A Satisfying Brunch at Rustik Cafe in Manchester

HALAL STATUS While Rustik is not Halal, their meat is prepared and cooked separately for both breakfast and brunch by default. They do, however, request customers to inform them beforehand of any dietary requirements and requests for breakfast/ brunch to be cooked separately.

By Shahad Jawdet (@ess_jayx, @essjay_designs)

I’m always on the hunt for new brunch places and I think I’ve just found one more to add to the list.

Rustik is a café located slightly out of central Manchester, in the heart of Didsbury – a less crowded place, and perfect for a calm morning coffee-stop or a chilled out brunch.

The cute wooden rustic interior, with hanging light bulbs and slightly dim lighting, adds to the experience.

One of those spontaneous finds filled with goodness that makes your day that little bit more exciting.

So I wanted something quite filling and different to the usual; as such, I opted for The Big ‘Breakfast’ Bagel – being a bagel lover, I couldn’t resist.

Consisting of pork chipolatas, smoked streaky bacon, fried eggs, spinach, herbed tomato and beans on a bagel, I asked to get it personalised inline with my Halal dietary requirements.

And so, I replaced the pork chipolatas and streaky bacon for the perfect combo of smashed avocado and my love of halloumi.

Served on a wooden plate, this consisted of a soft fresh bagel topped with all the goodness, was served alongside a pot of beans, and a generous amount of well cooked chewy halloumi with a perfect blend of avocado.

Overall a pleasing choice with great flavour and herbs to complete the dish.

The second option was the Rustik Eggs, that is, poached eggs, with crispy halloumi cheese, spinach, mushrooms and lemon hollandaise on artisan sourdough.

Something different for the taste buds this time.

The sourdough was toasted just how it should be – without being too crispy, while the mushrooms added an earthy taste to the dish.

Topped with fresh, yolky and runny eggs, this was a filling dish with little details of herb to add that little extra.

Just to point out, this dish did have a little tanginess to the overall flavour, which probably came from hollandaise sauce and herbs used therein.

Slightly overpowering in our opinion, but nonetheless an enjoyable brunch.

But although one of my friends loved the halloumi cheese, the other felt it was all a little bit too rich.

In all, decent prices with good portion sizes. The service was a little slower than expected, but the staff were lovely and attentive.

And even though we didn’t get the chance to fulfil our sweet craving, with the waffles disappointingly being out of stock, I guess this gives us the excuse to visit again very soon, particularly with them having got me with the cute interior and pretty presentations.

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Rustik
198 Burton Road, Manchester M20 1LH.

T: +44 (0)161 222 0984 | W: rustikcafebar.co.uk | E: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Sun-Thur 10:00-00:00 | Fri-Sat 10:00-00:30 | Mon OCCASIONALLY