Ordinary Guide to: M1lkshake Manchester

Arndale Market again for this one. M1lkshake Manchester – is a Milkshake Kiosk. Ok, thats simple enough, but there is a lil bit of a twist, they throw well known choccy bars, sweets and tasty treats into their milkshakes. They have over 100 flavours on the menu, and you can add any of the items off the menu to it, making totally unique milkshakes. There is also the chance to add “floaters” or “sinkers” to your shake to jazz it up a lil.

When we arrived there was a right scrum round the kiosk. Obviously causing a lil bit of stir is this place! Mrs O kept it boring and went for a Malteeser shake, being adventurous I went for a Twix, with cookie dough and a minstrel floater! Oh the decadence!

I don’t want to waffle on, but basically this is the BEST MILKSHAKE I HAVE EVER HAD. Probably better than any I ever will have.  I cannot recommend enough. Get there. Go. NOW!

Get at them on Facebook Click Here

Ordinary Guide to: Pancho’s Burritos

Holá!

Heard a little whisper about a lil Mexican place in Manchester, a take-away place that does Burritos to die for. Hmmm. So I thought why the hell not give it a go. So I did a little looking up and seen that Pancho’s Burritos is one of the kiosks in The Arndale Market Food Court.

When we found it, there was a small queue forming, which allowed us a bit of time to study the menu. Basically you can have all sorts of authentic Mexican dishes. Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Burritos. All that jazz.

Seen as it is called Pancho’s Burritos, it was clear we should have the burritos! I ordered mine without the lettuce, not a fan of it. They burritos come properly loaded, onions, peppers, chicken, rice, refried beans and spices. Yum yum. It comes all wrapped up in tin foil and the first thing you notice is how weighty it is! Damn!

I went for the spicy option, and boy was it spicy! Delicious, really cheap, I thoroughly recommend you pay them a visit!

they on facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manchester-United-Kingdom/Panchos-Burritos-Manchester/107688639271714

Ordinary Guide to: TGI Fridays

We visited TGI Fridays in the Trafford Centre, after Mrs O’s insistance that it was great, and to be frank, I was not impressed. At all. It was incredibly loud, also, with the weather not being the warmest at the moment, the air-con was on full blast directly above our table. To be fair they did turn it off when I asked.

TGI for those who have had the pleasure of not going before, has a little bit of 60’s American diner theme going on, which is prevalent right through the Burger and Milkshake laden menu. The burgers did look appetising I must admit. I ordered a double stacked Friday Burger. Which according to the menu came with two thick beef burgers, bacon, cheese, and onion rings. Yummy.

What actually came was a soggy bun, with only one burger, cheese, bacon, and it was thin, and a little burnt. No onion rings, no second delicious burger. Chips we’re  soggy and pale. Basically, greasy spoon quality at restaurant prices. I was gutted, as Mrs O loves the place. Lil O had a hotdog, which didn’t look all that special.

To summarise. Its expensive. It is loud. The food is sub-standard for the price. If you want burgers and milkshakes in the Trafford Centre. Go to McDonalds and save around £70.

Ordinary Guide to: The Social Network

Despite the enormous hype, and the must see tags I have seen for this film it didn’t quite live up to, well any of them, to be honest. If we boil it down to the bare necessities, it was simply just a film about a lawsuit.  Dull, really. The beginnings of how Facebook started were pretty interesting. But not enough for a film. Jesse Eisenberg was perfect as the geeky Mark Zuckerberg. Not sure if the flip flops are an accurate representation of what Mark Zuckerberg wears, always, but they add to the sheer oddity and genius of the character. Justin Timberlake managed to be an annoying addition to the cast. Again unsure if that is a trait they’ve made up for the film, or if Timberlake is just annoying.

The technical wizardry on display in the dorm room at the absolute start of the website are mindblowing. There ay be like one person who understands fully what they were waffling about. I know the odd thing about websites, but I was so lost.

Another bizarre thing about the film is that this is Mark Zuckerberg’s point of view. But you leave more feeling for his partner.

In summary, if you’re on Facebook, and I know you are, then it is worth watching to see how it became what it is. But if you’re not into social networking or don’t have a facebook account, you will be so bored you might cry.

Ordinary Guide to: Mughli

Comedy club ended quite late, leaving us with limited options on where to go for a late night bite, that wasn’t a trashy takeaway – Rusholme’s Curry Mile! Even though its actually only 860 meters long. Driving down Wilmslow Road its quite difficult to know where to go. I tend to follow my nose. Mughli (about halfway down on the right if your leaving Manchester) was a very orange looking place with what looked like mood-lighting going on. So we opted for there. Once inside you realise that orangy feel comes from the film on the windows, and its actually very bright inside. This is a great idea as many of the restaurants have very bright lighting too, but without that film it feels like your on display to the road. There’s a quick plus point already.

