Dog Friendly Manchester, Eat And Drink, Food, MANchester, Restaurants

Brunch At Wilsons Social, Northern Quarter

You may have noticed some major changes that have happened around the Stevenson Square area of the Northern Quarter. The block that used to house Patron, Hilton Chambers and Corner Boy has had a complete overhaul and is now owned by Latin American brand Selina.

Their ethos is pretty simple – a unique place where travellers and locals alike can stay, work and play. With that in mind, they have taken over the Patron and renamed it Wilson’s Social after iconic Manc Tony Wilson. They’ve kept Corner Boy the same and completely refurbished Hilton Chambers, renaming it Selina NQ1. I’m going to do a separate post about Selina NQ1 as I have a lot to show you, but for now I want to tell you about Wilson’s Social.

It hasn’t changed drastically from the Patron days and Selina were keen to keep the community engaged with the bar, especially with it being such a favourite haunt of the local Northern Quarter crowd. It feels a lot lighter and less noisy, definitely the type of place you could rock up with your laptop and get your head stuck in to some work. The bar space has been opened up with beautiful artwork from local artists adorning the walls.

I know brunches tend to involve prosecco but I genuinely think espresso martinis are the way to go. The caffeine hit is always needed and the Wilson’s martinis are really good. Not too sweet, a good kick of caffeine and a lovely layer of froth on the top. So far so good.

Onto the food! The menu incorporates dishes from all over the world but we were here for brunch so stuck to traditional ‘breakfast’ dishes. My friend tried the Big Breakfast but added an order of halloumi. She was really impressed with the quality of each of the individual elements but declared the hash brown incredible and she was right. The centre is soft and creamy with a herb note that reminded me a little of stuffing. It really was good and lots of people commented that it was the best hash brown they’ve tried in the City.

I went for my old favourite, Eggs Benedict. It was a really generous portion with thick cut salty bacon, rich poached eggs and a slightly sour hollandaise sauce. The eggs were slightly on the cool side but considering they had literally opened the day before, I am totally putting that down to teething problems.

After a couple more espresso martinis, we decided we had to try dessert and the Banana Bread had really stood out for me. It seemed a really different option and is also a brunch option on the menu. It is absolutely massive! Two generous slices of moist banana bread that is not too sweet, topped with blueberries and ice cream. It is a lovely dish and one I will definitely be back for.

My friend chose the Chocolate Pudding, which had an firm shell and a gooey chocolate centre. The addition of pistachio ice cream worked well and made it that bit special compared to other chocolate desserts.

Before we knew it, we had been sat in Wilson’s Social for over 3 hours! It is so chilled out and relaxed. The perfect way to spend time catching up with friends, and make sure you do it over that banana bread.