Located
fittingly on Edge Street, this bar/restaurant boasts quality food,
drinks and service with quirkiness and flare.
On
my first visit to what's often shortened to ‘Common', I sat back to
a window with a bright, full view of the bold yet minimal interior,
comprised of a variety of organic colours and textures, such as
wooden chipboard surfaces and vibrant paper artwork, giving warmth to
the deep grey walls. Adding detail to the humble atmosphere of Common
are a wide spread of colourful beer mats pasted to the walls and bar
area, which decoratively highlight the extensive choice of unique
craft ales in stock. Modest metallic furnishings combine with the friendliness of the staff to create this fresh hangout spot in
the heart of the Northern Quarter.
Despite the tempting ale variety, I skipped
straight to the cocktails. To start, my lunch companion and I shared
the curiously named 'Beet Down', which, according to the barman, is a concoction of beetroot, vodka, passion-fruit,
and egg whites. Made obvious by this vibrant pink number,
Common offers much more exciting cocktails than your standard Sex on
the Beach (depending on who's the cocktail shaker, I suppose.) At
around £8 on average, the cocktails on this menu are expensive but worth it for a treat or special occasion.
To
nibble, we shared a portion of deep fried beer battered
pickles and chillies. Like many other twenty-something year old
foodies, they had me at 'deep fried'. Delicious, enough said.
For
my main, I chose the shrimp, chorizo and avocado on sourdough toast
with chipotle mayo. It was exactly as good as it
sounds: the chorizo was fresh and flavoursome, and the spice from the
chipotle perfectly balanced the creamy avocado. My companion went for
the roast vegetable chilli, which was served up in its
own hardened tortilla bowl, she found it 'inspirational',
buying a pack of tortillas on the way home to later attempt a
recreation of the dish. We shared sides of the Deep House Salad,
which was a pretty mix of lettuce, cucumber and pickled
cabbage but had nothing notably to do with house music, and Kimchi
Slaw (I'd never heard of it either). To put it simply, our
adventurousness paid off: both sides beautifully complimented or main
dishes, and after some inspired researching (AKA, a quick Google), I
now know that 'kimchi' is a fermented Korean dish with a variety of
seasonings.
In
addition to their inspired and varied menu, Common also offers a wide
range of American style burgers, westernised Mexican food, local
meats, cheeses, and deli style sandwiches, as well as various salads.
It has also created a generous variety for those with dietary
requirements, like vegetarians and vegans. Considering the menu’s assortment, I would definitely bank on there being
something delicious for everyone at Common.
After
licking up every last crumb of our meals, we sadly had no
room for pudding, despite the shameless ogling of the Rocky Road
that'd been giving us ‘the eye’ for the duration of our lunch. Then again, that’s just another reason to return.
39 to 41 Edge Street
Northern Quarter
Manchester M4 1HW
Manchester M4 1HW
0161 832 9245
http://www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk/
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