Never ones to forgo some good weather and a good excuse (Scott’s return from a trip to the US), we decided to finally make a visit to Altrincham Market House. Many of these funky markets are popping up around Manchester these days, and this particular venue reminds me greatly of De Foodhallen that we were regular visitors to in Amsterdam. It’s essentially an old market hall that houses several food stalls from local businesses.
The market hall building itself is beautiful, and features an outdoor terrace strung with fairy lights, which is where we chose to sit. There’s plenty more seating inside, but as I said, it was a gorgeous evening, so we had to make the most of it. Once you’ve found your table (and taken note of the table number), you can order food from any of the stalls and they will deliver it to you once it’s cooked.
While we pontificated about what to eat, we ordered a couple of glasses of wine from the in-house vintner Reserve Wines – a crisp white Torrontes from Argentina. Apparently these guys change their wine list every month, so it’s possible to try lots of different varieties each time you visit. This one was particularly refreshing and suited the ambience, food and weather perfectly.
Food-wise, we first ordered a Korean fried chicken bao from Wolfhouse Kitchen. This was my first foray into the bao burger trend – I’ve only ever eaten filled bao in Asia. The bao was soft and slightly chewy, just how it should be, and the fried chicken was still crispy despite being smothered in slightly spicy Korean-style sauce. The spring onions lifted the taste of the whole dish, and a good squeeze of the chilli-rimmed lime rounded out the flavours perfectly. Delicious.
Feeling buoyed by our first good choice, we then opted for a roasted corn, pancetta and mascarpone pizza from Honest Crust. All of the pizza from these guys is wood-fired with a sourdough base and the menu changes seasonally; again, a good reason to keep returning. The pizza was creamy, cheesy and perfectly charred. The sweetness of the corn worked really well with the salty pancetta, and the mascarpone and mozzarella melted in the mouth without slipping off the base.
Quite a lot of time had passed by this point and, having scoffed a large piece of cake earlier in the day that Scott had flown back from the US, I declined a dessert (I know – shocker). Instead, Scott opted for a flat white coffee from Market House Coffee to try and combat his jetlag. It was presented in the cutest cup I’ve ever seen, with an almost giant-like handle. A frothily delicious way to round out a great first experience at Altrincham Market House. I’ll most definitely be back – next time with my full appetite in tact.
- Greenwood Street, Altrincham WA14 1SA
- The Market House is open Tues – Sat 9am – 10pm, Sun 9am – 6pm
- http://www.altrinchammarket.co.uk/
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