We’ve all been there: someone’s housemate is having a birthday party, you’ve got friends up visiting to see the bright lights of Manchester, you’ve got Warehouse tickets, and somehow, you’re stumbling home at four in the morning, not drinking any water before you go to sleep. Suddenly it’s 3pm, and you’ve been binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy all day. To top it off, you’re starving – what do you do? Well, look no further than The Blues Kitchen.
Here’s the deal: you get bottomless chicken wings for 90 minutes, they start you off with 15 each (30 between two people) and then another five each time, all for either £12 each or £20 for two. There are also sides which are not to be missed! We won’t lie to you, we went in with eyes bigger than our bellies; having promised each other we would have at least 20 each, we both folded after the first 15.
The wings are coated in a generous amount of buffalo sauce and come with a side of blue cheese dip. Both sauces have the seal of approval from Isi, a self-proclaimed ‘condiment queen’. The sauce was not overwhelmingly spicy but after a wing or 5, the spice slowly started to kick.
Be warned, this is definitely not date food.
The sides were also a stand-out for us and are highly recommended to go along with this deal. We went for true carby goodness in the form of mac and cheese and skinny fries. The mac and cheese was really cheesy (look, Isi ignored her lactose intolerance for this trip, okay?), and although it looked small, it was deceptively filling. At this point, the last thing we needed was more food. The saltiness of the fries particularly cut through the spice of all those wings, giving some much-needed relief.
Our only criticism is that we would have loved a vegetarian wings option! This could become a regular Sunday spot for our weekend debriefs, but with a mostly vegetarian household, a cauliflower or seitan wings plate is a must.
We seriously contemplated either desserts or a milkshake, which under normal circumstances would have been amazing after the spice of the wings, but ultimately came to the conclusion that we’d been defeated. But next time, I’m going back for that vegan chocolate shake.
As always the drinks at The Blues Kitchen were a highlight (hello £6 cocktails on Wednesdays?!), and we had high expectations. Nursing our hangovers, we fought through a bit of nausea on the bus into town and were looking forward to a bit of hair of the dog in the form of a Bloody Mary each. Boy was that a mistake! The minute we took a sip of the tomato-tabasco-vodka concoction, we both knew we’d messed up. So, onto the mocktails.
Usually, we’re sceptical of mocktails – they are often overpriced simply for a mixture of juice. But after a spiced iced tea each, and a non-alcoholic bellini, we were happily proven wrong. Each was a refreshing, well-mixed drink that stood out as its own. Although, if you’re saving pennies, the normal homemade iced tea was also excellent.
Overall, the atmosphere at The Blues Kitchen was great on a Sunday. If you’ve been there for the live music, it’s nice to sit downstairs and actually take in the beautiful restaurant. Also, a shout out to the amazing staff, who were always checking in if we needed more drinks or wings, and very kindly putting up with our hungover rambling!
In general, we could not recommend this deal more. The surrounding tables (not that we’re nosy) were groups of friends clearly meeting to catch up, and maybe, like us, discuss the events of the weekend (look, what the food editor gets up to on her Saturday nights is her business).
It really is the perfect hangover cure and a good alternative for those who don’t want to get up early for bottomless brunch. And hey, if you’re the competitive type, or if you want to get all the bang for your buck, apparently whilst there is no formal record for most wings ordered, in the first week of the bottomless deal two lads had 97 between them. That’s more than a wing a minute.
Bottomless wings are available at The Blues Kitchen every Sunday 12-6pm.
