My favourite Liverpool establishments are arriving in Manchester at a speed of knots! I am yet to visit Lunya in Manchester although it is somewhere I go in Liverpool every time I visit, even if it is just to warm up with a cappuccino. Somewhere else I have always enjoyed is Bakchich in their prime spot on Bold Street. I hadn’t visited the Manchester branch straight away, mainly because it’s that bit too far out of the centre over near the university. So when an invite to review dropped into my inbox I thought it was the perfect excuse to wander over and see if their houmous was as incredible as their scouse version.
Inside Bakchich has a large floor space with minimal, copper topped tables and some funky artwork on the walls. The kitchen is open with the prettiest tiles running along the front and along the main wall. In the heart of student-ville it was surprisingly quiet for a Thursday night but I’ve heard it can be difficult to get a table around lunch time.
Mezze style Lebanese street food is the name of the game here and your food arrives when it is ready. We actually asked to have ours as a starter and main but unfortunately this didn’t happen so halfway through our starter we were presented with more large plates of food which we found a little overwhelming.
Onto the food though and we chose the meat mezze platter to share so we could get a feel for more than one dish. Jewaneh meshwi, or chicken wings to you or I, were beautifully grilled although on the small side. The addition of broad beans in the falafel made them a little too dry for my liking although the kibbeh shamiya (minced lamb parcels) were spiced nicely with pine nuts for a little crunch and a light yoghurt sauce. The mixed shawarma was a delight – lightly grilled for added flavour without making the meat dry, the slightly crispy flatbreads made it far too easy to continue to eat this despite filling tummies. The houmous, what can I say. I eat so much of the stuff and the houmous here is one of the best. A good balance of chickpea and garlic makes it thicker than others but that’s just how I like it.
Onto the mains and I chose the mixed grill meshawi with fries. This is a huge dish and for £12.95 it is great value. 4 skewers of perfectly grilled meat including chicken kofta, shish taouk – chicken fragrantly marinated in spices, lahma meshawi – marinated lamb, kefta meshawi – minced lamb with freshly chopped parsley and onion for added texture. With rice this would have been a really healthy dish and considering they do takeaway I am a little jealous of anyone eating clean at the university as this would be perfect for a clean lunch.
My friend ordered the gambary meshawi and was presented with the biggest king prawns I think I have seen in this country! The menu says they are served with a spicy tomato sauce although the appear to have been lightly marinated in this rather than served with it. This made for messy eating and no finger bowl was provided which saw a copious amounts of napkins being used. They were soft, plump and juicy though so all the effort was worth it. The rice was fragrant, fluffy and seasoned perfectly. So much so that I had it boxed up with my leftover skewers for my lunch the next day. And that is a standard service here. Can’t finish your meal? The staff automatically offer to box it up so there is none of that British awkwardness we often experience, it’s easy.
We would have liked to try one of their desserts and I had my eye on the almond and pineapple cake. Unfortunately we struggled to get the attention of any of the wait staff and it was around 20 minutes after finishing our mains that they took the plates. I would have asked for dessert when the plates were whisked away but it was so quick that I was literally asking the waiters back as he was away that fast. We waited a further 20 minutes when we decided we’d just grab the bill and go. I was surprised that desserts were never offered and can’t help but wonder how long we would have sat waiting for our bill had we not asked.
You can expect great value, well prepared food although unless you are already in the neck of the woods, it is a little far our for my liking. I think I’ll go back one lunchtime to see how the wait staff cope with a busy service as I hope our lengthy wait time was a one off.
Have you been to Bakchich? What did you think?
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