Farm & Fish

A collaboration between NQ-based artisan meat gaff The Butcher’s Quarter and Monton’s own “purveyors of fine wine and indulgencies” Wandering Palate, this foodie-intended grocery store-cum-tasting room does what its name suggests: fresh fayre from field and sea.

The deli shelves are heaving under the weight of products made by local independent businesses, including small-batch sauces from the likes of Devildog and that other kind of sauce from Manchester Gin (check out the special bone marrow number), Dantzic Street’s Runaway Brewery and others. Everything on the butcher’s counter can be traced back to individual farms: the free-range, grass-fed beef comes from Cheshire; the outdoor born and bred pork and poultry hails from Staffordshire; the free-range lamb and eggs are from Lancashire. From the fridge, unpasteurised farmhouse cheeses are sourced via IJ Mellis of Edinburgh while the cured meats and fish are provided by dedicated suppliers in Scotland, France, Spain and Italy. The fresh seafood is fished sustainably off the British coast using day boats and lines not nets; everything is about high-quality, seasonal, organic (where possible) produce that hasn’t travelled far. Not surprisingly, both The Butcher’s Quarter and Wandering Palate have seen themselves on the retailers of the year shortlist in the Manchester Food & Drink Festival Awards, so Farm & Fish is a match made in heaven.

The tasting room part of the shop is where the team magic really happens, with regular supper clubs and daily special small plate creations available to eat inside or out. Think Loch Fyne beetroot-cured salmon on toasted sourdough served with Abernethy salted seaweed butter, smoked black pepper and capers; think mussels in a rich, tomato sauce or hand-shucked oysters washed down with bubbles. There are also breakfast sandwiches, available to sit in or take away, including the Butchers Buttie: sausages handmade by butcher Billy, proper black pudding, smoked back bacon and tomato chutney stuffed between two slices of sourdough courtesy Great Northern Mews bakehouse Holy Grain.

There’s coffee, wines and cocktails to be had too, and you can even order a sheepskin rug from the lamb farmer, John, further supporting the nose-to-tail ethos of Farm & Fish.

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