Moose Coffee was founded in 2006. The concept grew from a love for the great American breakfast…read moreculture and nowhere does it better than the diners & delis of New York City. This is their latest branch and second in Manchester city centre, on Piccadilly Approach - it is a fairly small store but serves a convenient location if one is getting a train from Piccadilly Station. If you've ordered with Moose in Manchester on Deliveroo - chances are the order has come from this branch.
The store inside is pretty small compared to their other branch but it still does have some nice comfortable seating and tables (there were children standing on the cushioned seats which goes down the store however which I didn't like - but the staff can't control customers children!)
When I entered, I waited to be sat down and was served by a man - he seemed to struggle understanding English and even admitted that - I asked him for an allergen guide (it says on the menu you can request one and they do have it online too but I wanted to get one in-store to test the staff knowledge to see if I actually felt confident eating here), however, he looked at me puzzled and originally thought I was unable to read the menu - so despite asking to sit down twice and asking him questions, he appeared to block me from sitting down.
I eventually had to ask another member of staff who seemed a lot more confident than the other staff member here - who seemed confused that gluten-free options weren't labelled on the menu when vegan was. This was a slow and frustrating process.
I ended up going for the Mighty Moose after finding out it could be made with gluten-free bread, the lady server also offered to make me an iced tea but she did say she wasn't aware of how it would turn out as it is basically making a hot tea over ice and they don't normally do it.
I decided to go for an Iced Earl Grey with Vanilla syrup, this was quite reasonably priced at £2 with an extra £0.30 for syrup, however, the drink was just drinkable and it really was tea over ice - the drink didn't even taste of vanilla, it was just bitter water if anything.
My food quality overall was okay but I did seem to have a problem with every aspect of my dish - considering it was with a potato hash, I expected the bacon to be those nice, thin crispy rashers of bacon however the bacon wasn't like that - it had no crispiness to it, it seemed slightly undercooked and was rather chewy.
My fried eggs did look the part but I found them to be slightly too runny for my liking.
The potato hash in most cases did taste quite good with nice potatoes however a good part of it was overseasoned and far too peppery - meaning I had to leave part of it which was a shame.
I was quite surprised however with the gluten-free toast as it was basically on the brink of being burnt - considering how hard it is to toast gluten-free bread as it tastes longer I was shocked how they got it like this (it also is a shame they don't have gluten free bread clearly listed on the menu so customers can be easily aware of it) - the bread, however, was cold, it felt like they'd invented a zapper which toasts bread rather than getting it hot.
The overall feel of the place wasn't great - and I certainly would want to avoid the outdoor seating area, with it being on such a busy street leading up to the station you have loads of people running past with cigarettes, suitcases and the Free Bus parking just outside - meaning if you want a more typical American diner experience you might be best heading to their other branch in the city on York Street.
Everything came to £10.10 which for a city centre location and fresh food - wasn't too bad.
Would I come here again? Probably not - only as a last resort is getting a train, facing issues from minor to much bigger on my food and the male server seeming inexperienced and untrained (he did seem friendly however he just really struggled).
2* for this being one of the better places to get food before heading on a train from Piccadilly station, especially considering terrible experiences at Carluccio's inside the station and Bella Itallia, a five minute or so walk away in Piccadilly Gardens in the past.