Manchester's best hangover food
From that ubiquitous eggs and avo on sourdough to the city's best roast dinners, we've got the low-down on Manchester's best hangover cures, featuring old faves like Koffee Pot and Gorilla along with a few you may not have tried...
We all deal with hangovers in different ways, but whether it's through classic brunch, gluttonous meat feast, hair of the dog or something else altogether, Manchester has something to soothe even the sorest of heads. Here's our pick of the best:
Eggs
[Koffee Pot]
It's the go-hard-or-go-home mentality that makes Moose a renowned brunching spot, with dishes such as the New Brunswick (poached eggs on a bagel with hollandaise, salt beef brisket, corned beef and potato hash) and the Bronx Brunch (potato hash with smoked sausage, streaky bacon, corned beef, peppers, melted cheddar and fried eggs). If your hangover breeds something of a sweet tooth, they've also got pancakes the size of your face. We're not exaggerating.
A longstanding beacon of hope, Koffee Pot has been serving Manchester's hungover types for yonks. As such, it's become something of an institution – and the city's favourite breakfast spot. We suggest you go classic and order the Full English, which comes with tea or coffee to bring you back to life.
Eggs at Federal Cafe come with a decidedly Instagrammable flair. That's thanks to colourful combinations including Halloumi & Shrooms (pan-fried halloumi, garlic and thyme mushrooms, poached eggs, spiced tomato relish, hazelnut dukkah and rocket all piled high on sourdough) and smashed avocado on toast, which comes served with poached eggs and either streaky bacon or smoked salmon. Perfect brekkie fodder.
From under the same wing as Almost Famous et al, you'd expect such signature levels of gluttony from Home Sweet Home. And you'd be right: go for the Lucky 7s burger (an all-day breakfast feast of sausage patty, American cheese, black pudding, poached egg, crispy bacon, baconnaise and red sauce) or the Terry Benedict, which takes your everyday poached eggs and hollandaise, and coats them with slow cooked beef short rib, chorizo, chipotle sour cream and pickled chilli. Hullooo.
Tucked away in the Green Quarter, Redbank not only helps you escape the intimidation of the city centre when you're at your most vulnerable, but also has good outside seating for when the sweats kick in. On the menu they've got fancy takes on all the usual brunch suspects, including Eggs Benedict with gammon and pea shoots and Baked Eggs with a chorizo and Manchego-spiked sauce; just be sure to order one of their stonking Bloody Marys to go alongside.
Meat
[Almost Famous]
Sometimes the hangover is so bad that it needs to be tackled the unabashedly obnoxious way: with a shit ton of meat ('dirty food', if you're still clinging on to that term). Specifically, burgers piled high with the likes of streaky bacon, pulled pork, chorizo, sausage patties and Frazzles – all of which you'll find on the menu at Almost Famous.
Whichever burger you go for, be sure to order a side of Bacon Bacon Fries, which blankets skin-on fries in a gluttonous combo of bacon mayo and crispy bacon ‘rain’. These guys have magic powers; don't underestimate 'em.
Not sure if you want ribs, wings, pulled pork, sticky chicken, beef brisket or smoked sausage? At Red’s True BBQ you don’t have to choose, thanks to customisable barbecue trays and feasting plates that let you have the best of all worlds.
Fancy doing meat on a budget? Go to Gorilla and order their bread and dripping, which sees a huge hunk of sourdough bread served alongside the most almighty, rich, hot beef dripping you'll ever taste. Just a fiver, and it'll sort you right out.
A meal at the city's favourite steak house will do well to ease those hangover blues, but if you're not willing to waste quite so much of that hard-earned cash on a day where it could go either way, opt instead for the bar menu. Here you can achieve that same meaty nourishment through short rib nuggets, chicken poutine barms and hamburgers.
Cheese
[Northern Soul]
If you like to feed your hangover monster with an oozing tidal wave of cheese, Northern Soul is your guy. Here, it's all about the humble grilled cheese sandwich, which can also be spruced up with a range of ingredients like pulled pork, mac 'n' cheese, bacon, tandoori chicken, fried chicken, ham and Mancunian sausage (we're on board with that, whatever it is).
Home to what is arguably Manchester’s greatest cheese menu, at The Marble Arch you can soften the hangover with a hair-of-the-dog pint of Marble English IPA, before chasing it with a board of British and European cheeses. Especially good if you're flitting between ravenous hunger and residual ropiness, you'll be able to pick at the gooey, mellow Epoisses and tangy Ragstone goats' cheese at your desired pace.
Carbs
[Rudy's Pizza]
Need some dough to soak up all of that badness from the night before? The pizza at Rudy’s is doughier than ever, favouring the authentically floppy Neapolitan variation. As such, cheese isn’t slathered as freely over the top as American styles, but still gives you a hearty dairy hit. Highly, highly recommended.
Whatever pie you go for (we love the classics like steak and ale or chicken, smoked bacon and tarragon), make sure you go for the 'Mothership' deal, which sees the main attraction joined by mashed potato, minted peas, cheese, gravy and crispy onions. The stuff hangovers were made for.
Spicy
[Siam Smiles]
Regarded by many as the city's best curry house, Mughli is a leading light of the famed Curry Mile. As you'd expect, here curries are packed with flavour, and, if you so desire, lots of heat. Try the Sindhi – a regional variation of the wider-known Jalfrezi – for a gentle hum, or if you're happy to set fire to your mouth, it's a Chennai curry you'll want. Consider yourself warned.
If you're in need of spice to blow out those hangover cobwebs, you'll find an amble around Chinatown should lead you in the right direction. Try Siam Smiles, a Thai cafe and shop that serves up a notoriously affordable chilli hit.
Vegan
[Vegan breakfast at Trof]
V Revolution is Manchester's answer to the question of what vegans eat when they're in need of something naughty – i.e. when they're hungover. Fried 'chicken' burgers, 'hotdogs' and 'burgers' all get the loving treatment here, and arrive dripping in vegan-friendly cheese, sriracha, jalapenos, guacamole, slaw, crispy onions, and other such meat-free, dairy-free goodness.
Trof's fry-ups may be widely regarded as among the best in the city, but few know that if you opt for their vegan alternative, you get deep fried avocado. Who needs bacon when you have deep fried avocado? Deep. Fried. Avocado. Sausage who?
Roasts
[Hawksmoor]
Handy that hangovers often coincide with a Sunday morning, falling on just the right day so that you can pull your weary self from your bed and into the comforting lure of a Sunday roast. Even more handily: we’ve compiled a guide to our favourites here in Manchester – read it here.