Splendid Kitchen

Great atmosphere and cool décor.
I ate here with my mum in the beginning of January. I thoroughly enjoyed my fried chicken in hot sauce :-) pure lushness. The pizza fries weren’t bad either!
my mums chicken dinner looked epic too. We also had a plate of nachos and Guacamole to start. The Guacamole was fresh and chunky, served in a splendid kitchen mug.
As we went in January, we had 50% off our bill which was handy.
They have a great cocktail and wine menu too.
I’d definitely recommend this place and I will return

Unbelievable cocktails In here! I had the cotton candy — with real candy floss. Chicken wings for starter and tacos for main. Super light and flavoursome — could have eaten a little more to be honest. Defoe is diner style but has a really cosy feel.

I like Splendid Kitchen, I like it a lot. The concept is fairly simple and you could be mistaken for thinking you’re just going to get a speedy burger & fries experience — which of course you can do, however this place deserves your time for a little longer.
When I popped in it was lunch time, so I ordered of the fantastically priced £5 lunch menu. I went for the BBQ chicken burger, chicken thigh — bonus points as it was so much tastier than breast — with fries and a coke.
They care about the food in here and that is evident with the menu and the time it takes to get your food. It doesn’t take an age by any means, however it takes long enough for you to know that they are cooking it fresh as appose to getting your burger 3 and 22 seconds after you ordered it — suspicious!
Atmosphere wise this place is great as well — it’s not too hipster like some places yet it has a cool traditional american feel to the place. I believe they have a new menu rolling out shortly, so I’ll be back to try that out!

I finally went to Splendid Kitchen a couple of days ago after hearing so many people rate this place as fantastic. Known for it’s impressive chicken wings, tacos, burgers and bangers, I made sure I was super hungry before going here for a Pre-​Christmas catch up with a group of friends.
You know your in a good eatery when you can’t decide what to go for because the menu is so good. There are some amazing fried chicken options if that’s your thing — waffle fried chicken with waffles, crispy bacon and syrup, Special fried chicken with corn on the cob and gravy, and buffalo fried chicken with buffalo sauce to name a few.
I can be a little bit boring sometimes: I love nothing more than a good old veggie burger even though I’m not a vegetarian. So the sweet potato, chickpea and feta burger was the one for me. Although I was really naughty and had the nacho fries on the side — therefore a huge pile up of chips with beef, cheese, tomato sauce and jalapenos.
A few of my friends had the milkshakes which come in über cool large glass milk bottles. I also noticed a lot of the other diners went for sharing options which were huge — large baskets of chicken wings and ribs which looked delicious. You certainly get your monies worth!
Will be back here again for sure…

Splendid Kitchen is cosy, easy to get to and the home of possibly the best chicken in Manchester.
These guys have been smashing it over Xmas offering a burger, fries and a drink for five pounds! Why would anyone ever eat in them yucky Xmas markets?!
The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly and the food & drink is top notch and well priced — if you haven’t been, go.

I went to Splendid Kitchen with my girlfriend and our 2 friends. We snagged the last available booth before going to see the Christmas lights being turned on in Albert Square. They brought us a plate of nachos and guacamole to share before the food came as well as having several drinks being offered for free that night which was a nice touch.
The rest of my party ordered the Tacos, each ordering one of the beef, pork or chicken. I ordered a chicken burger which I ordered with pizza fries to share with the rest of the table along with the nacho fries. My chicken burger was OK but I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not been on the end of a hangover, so this may be my fault for choosing badly. The pizza fries were pretty good but the nacho fries were soggy, probably due to too much topping. The rest of my friends seemed to enjoy their food, although it was commented that the chicken tacos were a little dry and the beef tacos would have been improved with strips of beef rather than chunks.
The staff were all very nice and the service was good. Overall I enjoyed it and would go again, perhaps when I’m less hungover. For that reason I’m giving it 4 stars as I could have been in a better position to enjoy it but at the same time I don’t feel it would take many changes to make this a great place to eat.

