Historic Salford pub, The Black Friar, has announced the return of its Pie Festival in January 2024, serving up the best pies in the city for just £10.
The festival celebrates winter as pie season and offers up homemade, proper northern pies with a range of fillings that everyone can enjoy – after all, beauty is in the pie of the beholder.
The menu will launch on Monday 8th January and run until the end of February, just in time to keep bodies warm and stomachs full during the coldest & darkest months of the year.
The now annual Pie Festival was introduced in 2022 following national food critic Jay Rayner’s glowing review of Chef Ben Chaplin’s homemade pies, hailing them as “pies done proper”. The festival cements The Black Friar as the home of pies, serving up generously filled, daily specials alongside beloved menu signatures.
This year’s menu includes three fixed pies, consisting of Creamy Chicken and Pancetta Pie, Minced Aged Beef and Root Vegetable Pie and Classic Fish Pie alongside a host of daily ever-changing specials deliciously crafted by Chef Ben Chaplin. Expect specials including the likes of a breakfast pie, a selection of curry fillings, sweet dessert pies and even a doggy pie, especially for man’s best friend.
£10 pies will be available all day every Monday and will be served until 6pm between Tuesday-Friday. And it’s not justpies on offer, the new menu will also have a range of winter warmers available as mains; including Grandma’s Pork Sausage served with mash and onion gravy, a creamy Mushroom Tagliatelle and Vegetable Bhuna made with seasonal veg.
Starters on offer include Boddingtons Rarebit with sourdough, hen’s egg and chard, White Anchovies on Toasted Sourdough and Roasted Cauliflower with Ras El Hanout, harissa ragu, grapes and almond. And to round off the menu are three seasonal desserts – Sticky Toffee Pudding topped with toffee sauce and served alongside vanilla bean ice cream, an Apple Crumble with vegan vanilla ice cream and a Gingerbread Rice Pudding with caramelised pear and stem ginger. A starter or dessert can be added to any main for just £7 during The Black Friar Pie Festival.
Neil Burke, Owner of The Black Friar, said: “We believe we have the best pies in town and whether you’re meaty, veggie, vegan or flexi, we’ve got you covered with our new menu. We’re excited to be bringing back our iconic Pie Festival for another year – serving up good, hearty meals to the people of Manchester during the hardest months of the year.”
The grade II listed pub dates back over 200 years, and was originally known as the School Inn, but burned down. It was renamed the Black Friar when it was rebuilt in 1886. It was open continuously from then until 2001, when it burned down a second time. The building has since been refurbed to include a huge award-winning beer garden and outdoor tavern, cosy pub and grand glass room.
The Black Friar is located on Blackfriars Road, just a 10 minute walk from Deansgate. To book a table for the Pie Festival, head over to The Black Friars website at https://www.
