Franklins Deli

I was so chuffed when I visited Franklins’ website and realised it wasn’t a national chain. It’s a recent addition to ever-​growing Spinningfields and there are a mere two in Manchester, with three spots in Liverpool. Power to the North West businesses! (Yes, since getting Sky I refuse to watch Channel 101 with its BBC Breakfast London nonsense of a morning. Nope, past the porn channels, into the 900s, onto BBC Breakfast NW. Although sometimes it *is* tempting to check in with what’s going on in the capital, Scotland, the West Country, y’know.)
The self-​service salad bar is perfect for nearby office bods with its little plastic tubs and deli counter, meaning you can fill your boots (depending on how much you can cram in). I grabbed a large tub for £3.50 thinking it was still tiddly, but you forget how deep they are and I still had salad sitting there once I was done — eyes bigger than that concave stomach of mine, always been the way. Plus another thing that curbed my appetite was… well Emma, read the sign you dumbass. Spicy chickpea salad. What’s that first word? Spicy. Not one to be taken lightly. If this was in a supermarket it’d have three chilli symbols on the packet, man, this blew the top layer of my tongue off!
Of course, having teamed up with Bex T in the two-​woman task of finding Manchester’s Greatest Chocolate Brownie, I was hoping to bump into some of them on my way to pay, and yes indeed I did. These were odd-​looking creations, too intriguing to ignore… pale powdery coating and what looked like dense chocolate truffle within. It was a choice of chocolate orange or nut, so I opted for nut, not much of a fan of the five-​a-​day gang messing about with my beloved brownies (except for red fruits in my own PB and J version, but that’s a secret). Nibbling away I was delighted… mmm, hazelnuts, ooh, chunks of chocolate, nice surprise… RAISINS? How dare you! Then I thought of it as the brownie equivalent of a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Bar and got way more on board with it.
Surprisingly for this area, Franklins isn’t expensive. It’s even cheaper to take away than it is to eat in, you get Yellowcard discounts and it’s competing with the lunchtime big boys nearby like Pret, plus the myriad Starbuckses and Neros which surround Spinningfields, lurking on Quay Street and Deansgate like rabid zombies slowly closing in on an unsuspecting group of survivors. Anywho, the soups look wicked too, the sandwiches even yummier and those brownies are growing on me like a delicious chocolatey rash. (What a horrible description.) I’ll be back next time I’m in the Left Bank area to try something hot!

Franklins is another one of Manchester’s top quality sandwich places. I usually go to the one on Fountain Street but have been here and its pretty similar. They offer good quality sandwiches at prices to match anywhere else in the city. They have some good dishes as well such as chilli con carne which i’ve not had my myself but a college has and highly recommends it! I like the salted beef hot sandwich they do, its a touch pricier than other sandwiches but it is well worth it. The only reason I would not give it 5 stars is because it doesn’t have as good a choice as my personal favourite sandwich shop Philpotts does. Its up there quality standards though so its defiantly a one i’d recommend.