As my last review of this place is from its incarnation as Splendid Sausage Company, I guess it’s time to update it to reflect Splendid Kitchen.
Some friends and I were planning to watch the Christmas lights switch on in Albert Square so chose to eat here due to its proximity.
My friends managed to nab the last available table when we got there, thankfully. As it was happy hour we ordered cocktails and I had the candyfloss martini. This comes in a little shaker with actual candyfloss in the glass, which is adorable.
We got some tortilla chips and guacamole while we waited. This was really tasty although a tad too citrusy for liking. When we ran out of tortilla chips we were brought some more which was a nice touch.
I got carne asada tacos and my friends got pork belly tacos, chicken tacos and the chicken burger. We got pizza fries and nacho fries to share.
I really enjoyed my tacos, it was a generous portion and the flavours were fresh and zingy. I spooned some leftover guacamole into them which made them even better. My only complaint about them would be that some of the pieces of steak were quite big and hard to bite through. Others enjoyed their tacos and burger.
The pizza fries are really decadent and delicious. I’d order these again. The nacho fries were a bit hit and miss for me. The amount of toppings made the actual fries quite soggy. Maybe this is unavoidable but it wasn’t very nice. My friends didn’t complain though.
As it was the Christmas lights switch on, they were offering a free drink with each main meal, with a choice out of rum punch and mulled cranberry with mandarin vodka. I went for the punch and my friends went for the cranberry. I really enjoyed mine and as it came in a plastic cup I was able to take it with me to watch the fireworks — score!
Individual menu items seemed quite expensive but the overall bill wasn’t particularly painful, especially as I was stuffed beyond belief by the end of the meal. I’ll definitely be back!

TL;DR: Good food, good service, good drinks (Happy Hour! WOO!), busy place so plan ahead, slightly overpriced to me.
I’ve been meaning to go to Splendid Kitchen for AGES, primarily because I have a habit of hitting «Like» on every Manchester-​based purveyor of foody goodness that crosses my path on Facebook. And Splendid Kitchen comes up frequently, and looks delicious. Having finally been, though — not sure it lived up to the hype in my head. It wasn’t bad, not at all; it just wasn’t great either. Let me explain why.
My girlfriend and I went with another couple who’re friends of ours before heading to the Manchester Christmas Light Switch On, so a pretty busy evening; we got there around 17:30 in time for both Happy Hour and to bag the last free table in the joint. It’s not a particularly large venue, which came as a bit of a surprise as I thought it would be bigger.
We were served pretty quickly after being seated; initially for drinks. The range of drinks on offer was good, including several cocktails based around Jack Daniels which appealed greatly to me, and with a lot of them available at a fixed £5 during Happy Hour they’re not going to break the bank either. We were also offered a free drink, either rum punch or mulled cranberry, with each main we ordered which was a nice bonus. There’s also nachos and guac available to nibble whilst you’re contemplating the menu, or to distract you whilst your order is prepared.
The food itself was, well… disappointing. Three of us decided to order the tacos, with a variety of fillings, with the other person opting for the chicken burger, alongside an order of nacho fries and pizza fries between us to round out the meal.
I went for the Cajun chicken tacos, which I have to say were delicious but also rather dry. The menu mentioned a lime crème fraiche, which I couldn’t really see or taste, so perhaps that would’ve made the difference. Hot sauce would’ve done too, but nobody asked us if we wanted any sauces. The burger looked to be roughly in line with similar establishments in terms of size.
The fries were a mixed bag for me. The pizza fries were AMAZING, and I could literally just have them by themselves. Good amount of topping, well cooked fries, but only regular potatoes — no regular/​sweet potato mixing here! The nacho fries were not quite as well received, but that was only due to the nature of the topping — «Sloppy Joe» and guac on fries means they’re going to lose their crispness but they were also delicious. If I had to fault the fries, it would be on portion size as they simply didn’t seem as generous as others I’ve eaten.
That all having been said, it was an enjoyable meal and I would go again. The staff were friendly, helpful and — up to the point we wanted the bill — prompt and on the ball. The food was good, the drinks were good, the price-​to-​portion ratio is perhaps not quite as good as some other Manchester eateries, but overall was a good experience.

After various tries of Splendid Kitchen in recent months — including plenty of fried chicken via Deliveroo after our return from holiday — our latest visit was to try out the brand new brunch menu. The soft launch covered two weekends and we were lucky enough to be able to book on when they were offering 50% off on food.
The menu has a good mix of sweet and savoury, with a dedicated section to eggs benedict and pancakes given plenty of (well earned) coverage. There’s plenty of drinks available — both alcoholic and none — but we all went for something hot, either tea or coffee. I love the mugs that they’re served in as they’re *proper* mugs that you can get your hands around, so great start.
Food wise, it took me a long time to decide between the french toast and bacon dippers, the latter purely for the novelty. And yes, I gave in to the novelty. Crispy strips of bacon covered in pancake batter and served with maple syrup for dipping? Sign me up. They were delicious, though potentially better served as a side rather than as main, as I found myself pining for the sausage and fries that were also around the table.
The eggs benedict fries were greatly appreciated after a few drinks the night before, and the full breakfasts hushed the rest of the table. The negatives were that the beans were over-​seasoned and more bread was required for mopping up! A rack for the table, maybe? Otherwise it was full stomachs and smiles.
Service was friendly throughout but slow. Putting this down to the first few brunch services as every other experience we’ve had has been on the ball, so hopefully this will pick up. There was actually a point where the same song played 4 times in a row and the food hadn’t arrived — it was a bit of a tease, but a funny story for afterwards!
I can see myself back very soon for the chicken & waffles as a brunch item… then home afterwards for a nap!

