If you have recently moved to Manchester, you might have a hard time making new friends. While there are a ton of dating apps available, the only one that I have found very useful for making friends is Meetup.com which is a website where you can find social events to meet people.

The Meetup scene in Manchester is very active and you will find groups with different interests. Whether you are into sports, drinking, dancing or languages, you will find a meetup group in Manchester that suits your interests.

How does the Meetup app work? You find events around your area and if you are interested, all you would need to do is RSVP. I have found that most events on Meetup are free however a handful might be paid.

It would be hard for me to say if you would make friends the first time itself you go to a meetup, but it can take a few months so go easy on yourself if you felt that you didn’t connect with anyone the first time! Also keep trying different groups as there are just so many activities happening on Meetup.

I have been to a couple of meetups in Manchester and my overall experience has been great! Some of the events attract a large crowd that it’s hard to meetup with everyone! And I have made a bunch of contacts with time that I keep in touch with, and make plans whenever I am in Manchester.

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

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Looks can be deceiving! Atleast that’s how my experience was with my latest order from Seoul Chikin was! I had ordered their Buffalo Seoul Chicken Burger and Sriracha Gold Wings.

The Buffalo Seoul Chicken consisted of a fried chicken patty with buffalo sauce, lettuce and spicy mayonnaise. As soon I held onto the burger, I felt that the bun was soggy. While their patty size is much bigger than other places that I have ordered from or eaten at, their patty tasted quite salty. Most importantly, there was something wrong with the patty. It felt like it was not cooked properly since it had a rubbery texture. I am guessing that maybe the chicken was frozen when cooked but I am not sure.

Their Sriracha Gold Wings were not impressive either. The Chicken Wings had been tossed into Sriracha sauce and topped with spring onions and chilies. While there is flavor on the outside, it felt a bit raw eating them. Also it would have been good if the wings had been wrapped in a foil maybe so that they are hot when delivered.

I think Seoul Chikin might be onto something but they need some serious improvement. The extra salt in the chicken patties and the chicken quality can ruin the whole experience.

Address: 609 Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9AN

Rating: 5/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

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This is one of the first time I have felt that the food has been delivered to me real hot! Usually when I have ordered using Uber or other delivery services out there, the food usually comes out warm or sometimes cold. However I was surprised when I received my delivery from Melt! I think it has to do with the restaurant using foil instead of paper/plastic wrappers for their food items which helps keep the food hot for a long time.

Not only was I happy with how hot my food was but also the burgers that I ordered turned out to be great! One of them was called the MeltDown Burger which consisted of Beef Patties and the other one was their Grilled Chicken Burger which contained chicken filet. I think I liked the Beef Burger a bit more than the Chicken Burger.

Melt is known not for their sandwiches but also their shakes. I couldn’t try their shakes out cause I am currently caffeine intolerant but I would love to go to this spot sometime and try it out again! Highly recommend ordering from this place if you are looking to get food delivered hot 🙂

Address: 704 Wilmslow Rd, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2DW, United Kingdom

Rating – 9/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

As soon as I entered Hope Mill Theatre, it felt that time had moved a few decades back! As the name suggests, the place actually hosts theatrical performances but also has a bar and restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn’t have too much time on my hands that day so I was only able to experience their food!

The Theatre is not only known for its shows but also because of their delicious pizzas! I got the Pepperoni Hot Pizza which consisted of Tomato base, cheese, pepperoni, jalapenos and chilli flakes as well as Birra Moretti which is a draught beer that they had and the cheapest one on their menu.

Their Pizza turned out to be quite good and I think worth the price! It was served hot and the chilli flakes/peppers made it even better! I also ended up trying out their fries which I think were better than what I expected. My Beer went well with the food!

Next time I am here, I would not only want to try out their food but also experience the theatre as well! If you are driving this place does have ample parking and also they have a small patio if you want to eat/drink outside!

Address: 113 Pollard St, Manchester M4 7JA, United Kingdom

Rating – 8.5/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

I was craving some hot wings while walking down Burton Road in Manchester, so decided to go for a takeaway restaurant. I absolutely love hot wings and saw that this place called Continental which had them for under £3! The price seemed reasonable so I decided to try them out.

For just £2.80, I was able to get 6 hot wings! Portion size for the price seemed decent. The Hot Wings turned out to be a bit more spicy than what I expected however I did not enjoy the flavor that much for some reason. It could be that maybe their quality process is not that great or the spice ingredients are not that good or it could even be that I am just not used to the taste.

I think I would have been perfectly fine if the price was a little bit higher and the flavor was more enjoyable. I just felt something was missing that could make them right! But I think if I am hanging out after a pub crawl, I might not mind munching on them!

Continental is actually more popular for their Pizzas and I found their Pizzas visually more appetizing so if I am around the area again, I would like to try out their pizzas and see how good they are.

Address: 127 Burton Rd, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 1JP, United Kingdom

Rating – 6/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

Every week Terrace NQ offers free bachata beginner lessons in Manchester for those who have never attended their classes before! So if you are looking to try something new for the night or want to do something for free, just head to their private room upstairs.

I found the lessons suitable for beginners, and I noticed that it doesn’t get crowded for the beginner lessons meaning you are able to get attention from the dance instructor. I remember getting corrected a couple of times while dancing!

