Jan 2015 Elite Event: Breakout & Belly Busting Bites

Let’s face it. January is by far, the most boring of all months in the calendar. Holidays are over, you’re pretty much skint, all the weather inspires you to do is curl up and sleep and there’s nothing to look forward to.
Unless you’re in the Unilocal Manchester elite squad! If you are, then you have the January elite event to look forward to. Even more so, if this is your first ever elite event. Another opportunity to mingle with fellow Elites on an evening of merriment whilst exploring what this beautiful city of ours has to offer.
The plan was to spend an hour at Breakout Manchester trying to break out of a room by solving puzzles and deciphering clues and then feast on meat and drink at Splendid Kitchens.
Twenty of us, split into four groups of five each, looking to breakout. Let’s say some of us broke out and some of us were let out. But let’s remember it’s the spirit of participation that counts and everyone’s a winner.
Why wouldn’t you feel like a winner if you were to be treated to a fine food & drink experience at Splendid Kitchens, afterwards? The exhilaration and anticipation endured during one of the quickest 60 minutes of my life made me forget how hungry I was and Splendid Kitchens felt like the salvation, the reason why we had to break out!
Events like this, that are off the beaten track are largely possible due to the cooperation and support extended to us by these establishments and the sheer dedication and efforts of Jonny. Thanks again, for another fantastic effort!

‘For this Unilocal event you will be locked in a room for 60 mins with only your wits to escape, if you pull this off we will feed you’
This wasn’t how Jonny Q put it — but my mind simplified it — as it was too busy going ‘this is awesome’ repeatedly.
Breakout is a very fun place for people go and if you ever have a hour, a few friends and a love of all thing puzzle — go! Go now! (And by now I mean book it)
After we got out — much thanks to my brainy group: Andrew, Emily, Lucas and Penny. We went to the former Spelendid Kitchen to drink victory cocktails and eat some very nice food.
One of my favorite events yet.

After the train wreck El Capo experience last week, frankly, JQ could have taken us to Maccy D’s and everyone would’ve been happier. As it happens, we had a mega double whammy event to kick off the Elite 2015 year.
Firstly it was off to Breakout. I’d heard about this place from a few friends and in all honesty I wasn’t overly excited about it given their feedback. However this was a perfect opportunity to experience it first hand.
There’s a lot to like about the set up. I LOVED crystal maze growing up. If you watch the re-​runs even today the show has aged remarkably well. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into creating the business and the proprietor must be credited for that. It’s an innovative idea and something very different, which is refreshing and must be enthusiastically applauded off the bat. However, unless they evolve and resolve a few issues, this may turn out to be another bubble business. One that excites everyone and is all the rage and within a few years vanishes. I’ve seen my fair share of them in Mancy town over the last 20 odd years.
Firstly, the initial USP is problematic and a bit condescending
«You have 60 minutes to escape by using only your brain (this may be a problem for a lot of you)»
Whether that’s tongue in cheek to verve up some excitement and competitiveness in participants I’m not sure. Ironically it worked as a lot of people just accepted it. (Maybe BREAKOUT were right?!) Joking aside, personally I think it’s likely to put people off in the long run, because, well… it’s a fallacy. A bit like if I made up all the questions in a quiz and then claimed that anyone who gets the answers is «Brainy» and anyone that doesn’t is thick. In any case the game we played didn’t require too much brain power, (Beyond multi-​tasking– coping with freezing room and annoying music) understandable since we were told it was the easiest room. Without any game plan whatsoever (None was required since there was no back story beyond a vague tiny synopsis plot) we pretty much ransacked the place and were able to find most of the clues fairly easily in no particular order. Don’t get me wrong, it WAS fun. But the kinda fun you have watching Fast and Furious or a Taken movie. Once you’ve seen it you’re done, it’s a one off! So unless they change the rooms completely and create a more detailed storyline the’ buzz’ surrounding Breakout is likely to fade.
I can also envisage the prices being dropped in the near future. If I wanted to go with my siblings, which I actually do. (I want to see if the other rooms are any better) It’ll be £17 a pop. That’s a dangerous pricing strategy given what else is on offer as competition. Natalie W mentioned one such offer on the night actually: £15 for Pizza and a movie at cornerhouse. (We’re definitely doing that right Nat?)
Break out was fun because us Unilocalers had mutual respect and went in with a fun attitude. I suspect going with friends or family on the other hand has the potential for being more handbags at dawn than a healthy morale building environment. (Think Christmas dinner with passive aggressive loved ones and you’ll get the picture)
None the less I would definitely recommend it as a one off experience. Who knows you might love it and wanna go back again and again. In fact, it could be an ideal date scenario activity come to think of it. Listen, I could be totally wrong about all the aforementioned points and barking up the wrong tree. (Which I’m happy with. I ain’t a hater Yo) But I definitely think they can improve the game narrative and sincerely hope they do. On a practical note as well, collecting 5 people to go with you two months in advance (The cheapest and most value for money option) might also be tough. Although if I’m right which I hope isn’t the case, I doubt it’ll be as busy come this time next year. (Unless they evolve as I’ve mentioned)
Having ‘escaped’ to Splendid kitchen, which is another Manchester American diner type food joint serving hotdogs, burgers et al. We were greeted with the kind of customer service at the opposite end of the spectrum from El Capo earlier in the week. My sentiments on American cuisine are well known and to steal a prime minister’s phrase: I refer my honourable ( Unilocalie) friends to the answer (review) I gave moments (few reviews) ago. A special mention however must go to the alco-​shakes and the cocktails especially the Berry Lee Lewis. Which I know for a fact a few of us will be coming back to sample again.
As for JQ, he continues to conjure up new ways to excite the Unilocal Elite community in Manchester. Which owes as much to his ingenuity as it does to what our magnificent city has to offer. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Long may that continue.

