‘A full on bombardment of crispy, juicy
and savoury goodness’

As a keen savoury enthusiast, few dishes come close to packing a punch as the classic salt and pepper dish. Its sharp notes of salty savouriness with an underlying layer of spiciness from the chillies make for an explosion of savoury goodness.

So when I came across Salt & Pepper MCR for the first time, it was hard not to satisfy my curiosity and try it out.

Contents

1. Overview
   • The menu
2. How does it look?
3. How does it taste?
4. Would I recommend it?
5. Further Information

Overview

Located in the Southern part of Arndale Market, you’ll easily find Salt & Pepper MCR from their distinctive black and yellow bee logo. Additionally, you’ll also know you’re nearby from the lovely salt and pepper aroma that wafts from their area.

The Menu

Salt & Pepper’s menu offers a variety of options. The main dish choices are as follows:

Salt and Pepper options

• Chicken (strips or wings)
• Prawns
• Tofu (ve)

Sticky sauce options (see sauces for description)

• Chicken (strips)
• Beef
• Prawns

Each main can be ordered on its own or with a side (salt & pepper chips, rice or half-half of each).

There’s also a choice of sauces to go alongside your order. These options are:

• Lemon Mayo
• Sweet and Sour (ve)
• Sweet Sticky Soy (Their homemade take on teriyaki sauce) (ve)
• Szechuan Chilli Mayo
• Chilli (ve)
• Canton (Homemade sauce similar to sweet barbeque without the smokiness)

I have to say, that’s quite a lot of choices to choose from!

But despite being spoilt for choice, I settled with the classic Salt & Pepper chicken strips (with a side of fries and lemon mayo.

How does it look?

The dishes come in the standard takeaway box container. Opening the box revealed strips of Salt & Pepper chicken on top of a bed of crinkle-cut fries. I did actually start thinking about whether they’re fries or chips but I digress. A discussion for another time!

With the order, you’ll find some crispy shallots, pickled Asian slaw (carrots, cucumbers and radish) and a small tub of sauce.

All in all, it’s a decent portion size, especially at a fairly reasonable price of £6.50.

But that’s only based on the appearance alone. How did it actually taste?

How does it taste?

For me, the highlight was clearly the chicken, so naturally I had to dig into that first. Taking my first bite, I noticed the batter had a nice, thin crispy coating breaking through the layer to meet the succulent, juicy chicken meat. The texture of the meat tears apart quite nicely as well. What you’d expect from fresh quality chicken that’s been cooked and fried for the right amount of time.

Flavour-wise, it’s packed full of flavour and savouriness, with all of the signature salt and pepper flavours that you’d expect from a quality salt and pepper dish. The chopped chillies provided a mild spicy undertone to the overall flavour.  I thought the crispy shallot garnish complemented the soft moistness of the chicken as well.

Similarly full of flavour were the crinkle-cut fries. The outside had the right amount of crispiness to it with a soft potato filling inside to complement it.

With mouthful upon mouthful of savoury goodness, I found the addition of pickled asian slaw provided alternating sweet and sour flavours, which was welcoming to the overall flavour profile experience.

Additionally, the lemon mayo sauce also deserves a mention. The creaminess of the mayo added an extra layer of depth towards the flavour, with a nice ‘cooling’ effect towards the mild spiciness from the chillies.

Would I recommend it?

Would I recommend Salt & Pepper MCR: Salt & Pepper Chicken? Definitely yes!

For £6.50 you get a reasonable portion that’s certainly worth your money. I can’t recommend it enough!

Further Information

Salt & Pepper MCR can be found at 2 locations: The Arndale market and Black Dog Ballroom (Northern Quarter, BlackdogNQ).

Orders can also be made for delivery via Deliveroo.

You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.