Three Little Words

Three Little Words is one of our go-to bar-restaurants for a number of reasons. It’s a great-looking space, tucked away on Watson Street just behind the Great Northern, central enough to easily find but away from the rowdiness of Deansgate and Peter Street. Oh, and it also has its own in-house gin distillery which has rave reviews from all.

But aside from the evening and night-time visits, we’ve been hearing great things about their Sunday lunches so we popped along to try them out.

First impressions are good. It’s a relaxed space, and even on a Sunday after the night before and everyone is in good spirits. And more importantly, considering the ongoing troubles in the hospitality industry, so are the staff, who come across as some of the friendliest and most charming in all of Manchester. There’s a live musician playing background at just the right volume and everything just feels right for that perfect Sunday afternoon atmosphere.

A pot of gravy so good it should be bottled and sold at auction

The menu comes with a choice of three roasts, for a mere £15: roast beef with mustard and rosemary, porchetta garlic and mushroom and the weekly vegetarian special. It’s a bold move not to have the obvious chicken choice on there, and I’m all for it. Even the most amateur chef (aka, yours truly) can cook a passable roast chicken, beef and pork are a whole other level.

I opt for the porchetta and I’m very glad I did. These are thick slices of rolled-up pork, stuffed with garlic and mushroom. It arrives with a huge Yorkshire pudding (again, cooked even better than your dear old mum used to when you were a kid), some excellent steamed vegetables, just enough roast potatoes and a pot of gravy so good it should be bottled and sold at auction. I also get a side of cauliflower cheese and even that’s a dream.

But back to the star of the show. Pork can be tricky to cook, often being too dry and chewy but that’s far from the case here – it cuts beautifully and tastes even better.

As you can tell by the name, porchetta has Italian origins, and that’s evident with each bite – it’s so good it’s almost intoxicating. This is in large part to the garlic and mushroom flavours which are balanced right down to the atom, never too strong, never leave you wanting for a little more. There’s some serious talent at work in the Three Little Words kitchen.

And that’s why these Sunday roast sessions are almost always a sell-out affair, week after week. Those in the know, know, and they come back for more. I certainly will.