What a great way to start the new Unilocal year!
I’d heard good things about Breakout so was really looking forward to it and «breaking out» of a room. There were 4 teams with 5 people in each — each team went into different rooms. The hardest room was one called Madchester and thanks to Rachel O, the team I was in ended up in it. In the end it was a good decision as we got out! In fact, we were the first team to successfully breakout — with just under 7 minutes left.
So its a well done and pat on the back for my fellow team-​mates Emily, Lucas, Penny and Rachel.
I can’t tell you too much about the room because that why spoil it but its not giving anything away that with the room being called Madchester, it had Manchester related things in it. You basically have to solve things and end up with a code which is used to unlock the door.
After such excitement, we all went to Splendid Kitchen which is closeby. This was the first time I had been to Splendid Kitchen since it changed name — previously called Splendid Sausage. So now instead of mainly doing sausages, they had other things including burgers, ox cheeks, meatloaf, fried chicken and so on (and they still do sausages). I went for a burger — the Cow and Chicken burger — which is a cheeseburger with a breaded chicken thigh and some bacon. I also got some fries. The burger was not bad but started to fall apart a little bit.
I tried a few different cocktails. The Hard Purple lemonade (OK), Jamaican Not Stirred (nice) and the Berry Lee Lewis (which was my fav — very nice!).
Thanks to everyone at Breakout, Splendid Kitchen and of course Jonny Q.

What a great way to start the week, normally I dread Mondays… but this was exaclty what us Unilocalers needed after a poor show from El Capo’s.
Pegging it off the train as usual with sat nav in hand, I bumped into a couple of fellow members where we all downed a sneaky glass of wine at Veeno, for dutch courage of course, knowing we were going to be locked up for an hour.
Arriving at our destination, we were soon seperated into groups of 4 – 5 to attend one of the rooms. A couple of people had done this before, and so it was decided to tackle the most difficult room called the Madchester. I did not what to expect really, it was like some kids bedroom with a tv in the middle… but I won’t say any more.
It was really good fun, and Lucas the genius got us out of there by guessing the last bit of the combination,.although we were frogmarched back into the room because you have to complete all puzzles… so we did with 6 minutes left on the clock…
Victory in hand we made our way to the Splendid Kitchen… and splendid it was.
The colours were very warm and inviting to match that of the lovely waiters holding tasty complimentary drinks in hand .with everyone arrived, we settled into some seats to ‘be served tasty starters. the veggie pancakes and cheese things were good, and everyone seemed to enjoy the corn dogs…
As for the mains, these were deceptively big, and after agreeing to some fries these turned out to be too much!
The staff were lovely and attentive all night, making refreshing cocktails, and it was nice to see everyone relaxed.
Another successful elite night, which was good having to work for our food for once! I will be going back to breakout, and the Splendid Kitchen just so I can try that meter long veggie sausage and a boozey milkshake:)
Fantastic to see everyone again as always, I still think Jonny should have gone all Crystal mazeish and wore a leopard skin.