We were shown to our table, and the decor of the restaurant is very tasteful. Obvious Eastern influences but very chic and modern at the same time. One thing which cheapens the visit neadlesly is the menu is on a flyer type of arrangement. I didn’t like this. Effort into the menu usually shows effort in other areas. But I think they could easily resolve this.

With it being so late at night, we decided against a starter, and went straight in for a main. We both had Chicken Tikka Balti Masala. A dish we’d both never heard of before. so both fancied trying. There were a few other very interesting choices, which made choosing one quite difficult. That is usually something guaranteed to bring me back. To accompany my main I ordered a chilli-cheese naan, Mrs O a garlic naan.

The food arrived quickly and the staff were attentive and friendly. One point on the staff though, it was fairly quiet around midnight when we arrived and I counted 13 visible members of staff! Good for service, but did feel like overkill.

The Balti Masala didn’t let down. The meat was rich in flavour and probably the outstanding feature of the meal, my chilli-cheese naan hit the spot. It was spicy, it was wonderfully crisp but could have done with a tad more cheese. I noticed, all too late, the drinks menu on the table. Besides a good range of alcoholic drinks. They had a really tasty looking selection of in house milkshakes and refreshers which had some really interesting flavours – werthers original, skittles, oreo, murray mint. Wish I had noticed earlier, but I will go back and see how they go. I was more than satisfied with the food and the whole experience. Stuck for a ruby in Rusholme? Fancy sit down bit of spice on the way home from town? You can’t go wrong with Mughli – try them refreshers and let me know!

Visit their site at  www.Mughli.com

 

Ordinary Guide to: The Comedy Store MCF-2010

Manchester Comedy Festival. Only one place I wanna go, The Comedy Store. Clearly, its the place to go for comedy, so this surely needs to be where the action is on the Sat night of the festival. Checked online, sold out. Balls. No drama, I’ll go down and try see if theres anyone flogging spares outside. But I lined up two other shows in case my plan B failed. Upon arriving, I managed to speak to the fella running the box office, and happily was told that he could sort two tickets out. Result!

In we went, and took our seats, a full half hour before the show, for those who haven’t been to the Manchester Comedy store, or to Deansgate locks, the interior of the venue is built under railway arches, with exposed brickwork. Its actually lovely and suits the venue very well.

On the card was Justin Moorhouse as the MC, Jimmy McGee, Andy Watson, Steve Harris and Nick Ferry topping it off. Jimmy McGee was probably my own personal favorite. His comedy is delivered in a very relaxed manner, with few gags, more story based comedy to which the average 20-something lad can relate to. His bit about being harassed by the orange-ogre from Wales a particular highlight. Up next was Andy Watson, who was also very funny, but not quite as relaxed, not sure if this is part of his act as he was playing up to and basing a lot of his material on being slender, red-haired and a loser. He was very energetic and had some good thought out gags, I’d pay to watch again.

After the interval was Steve Harris, who appeared to be a pretty experienced comedian. Very confident on the stage, unafraid to plummet the tone through the floor which resulted in some big laughs from the majority of the audience. Great in small doses, not certain I or he could handle a longer set.

Topping the bill was Mick Ferry, cannot for the life of me think where I have seen him before, but I have! Mick is entertaining, in the way a funny uncle is. So relaxed on stage you could be forgiven that he was speaking with just you in the pub. His bit on jeggins and ugg boots resonated with a lot of the audience. Funny coz its true. Disco-minge wipes.

Justin Moorhouse as MC is a perfect choice. His relentless abuse of two bald blokes on the front row as well as a pretty buff gym-goer that clearly sat in the wrong place was so funny it hurt. Justin is a huge comedy talent with a ton of experience. Any opportunity you can get to see him I recommend you do.

 

Ordinary Guide to: Nando’s

I went today, third time this week. It goes without saying I love Nando’s Its awesome. As a fighter its pretty good for you too, it fits right in with my diet. As an Ordinary Bloke Im sure you’ve sampled Nando’s but if not, read on. Met two of my mates, and took little O with us today, the Ashton Moss one, and the order was a modest, 2 whole chickens, 2 lots of rice, 2 lots of peri chips, 5 wings, a corn on the cob, caesar salad, 3 waters and a coke. Enough for some growing men!

