Guerilla Eats at The Beagle

The other week we were surprised to hear one of our favourite pubs and eateries, The Beagle, announcing that there were changes afoot. We were pretty gutted to hear that their old menu was a gonner but excited to hear that this was being replaced by a constrant stream of hot, fresh street food from our favourite local producers in the form of Guerilla Eats!

The Beagle weren't giving us much time to say our goodbyes to the old menu but their launch evening was perfectly timed with the start of a wave of beautiful weather in Manchester so we didn't mind too much. As should be done on all sunny Thursdays (which as you know are the new Fridays), we met up on the terrace with fabulous friends (including the most lovely blogging twosome you will meet - Manchester Foodies) for some pints and some yummy street food! Yeah boyyy!

The Moocher

I was in a very greedy mood (dangerous, very dangerous), but being pescatarian did limit me somewhat. This was not a bad thing - as I say I was in a greedy mood and who knows how much food I could have crammed into my gluttonous mouth had I been able to eat everything? I started off with a Veggie Taco from the all round good guys in the psychedelic van - Margo and Rita's. This was a good summery snack and the perfect street food for shoving in your gob in a beer garden.

My favourite street food man of the evening with a surprisingly large number of veggie options turned out to be Mr Roaming Pinchos. It was his debut event and I was proud to be one of his first ever customers. He seemed a bit nervous at first which I could identify with as I too am bricking it about our forthcoming street food adventures so I went to chat to him again at the end and he seemed very happy at how it had all gone; this made me pleased.

I tried his Pinchos tasting plate which was my favourite snack of the evening and involved tasty little toppings on toasty bread from Épicerie Ludo - I particularly enjoyed the Tuna Tartare with Avocado Purée and thought it was very nice to have Mock Chorizo as an alternative to the Serrano Ham.

I did return later for a portion of Mock Chorizo Salad with Butterbeans and Tomatoes which was fresh and healthy, perfect for a warm evening eating outside.

Of course there was also plenty on offer for the meat eaters and my meaty friends also ate very well. Our Levy neighbours The Moocher were certainly turning a few heads with their freshly barbecued meats and huge slabs of bread. I loved the sound of the Wild Garlic Mayo on their Veal Steak sandwich and Bailey said this was spot on, although my friend Beth wished there'd been more mayo on it - I wouldn't blame her, it sounded gorgeous.

We had such an amazing time eating the Guerilla Eats grub at The Beagle that it was pretty hard to tear ourselves away at the end of the night even when all of the producers had packed up to go home. While at first I lamented the loss of The Beagle's menu, now that I've seen it all in action I do think having the Guerilla Eats lot in suits the place much better and I understand their decision completely. It's great to see places like The Beagle coming up with new ideas and I think this is one that will work for everyone involved. The good news for us punters is that we will now be able to get our mitts on the Guerilla Eats food whenever we feel like it and without having to travel to different locations every time. We also have a boozer which will have a menu that is different every time you go which is great. Now if I could just trust myself to go again and not eat every veggie option in sight...

Boquerones in Cava Vinegar from The Roaming Pinchos