Well, 2015 is off to a flying start in Unilocal Elite terms! I was so ready for this from the moment it was announced, having visited Breakout in December with work mates. Therefore my only prerequisite was that I didn’t want to do the Virus room again. Other than that, I was game.
My team (consisting of Andrew Y, Lucas S, Rachel O and Penny L) were assigned to the «Madchester» room, supposedly the hardest of them all. Originally I thought this room sounded super cheesy but to be honest it worked really well — and the excellent playlist certainly helped! Without wanting to give away the game, it’s a sort of treasure hunt based around famous people, events and landmarks of our fair rainy city.
On more than one occasion during our allotted hour I found myself thinking «there’s no way we’re getting out of here» as I surveyed the clock ticking down and the things we still had to find… But we made it! And get this, before any of the other Unilocal teams *brushes dirt off shoulders*
After a few minutes of congratulating and gloating, off we went to Splendid Kitchen. I’ve been here a few times under their Splendid Sausage guise so I knew I wanted to try a non-​sausage option from their new menu. Thankfully I was sat next to Natalie W who was up for sharing two of the big plates — fried chicken with mash, and ox cheeks with biscuits. These were both absolutely delicious and I’d order them both again, although the portions were humongous. Definitely a good option when you want to really fill your boots. Alongside this I made the most of the cocktail menu with a Thriller in Vanilla and a Blueberry Rum Smash.
Excellent company as always, and wonderful to see such a great group of Elites working together in teams. Big thanks to JQ for organising such a fun event for us, and a shout out to the guys at Breakout and Splendid Kitchen!

oh what fun we had being locked in a room with four other Unilocalers.
me being fairly claustophobic thought i would be screaming for air after
five minuets but you actually dont notice the space as your so involved
in working out puzzles and finding clues in order to beat the clock.
sadly we only had one more task to do and as micheal said «if it wasnt
for that damm cats puzzle we might have broke out in time.
yeah we were named and shamed as not getting out and our deflated
egos left the building but am sure i will go back again and to the same
room with a bunch of friends .
next we headed off to the splendid kitchen for burgers and hot dogs
welcomed by the lovely smiling staff we had our complimentary drink
after a shared mixed starter of meat and veg options we order our main.
me being a boring veggie found a veggie hot dog to eat.
drinks were served in what appeared to be jars, but added that
quirkey touch to the place.
This place is warm and welcoming and when am in the area again
i will pop in for a bite to eat.
breakout! am sure all of us will be back again.

Nice to do something a bit different.
My team for Breakout had supposedly the ‘easiest’ room although still seemed pretty difficult! We were locked into a room and our task was to follow the clues and try to escape within an hour. It was cold inside as we were right next to the street so we had to put our coats on! Ours was a detective themed room– I won’t give too much away but we had to find clues around the room to unlock various boxes with the identities of murder suspects inside them. It was good fun and we managed to break out with about a minute to spare. Since we could hear so many people chatting outside we thought we were the last ones but in fact we came 2^nd! Good going.
Next was Splendid Kitchen where we had welcome cocktails and various starters to share. I ordered a classic hot dog for my main but I would prefer it if they used proper frankfurters and not the overly herby cumberland style sausages. If you’re going to get a cocktail, the Berry Lee Lewis is the one to go for.

This was so much fun.
Our team didn’t get out but we really tried. I will be trying it out again. I love puzzles, wish I had been a bit more on the ball with maths. If you fancy it do give it a try, you’ll enjoy it.
Everyone know I love Splendid Kitchen and they were up to their normal standred. You have try the Hush Puppies. I will be in again you know that. I can’t really bit my finger on what they but I thinks its America food done the British way.
I great way to spend a Monday evening.

