We're on a mission to find Manchester's best cheap eats
and we're going to try and keep it under the £7 mark.
First up in our new series we've come
to the Arndale Food Market.
Now you've got your traditional butchers,
there's a fish monger's.
You can even get your fruit and veg here.
But there is a raft of contemporary
street food traders serving delicious food
making this one of the best places
to go for lunch in Manchester.
Right, first up Viet Shack.
These guys helped put the food market on the map
back in 2014 bringing with them
fresh and healthy Vietnamese street food.
And do you know what else they brought with them?
Queues, massive queues ever since day one.
So many dishes for under a fiver here.
We've got the Cow Burger, Saigon Summer Salad,
but you know what? My mind's made up--
I'm going for this--
four quid, the Lemongrass Chicken Burger.
When I went out to university,
I've always missed my mum's cooking and stuff like that,
so hence that's why I always ring her and say,
"Mum, how'd you do this?"
It's pretty good, honest food.
We're pretty humble guys, and it is what it is,
it's just like good fresh Vietnamese street food.
This has just got all those traditional flavours
you'd expect in Vietnamese cooking.
We've got the freshness coming through from the Lemongrass
and the coriander.
There's a slight acidity from the pickled carrots.
The bun's nice and soft.
That chicken is so juicy and there's just a slight bit of heat
coming through with the sriracha mayo in there.
And for £4 this is an absolute winner.
Now, next up is the relatively newish kid on the block,
Salt & Pepper.
It's run by a brother and sister team,
Cash and Chloe,
and they've basically taken their parents'
traditional recipes, made them their own,
and just given them a little modern twist.
They are absolutely smashing it!
We're Chinese kids born and raised in Manchester
with massive influence from both cultures.
So we want to merge those two together.
The Salt & Pepper chicken classic is crispy chicken,
it's seasoned, it's salty.
It's cooked with garlic, chillies, onions,
and spring onions.
Fry it in a wok and then we put in the fresh chicken,
mix it all together, and add our salt and pepper seasoning.
Oh, it does get really busy here on a lunchtime
from 12 til about 2.30pm.
I don't even want to have a look at the queue.
It stretches for ages. - It's mad!
Listen, if we're talking cheap eats
and value for money,
then this is the absolute bomb.
Look at the size of that.
We've got some chilli mayo on here,
some sweet, sticky soy sauce,
and I've had enough of talking about it, I'm goin' in.
The chicken's bang-on, the sauces are just right,
and the chips are going down a treat,
but if you're going to have this at lunchtime,
try and get a little siesta in the afternoon,
'cause this is going to fill you up.
Now this place is Wholesome Junkies,
the first ever vegan stall in the whole
of the Arndale's history.
Now plenty going on, on the menu,
but I've been told I need to try one thing...
the KFC Burger.
That's Kentucky Fried Cauliflower.
When I started this three years ago I became vegan.
I couldn't find anything that sort of satisfied
what I craved.
So I started developing lots of different ways
to make junk food plant-based.
Dropping that stigma of boring falafel and hummus.
And we wanted to bring something exciting
with junk food, but making it plant-based.
So this bad boy is coming in at £6.50
and look at it, that is a thing of beauty.
Look at the melt they've got on that cheese.
Okay, I'm goin' in.
Wow, wow, wow, wow, the coating on that cauliflower
is so crispy.
Cauliflower's cooked exactly how I'd like it,
but what's interesting is I've got this sauce on the bottom,
this mayonnaise, it's a secret recipe.
They won't tell me what's in it,
they're not going to tell you what's in it,
but at £6.50, you should it anyway.
Cheers.
For too long now I think the oyster's been associated
with fine dining, fancy restaurants,
glasses of champagne,
but no more.
Here at Holy Crab they're bringing the oyster
back to the people.
If people don't know Holy Crab,
how would you describe it to them?
We are a seafood and oyster bar in the Arndale Market,
open seven days a week for lunch and more.
So the fact that there's an oyster bar
in the Arndale Market, that's incredible, isn't it?
Absolutely, we think so.
We love seafood and we thought
Manchester was lacking
in places to find good seafood,
and we decided to just go and try it and give it a go.
