Cane & Grain

Rum and ribs, ribs and rum. Whatever way you arrange them, that's the order of the day at Cane & Grain; the latest addition to Manchester's Northern Quarter. A new venture opened at the start of July by the guys who brought you Blackdog Ballroom, DogBowl and Liars Club, it's a three-floored hideaway on Thomas Street which is continuing the NQ's interest in gut-busting grub.


A fully signed up member of the ribs and rum appreciation society, it was never going to be long before I got stuck in - I'd have been in sooner but a Hall & Oates gig got in the way of opening night! Eighties soft rock aside, Cane & Grain have put a huge effort into making sure the bottom floor rib house retained some of its heritage - the room used to be a skateboard shop - and has plenty of decks adorning the walls, including a mosaic wall made up from hundreds of old skateboard tiles.

There's also a giant Chesterfield sofa the length of the room which means that at least one of your party is dining in style, if not sliding off it (it was a re-he-heaaaally hot evening).

So, onto the important stuff: the food and drink. Cane & Grain have a great selection of beers on draft as well as plenty of the bottled brews with the outrageous names that we're all so fond of at the moment. There's also a decent list of cocktails to pour down your gullet or drink in an all together more responsible manner. We opted for the Liars brand specialty Zombie (with 'tiki juice') and a Bad Boy Lemonade which includes the bourbon promised on their website, plus lemon, cherry, strawberry syrup and soda. Proper bad boy, me.

Food-wise, if you like ribs, you can't really go wrong - my company for the evening was a rib virgin (apparently they exist) so Cane & Grain was a pretty good place to start. The St. Louis were a pretty solid option, whilst the Dino proved to be so super-succulent that you'd be forgiven for thinking it to be brisket once off the bone. Given the size of it, it's a shame social decorum necessitated that I didn't pick it up and pose like a caveman.

There's also a hefty offering of sides besides the house fries (always important). We opted for the pit beans and rib tips combo, alongside a healthy half pint of mac 'n' cheese and, a new one for me, cornbread - essentially a giant loaf-shaped dumpling. Cane & Grain have succeeded where others often fail by producing a decent mac to accompany the meat but the highlight, from the boy who doesn't like baked beans, has to go to the pit beans.

Now stop reading and get yourself down there.