Also I noticed that the place actually had two instructors for the day, one to help people lead and one to help follow, which I think can be very beneficial. A lot of places just have a instructor for the leads but it’s always great to dance with someone who knows how to follow and that can help both lead/followers practice much better.

The venue does charge for their intermediate/advanced bachata classes and it does get quite busy for their intermediate/advanced dance classes. I do recommend you to try this place out if you want to experience Bachata!

Address: 43 Thomas St, Manchester M4 1NA, United Kingdom

Rating – 8/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

SMARTY offers one of the cheapest unlimited data SIM plans in the United Kingdom. I was able to get their data plan for £18 per month (Currently being offered at a discount) which includes unlimited calls and texts in the United Kingdom as well as unlimited data (on 3G/4G/5G). It took about 2 days for the SIM to arrive by mail.

In case you haven’t heard about SMARTY, it is actually a virtual provider meaning the company doesn’t really have any telecom infrastructure of its own but instead uses Three UK’s infrastructure.

I am currently based out in Manchester and when I initially tested out using the hotspot, I was getting less than 1 mbps! Turns out that the 5G service is non-existent around my area and while it was able to connect to 4G network, the performance was quite dismal. I did end up contacting the service provider and was informed that some repairs are being performed but it has been a couple of days and I haven’t noticed any difference so far.

However, I noticed that the internet speed was much better when I chose to use 3G network on my phone. Running speed tests during day time, I am getting about 18-20 mbps download speeds while upload is around 2-3 mbps. Latency also appears to be quite good for gaming.

I also ended up running an internet speed test during the night and the speed was slightly better. So far, I have downloaded more than 25+ gigs in the last few days and haven’t noticed speeds being reduced further.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test out SMARTY’s 5G speeds as I am not able to get any signal indoors. Which means if you are looking to setup a 5G hotspot at your home, maybe SMARTY wouldn’t work for you as well. I also have an eSIM from O2 and while SMARTY turns out to be slightly cheaper, O2’s data performance and coverage in my area is a lot better.

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

Was craving something spicy this time but as my family already makes Indian food at home in Manchester, I decided to order something a bit different this time! Found out about this Jerk Meat place using Uber Eats and ended up ordering their Jerk Meat with a couple of sides.

The main item that I ordered was the Jerk Chicken Meal – you have the option to actually choose the type of gravy you want – There is the traditional Jerk Gravy, Curry Chicken, or the Pepper Steak. I went with the traditional jerk gravy. The meal comes with a side option – and I chose Rice and Peas. But you have the option to go with either White Rice or House Seasoned Fries!

Also while I was ordering, I thought why not just order some additional things as well. I really enjoy plantains and wanted to try their fries as well so added them up.

While it took a bit more than what I anticipated for my delivery to come, my food was still warm so didn’t have to heat it up in the microwave. The delivery fee came out to about £1.79 bring my total bill to £25.99.

I think for the price I payed, it turned out to be a decent meal. Their Jerk Gravy flavor is a lot different than what I am used to, this one tasted sweet and spicy while usually whenever I have had Jerk Chicken at other restaurants in North America, I have felt that it’s more hot and spicy. Chicken was cooked perfectly! The portion size can appear to be a bit smaller as they have the chicken with gravy and the peas and rice in two separate boxes! However I think the meal was more than enough for two people!

Also I actually enjoyed their Rice and Peas which go well with the Jerk Chicken Meal! The plantains had a bit of soft texture and while they were good, I think I have a personal preference of having them a bit harder.

However I think their House Seasoned Fries felt to me just like any other regular fries. I was expecting them to have some special flavoring or maybe the seasoning on the ones that I got was just too little?

With my delivery, I also found an item that looked like a patty. Initially I thought that it was an additional item that the restaurant had put in but turns out it’s their dumpling! Well I was already stuffed so it went to the fridge!

It would be good to try out what else the Jerk Junction has!

Address: 170 Manchester Rd, Firswood, Manchester M16 0DZ, United Kingdom

Rating – 7.5/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

I was starting to think that none of the bars in Manchester had a Digital Jukebox machine! And I was even more surprised that there were some bars which had those really old analog-based JukeBox machines! Supposedly, it’s a thing here in Manchester.

However after checking through more than dozen places and asking people around if they knew of a bar with Jukebox machine, I finally found The Courtyard which had a digital Jukebox Machine! While it isn’t one of the best Jukebox machine as I wasn’t able to find a number of songs, it’s one of the only options around the area I think.

There is a lot of space in front of the Jukebox so if you have a group of friends, you can easily dance on the floor as well and enjoy the music! While I was playing music, even the bartenders joined in dancing with me!

The place is actually big and has a pool tables (which are free during specific days/hours/specials) and also has a few gambling machines. I didn’t get to play but found it interesting.

The drinks are fairly priced, a bit lower than some of the other places in Manchester as I was able to get cocktails for around 3.50 quid.

This could be a good place for a group hangout, playing your own music, playing pool and a little bit of games. They also have a massive patio for hangout.

Address: 2 Chester St, Manchester M1 5SH, United Kingdom

Rating – 7/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/