Bundobust Brewery

Bundobust just gets it right. Since arriving in Manchester from Leeds a few years back it’s become wildly popular, wrapping Indian street food and indie brewing in a package that just feels really, really cool. It’s been so wildly popular that we now have a branch here on the Oxford Road Corridor, housed in St Jame’s Building on Oxford Street, Bundobust Brewery has everything that makes the Picaddily branch so good and a little bit more.

Strangely, the space at Bundobust Brewery is very reminiscent of its Picadilly sister, not just in the well-designed decor but both share huge skylights that give diners a worms-eye view of the multistory buildings they’re housed within. Where it differs, though, is that rather than a small stairwell, you’re greeted by huge, chrome-plated fermentation tanks that are patiently working away at Bundo’s next brewing masterpiece. These beautiful-looking tanks are dotted throughout the space with Bundobust Brewery living up to its name in spectacular style! The beer here is outstanding, we enjoyed a salted lemon sour beer on our last visit and we could have stayed to drink more if not for the pang of guilt for the queue of hungry diners at the door. If Bundobust wasn’t one of the best places to eat on the Oxford Road Corridor, and it absolutely is, it would definitely be towards the top of our list of best places to drink.

Bundobust serves up modern feeling street food dishes in biodegradable packages, a tapas-like approach is encouraged and perfectly suits the canteen feel of the space with its long benches and communal feel. While that’s an admirable approach to eating out, we bet you’ll be less keen to share with friends or a significant other once you’ve found your favourite dishes. The Vada Pav is a must for first-time visitors, think deep-fried, spiced mash potato on a brioche bun with a little bit of a heat kick. If that sounds too much then there’s a perfect Taka Dal (getting this right is the yardstick for Indian restaurants and they knock it out of the park), Okra fries and lots of increasingly familiar Indian street food favourites, but done to the highest standard.

Bundobust Brewery on Oxford Street is probably the best Bundobust yet and we cannot recommend it highly enough.