Thought Burnley’s famous Mechanics Theatre only had food for pre-theatre dining? Think again…
This delicious, newly-refurbished venue is open 11am – 2.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday and burnley.social had the absolute pleasure of dining there the other day.
In a lunch break to remember, we gazed over their menu with drooling mouths and left with a stuffed stomach to the brim.
For the starters, we got the Bury black pudding and smoked cheese bons bons and smoked haddock and leek fishcake with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. Not only were they lookers, these dishes delivered some serious flavour and set a high expectation for the main course.
The mains passed our test with flying colours. We had the Korean sticky udon noodles with tempura king prawns, which came with a side of prawn crackers and braised shin of beef served with champ mash. It certainly warmed me up on a brisk November afternoon and – when we couldn’t finish this mountain of meat and mash – the staff kindly boxed up our unfinished dish so it could be enjoyed at home later on in the day. (By the way, ‘champ mash’ is an Irish side dish of mash with spring onions, diced smoked bacon, salted butter and parsley. We didn’t know this either but it was conveniently explained on the menu).
Food is one thing, but the new interior and friendly staff also made the 1855 Bistro and Bar absolutely worth visiting again. 100%.
We also heard that the cooking oil is turned into green energy and biodiesel – we love it when things are kept as local and environmentally friendly as possible.
We had eyed up desserts such as Bakewell traybake and Manchester Tart with jam and double cream but had to admit defeat.
A huge thanks for Burnley Mechanics for the amazing food – we can’t wait to return!
