay more to make sure I buy meat that has been well looked after and well fed. So get yourself down to the next farmers’ market, which will be on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28. It is always on the second and fourth Friday and Saturday of each month, between 10am and 6pm. But for a city as large as Manchester, it’s a shame there aren’t more stalls. But show your support, spend money and they will come.

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Manchester’s Northern Quarter welcomes a new bar this year, and there is indeed room for such a newcomer. Noho is situated on Stevenson Square, just opposite Soup Kitchen.

The name is a twist on New York’s Soho district, and the owners are trying to bring a touch of the Big Apple to their little corner of Manchester. The building used to be one of the many large wholesale clothing places that are round here, so is ideal for transforming into a bar.

The huge floor-to-ceiling were all steamed up when I was there on Saturday evening, and from when we arrived it quickly filled up with the usual cool NQ crowd. There was a good atmosphere, no ponciness, no idiots – just loads of people enjoying a drink. We quickly slumped on the big leather Chesterfield to enjoy the grooves.

If you go, check out the huge murals on the wall, which are absolutely amazing. There’s a really good post on Munklefish’s blog about Noho, and he says they were done by the Upperspace and Sketch City collective.

I was only at Noho for two drinks, but I’ll definitely add it to my rounds of drinking dens in the NQ.  One of the problems I’ve just found though is they have no website and when you google Noho Manchester, you only get a few entries and then the rest are for Moho, which is just around the corner on Tib Street. Hope they get a website sorted soon!

ADDITION TO POST, March 14, 2009
Noho now has a swanky new website, so check it out.
www.noho-bar.com

Here are a couple of other blogs and websites that have given Noho a mention.
Life Through Food with Sarah Hartley
Northern Nights blog
Manchester Confidential
Munklefish

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When I lived in the splendour of Heaton Moor, the Town cafe staff had a reputation for being a bit surly, and I’ve walked out of there before through lack of being served. However, I think the Town cafe now has new owners. Today we did have to wait some time before getting our lunch order in, but there was only two waitresses on and they were very lovely, if very busy.

It’s quite a small venue, but I believe there is an upstairs for functions. I also noticed that on the back of the toilet door, they had put on a party bus to Sankeys at 11pm on Saturday night. This is quite a good way of making the most of people who have got wrecked throughout the night, don’t want to go home, and suddenly find there’s a bus to take them to a club. Liking the entreprenurial spirit.

They currently have an offer on, which is something like £10 for two courses, but the Town Cafe doesn’t appear to have a website so I can’t check that. How can a business, especially a bar, not have a website these days? Impossible but true. I also noticed they had a two for one offer on cocktails on Thursdays, so that is marked in my mental diary to test out asap.

Having been dragged out of bed to ferry myself to B&Q, my chauffeur friend went for the vegetarian breakfast, which is £5 on Saturdays and Sundays. Bargain indeed. Everything was nicely cooked and good quality ingrediants for the price. I had a soup and a sandwich deal for £5.95, which again used really good ingrediants: beautiful thick granary bread and a nice mixed leaf salad with dressing. The filling of melted mozzerella, ham and tomato was tasty, but I was disappointed by the ham, which looked like it had just come out of a packet from Asda. My potato and leek soup, however, could not be faulted. It’s an easy soup to make, but this one was thick, full of flavour and very filling. Top marks here.

I could have lingered throughout the afternoon, ordering cake and more cups of tea, reading the Sunday papers, but a kitchen that needed painting beckoned me home. The Town cafe is a great place to drop into at the weekends for lunch. It gets really busy on the weekend evenings, as do all the bars in Heaton Moor, which is what makes it a great place to go out. It’s very cosy, cool and good value for money.

Town Cafe, 60 Heaton Moor Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, SK4 4NZ.

Tel: 0161 431 8110‎

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I haven’t been to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester since I was about 11 and my, has it changed! The big shed full of places and engines is still there, but now there are four buildings in total full to the brim of exhibitions.

Since then it has also undergone some re-branding and transformed into the Museum of Science and Industry – but shortened to MOSI. There was something about the long original version that sounded British, Northern and down to earth. I have to admit that MOSI sounds all American, and well a bit posey (or should that be POSI, haha?). But I am a busy girl, and who has time to say Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester – MOSI will do me fine.

In the spirit of this blog, the important thing is that it’s FREE! And good value for (no) money it is too. The site of the museum used to be Liverpool Road Station, one the oldest passenger railways in the world. According to the lazy Googler’s bible, Wikipedia, the station opened in 1830, and was a passenger railway for just 14 years when it was used for industry for goods coming in from Liverpool before closed down in 1975.

We were there for about two hours but still only saw three of the buildings – and then I was all museum-ed out and thinking about cocktails. I don’t think that anyone could possibly see all the exhibitions in one day – so I wouldn’t recommend trying to do so.

We started in the Air and Space Shed, which was full of planes, cars and engines. Moving on to the next building, we saw an exhibition about cotton and the part it played in Manchester’s development. This history is really important to remember, and is always fascinating to me to find out how people lived.

My house was built in 1891, and I’d love to see how it was then and who lived there. I think my life is hard now because I can’t afford loads of things, but people then really did have tough lives. Can you even imagine having to walk to the end of the street to go to the toilet – yuk!

Moving onto the 1860 Warehouse, we saw Underground Manchester, which was all about the Victorian sewer system, and included descriptions of how people pooed and weed in the olden days – great for kids.

Upstairs there was another exhibition called Little Italy which I’ve read about and was looking forward to seeing. Ancoats used to be known as Little Italy because of the large influx of Italian immigrants from the mid-1800s. With them they brought their ice-cream making experience, where some families still make ice cream today. Think they should bring some samples in for visitors though!

MOSI was a fun day out, and was full of people of all ages – so if you’ve not been since you were a kid, give it a go.

WHERE: Liverpool Road, Castlefield Manchester M3 4FP
WHEN:MOSI is open seven days a week from 10am-5pm.
HOW: Entry to the permanent galleries is free.
www.msim.org.uk

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