About
What is TheGastroclub.com?
TheGastroClub is a group of 400+ Manchester based food lovers. We meet up once a month to attend a sit down meal consisting of dishes the average diner would shy away from, whilst demanding restaurants produce the finest food they can. The restaurants we visit each month offer TheGastroclub menus which aren’t on sale to the average punter so we always get something a bit different.
It’s free and open to anyone wanting to join. The club meets on the second Tuesday of every month in a new location usually around the city centre. The menu is sent out to members a week or so before the event. If you want to come along you just have to book your place (details in the email).
Most members come along on their own and we all sit on big tables together. The day after we’ve scoffed, drank and passed comment (probably tweeted the entire thing too) you’ll be sent a questionnaire to fill in. From this we calculate ‘TheGastrclub Verdict’ for the restaurant and post our review on our website. All members are invited to write up a review of the night for the Gastroclub website if they want to. Please see here for tips on writing a post.
Newcomers
There is no ‘criteria’ for joining TheGastroclub but it helps if you are an adventurous eater and are happy in the company of other like-minded people.
We’ve introduced a semi-formal (it’s as formal as we get) “greeter” system so that newcomers can make themselves known and be introduced to the more regular attendees.
We want everyone to have fun and make new friends as well as enjoy some great food – but we won’t drag you “out front” for an introduction unless you specifically request it.
(For a small extra fee I can wear a pointy hat and shout “Slytherin!”* as you step forward)
* other houses are available
The Food
TheGastroClub arranges dinner evenings at restaurants in the local area, featuring special menus – and issues invites to those who have joined up to club.
TheGastroclub asks restaurants and chefs to offer menus consisting of unusual/innovative/challenging/long-forgotten-now-reborn dishes. We make no apologies for this – after all, why come to a TheGastroclub event for something you could get any other night of the week? (the correct answer here is “why, for your charming company, of course”, for the record!)
We don’t dictate to the restaurants what they should serve, so it’s up to the venue’s we visit to create the best dishes they can.
For an idea of the types of food we are served up please check out our blog.
Special Requirements:
We always try to ensure that menus offer options for vegetarians – but the very nature of some of the venues may preclude this.
Specific menu requirements (allergies, religious restrictions etc.) can only be addressed on an event-by-event basis, but we advise you to get in touch as soon as an event is announced and we will see what can be done. The same applies to any issues regarding disabled access etc. Most venues will have their own websites or Social Network profiles and they may provide the necessary information too.
Paying
TheGastroclub takes a booking fee to secure your place at events. This can be paid via PayPal (you don’t need an account to use this) or directly using your card. Due to the increased popularity of the club, this is to ensure those who really want to attend get a place and to help minimise drop outs. The payment goes to the organiser of Gastroclub and helps to cover the costs of keeping the club running. Successful bookings are confirmed via email or on confirmation from Paypal of your booking fee being paid- some events sell out swiftly so we recommend a quick response!
You’ll pay the venue for your food and drink as you normally would at the end of the night. The club operates a ‘going Dutch’ style of settling the bill, so everyone only pays for what they have had.
Getting Involved:
Well the (obvious) main way is to attend and enjoy TheGastroclub events. Tell your friends and colleagues about us as well, and make sure you mention the event venue if you think it worthy.
TheGastroclub wants to provide feedback to the food scene in Manchester so we welcome member reviews – not only of events but also other restaurants, cafes and food suppliers in the area. We are strong advocates of social media, so reviews will be disseminated to a growing audience of potential diners/consumers.
Also, please feel free to suggest new event venues and possible tie-ins for our members. Please try to keep these food-related so we keep “on message” (we can stray all by ourselves, without additional encouragement!)
Do please try to keep venue suggestions fairly local – while we’d all love a pilgrimage to some distant 3-star establishment, that’s something for a bit further down the line (though members can arrange such things between themselves – we’d be happy to help with that if you need to find additional people to make it feasible etc.
Write! Reviews, articles, philosophy (do still have the food element in there, please) – pretty much whatever takes your fancy. We want to expand TheGastroclub’s appeal across the food-loving board. So tell us about that local food market, or that achingly cool new deli. So, should you prefer Maynards’ Farms (Shrewsbury!) black puddings to R S Irelands’ offerings, then tell us why – it may start a discussion, or even a (polite) argument. Of course, if it really escalates, we can act as impartial Seconds in the resulting duel (Heaton Park is quiet early on, for reference…)
The Field Of Honour awaits you. Still think that the Barbakan’s Chorlton Sourdough is “all that” do you? Well speak your mind…
Behaviour:
In terms of “rules” – all we ask is that members attending events act with consideration towards other diners and venue staff and behave themselves sensibly. We are a group of people having a fun dinner, not a quasi-religious order (robes make my bum look big – trust me, we explored that idea early on!)
Untoward / unacceptable behaviour will be “politely mentioned” – repeating it will simply mean no further invitations and attempted bookings will be declined.
Any Questions or Problems?
If you have a problem (either with an event past or bookings etc.) then please get in touch ASAP. Details of how to get in touch are in the “Contact us” section. We will do everything we can to resolve any issues before they become real problems. Of course, if you become aware of anything that could CAUSE a problem, then please let us know immediately too. We’re all in this together, after all!
If there is anything we haven’t covered in this please drop us a line or ask us on Twitter
Please remember that this club is run and managed all in the spare time of the organiser so we don’t operate usual ‘business working hours’.
Massive thanks to Gastroclub member Robert Price for supplying the words for this guide.