The Breakout & Belly Busting Unilocal Elite Event was yet another amazing success. Once again, hats off to the amazing Jonny Q for organising a fantastic evening in such an exciting way.
In a bit of a twist, there were two parts do the evening; the first was a trip towhat is fast become’ somethingof a phenomenon, the breakout game.
For those or you who haven’t experienced this kind of thing before, you’re locked in a room (in a good way) with a team of between 2 and 5 people (your group) and you have to solve a series cf, actually pretty hard, puzzles and brain teasers in order to escape. The room we were in (l believe there are 4), ‘Sabotage’ was a cold war inspired escapade in which we had to stop a countdown, and save Manchester from certain doom. Contrary to what you may have seen in the news, we sadly failed, meaning that Manchester is likely no more. I can’t really go into too much more detail, as lid end up spoiling the rather enjoyable puzzles, andyou wouldn’t want that. I checked to book myself as soon as we finished, and it looks like it gets booked up pretty quick, so, if you’re planning on making the trip (and l suggest you do), you should plan well in advance. It’s also worth pointing out that it’s strictly a ‘book in advance’ place.
Once we’d failed to make it out, we felt that it was only right to mourn our failure with some drinks and some nice food. It was very fortunate then that our next stop was to be the Splendid kitchen (formerly the splendid Sausage Co).
The change in name doesn’t mean that the style has changed too. It’s still the same in your face, obscenely epic food emporium it ever was. I once made the mistake (well, half mistake), of getting a danger dog — I’m sure that *most * of my taste buds have grown back by now. Ditching the sausage means adding burgers and big, comforting food to the menu. the hotdog selection is as great as it ever was, complimented by an equally good lookin’ cadre of beefy (and chickeny) friends.
The big plates include such favourites as meat loaf (the food, not the fat guy), ham, egg & chips and fried chicken, and all looked amazing. If that wasn’t enough, thus a whole host of Mac t cheese to be had, along with topped fries amazing enough to be a meal in their own right.
To start with, we got to sample the selection of starters. Great corndogs (with splendid sausages), tasty corn fritters, yummy chicken and cheesy hush puppies (not the shoes). If you’re interested all that is available as a sharing starter.
For my part. I had the mysteriously named J.Y.D hotdog. This came fully loaded with chicken, sauerkraut, bacon, chillies, cheese and pulled beef chilli. It was to put it mildly, a mouthful. I had to carefully deconstruct the whole thing just so I could eat it; wonderful.
There’s some top quality drinking going on here too. The Gamma Ray was an awesome IPA, and the proper cherry Coke was a thing of beauty, coming in its own little ice-​bucket. me selection of beers, ciders, spirits and cocktails is enormous, so, along with the food, there are many, many reasons to come back.

I had been excited for the first Elite event of 2015, and as soon as Jonny Q. announced that it would be held at Breakout, followed by a visit to Splendid Kitchen, I knew it was going to be a blast. And it was! By far the best Elite event I’ve attended to date!
After meeting some of the others in Veeno for pre-​event drinks, we headed upstairs into Breakout.
Breakout host a series of games, where you are locked into a room and given one hour to escape, or essentially ‘Breakout’. I’d heard amazing things about this place, so I couldn’t wait to get in there. Fantastically organised as per by Jonny Q. we had already been sorted into teams and after a short health and safety briefing (admittedly, this got me a little bit nervous for the game) we were carted off into separate rooms. The room I played was called ‘Virus’and, I won’t give too much away, but basically the world has been infected by a deadly virus and we had 1 hour to try and find the anti-​virus before we too became infected. That’s all we were told, and then the door closed and the 1 hour on the TV screen began to count down.
It. Is. Great! It has you using your brain like you probably haven’t used it for years, to solve puzzles, riddles and clues in order to find your way around the room. It was tense at times, but so much fun! Unfortunately, we never made it out in time — DEAD.
Next, we headed over to the newly named, Splendid Kitchen for some eats. I had a welcome cocktail — nice. And they laid out a few starters for us including corndogs, corn fritters, fried chicken bites and some hush puppies too — all really lovely. For a main meal I ordered the Cow and Chicken burger: Cheeseburger with a fried chicken thigh, crispy fried bacon, relish, garlic mayo, lettuce, tomato and gherkins. This too was very very good. I washed it down with a liquid bakewell cocktail which was fab and right up my street being a mixture of disaronno and cherry liqueur.
Overall, it was a fantastic evening! And I’ll definitely be back to both Breakout (and actually break out this time!) and to Splendid Kitchen.

Nailed it.
Emily, Andrew, Penny and Rachel. Our brains are one.
Huge amounts of fun, if slightly angina inducing, were had at BREAKOUT!
Separated into teams (in my case with the aforementioned minds), we were taken and locked into rooms, from which we were to escape within an hour. Stress levels rose, but we prevailed, with 6 ½ minutes to spare, no less.
Naturally, the secrets of the rooms shall stay that way, but I encourage you to grab some friends, preferably the clever ones, and get down there for a great evening out.
Nipping round the corner to our old friend Splendid, JQ had arranged a hearty spread from their new menu and some excellent drinks to boot. Do read my updated (and THIRD) review of the place over on the establishment’s Unilocal page.
Many thanks to the Boss for an EXCELLENT first Elite event of the year. Here’s to many more!

