solita

so i went to solita today as i read lots of good reviews about it. i was probably their first customer of the day since i entered right at their opening time. my first impression wasn’t a very pleasing one because as soon as i sat on my table, i realized it was dirty and there was some sticky sauce on the menu. my knife wasn’t washed properly either and had some food stuck onto it.

moving on, i ordered the veg halloumiburgerwith cheesy fries. the presentation of the food was fantastic. the cheese on the fries was mouth-watering and i just couldn’t get enough of it. then i tried the burger, which had halloumi that wasn’t well grilled. the outer-side was fine but it was just not well done on the inside. it was really chewy and i could not eat the other half of the halloumi. theburgertasted a lot better without the halloumi and the portobello mushrooms were delicious. if you’re a veggie, maybe give the other burgers a shot or ask for the halloumi to be well done.

i was served by angie who asked me how the food was. told her about the halloumi and she offered to get anotherburgerwhich was really nice of her, even though i refused. she genuinely seemed to care about what i thought of the food, which you don’t usually see in many restaurants. finally, when i asked for the cheque, angie had given me a generous discount, which was pleasing.

overall, it was an okay experience but i am sure it can be better. special shoutout to angie who had a smile on her face throughout and made the whole experience worthwhile.

after drooling over the menu for several days prior to my visit i had convinced myself that i was going to try the 'once in a lifetime'burgeras it had only just been awarded a place in the '9 best alternative burgers' in esquire magazine.

one of the nicest burgers i have had in a long time! we hadn’t made a booking but when we arrived the staff quickly found a seat for me and my partner. we ordered a started and main, the main came earlier than the started but when we told this to the waiter he quickly went back and got our starter with a apology and gave it to us for free. we had the cheeseburger spring rolls which were exceptional and ever so tasty. and theburgerwe had each was cooked to perfection, i highly recommend thisburgerkitchen as i will be coming here again.

first time here and the food was amazing!!

quick service and super friendly staff.

i had the sunday lunchburgerand my fiancé had the big manc burger.

the sunday lunchburgerwas perfect, it came with a side of mini roast potato’s and gravy. my only critique is that there should of been more gravy as it was a bit dry without it. however i didn’t actually ask for any more! so i can’t complain.

my fiancé loved the big manc and he had the salt and pepper fries with it.

very impressed with all the food.

we tried both the american beers on the menu and their some of the nicest drinks we’ve had.

definitely try blue wave!

will definitely return again (hopefully soon!)

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 theburgerbun 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.

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 largeburgeris 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 andburgerrestaurants 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 veganburgercould 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 theburgerthat 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 theburgerbandwagon 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.

solita is manchester's temple of burgers, with several signature classics such as the big manc (aburgerrestaurant 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 greatestburgerrestaurant.

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 bestburgeri'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.

the christmasburgerwasn’t the only festive special, we started with a seasonal cocktail ‘mars bar eggnog’. made from a combination of mars bar milkshake, rum, brandy, double cream and nutmeg it was a sweet, creamy, chocolatey delight. much more indulgent than the already rather indulgent original version, i dread to think how many calories were in it but who cares, it’s christmas!

we have been following solita on twitter for quite a while, after seeing multiple amounts of their snaps of their incredible looking delicious burgers, it was about time we had visited! we went to dine out on a thrursday evening, and by no surprise the place was packed out which meant we had to wait for about 15-20mins? nevertheless, it was worth the wait. solita's cuisine is a combination of influences of new york, italy and manchester. here is a list of the dishes we tried and a short but mouth watering description to go with it.

starters:
ribs, wings, rings and things £7.90 - self explanatory.. mmm the dish was smaller than i thought it'll be, but! it was satisfying. the barbeque sauce on the wings were yummy! & the fried jalepenos were still spicy after being deep fried.

deep fried mac n cheese balls £4.90 - small doughballs filled with scrummy mac n cheese. soooooooooo good! never tried anything like it. best best starter!

rooster scratchings £2.90 - house fried chicken skin pieces with solita dust.
extra cunchy, nicely seasoned, very tasty, not too oily and greatly unusual.

main course:
the mega manc £19.90 - 3x6 ounce minced chuck steak patties, trifecta brioche (with an extra layer), iceberg, home pickles, monterey jack and big manc sauce.
our waiter giggled as i placed this order, and believed that i wouldn't be able to finish this.. so, against his belief i took on the challenge that if i was able to finish the entireburgerincluding the fries - i would get a free pudding :p
as, i chomped on this calorificburgerit all started to seem bigger than it actually sounded! i loved the cheesy-ness of the sauce was and the minced burgers were surprisingly not chewy! yes i did accomplish this and i would recommend anybody who is extremely hungry to order this :p

the big manc £15.90 with added smoked brisket chilli £1.90 - 2x6 ounce minced chuck steak patties, trifecta brioche, iceberg, home pickles, monterey jack and big manc sauce.
slighlty smaller than the mega manc burger, including the same filling but with added smoked brisket chilli. my guest described this as the best biggest big mac he's ever had, even though he was about to explode! the smoked brisket chilli really does add an extra mmmmmmmm in the burger.

whole king prawns £13.90 - brushed with chilli oil
clarissa had ordered this and said that she loved that this was a great portion size of prawns, as it wasn't too filling and tasted like it was right off the grill. the chilli oil accompanied the flavours well and did not overpower the authentic taste of prawns. it was a nice and satisfying light dish and not too chilli.

chow chow slaw £1.90 - very different to your regualr creamy coleslaw. we believed that it had oriental take on this coleslaw as it contained chilli and vinegar.

dessert - s'more. solita's version consisted of a double chocolate and nut cookie, chocolate ice cream, a layer of roasted marshmellows on top and cherry sauce. a mouthwatering dessert to end the night! even though we was all stuffed, we still managed to eat this.

all in all, solita will definitely be a place we would occasionally visit as there has been nothing like this to compare to. the food, atmosphere, staff and prices are all worth visiting for.

please visit our blog for the mouth watering photos and the full review: http://prettyandtasty-ly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/solita-bar-grill.html

solita the name comes from the phrase 'south of little italy, hence so li ta get it? i always like finding out the reason behind names of brands or businesses as i had to do that as an exercise regularly in university so never got out of that habit!

the first thing that comes to my mind when i think of solita is lots of cheese and massive burgers - and that m'dear is a great thing! how can anybody resist something as delicious and naughty as cheese and succulent tenderburger(woohh). i only tried their food before at the northern quarter street party so never actually went inside to see what the restaurant actually looks like. jenny (my manager) was visiting me in manchester and she suggested we have dinner together so i had the opportunity to show off my lovely city. the first thing i focused on was obviously food and then i remembered she mentioned to me that she loves cheese. the first thought that popped up my head was theburgeri had at the nq street party and i just knew i needed to take her to 'south of little italy'. she was also living right opposite at light apartments which obviously came in handy (that is what i call a win-win situation).

we went in and a very italian looking waitress got us seated, the place was packed even though it was a monday evening. i have to mention that its a very small and compact restaurant so even a few people can make it look like its really full - which to me could be a big advantage for any business as it can look very popular. i ordered for buttermilk fried chickenburgerwith extra cheese (nom nom nom) and a moreto (mexican beer) and i just have one word for it - delicious! the inca grilled veg which jenny ordered along with her chicken breast and cheese looks pretty damn good too! the food was very filling and definitely satisfying after a long day! the price was definitely on the steeper end, so yeah it's not cheap by any means, a meal for two would be easily 50 pounds with drinks.

verdict : can't wait to have one more of those face sized burgers again!