Last weekend, my good pal Jasmine Hill and I found ourselves lunching at Tartuffe, tucked in Side Street, a day-to-night destination located in St John’s, Manchester’s ever growing creative district.

A super chic bar sits alongside, giving a sort of 1970’s mid century vibe.

Tartuffe itself has this casual bistro feel with zero pretension, but their attention to quality is sharp.

We kicked things off with caviar-topped hash browns. Now, these beauties weren’t on the lunch menu (I know, I know, we’re those people – and it hurts my soul to admit that) but we couldn’t let them slip by.

Soooooo, we asked if we could order them anyway. To our surprise, the response was, a willing “Sure, don’t ask, don’t get.”

Music to our ears,mouths and stomachs.

Then came the main event: their half rotisserie chicken, drenched in its rich, glossy jus.

This dish owns the menu and rightly so.

Paired with a full rotisserie chicken club sandwich (because we’re not messing about). Tender, juicy chicken, smoky hints from the bacon, and bread that holds its own but doesn’t overshadow its fillings. Oh, and it all stayed together. Which is a win when handling a club if you ask me.

The corn? Garlicky, salty, although nearly forgotten about. Not because it wasn’t great (it was), but because I was too obsessed with tackling my sandwich and picking every last piece of chicken from the bone.

Jus and bones flying everywhere! A glorious chaos, and we weren’t even a little embarrassed, we just asked for more plates and napkins…lots more napkins.

The signs of a great feeding.

Frantic, messy, and very, very happy.

If you’re after unpretentious, flavour-packed food with a side of chic … make Side Street the main thing. Pretty much got everything you need all under one roof.

Thank you Martin Cheeseman for taking such good care of us.