The pair of us decided to take a trip into Manchester this afternoon for a spot of clothes shopping and a bite to eat. Personally, I’m not a great internet shopper when it comes to clothes. I much prefer to be able to touch and feel things first, examine the quality and try things on for size whilst also checking for defects. In recent years I’ve found sizes don’t seem to conform to reality and the same measurements can vary considerably depending on who’s making something.

We took the train over to Manchester from Sowerby Bridge. The 3-car set was busy but after stopping at Rochdale it was packed – a portent of what was to come as Manchester city centre was heaving! Neither of us had expected it to be as busy as it was – or as noisy. In Market St various buskers with portable amplifiers competed for attention with the ‘God Squad’. Both Christians and Moslems had stalls pitching their own brand of salvation in the hope of signing up a few more folks to their respective faiths. Add in delivery cyclists whizzing through the milling crowds and you really had to keep your wits about you. Oh, and the occasional shoplifter doing a runner and bulldozing people whilst being chased by shop security guards! This was the human zoo in all its diverse glory!

After a couple of hours the pair of agreed to call it a day. The place was just too busy. Instead we adjourned to the Old Wellington pub in Wellington Square for a drink whilst and kill some time before the table we’d booked in a nearby restaurant became free. Sadly, sitting outside the ‘Wellie’ led to suffering another aural assault as someone nearby had set up a PA which was playing repetitive ‘boom boom’ music that might be fine in a dance club but is hardly conducive to enjoying a quiet drink. So, rather than stay for a second we adjourned to the Victoria Tap in the nearby railway station. They had music in there to, but it had lyrics, a tune, was melodic – and didn’t make your ears bleed or your table vibrate. They also had decent drinks at decent prices. Oh, and some lovely old black and white pictures of the station back in BR days, like this.

Soon it was time to eat so we headed over to the old Corn Exchange building and the restaurant we’d booked ‘Mowgli’ which bills itself as Indian street food. That’s a slight exaggeration as some of the dishes it serves you certainly wouldn’t find as street food in India. That quibble aside, the food is really very good. The restaurant’s spread over two floors and is clearly very popular. Dawn tells me the creator (an Indian woman from Ormskirk called Nisha Katona) has been a guest on some TV cooking programmes. I’d no idea, I just liked the sound of the place.

Served Tapas style, we ordered several different dishes, starting off with chat bombs – crispy balls stuffed with spicy yoghurt and chickpeas. Our waiter advised us to pop a whole one in our mouths as biting into then could cause a messy explosion! Our main courses consisted of the house chicken, which is cooked in coconut milk, Keralan style. The spicy house lamb, slow cooked and spicy and the Goan fish curry with Tamarind and Ginger. All the dishes were served in classic stainless-steel tiffin tins. As an accompaniment we ordered rice and roti.

We don’t often eat Indian food when we go out as it’s something I cook a lot of at home. This was a worthy exception to that rule. All four dishes were delicious, each had its own unique blend of spices, flavours and textures. It’s worlds apart from the bog-standard dishes you’ll get in your average high street Indian restaurant. India has some fantastic regional cuisine that rarely makes its way onto ‘normal’ Indian (in reality, actually Bangladeshi) restaurant menus.

My food was washed down with sparkling water whilst Dee enjoyed a coke with hers. The bill wasn’t cheap. With a tip included in plus a £1 donation to the charity of their choice it came to £55 for the pair of us. But as a treat it was worth it. Besides, I’d half expected to have shelled out on a new suit but only bought chinos, so I felt I was ahead!

Suitably stuffed we made our way back to the station for a last drink before heading home on the 18:21 – which was absolutely rammed. It’s good to see so many people out and about again, it’s good for the railways, it’s good for Manchester and it’s good for the wider economy.

Now we’re back at home, enjoying the peace and quiet after a busy day – with more to come as we’ve work to do around the house. We’re not eating out on Sunday. Instead we’ve acquired some stewing beef from our local butcher. This is going into the slow cooker along with a selection of veg – and some red wine – to be transformed into a stew that can cook whilst we work. See you tomorrow…

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