Thursday 27 April 2017

Mowgli and Byron Corn Exchange Manchester Restaurant Reviews

My 8 year old loves trying new foods, so was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to review two of Manchester Corn Exchange's restaurants in one day. The boys were to be filmed giving their opinions of the Kids Menus at Mowgli (Indian Street Food) and Byron (Proper Hamburgers).


We started off at Mowgli, where my youngest decided almost immediately that he would disown us and go to sit with our friends from Simslife. Thankfully they didn't mind! He chose the same meal as his brother - the Kids Menu Gunpowder Chicken and Fries. They like curries but they like generally spicy too...


They both loved it. It had a kick which they got very excited about, but it wasn't actually very spicy. The fries were great little seasoned cubes of potato and the presentation was really novel, yet totally works.


My partner chose the House Lamb Curry - possibly the least inspirational name, but by no means reflected in the dish. He said it was gorgeous, and it certainly looked it..


I had Calcutta Tangled Greens - one of many vegetarian meals I could choose from (at least 6 main meals are vegan). It was priced as a side dish and looked it really, but this was bursting with all kinds of flavour, really filling and truly delicious. Mowgli clearly care deeply about taste. It was a great dish and I would recommend it to anyone.


Even the breads were delicious. Puri and Elephant Atta Roti that were super fresh and perfect for scooping up our meals.

Mowgli also do an impressive selection of interesting drinks, including Lassi and other Indian drinks, and for a big meal you can choose the stacked Tiffin Boxes - 4 tiers of protein,veg and carbs as chosen by the chef that day.


Any questions we had were answered, but I was especially impressed with how excited the staff and management of Mowgli were with their dishes. They wanted to tell us all about them and they were keen to explain the flavours in the meals. Their enthusiasm comes across in the food. I felt everything was cooked with pride.

Children's Gunpowder Chicken and Fries (£5.95), House Lamb Curry (£6.95), Calcutta Tangled Greens (£3.95), Puri/Elephant Atta Roti (£1.95/1.70 for 2), Desserts/Lassi (£3-£4.50).

We had a break and let the kids run off some steam outside in Piccadilly Gardens for a while, before heading back into the Corn Exchange to take a look at our second restaurant of the day...


Byron is the home of the 'proper hamburger' and they use their own recipe for their statement Byron Burger - 6oz of British beef for adults and 3oz for children, cooked medium rare and available with a wide variety of toppings and garnishes.


My 8 year old was still hungry and exceptionally keen on the Byron Burger, which comes with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion, as well as the Byron 'secret recipe' sauce. The Children's Menu burgers are half sized, but you can still add any of the 14 different toppings that you can add to the regular Byron Burgers.


There are several burger variants for all different tastes, as well as Chicken Burgers, Macaroni Cheese and a few other dishes. My son and partner both loved their burgers and my son only took out the tomato and some of the red onion too - he ate salad! Yeeay!

I had a choice of 2 different veggie burgers - the Mushroom (Portobello mushroom and goats cheese) or the Bean Patty (which is annoyingly not vegan). It was a gorgeous burger. Truly crispy without being tooth-shatteringly hard, with very fresh bread and salad. I really enjoyed it.


Our 7 year old was not up for a full second meal, so chose a kids milkshake and fries from the kids menu, but decided against nuggets or a burger. His fries were lovely and not greasy, plus you even have choices to make here.


Children can go for regular fries or be a little more daring with the Courgette Fries, or from the regular menu Cheese, Bacon or the special Gangnam Fries with Freddar Cheese Sauce, Jalopenos and Gochuchang Sauce (I have no idea what that is - although Gangnam Fries are not vegetarian).... 


Our mates from Simslife were over at the next table - still enjoying the company of my 7 year old. They plumped for the Chicken Nuggets and Fries, and a 'while you wait' dish of Tortilla Chips with Tomato Salsa and Guacamole, as well as the most amazing Onion Rings. They need no words.



No visit to Byron would be complete without a drink and you have excellent choice. Byron sell a really nice range of craft beers for grown ups, but the milkshake is their other speciality.


All shakes have a choice of hard or soft (alcohol or not), and we will be going back soon because I've promised my son a ginormous 'Oreo Freakshake'. For our meal though, he had Strawberry Milkshake. That was big enough!


After his double meal afternoon my 8 year old struggled to finish his shake, but was determined not to waste a drop because it was so tasty. We were all happy and full as we left for the tram home.


Byron Burger (£9.50), Fries (£3), Gangnam Fries (£4.25), Veggie Bean Patty (£8), Tortilla Chips (£4.75), Onion Rings (£3.50) Kids Meal £6.50.

Both meals were really incredibly fresh and tasty. Both venues are really good at their thing and had excellent children's menus with proper food to match whatever their grown ups were eating.

I can't praise the staff enough. At both Mowgli and Byron the staff were really happy and friendly. We were there being filmed, so it isn't the same as 'real life', but we were there 3 hours in total with 3 children getting up and down and spilling things. You know when staff get annoyed, but they never flinched. Nothing was too much bother and they all spoke directly to my children.


We love the Corn Exchange as a place to eat. It's huge, light and airy and you can escape the outside weather, but still have an excellent view out over Piccadilly Gardens, the National Football Museum and the centre of Manchester. Meals are fairly priced and the ingredients have always been incredibly fresh!

Our family has also reviewed Vapiano Italian Food and Pho Vietnamese Street Food.


The Corn Exchange Manchester is full of restaurants who have kids in mind and a lot have special kids menus. You can find out all about them on the Corn Exchange Manchester Meals Out With Kids Guide. You might just spot my two redheads!


Our food and drink was obviously free for review and filming!

3 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, I now need all the food!! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha I really want those greens again. It was so tasty. I could live on that :D

      Delete
  2. Wow this looks amazing. What a great feast. Looks so good x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I read every one and try my best to reply!