OUT.MCR Review: Flames Smokehouse, Manchester

Manchester’s Hidden Gems  – September – Flames Smokehouse

  • Name – Flames Smokehouse
  • Location – Brierley Ave, Failsworth, Manchester, M35 9HA

Rather peculiarly situated at a soccer centre in Failsworth, is a fully kitted out freight container…with a difference. This container just happens to be home to some of the tastiest, full-blooded food in the whole of Manchester. Flames Smokehouse is not just a local gem but somewhere which is gaining in reputation almost quicker than it can turn around fantastically mouth-watering burgers. This is a place of secret smiles and full stomachs and is our MCR hidden gem for September.

The menu is comprehensive enough without being overbearing and the service is about as personal as you will ever experience. The head chef and owner here has absolutely nothing to hide, beaming with pride he will walk you through the origin of every ingredient and the arduous man-hours that go into his smoking process.

Flames is a humble and refreshingly honest eatery with an abundance of fantastic products. For example, their Mega Manc burger ticks every box, the treacle soaked triple smoked pancetta paints a brilliant foil for the melt-in-the-mouth 8oz brisket patty. It doesn’t stop there either, the pile of hickory-smoked Boston butt pulled pork and the crispy coated chicken breast add even more meat to the mountain. I know what you’re thinking, it sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen, but trust me, when so much soul has been poured into this gut-buster, it is worth every calorie. Top tip, go for the charcoal brioche, it’s just a little bit Batman isn’t it!

 

If you are looking for something different then the dirty chicken fries are fabulously flavoursome and worryingly moreish, I honestly believe there is nowhere you can get something with so much care and high-quality product for £6.95…if you know something I don’t, I am more than willing to listen to suggestions. The menu would lead you to think the hickory-smoked chicken is sprinkled over a generous serving of chips, however, as you’ll soon realise this isn’t the case unless of course, a shovel was used to throw the delicious chicken into mounds over the chips.

 

This months suggestion is more than a hidden gem, it’s something completely alien to anywhere I have eaten before. That being said it’s important to remember this is an outdoor venue so in typical manchester fashion you may have to grin and bear the weather, but small portions are certainly a thing of the past once you introduce flames smokehouse into your food diary this month.