Little O still on the plain, but I am chuffed that at four he knows why he is eating chicken, what more he understands where its come from and is not bothered. I didn’t eat on the bone chicken til I was an adult, so Im pleased he can do this. The rest of us like it hot. Hot doesnt actually taste spicy to me anymore, its just the flavour I have. I stripped the 3/4 of chicken I was on, added it to the caesar salad and got stuck in.

Nando’s does chicken. It does it in an addictive fashion. I argue with people at work all the time over Nando’s. Some people just don’t get it. My group of friends, fighters, gym goers, the Mrs and the lil un love it, so I aint fussed. I won’t stop going. Ever. It’s a restaurant that doesn’t need crazy offers or a new menu every five mins to attract custom. Wednesday nights are a virtual no go at Nando’s as the Orange Wednesdays & Nando’s night seems to attract everyone from 17 yr old girls to hardcore cage-fighters. It has universal appeal. Verdict – Get your arse to the nearest one, go for a half chicken and chips, medium spice. Thank me later.

Ordinary Guide to: Podcasts!

Really this is a guide to a few different things in one. But I’ll focus it on the podcast.

I have the iPhone 3Gs. I will be getting the iPhone 4 pretty damn soon, I hope. 🙂 Now the iPhone is clearly the best handset you can have. The functionality of these things dont really explaining by me, if you don’t know about the iPhone then, you clearly aren’t an Ordinary Bloke.

A seriously cool feature of the iPhone is the App Store and iTunes. Sitting somewhere with not much to do, pull up iTunes search through for a podcast, wait about 3-4 minutes and you can listen away. Now tell me that isn’t awesome!! I have over 300 podcasts on my phone. I rarely listen to the radio in the car anymore, I fire up a podcast and get one of them going. Its like listening to a radio where only the songs you want are played, or the presenters are people or subjects you want to listen to. Scheduled radio is out!

A podcast I do recommend is the Joe Rogan podcast. I have listened to this one from the start. Its now 50 episodes in and each one last approx two hours. Joe Rogan is an American stand up comedian, who also is the colour commentator on the UFC. Joe talks about everything the ordinary guy should be listening to, he talks honestly about drugs, sexuality, porn, fighting, drinking, cars, comedy, life experiences, dogs, cats, the weather, friends, aliens, galaxies, floatation tanks, phycadelic drugs and they are actually unbelievably addictive! The conversations that is. Not the drugs.

So err thats podcasts in a nutshell. Get onto em. I know you’ve all got an iPhone!

Joe Rogan’s website – http://blog.joerogan.net/#

Ordinary Guide to: The Village Hotel Gym – Village Fit

Yep, today, in preparation for my fight in a couple of weeks, I wanted to hit the sauna and see what sort of weight I can cut and still function. The missus wanted to come join me so we decided it was good time to try out Village Fit at the Village Hotel, Ashton-Under-Lyne.

We called ahead and got our free three-day pass. Smileyface. Actually the cost of going on a one off is pretty expensive, at £15 a visit, each! So getting the free pass is definitely for winners.

We had to fill in a short form and was then shown around the facilities. Pool, steam room, sauna, jacuzzi all that jazz. I like the private training rooms available, the studios, seemed like alot of classes going on in there. It was decorated pretty well, and kept nice and clean. Certainly different to the hairy-arsed gyms I currently spend many many hours a week in.

The price plan, despite the offers that are on. Does seem pretty damn expensive, at around £50 a month, but I do actually spend around £30 a week at the various places I train in an average week. So I am unsure as what to think about that. Mrs O pays £20 for a gym round the corner, but it has a small selection of equipment, no pool, sauna, steam room etc.

So I am left with quite a tough decision. I’d say that if you can afford the £50. Or if you could only JUST afford the extra £50 a month, but the commitment will jump start you into going to the gym, then I would say get doing it!

Ordinary Guide to: Despicable Me

Friday night, I took my son, 4 and my cousin, 11, to watch Despicable Me at Cineworld Ashton-Under-Lyne. Oh in 3D an all! The first film I’ve watched in 3D. Well, some technology is a big gimmick, and you can see that it isnt really all that. But I am happy to say that I am glad I watched an animated film for my first 3D experience. It was stunning! Seriously, I was blown away the entire film. This was helped by Despicable Me being quite entertaining too. The Minions are hilarious. The voice of Gru, voiced by Steve Carrell, is odd, I cant work out if its Eastern German, Russian, or some twisted mix of the two.

So no excuses needed for this one fellas, its good enough to keep us hooked in. So Id go see it! I may even go see it again. Was a bit miffed how much it is to take the little uns to watch it, but I have just found out that Cineworld do selected films for kids for £1 on Sat mornings. I fancy trying that out!