Brunch at Pen and Pencil, NQ

I love brunch. Not only does it provide an incredible excuse to eat breakfast food for lunch but it also means you're not rushing your food. Brunch is just my favourite - and a great way to catch up with friends and family. Pen and Pencil is one of those places that I've always known about and always had on my list but somehow never quite made it out. But when I was offered the chance to come and try their brunch, I couldn't refuse!

The Pen and Pencil is located on Hilton Street in Manchester and is only a stone's throw from Piccadilly Gardens. From the outside, it genuinely doesn't look like much but has a typical Mancunian redbrick industrial feel to the exterior. Once you're inside, it's lovely and warm and is made up of a variety of standard tables with comfortable padded benches as well as higher bar style seating. Think very cool, very neon and lots of raw brick - issa vibe. 

The food was fantastic! I went for the Corn Cakes with bacon wrapped asparagus and a poached egg, and my friend went for the steak and eggs. Both were delicious! Pen and Pencil has American style food so I really wanted to try something a bit different - hence the corn cakes! I thought these would be similar to cornbread but they were almost like a patty made of sweet corn and delicious! The bacon wrapped asparagus was also really tasty and gave a saltiness to the dish!

I had a bite of the steak and eggs and honestly, the steak was divine and definitely made me want to return for a steak main meal! The food was delicious and the menu had a good amount of variety from pancakes to classic eggs benedict. Good and hearty food that hits the spot!

For drinks, I had an Americano which was really good and my friend went for the Solero smoothie which tasted incredible - very fresh and tropical. Overall, the ambience, food and drink were fantastic. Despite the portions not looking overwhelmingly huge, they were so filling and we left feeling full and satisfied!

Would highly recommend popping to the Pen and Pencil for brunch or a main - the menu was really versatile and definitely tried to encapsulate a variety of American style dishes without limiting itself to only burgers!

Have you been to the Pen and Pencil? What type of brunch food do you normally go for?