I had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I saw Tangerine’s glowing neon sign above the former railway arches opposite Salford Central railway station. House prices in Salford have been rising rapidly in the last year, and now I could make a guess as to why. Bars nearby weren’t selling kombucha in cans for £3 a pop before, that’s for sure.
Tangerine’s interior was aesthetically pleasing with a cosy-yet-cool atmosphere that appeared very deliberate. That being said, there were so many red lights, I was surprised I was allowed to take photos.
The bar is made up of different platforms, both physically and in keeping with the retro-train-ticket theme. This sits opposite a huge bar which spans the venue in front of its impressive list of rotating beers on cask, both national and international. Local breweries such as Sureshot, Cloudwater, and Northern Monk featured, as well as Norwegian brewery Lervig, Belgian stalwarts Delirium, and Californian cool-kids of the pale ale world, Sierra Nevada, mostly of which are a reasonable £6 pint.
I, however, had opted to try the “frozen coupes”, Tangerine’s not-fully-frozen cocktails instead. The signature Tangerine coupe was like an orange-flavoured margarita, made up of tequila, triple sec, orange, lime, and orange blossom, which gave the drink a lovely floral hint without being overpowering or tasting like an elderly woman’s perfume. The strawberry coupe was also delicious: the mixture of strawberry, basil, and both white and spiced rum, made it feel not only like a well-constructed cocktail, but somehow the lovechild of a buzzball and an ice lolly.
I was attentively seen to by staff all night, who I have to give kudos to for excellent service, despite all being new and, quite literally, balancing many plates at once.
My first plate of food, unfortunately, was less interesting. My tasting experience started with chicken wings from JOJI, one of the seven kitchens forming Tangerine’s ‘collective’. The chicken itself was well-cooked, but the flavour was pretty uninspiring, and tasted like the boneless “southern fried” chicken you could pick up in the freezer section of any supermarket.The Gochujang wings were better, and more flavoursome, with a nice kick, but the chicken was still a little bland.
The ramen was also a mixed dish. There was nothing wrong with the dish, per se. The boiled egg, although lukewarm, had a nice kick to it. The noodles were fine, and the seaweed on the side of the bowl was a welcome touch, adding a little more to the ramen’s flavour profile. The broth itself, however, just tasted of chilli oil, and the minced pork was indistinguishable in taste from the beansprouts and cabbage — so much so that the abundance of spring onion was actually welcome.
Still, that was just one eatery. The burger that followed, from Gold Boy Burger Co. was practically perfect. Whatever was in the burger sauce worked excellently alongside the sweetness of the pickles. The burger was succulent and perfectly cooked medium, and was not dry unlike many smash burgers I have had over the years, with no gristle. I am not normally a fan of cheese in my burger, yet the cheese used complemented the patty and pickles to create truly delicious bite.
The potato bun is hands down the best bun I have ever tasted. It did not stick to the burger, and was not dry either. It is dishes like that that would work in tandem with Tangerine’s night time events and the general vibe that the team are trying to create. The dish came with fries, which looked and tasted like a home-made, tastier version of the fries served in a certain golden-arched fast food chain, and without the chemicals of its doppelganger. The sauce that came with the fries, however, was sour and unnecessary to the rest of the plate.
There was also pizza on offer from Vancini, a project from Sicilian-Nashvillian Salvatore Randazzo, which looked like Neapolitan pizzetta. I say ‘looked like’ as it had ran out by the time I was ready to eat anymore. The menu also promised daily pasta specials, which I would be interested to try and see how that works as an eating experience in conjunction with the blasting electro and live band sound-checking at the same time, which didn’t exactly scream “trattoria”.
My evening concluded with a slice of cake from Ukrainian family-ran artisan patisserie Vanda Bakery. Their table had a bounty of options, from passionfruit cheesecake, to a fig and white chocolate option, but I opted for the lemon cake. This dessert was moist and tasty, and the meringue buttercream on top was delightfully fluffy. Tangerine advertises themselves as being a daytime space for creatives as well as a night-time events venue, and I can see Vanda doing very well from that because their Parisian-inspired bakes were delicious and innovative in their range.
Tangerine has promise. The cocktail menu is vast, and features drinks not commonly found in other bars, such as butterscotch and white chocolate martinis, and apple high-balls with Japanese yuzu. The atmosphere is as warm as it is glamorous, but the food served alongside it isn’t necessarily cohesive with what the rest of the venue offers, and isn’t yet tasty enough to match the high price points of the rest of the bar.
When it comes to its food offerings, Tangerine has chosen style over substance, and so risks becoming a place known for its drinks with its kitchens relegated to ‘mop-up-the-alcohol’ status. How Tangerine develops to avoid this and establish itself as a food venue too is the question, but I will certainly visit again — despite the spot not being on my usual student bus route. Tangerine cares about what it is serving, and wants to serve food as great and curated as its events and drinks offerings — I cannot wait to see how they accomplish this.
A list of their canteens can be found here.
Correction: A previous version of this article wrongly identified Joji as associated with UNAGI. Joji is operated independently and has no connection to Unagi. The article has now been updated to reflect this.