A few years ago, I went to this place when it was called Jack Spratts but haven’t been back since it’s incarnation as Splendid Sausage Co/​Kitchen. Until about a month ago (I am very behind with my reviews) when my friend and I were wandering home after an after work glass of wine in Spinningfields and thought we’d give it a go.
I had the cow burger. It was very nice, in a city overrun with burgers good and bad. We also shared the naked fries and guacamole. I forget now what my friend had to eat. We also each had a glass of house red, which was very nice.
The bill wasn’t bad — about £20 each.
Overall, really good place and I’d go again.

My previous review was when Splendid was Splendid Sausage. Now the menu has significantly changed and features the delectable fried chicken, mash and gravy. I greatly enjoyed this post Breakout at our January elite event and the other night when I’d had two very stressful days at work and hardly eaten I ended up walking past here and knew what I had to do.
The fried chicken was again really good (three months later, good consistency). However the service was distinctly unimpressive, we were left for ages at the beginning without drinks and had to flag someone down anytime we needed anything. Basically they need more staff. However I would still go back because of my need for the delicious chicken, and hope that was just an off night/​they were last minute short staffed.

Overall we had a great meal and the 50% off meant we could really go for it and try a huge range of the menu between 3 of us.
The corn dogs were amazing — so fresh, perfectly seasoned sausage and the corn coating was light and fluffy. Great mustard dip. Loved these!
We tried the slider sharer and this was great, however I did think the half-​brioche buns tasted a little stale. This could however, be because they are part-​bread, part-​brioche which could explain the difference in texture that I’m not used to!
Onto the mains — highlight was that chicken burger. It looked fantastic and tasted great too. Crispy, well seasoned and perfect amount of salad/​slaw. The Porklife hotdog was also epic. Slight meat sweats induced afterwards but I would expect nothing less. I went for the Monkfish Tacos — slightly disappointed with these as the Asian slaw didn’t live up to much — but, I had plenty to be getting on with with my Pizza Fries, which were so good, and actually tasted like PIZZA!
Other sides — pulled pork Mac n Cheese, and the Chicken Bites Mac n Cheese — both a little on the salty side but overall my friends enjoyed them. Naked fries were lovely, and the homemade Guacamole was delicious, fresh, very yummy.
Finally — puddings. Malteaser chocolate Sundae was heavenly. Loads of ice cream, fresh cream, toffee sauce and sprinkles — but not over facing. DELICIOUS! And the Blondie with ice cream and cream — so so good. We also tried a strawberry milkshake which was also fantastic!
Overall, really enjoyed the meal and would return but next time I think to one of their Kitchen Takeovers :-)

My first time here and it’s very much in keeping with Manchester’s latest surge in dirty burger establishments with mismatched chairs, plywood booths and big sloppy burgers.
We all had a different burger with various toppings but the general feeling was that they were all lacking at touch of seasoning. Fries were decent but the bacon and sausage covered fries with gravy didn’t really do it for us.
Great choice of American craft beers and soft drinks.
The staff were very friendly and helpful.
Next time we come we will probably go for the chicken…

I’ve been to Splendid a number of times since they’ve had the revamp now and have to say I’ve been really impressed and feel it’s a really good step into a new direction.
Specialising in soul food, but also still stocking the great bangers and burgers — they really do hit all bases with a fantastic range of wines, cocktails and probably the best restaurant beer selection in Manchester (this for me is a real winner with the normal list consisting of lovely treats from the likes of Beavertown and an always changing guest list — nice job guys!
I’ve enjoyed their Ox cheeks and Splendid Cow burgers on my last couple of visits and both have richly satisfied me and made me want to come back for more.
I’ve also got to give a shout out to the staff, some of the friendliest around and whoever you speak to are always up for a chat and a laugh.
Splendid now seem to tick all the boxes and that’s why it gets one of my fabled 5 star reviews, perfect for any occasion!

