solita

always a pleasure to frequent here. for some reason i've always visited this venue when the sun is out. so needless to say i always sit outside in their little beer patio/garden in front of their premises. not the prettiest but who cares when you have a cold beer in hand and the sun is shining.

ideal place if you eat insane choices in burgers/wings and fries. i had the kfb (kentucky fried bacon) and it was delicious. giving it a four because the burger bun was quite hard and crumbly, i’m assuming this is not always like this. also i got the second spiciest wings selection which were mild at best. would definitely go back.

i'm never a big fan a burger, so take this review with a grain of salt.

first of all, the interior is nice, and i got table on the basement, so that's fine with me.
i went there friday evening, arrived around 7 pm, and honestly the service was kinda slow, and we were expected to leave in 8 pm. honestly, if you want us to get out of there fast, then serve our food fast.
we had solita sharer for starter, and it was amazing. the spring rolls really lives up to the hype, it was heaven on the mouth. i almost order it for take away, but there was no room left after the burger. my friend said the mac 'n' cheese balls were amazing too, so you can't go wrong with this menu. the fried baby squid was also good, i enjoyed that one a lot.
to the burger, well, i ordered walk of shame, and it was good, but i expected some special sauce but it was just like another burger, however, the patty is good. there was no vegetable whatsoever in this burger, and did i mention it was double patties?

summary:
coming back for the spring rolls.

the newly refurbished basement is looking great, modelled on the impressive designs of the newer didsbury & prestwich restaurants; complete with stanley chow artwork, graffiti and fancy new neon lights.
i wanted to try the amazing sounding and looking ‘salt beef croquettes’ too, but sadly they’d sold out.
so i settled for an old favourite, ‘cheeseburger spring rolls’.

then it was time for the main event.
an already impressively large burger is made higher still with a trio of christmas dinner staples.

the seeded brioche bun contains a seven-ounce chuck steak patty and is stuffed (pun intended) with buttermilk fried turkey, roast gammon, monterey jack cheese, cranberry and port sauce and deep fried sprouts. before being drenched in rich turkey gravy.
oh, and it’s topped with that skewer containing a: goose fat roast potato, stuffing ball and now legendary candied pig in blanket.
yeah, it’s quite literally christmas in a bun.

our latest foray into the world of grill and burger restaurants led us to solita in manchester’s northern quarter. the name of the restaurant, complete with capital l and i, is a reference to its location “south of little italy”. i think of it as sounding a bit like “so little” as we arrived on a sunday afternoon to a tiny, packed (but cheerful) room on the ground floor. fortunately, the layout is deceiving as there are more tables on the floors above. i did notice that there are additional spaces downstairs as well as across the street, so they are well equipped to handle the flow of customers at peak times.

go regularly.

love it every time i go.

i have recently transitioned to a vegan diet so would say that the vegan burger could do with a bit more love. the bun is very standard

also making a reappearance was one of my favourite christmassy drinks. ‘mars bar eggnog’ is essentially alcohol spiked (rum and brandy) mars bar milkshakes with extra butter, cream and chocolate. it probably contains more calories than the burger that followed but it tastes ridiculously good.

solita has appeared in national newspapers recommending them as one of the top places to grab a burger, in these burgersplosive times this is some feat....so what is all the fuss about  yes they do burgers, many have jumped on the burger bandwagon since, but they were there at the beginning, maybe a little quieter in terms of their popularity but by no means quieter in themselves. they have been shouting about how good they are on twitter for some time now. they have so much confidence and most importantly passion about what they do it shines through in their food.

interesting but obviously very cholesterol red zone menu but oh so delish! favorite starter - bacon fat fried popcorn! yes it's as amazing as it sounds. our table also had some chicken wings which had bourbon sauce - very good choice. for mains i had 10ounce steak - impressed to find good meat in uk for reasonable price. the menu is so interesting is recommend at least one visit to anyone in manchester. only downside was the ambiance/decor- very dark and bordering on bland side.

solita is manchester's temple of burgers, with several signature classics such as the big manc (a burger restaurant take on the classic big mac), the manc-hattan, which has deep fried black pudding and pastrami in there and the once in a lifetime which is more of a health warning than a name.

they also offer a selection of wings as part of their starter menu, and their cry for help offering, whilst do-able, are up there with the hottest thing i've ever eaten.

solita have just added a second restaurant to their stable, over in didsbury village, right on my doorstep, and i can say there hasn't been a drop in standards, opening teething problems aside.

all in all i'd thoroughly recommend a pilgrimage to manchester's greatest burger restaurant.

i've made a few trips to solita lately, firstly to taste a few new dishes and secondly to photograph some other new menu items for franco, the owner. it would be unprofessional (and unwise) of me to review these items properly this being the case but it's made me think about why people order what they do.
firstly, the hemingway burger. it was a fantastic idea to use the original recipe, recently unearthed of the author's favourite hamburger. apart from a few unusual touches, (carrots and spice islands seasoning for example) it's fairly simple. i had a feeling i'd like it because of this. in fact i'd go so far as to say it's the best burger i've ever had at solita and probably one of the best anywhere in manchester. you can really taste the meat unadorned without a hundred other unessential things muddying the flavour.

very disappointed with solita. been twice and both times would rather have a mcdonald's burger. and that's saying something as i hate mcdonald's. average burgers. nice staff and restaurant though. food just not up to scratch.

i decided to try a few food options and started with the steak eggs benedict. slicing through the eggs and steak was impressive, the steak was perfectly pink and the yolks exploded everywhere. unfortunately the hollandaise tasted of barely anything, the capers were a nice touch and did provide a much needed hit of vinegar but there just weren't enough to compensate for such bland sauce.

i'm already plotting a trip back to solita to road test their house waffles with buttermilk fried chicken and the pancakes with lemon and sugar. next time your timbers are feeling a little shivered, and your nose senses a nip in the air, head to solita for some soul warming scran.

gooey cheese, runny egg yolk and truffle oil - if you don’t like this combo then you should lose your right to vote or make any important decisions in life. in fact you should go and sit in a dark room and cry. now!