Bakchich Manchester Restaurant Review

Lebanese food is not a cuisine I can admit to knowing much about. I love trying food from around the world and have always considered myself to have adventurous taste, but somehow I’ve never visited a Lebanese restaurant before. However, with this becoming an up-and-coming theme in the newest food quarters in the UK, it is unsurprising that Manchester has just welcomed Bakchich Manchester, a Lebanese Street Food Restaurant, to it’s ecletic dining scene. When I was invited along to try it for myself, I couldn’t wait to see what it was all about…

I visited Backchich with my family for an early evening meal, being told that Lebanese food is ideal for sharing and the perfect excuse to get the family together! This immediately gave me a good feeling about the place, which was solidified as soon as I stepped in. Located just around the corner from Manchester Oxford Road train station, it’s a little out of the way, and is brand spanking new. The whole restaurant is clean and although it wasn’t packed, it also wasn’t quiet for an early-evening sitting. The decor is striking and the attention to detail throughout the restaurant is just stunning, helping to bring a bit of Lebanese culture to rainy Manchester!

Our waiter was Sam, who was ever so welcoming and couldn’t have been more friendly! After confiding in him that we had never been to a Lebanese restaurant before, he proudly guided us through the menu and let us know all of his favourite dishes, what to try and how to order. He was really knowledgable about all the dishes and let us know that at Bakchich, starters and main courses don’t really exist – once something is cooked in the open plan kitchen, it’s served. As the restaurant does not serve any alcohol due to it’s commitment to coincide with Lebanese culture, we started off with a lovely mix of fresh fruit drinks and smoothies, all whipped up for each individual order! I would recommend trying the Honey and Nut smoothie, made with fat free frozen yoghurt.

My sister ordered the Vegetarian Mezze for one (£7.95) which was brought out first alongside a portion of Batata Harra (£3.50). The Batata Harra reminded me a little of tapas style food, which I assume would work well paired along with some of the colder separate mezze dishes on the menu. I reckon this would be a great way to try a variety of different food! However, if you want to just order one thing that gives you a great taste of Lebanese cuisine, definitely try a mezze platter! My sister’s Vegeterian Mezze was huge and included a few different types of hommos, falafel, salad, baba gahnoush, tabouleh and served with home made flat bread. I tried a bit myself and it was delicious, and the portion was huge! The bread came out freshly baked and warm, and was topped up halfway through with more bread. She loved it and said she would definitely get it again!

I went for the Bourkouri Halloumi, which Bakchich class as one of their specialities. This cost £7.95 which I think is a really reasonable price, and again the portion was absolutely huge! I’d never had a dish like this before, and it consisted of grilled halloumi on a bed of Burghul (I would liken this to a short grained rice?) with courgettes, onion and sprinkles of passionfruit on top. It was delicious and healthy, as Bakchich pride themselves on keeping their food as low in fat as possible. I couldn’t finish it due to it’s generous size, but gave it a good old go!

Other food we ordered included a side of chips (sorry, I know it’s a peasant-y thing to do but it was a Saturday and I was hangry), and my family also ordered a main course of slow cooked lamb shank and lamb pieces cooked on with rice and vegetables. All around these were generous portions, really tasty food and happy tummies! I was really very impressed with all of the food we tried – something different, relatively guilt-free and a lovely relaxed environment. It kinda did feel like being on holiday!

After our main courses, we were encouraged to try some Lebanese tea and coffee! Aside from the usual coffees (a latte and cappuchino, both delicious and served in cute little glass cups), we tried two different Lebanese speciality drinks. The first was a Lebanese tea, Backchich’s own blend of herbal tea including rose water, zaatar and cardamon which I really enjoyed; it tasted a little like lemongrass and ginger tea, and was a really lovely way to clear the palette. The second traditional drink we tried was Arabic Coffee served in an interesting little pot (the picture above) – to be totally honest this coffee is not for the faint-hearted, it’s very strong and bitter, but it was really fun to try and I’m glad we did!

Although we had very full tummies, we made a little room to try some of Bakchich’s desserts! The first we tried was Bakiawa, which are a variety of different Lebanese pastries and served as little tasters. I really liked these; they very sweet and I could see these being really nice for breakfast, too! We also tried a chocolate fudge cake (guilty – that one was me!) which was delicious. Bakchich also brought us out a coconut cheesecake, which they told us was one of their best sellers and are baked fresh every day – I can conclude that this was also delicious. In fact, there was nothing I didn’t like!

Honestly, Bakchich is a really refreshing take on dining which I can see becoming very popular in Manchester. The staff were all so friendly, welcoming and knowledgable about the food and culture. It’s something different, wholesome and a really quirky yet relaxed environment. I will 100% be returning soon with my friends and can’t wait to go back! Thanks for having me, Bakchich.