We went there for some well earned meat and drink after we broke out of Breakout Manchester as part of January’s Elite event.
Two things I noticed straightaway were the poster of the lizard king Jim Morrison himself and of course the legendary Jonny Cash. Being a huge Doors fan, I fell in love with that effort to bring in that americanness into the place.
However, it is the drinks menu, where this Americanness is executed with aplomb, in the form of Berry Lee Lewis. This was a killer in its own right (see what i did there?). Now I feel like kicking myself for not remembering what went into that delightful concoction, but so what, this only means I can go there again.
The food was well made and presented. We had the starter platter comprising of barbie chicken bites, sweetcorn fritters, hush puppies & corn dogs with dips. They were rich in flavour and very tasteful too. For me, the barbie chicken was the winner by a country mile. I am not saying the other starters were bad. OK, wait. Let me explain. It’s like this. If you look at films that get nominated for the Oscars every year, they aren’t bad films at all, but only one of them is the winner that gets the little golden twerp. Does it make sense now?
For the mains, I went for the chicken + bacon burger. I must admit that bun, with that golden brown tan, that glaze and sesame seeds looked so pretty I didn’t want to touch the burger for fear of spoiling the view. Nevertheless the dirty deed had to be done and the burger had to be consumed. Once again, I confess, I relished every bite, every ounce of taste and every last smidge of flavour that the burger packed. I am a fan.
I have always believed that people, enhance or mar the experience and I felt, once again that the people at splendid kitchen are a splendid bunch who definitely enhanced my experience there. Well done guys, keep it up.
I sincerely hope they continue to maintain their qualities of food preparation, presentation and service. A few more veggie options and that fifth star is yours.

I had been to, the previously named, Splendid Sausage Co once before and whilst it was ‘OK’ I was always hoping they’d soon be able to do so much more than Hot Dogs — Hurrah! Along comes Splendid Kitchen.
Very centrally located at the top of John Dalton St, a stones-​throw away from Albert Square and Manchester Town Hall, this reincarnated restaurant takes influence from both British and American dishes to create what they call, Northern Soul Food.
The menu has extended significantly, selling an array of starters, bites and nibbles, to burgers, their original hot dogs and even some big plates. It was good to see, and as always I really struggled to choose as there was so many things I wanted! Their amazing ‘Mac and Cheese’ section caught my eye, but in the end I went for the Cow and Chicken burger: Cheeseburger with a fried chicken thigh, crispy fried bacon, relish, garlic mayo, lettuce, tomato and gherkins. It was very good! Mac and Cheese next time!
The ambiance in here is great and the guys who run the place are lovely. I’ll be back to Splendid Kitchen I’m sure.

Having been to Splendid’s previous incarnation as the Splendid Sausage Company a few times and always enjoyed it, I was keen to try out the latest development of this restaurant.
All that has really changed, other than the name, is the much more extensive menu. Burgers, chicken and ham are offered alongside their traditional sausage line up.
Starters to share are great, but who’s going to eat the last item?
I do like the sausages here. A lot of hot dog purists insist on a hot dog being a frankfurter but personally I like something that’s a bit different. Having had the sausages many times before I thought I’d better try something else so went for the burger option. I was not disappointed. The home made burger was cooked to perfection and was so big I could hardly pick it up!
There are a good selection of beers on the standard menu as well as an impressive line up of guest beers. I just had to try the 6.5% Dandelion & Burdock porter as well as the more delicately flavoured ruby pale ale from Tickety Brew — which is fast becoming one of my favourite breweries
I’ll definitely be back to Splendid soon, so many items on the menu I want to try and all those guest ales which need to be drunk!!!

