V Revolution (Manchester)

V Revolution is like what V Bites would be, if it were good.

Products you can buy from any healthfood store and cook yourself at home for a fraction of the price - why pay someone else to do something you can effortlessly do yourself?

It's a reasonable question, but if done right in a place with friendly staff and good atmosphere then I'm all for it. It's good to leave the house (from time to time), meet people etc. Not everyone who goes there will be vegan or for that matter inclined / able cook themselves (they could be at work or out shopping).

The problem I have with V Bites is that it isn't done right. So how's V Revolution any better?

V Revolution's a cafe to the north of Manchester City Centre. Parking's easy (although expensive) and the area not unpleasant. They've pitched it as a record store, deli and cafe, though in reality it's a cafe with some chillers, shelves and a few records at the back. They've concentrated their deli selection on hard to find, high ticket value items rather than replicate H&B. It's like Vx but less cramped and with more cheerful, friendly, northern speaking staff.

The menu's similar to Red Veg (what's with the whole revolution / red thing?), but without the fries, onion rings and full on fast food experience (burgers wrapped in paper, fries in cardboard, plastic tray etc). Unlike Red Veg however there's place to sit (without elbowing the person next to you), 50s diner inspired decor, sofas and decent lighting. It's also still trading, which is always good.

I think they could be missing a trick by not going for the full Red Veg menu / experience, but they were busy enough when I visited and perhaps this is planned in time.

The food I had was good - no complaints. I had a chocolate milkshake (rich and icecreamy) for £3.50 and a (Frys) burger for £4 (which I ordered with extra cheese (Violife?), bacon (Redwoods) & a 2nd patty (I'm greedy like that)).

I've eaten the same a million times before (we've a section of our freezer affectionately known as the Fry's drawer), but I don't think £4's unreasonable (I've eaten many crap burgers at other cafes costing way more).

The only slight disappointment was that they were out of their special of the day (double chicken burger), which is confusing considering that they had plenty of packs of Frys chicken burgers in the chiller. They also had 4 of their 6 milkshakes unavailable and even more tragically - no cake. Fellow bloggers & locals report this as being a regular occurrence, which is kind of sucky. I hope teething problems more than an underlying issue.

I Like V Revolution - I'd definitely go again and wholeheartedly it to others (especially as Bistro 1847 was so shonky). I hope they sort out their stock issues and sell more things with time (fries, rings, breaded mushrooms etc) - there's no reason why they couldn't become the chain that Red Veg intended (but sadly never managed) to be. Next branch in Birmingham please!