What a fantastic Elite event, something completely different to what I usually do on a Monday evening. The evening had two parts. Part one was a chance to try the breakout game where we worked in teams of five to solve clues and used all our combined brain power to break out of a locked room. We were placed in the easiest room but it was still really challenging. We had to beat the clock and find the clues to solve a murder. It went right down to the wire and with seconds to spare we solved the clues, opened the locks and broke out of the inspectors study. The set up at Breakout is very professional and the place has been done out well.
Once we has broken out with headed over to Splendid for part two of the evening. We were given a complimentary drink and were able to sample a selection of starters. They were really good, I loved the sweetcorn fritters which were very fresh and tasty. For main I ordered the veggie sausage known as the Hawaiian. It was delicious and topped with guacamole, nachos and chopped tomatoes a bit posher than your usual run of the mill hotdog. The bakewell cocktails were amazing too. I’d definitely go back to Splendid and try something else on the menu. Another great Elite event, thanks Jonny.

Brilliant event!
Breakout is a really well set up fun activity that I would highly recommend for a group looking to do something a bit different or who have people that have mobility issues ruling out paintballing etc. The level of detail and thought that went into our room was really impressive and you certainly feel the pressure as the clock counts down — we were getting an increasing amount of clues as we hit the last two minutes but figured it out in the end!
The revamped Splendid Kitchen looks really nice and while I would say it’s probably better for beer than cocktails, the fried chicken, mash and gravy is probably the best Southern American dish in Manchester right now. Enormous and absolutely delicious, the it was particularly nice to get a dish where there was lots of sauce. Between us, Emily B. and I couldn’t finish both this and the ox cheeks, which were also very good — very nice to see turnips on the menu, their sweet taste is perfect for the winter.
I shall be back for more fried chicken and to try the alco-​shakes.

Thanks once more to Jonny Q for putting together such an awesome evening.
The first elite event of 2015 was a ‘double header’ with a visit to Breakout followed by food and drinks at Splendid Kitchen.
I’ll review each venue in a little more detail on their respective Unilocal pages. However, suffice to say that although my team didn’t manage to break out of the Sabotage room in under an hour, a thoroughly good time was had by all.
A walk around the corner to the restaurant formerly known as the Splendid Sausage Company which has had a name change to Splendid Kitchen.
Great food, great drink and great company. Can’t wait for the next one!

What a great way to brighten up a miserable Monday in January before payday!
Breakout first — getting physically locked into a room with four others and being told you have an hour to ‘breakout’. In our room we had to figure out a formula to cure a virus that was going to kill the world in an hour. we failed. Sorry world. A frustrating yet brilliant concept that has your heart racing from word go and really puts your poor brain through it’s paces. Word of advice — an hour sounds like a long time… it’s really not. With three other rooms with different scenarios I can’t wait to go back and try win some dignity back!
After the adrenalin filled hour it was definitely time for some food, and Splendid Kitchen didn’t disappoint! I went for the ham, egg & chips minus the egg. I hadn’t realised when ordering that it would be enough ham to feed three people. Amazing! Brilliantly cooked, with a honey & mustard glaze, with the meat just falling off the bone. I even had enough leftover for my lunch today so double thumbs up! Also have to mention the BBQ sauce, which was absolutely delicious. Not sure if it’s homemade or not but it had a really fresh kick to it that you often don’t find in the shop bought stuff.
A really great night and a fab way to get to know a few more elite Unilocalers. Thanks Jonny Q!

I’ve grown up absolutely loving the likes of The Crystal Maze and Knightmare — solving puzzles against the clock and working as a team.
Tonight’s event at Breakout enabled us to live out some of those childhood dreams, thankfully without the added pressure of being on live TV… at least I hope they don’t film people…
Splitting our group of 20 into four teams was Jonny’s doing. And I’m sure he spent ages balancing up the Elites’ ability levels. We’d need intellect, cunning, a cool head under pressure. It probably didn’t help, therefore, that I needed to swap teams just before we went in so as not to face an escape room I was booked in to try in a couple of weeks time.
I’m using this as one of the main reasons we failed in our task (so sorry for that James, Katherine, Mike and Belinda) — I upset the balance. We had loads of fun whilst we were failing though. Damn you cats! (you’ll get the reference if you do the ‘Sabotage’ room FYI).
Once our timer ran down to 00:00 in massive red numbers and we had to face the indignity of posing for a group shot holding «We Failed To Escape» signs, we needed to uplift our spirits in a major way.
Thankfully this was just round the corner, at the splendiferous Splendid Kitchen. Complimentary drinks were followed by sharing starter platters (all gorged within moments) and then our mains. The Cow & Chicken burger hit the spot, as soul food should.
After downing a consolatory bottle of ShinDigger Pacific Pale Ale, it was home time. We enjoyed failing but we enjoyed winning at food even more. A terrifically chilled out dining spot that will always deliver the goods.
Cheers for a cracking start to 2015 our Jonny. And Breakout? I will be back to defeat you.