Food, Part II

It wouldn't be a blog of mine if I didn't write about food extensively at some point. City living, by which I mean one you can actually walk around, rather than the sprawl of London, is by nature conducive to good eating - all that competition - but the huge tsunami of excellent, innovative, global cuisine has yet to hit rural Cheshire, to a point (although obviously it is to be found in Manchester and Liverpool. It's just we never go there. Too lazy.), so I'm trying to trough my way through it all before we return while I can. This New Year's resolution was never going to be about losing weight.

So: notes for the future or for anyone ever in this part of the country. A sort of list of must-eats to remind myself of at a later date. Or when Oscar goes home, which will free up a LOT of time. And money, because we won't have to spend it all on sushi (see below) and outings.

Longhorns BBQ: Meat. Really excellent smoky slow-cooked meat. Lots of it. On a board. With pickles and fries. It's hipster (sigh) but not tiresomely so and The Board take out, which comprises beef ribs, Andouille sausage, pulled pork, pork ribs, beef flank, chicken wings and more gave us 8 (EIGHT!!!) separate meals including sandwiches and chilli for £27.50.

Nudo: Oscar's new love - sushi. Christ it's an expensive habit but this is really good. The sushi is already in its bento box but everything is really fresh and good quality. There are soups and noodles, salads and juices. Oscar especially loves the weird squidgy omelette thing-y and the raw salmon; we're both having grilled eel next time we go. We've had to limit this to twice a week, it's so addictive.

Dabbawal: Indian street food. Frankly, Indian is so bloody bog-standard everywhere you go that the moment I see somewhere offering something other than chicken korma and naan and jalfrezi, I leap on it like a rabbit on speed. Matt naturally loves the bog-standard, so I was able to get him a chicken korma, garlic naan, onion bhaji and sag paneer (sigh. yawn.). But I was able to get a really good fresh zingy bhel puri and a masala dosa with vegetable sauce that admirably survived the take-home process. The restaurant is also bordello-pink, so naturally it's a beacon of hope to those who despair of flock wallpaper and gold chairs.

Hei-Hei: Sichuan Chinese on the doorstep. They definitely don't do this in Cheshire. The point of Sichuan is its heat and fire, so I was a bit disappointed my pork belly and salted fish aubergine hotpot was completely devoid. It was, however, squidgily, umami-ly delicious. Just not spicy. So next time I'll choose something with a chilli icon. Note to self: Doh.

Kracklin: More meat. In bread. The window reads "Meat and Bread." Salt beef, pulled pork, porchetta, Reuben's, Asian-style chicken, inventive slaws and sauces and POUTINE!. Very heaven.

Fenwick's Patisserie: I now get it, the northern love of Fenwick's. There's a beautiful patisserie café which has a Sachertorte nicer than the one I had in Vienna. They have a wood-fired pizza café which is always packed and an Asian tapas bar I'm determined to get to at some point. They also have a proper cold-brew coffee bar, which I'm determined to mainline as soon as I can afford it. They also have a superb fishmongers and butchery, a spice shop which makes up your own blend of curry powder, a wine section with tasting bar (why have I not moved in?), an expensive bakery. Obviously none of this is at all related to the actual store which, by the way, does have an unrivalled make-up department which again I intend to plunder once more free.

Han Bei Chinese dumplings in the market. Freshly-made, steamed and served in front of your actual eyes.

There are others in the pipeline: Pleased To Meet You, a gin joint with a funky menu; The Big Mussel, seafood on the quayside; Marco Polo, a family Italian at the bottom of the steps; Solano's, the Peruvian three floors down; Dacantus, doing what looks like proper Spanish tapas, although maybe not as authentically as Chester's Porta. There's a dim sum restaurant on the edge of Chinatown I have to get to with Oscar as well. I'm desperate to have all these food experiences with Oscar, we're running out of time, against the clock which I also hope begins ticking a bit faster from Thursday. Quick, quick, eat, absorb, savour, remember.