I wished to know if it lives as much as the hype.
I visited Manchester’s ‘greatest bakery’ (Picture: Isobel Pankhurst)
The Nice British Meals Awards just lately topped the six best bakeries within the UK, with The Pollen Bakery in Manchester showing on the record. It isn’t the primary time the bakery has garnered vital acclaim; the Monetary Occasions additionally included it in its high 20 UK bakeries within the current previous.
I selected to go to the bakery to find exactly what makes it so distinctive – and I wasn’t let down. It operates two websites in Manchester, one in Ancoats and one within the Kampus district. I attended the previous, which is located immediately beside the canal with spectacular views.
Pollen Bakey has been named among the many greatest within the UK (Picture: Isobel Pankhurst)
The bakery was tremendous busy, even on a Thursday morning (Picture: Isobel Pankhurst)
I used to be unable to take a seat exterior throughout my go to as the outside seating space was packed regardless of it being a Thursday morning. Pollen Bakery is famend for its recognition, with queues ceaselessly extending past the doorway.
As a substitute, I ventured inside and joined the road of shoppers ready to order. Contemplating how packed it was, I anticipated queuing for appreciable time however the cashier was fast and I ordered and settled down swiftly.
And as soon as I would sat down, it wasn’t significantly lengthy till my meals arrived. While the brunch menu is not essentially the most intensive, there’s nonetheless one thing for everybody, with meat, vegetarian and vegan choices all on provide.
I opted for the hash brown bun, made up of Pollen’s do-it-yourself confit potato hash brown, roasted tomatoes, caramelised onion, watercress and smoked onion mayonnaise in a vegan brioche bun. I paired it with a easy vanilla latte.
The full got here to £16.60, suggesting that while Pollen is perhaps one of many UK’s high bakeries, it is definitely not essentially the most reasonably priced. The vanilla latte (£4.60) met expectations and the hash brown bun (£12) was nice however not significantly outstanding.
Nonetheless, as I used to be departing, I observed somebody had ordered the bun with an added fried egg, which appeared like a missed alternative and one thing I’d attempt on my subsequent go to.
I would definitely order the bun once more however I did not assume it was something wonderful (Picture: Isobel Pankhurst)
The croissant butter blondie was scrumptious (Picture: Isobel Pankhurst)
It wasn’t till I returned to order some dessert that I understood why Pollen has been ranked among the many nation’s best bakeries. Rejoining the queue, which moved surprisingly shortly as soon as extra, I made a decision to pattern the croissant butter blondie (£4.75).
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The croissant butter was recognised by the Nice British Meals Awards as one of many bakery’s standout merchandise and as quickly as I tasted the blondie, it was evident why. It was probably the most effective blondie I’ve ever eaten – actually delicious and I am going to definitely be revisiting the bakery for one more sooner or later.
The bakery is undoubtedly worthy of the reward it has garnered, and is evidently well-liked amongst these having fun with a sit-down brunch and people calling in throughout their lunch breaks to gather a loaf of bread, sandwich, or pastry to take residence or again to the workplace.
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