Right, I'm going to get stuck into these now.
What type of oysters are these?
They're Lindisfarne and they're absolutely amazing.
On here you've got a shallot vinegar,
a soy and ginger, and a Bloody Mary hot sauce.
- Thanks Lou. - Enjoy.
So first of all before we go in on these,
it's worth pointing out, three for £7,
I mean, that is great value.
Right, let's go in.
I mean, they look fresh, they feel nice and chilled.
Ooooh!
That's incredible, it's just nice--
plump, soft, the shallot vinegar cuts through it,
and I've got that little oyster buzz.
Cheers.
I'm goin' in for a second.
Now, this place is called Blue Caribou,
and it was opened by two fellas
that refer to themselves as "the poutine boys."
It was opened as a direct reaction to the fact
that you just couldn't get good poutine here in the UK.
So when the owners moved to Manchester from Canada
and couldn't satisfy their craving for good poutine,
they just decided to do it themselves.
So poutine is cheese curds, chips, and gravy, essentially,
that's the bare bones of it.
The classic is always a good option,
then you're getting the authentic taste of Quebec.
I think northerners especially welcome the idea of
cheese, chips and gravy - everyone's had it
after a night out.
Everyone enjoys it, but this is another level to it,
so we add different toppings,
we have a different special every week
that's from a different part of the world,
whether it be Korea, America,
we try and like push it to that higher level.
So this is the La Classique.
And you cannot complain at that for £5.50.
They are not shy with their cheese or their gravy,
or their chips.
Right, let's go in.
Oh, man.
That is just the perfect comfort food.
The cheese squeaks as you bite down into it.
Those fries, skin on, crispy as,
nice and fluffy in the middle
and that gravy...
just so rich and thick.
I love this and I'm eating every last bit of it, cheers.
Okay, let me introduce you to this place.
This is Pancho's Burritos,
probably some of the most authentic Mexican food
you're going to find anywhere in Manchester.
It began as a little taco stall in Mexico City,
and then 10 years ago the owner, Enrique and his wife
brought it over here to Manchester,
so that we could enjoy their family recipes.
Well, basically, it's just trying
to bring proper Mexican stuff here to Manchester.
We like to do proper recipes,
proper spices, proper dishes.
Right now, English society is more used to spices,
like proper chillies, more fresh, made from scratch.
I can say that the porks are amazing.
And, I mean, we can say
that the pork in chipotle's amazing.
Okay, so this is the Pork Chipotle Burrito.
This is the owner's favourite,
it's one of their best sellers,
and this is the one that's been recommended to me.
Now at £6.80 it's not the cheapest thing
that we found in the market.
However, just look at the size of that bad boy.
That is going to feed a family of four let alone just me.
Right, I'm gonna go in.
So much flavour going on in my mouth,
so inside you've got the pork chipotle.
It's juicy, it's succulent, and the heat's just right.
I'm not going to be able to get through all of that,
but while we're here, they've brought this over for me.
This is their habanero salsa.
Apparently, it's quite hot, I'm gonna go in.
There's the heat, it arrives.
I mean, that is delicious.
Don't have as much as I just did.
It's hot, it's very, very, very hot.
Yes mate.
So let's just have a little recap on what we've eaten.
First up, a Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Burger
for only £4.
Next up, a stack of Salt & Pepper Chicken
served with chips and rice for only £6.
A vegan take on a KFC Burger for £6.50.
There was Manchester's most authentic burrito
at £6.80.
We had some of the best poutine you're gonna get in the UK,
never mind Manchester, for just £5.50.
And even three delicious oysters for £7.
There you go, that concludes our trip
around the Arndale Market.
We have conquered the cheap eats.
Do you know what?
The beauty of this place is if you come here with a tenner
and get yourself something to eat,
you're still gonna have a bit of change left
to get yourself a drink.
Who'd have thought there'd be a MicroBar in the Arndale
and this place is pretty good.
We're going to be back with more
of Manchester's best cheap eats very soon.
To find out more make sure you're following our socials
just search for Manchester's Finest.
Cheers.