Trading Route
Ian Jones, Food and Drink EditorVisit now
Trading Route
- Tuesday11:00am - 11:00pm
- Wednesday11:00am - 11:00pm
- Thursday11:00am - 11:00pm
- Friday11:00am - 11:00pm
- Saturday11:00am - 11:00pm
- Sunday11:00am - 11:00pm
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
Sunday dinner, Trading Route-style. First point of order: what a soundtrack. The speakers play a constant stream of curios and mood-appropriate gems, curated by the cheery staff, who seem as happy to be there as we are.
The whole place is laid back in all the best ways – family-friendly, big groups of mates-friendly, nursing a crippling hangover-friendly.
The meat comes from local faves, Littlewoods Butchers, who seem to have the roast dinner market cornered in Manchester, supplying Folk in Didsbury and more besides. It’s not hard to see why, especially when it comes to those thick slices of fleur de sel-scattered beef.
The roast potatoes are crunchy-then-soft, correctly. The seasonal vegetables (roast carrots, sweet-and-zingy red cabbage and crispy kale) do great things in terms of texture, colour and flavour.
You owe it to yourself to get at least one of the sides. Kcals be damned, go for the roasted leek and cauliflower cheese (a bowl of rich slow-motion goo) or the bawdy little pork, chestnut and sage stuffing balls, which come with a tip-top little pot of apple sauce to counter the earthy saltiness.
Desserts are forged in the classic late 20th-century fashion. The key lime pie is everything a zesty, creamy, biscuity treat should be, while the steamed jam sponge (with vanilla custard, naturally) is so wonderfully nostalgic you’ll start to hear the theme tune to All Creatures Great and Small as you slip off into that well-deserved food coma.
The roast dinners at Trading Route don’t reinvent the wheel, but, like Spokey Dokeys, they do improve on it. Time-honoured Sunday grub tradition done in a modern Manchester style.
