Revolution - Parsonage Gardens, Manchester

Fun Camera selfie

My first encounter with Revolution was when I was 16. It was our Sixth Form Christmas Do in Bolton, and it was picked because of its flavoured vodkas (obviously, I didn't drink any being underaged...) and proximity to Bar Peru (read 'Hell'). I had red streaks in my hair, a foil mock-crock skirt on and a Budweiser halo by the end of the evening. Let me tell you now, the Revolution brand has had one hell of a makeover since 1998.

We're already fans of their sister chain, Revolucion de Cuba, so were naturally curious when an invite to Revolution came our way. My tame cocktail drinker and I went on a sunny Wednesday afternoon to try some of their alcoholic concoctions and new menu.

We visited the swanky Parsonage Gardens location, which has a rather grande entrance and beautiful teal leather booths. It has a very similar vibe to Revolucion de Cuba, but is much quieter during the day owing to its location. We loved this because it felt like our own personal hideaway, aside from the hustle and bustle of the city.

First up came cocktails. Our waitress Collette explained that Parsonage Gardens are trialling some new cocktails which will hopefully be rolled out throughout all the other locations too. The first one to catch our eyes was the Candy Apple Cosmo, which was deliciously sweet and a bit of fun too. I'm a sucker for a frozen cocktail, so went for one of my all time faves, a Strawberry Daiquiri.

Candy Apple Cosmo: Ketel One mixed with Cointreau, lime juice, apple juice and candy floss.

Strawberry Daiquiri (left): Bacardi Carta Blanca rum with strawberry, cranberry, lime and sugar.
Negroni (right): Tanqueray gin, Aperol, Rosso and bitters, garnished with perfumed orange.

Middle one - who knows!? Something wonderful made with raspberries.

Street Food Crate - two pulled beef sliders, viper dusted fat chips, buttermilk fried chicken, dough dogs, BBQ crackling puffs, hot buffalo sauce, big easy mayo, chipotle sauce: We were starved when this appeared, and made utter pigs of ourselves with it before the mains were even on our radar. It's the perfect sharing dish, and would be ideal if you just felt 'peckish' whilst enjoying a drink. I think we'll be back for this.

Fennel sausage mac n cheese with green salad: Mere mortals may not be able to devour such a wonderfully cheesy item. My partner in crime Lee did sterling work with this cheese dream.

Pulled salt beef burrito - guacamole, black beans, smokinnaise, spicy red rice, cheese, tortilla chips, dips: This is my favourite kind of food; a load of cheese, meat and carbs with a bit of a fiery kick. I particularly liked the foil handle with non-drip bottom! First time I've ever eaten a burrito without wearing it.

Fire pit beans - smoky BBQ pinto beans, pork burnt ends: We ate very little of this, mainly owing to the fact that we had eaten enough carbs to ban us from Marbs for life. What we did eat was absolutely delicious!

Sweet potato fries with BBQ dust: Just as they should be; crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with a nice bit of smokiness from the BBQ flavouring.

Chocolate fluffwich - soft dough, Nutella chocolate, marshmallow fluff, sweet batter, blueberry dip: We insisted we couldn't eat any more, yet here we were. I'm not even that into chocolate... This was the perfect antidote to all the savoury stuff. Balance restored.

I would never have thought of going to Revolution for anything other than a shedload of flavoured vodka. How wrong can you be hey? The dining room is beautiful, the staff were attentive, the food was quite something and the cocktails were delicious. We left very happy indeed, already plotting our return.

Disclaimer: We were invited to Revolution to sample the new menu. Once again we befriended our lovely waitress, who was very sweet indeed. They did not bribe me with candy-floss to say nice things.