My first ‘proper’ visit (previously came here on a brilliant Unilocal Elite event) to the recently renamed Splendid Kitchen was right at the start of the year.
I was looking for somewhere that would please kids and adults alike of a lunchtime, whilst being keen to avoid those chains on every high street. My dad was in town and I’d much prefer to show out of towners places that help make Manchester unique, rather than settling on familiar restaurants with no real identity.
Splendid Kitchen ticks all the boxes for me, unfussy food in unpretentious surroundings with good tunes and decent (bottle only) beer, all served by lovely staff and passionate owners!
Before the tweak to their identity Splendid Kitchen specialised in hot dogs piled with toppings, in that Diners, Drive-​ins and Dives Americana style, apeing some of the crazy burgers you get everywhere but with proper local sausages.
That worked really well, some of the toppings were superb, but I can’t help feel that the usp would wear thin quite quickly and it seems the owners felt the same, so the change in name represents the widening of the menu to even more American-​influenced dishes like grilled sandwiches and what they call ‘Northern Soul Food’ (great tagline that),
They’ve also got a new lunchtime menu, which is great value at under a fiver for everything, I had a grilled cheese sandwich with shredded ham and pork in it, with a small portion of seasoned fries for an extra quid, I could barely breath after & didn’t eat again all day, but I’m not exactly known for my voracious appetite. My dad went for the signature burger which he enjoyed & still went out for tea later, so your mileage may vary, either way you shouldn’t be leaving hungry.
In addition to the new lunch menu & the tweaked main menu of dogs, burgers and things like mac and cheese, fried chicken and meatloaf, there’s also a kids menu, which my little sisters seemed pleased enough with. Oh, and you have to try the peanut butter mustard too, it’s so weird but actually works, at least it did with the salty ham and gooey cheese toastie I ate.
All in all it was an enjoyable lunch and i’ll definitely be back, ideally with work colleagues at lunch one day as it’s great value, enjoyable food that most people will like.
One thing to note if you are going for a work lunch is that we did have to wait a while, so if it’s possible to order ahead then that would be perfect, I did read that splendid kitchen are planning to do deliveries soon, so that could be great too!

Recently went to an event at Splendid Sausage and had a lovely evening including hot dogs, fries, cocktails and waffles.
Now although hot dogs for me are «OK» generally, I liked the cumber-​ish hot dog I had. I had the pizza fries as a sides. There was nothing much to the fries — just standard fries. The tomato and cheese topping was «OK» — nothing to write home about unfortunately.
I had some cocktails which tasted nice but could have done with maybe a bit more alcohol — but what cocktail doesn’t! ;) :)
We all had waffles for dessert and got to design/​make our own. The actual waffles themselves were a bit disappointing. The waffles were just like the ones you buy from the supermarket — says its home made on menu? Unfortunately, with the waffles being as they were, they don’t seem good value. Looking at the menu, it also slightly feels some of the waffles they offer and throwing too much stuff on a waffle.
I have since been somewhere where you get a couple proper fresh warm waffle (with syrup and ice cream) for just a bit more than the waffles at Splendid.
Overall though, Splendid is a nice place and the service is good. Hopefully the owners (who I know look at Unilocal reviews) will take this as «constructive criticism» — regarding the waffles.

A large group of us came here on a Thursday eve as SSC was the chosen spot for July’s ‘Mancs vs Food’.
Even before the event happened the manager was extremely helpful, as we needed to increase the table size. You can book online and there’s no deposit required, which I was pleasantly surprised at given that other places charge.
Some of the gang arrived a bit earlier for the happy hour which ends at 7pm so were supping the first of their two drinks with big smiles on their faces before the rest of us sat down!
The restaurant is informal and laid back, with chipboard sheeting on the walls and some quirky objects and art dotted about the place. The wifi code is clearly displayed on a chalk board above the bar (N.B. why don’t all places do this — it’d save staff loads of time being bothered by social media-​obsessed customers!).
They had a great playlist on when we were there — it was just loud enough to hear without being too loud to spoil the conversations.
After our drink orders were taken we checked out the menu which is nicely laid out. I made the mistake of checking the menu online earlier in the day so already knew what I was having — the Beef, Beans, Buffalo & Blue hot dog (£8) with Eggs Benedict Fries (£5).
Though most of the table went for one of the Combos, which are already designed for you, some opted for a Classic and just added two toppings of their choice.
The food didn’t take very long to arrive and we got stuck in — the eggs on my fries oozed perfectly over them when cut into. They were so delicious I’d almost finished the basket before turning my attention to the BBB&B.
With a choice of cutlery or hands, I chose the latter (and needed plenty of paper napkins). It was very flavoursome, I picked off the buffalo pretzel pieces and ate them first as the crunchy texture didn’t work with the rest of it, in my opinion. Thinking back, the other toppings, especially the blue cheese, were so in-​your-​face (literally) that I couldn’t really taste the dog itself — I might try a Classic next time.
Afterwards, three of us were co-​erced into ordering waffles for dessert (that’s a lie, we were being gluttons) — I had Born In The USA (whipped cream, candied bacon, blueberries and maple syrup at £4) — oh, and a scoop of Malteser icecream to boot (50p extra). It lasted about 12 seconds.
SSC is a great addition to the Manchester foodie scene, with excellent customer service and some menu options which are certainly pushing the envelope.