Man Bites Frog

Man Bites Frog is the sort of relaxed neighbourhood bar every neighbourhood needs. It’s friendly, a bit kooky (or should that be kooké?) and full of French paraphernalia and more general eclectica too. In line with its Frenchified vibe, they have table football and owner Dave is quite the whizz. If school lessons were to be believed, le babyfoot is practically the French national pastime.

With a bar like this as your local, you’d be feeling pretty smug but then it goes and serves up damn good food too with a chilled out lunchtime menu and an evening menu for when it gets a bit more dusky and date-y. What more could you want?

During the day, expect things like steak sandwich or merguez sausages with frites then the evening menu moves on to raffish bistro fare like oyster mushroom arancini or crispy Jerusalem artichokes with sheep’s cheese to start followed by dishes like duck breast with celeriac puree and charred cauliflower or aubergine and chickpea tagine with orange-blossom carrots.

The food is good value and there are often food events and special one-offs if you keep an eye on social media.

There’s even an outdoor terrace which, although it doesn’t overlook the Eiffel Tower, does overlook Chorlton Bus Station so, you know, good transport links too.

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