Move over Starbucks and Caffe Nero - there’s a new coffee shop in Manchester city centre and it’s better than I could have imagined. Tim Hortons is getting ready to open its doors to the public on Monday, and I got first dibs on almost everything on the menu.
Over the past few years, Tim Hortons has been dotting its Canadian coffee shops around the UK, with seven Greater Manchester branches including Salford, Bury and Stockport - but their new Market Street venue is to be the first in the city centre.
Walking onto Market Street, you can’t miss the huge red building opposite the former Debenhams unit, overlooking Primark’s lower entrance. Attached to the Arndale Centre, it’s in the perfect location for shoppers, workers and commuters to pop in for a coffee, burger, or those oh-so-popular Timbits.
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The new city centre venue seats around 100 people, with huge windows downstairs for people watching, or a slightly quieter, cosier spot to get some work done or read a book upstairs. On Friday, staff were busy preparing for the grand opening on Monday, with a fully stocked rack of donuts on the shelves and menu items grilling in the kitchen.
There is a till for ordering with an extensive menu, or for those a little more tech savvy, there are also touchscreens to place your order on before waiting at the collection point for your meal.
Manchester Evening News photographer Sean Hansford and I ordered a selection of the most popular menu items to see what all the fuss was about, seeing as I always see so many people raving about the chain on social media.
What we ordered:
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Big breakfast wrap - £3.49 or £2.99 as a meal deal
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Grilled Cheese Melt - £3.49 or £2.99 as a meal deal
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Tim’s Smokey Maple Burger - £4.99
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Tim’s Crispy Chicken Stack- £4.99
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Tim’s Loaded BBQ Hot Dog £4.79
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Loaded BBQ Crispy Chicken Wrap - £4.49
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Tim’s Chicken Tenders five piece - £7.49 for a meal
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Lattice Fries - £1.49
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Deluxe filled ring donuts - box of six from £10.99
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Staple donuts - box of six from £7.99
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Timbits - 50 box - £14.99
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Large French vanilla - large £4.99
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New Strawberry lemonade refresher - large £3.99
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Tim’s Shakes chocolate and strawberry - large £4.29 each
Our order filled the table and neither of us knew what to tuck into first because everything looked amazing - not like when you unbox a burger at another fast food chain and it looks nothing like the adverts. These pieces had been carefully stacked and were photo-ready.
I went straight in for the chicken tenders, which would probably be my usual order. They were extremely moist and with a selection of dips available from sweet chilli to a ranch style dip, every mouthful was full of flavour. The same is to be said for the burgers, particularly the smokey maple burger, which has a beautiful sticky sweetness to it, contrasting to the smokey, meaty flavour.
The breakfast menu items were great, and with everything being included in a meal deal for £2.99, it offered really good value. The meal deal sees your main come with a hash brown and any small hot drink or orange juice, which comes in at a similar price to other foodie chains. I particularly liked the grilled cheese and ham melt, which oozed cheese when you took a bite out of it.
I wasn’t overly keen on the hotdogs, only because I don’t like mustard and there was nothing particularly special about the frankfurter itself, but the bun it was served on was pretty nice - however there are far more superior meals on the menu, I thought.
The chicken burger was great, with that same tasty flavour as the chicken tenders, served up with their iconic lattice fries. I really enjoyed the carby side offering as it felt so much more substantial than fries.
If you saw our review of McDonald’s vs. Burger King. vs. Five Guys, it can be harder than you think to find a decent side order that’s not cold or limp - but Tim Hortons have nailed it with this fluffy potato offering.
I don’t drink coffee as I’ve never liked the taste, but their French Vanilla offers the tiniest amount of coffee in a creamy vanilla hot drink and it was absolutely delicious.
It was one of my favourite things from the whole menu and it’s about to become my latest obsession. You can actually buy tubs of their hot chocolate and French Vanilla to take home for £8.99 too, so I’m excited to have a little bit of Tim Hortons luxury at home, too.
The milkshakes were on the expensive side, verging on Five Guys prices, but I’m certain they’ll be popular with kids through the summer months. The chocolate one, topped with Oreo-style pieces, was very sweet, thick and rich.
The star of the show though was always going to be the donuts, right? Tim Hortons dessert menu has gained a cult following online, famed for their delicious donut balls known as Timbits. Shoppers can get a box of 10 for £3.99, or a huge box of 50 for £14.99, which is perfect for sharing. They’re surprisingly light and airy, coming in everyone’s favourite flavours from maple and vanilla to honey and apple and chocolate.
I’m always really sceptical about social media crazes but I can understand now why there is so much hype around Tim Horton’s. Their menu changes three times a day to offer customers something different throughout the day, and every mouthful was an absolute delight.
The branch opens on Market Street on Monday, May 30, and there will be freebies available for those first in the queue. The very first customer will bag free drinks for the whole year, which is worth around £3,000, according to Tim Hortons.
The first 100 customers will be able to get a free breakfast meal on Monday morning, with other giveaways running throughout the day for free coffee and donuts. Tim Horton’s on Market Street will be open from 6am till midnight, seven days a week, and it’s sure to be a hit with Manchester shoppers.
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