Ornella’s Little Kitchen Review: A new Italian offer found at Freight Island

First opened in 2022 in Denton, Ornella’s Kitchen has since claimed its spot as one of the finest Italian kitchens here in Manchester, being shortlisted for three years in a row at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards. Earlier this year Ornella’s decided to open a second venue in the city centre, near Mayfield Park and Piccadilly Station, at Freight Island. Since November, this new venue has been offering a new bottomless brunch. Included in the offer is one main (all sandwiches or with a bread base) and unlimited drinks for 90 minutes. The brunch menu also offers some sides, although these are not included in the price.

Located in a repurposed freight depot, the food market is not just home to 17 bars and restaurants, but it also hosts activities such as open-air raves and club nights. This energy and liveliness is ever-present from the moment you enter Freight, creating a casual and laid-back atmosphere as you dig into your food.

The first thing that we tried was the truffle and porcini mushroom arancini with creamy truffle parmesan sauce and parmesan sauce on top. This side was nothing if not marvellous and the best dish overall. Every part of it delivered: the breadcrumb coating offered a perfect crunch without being greasy at all, and the rice was cooked to perfection and the filling was both creamy and flavourful.

The sauce was another hit, accompanying perfectly the flavours of the arancini and elevating them a bit more. The gracefulness of the truffle was what ended up selling this dish as usually truffle can overshadow the other ingredients on the plate. Here, however, it became an ever-present flavour that tied all ingredients together, somehow always ceding its spotlight to the rest of ingredients in every mouthful. If a criticism can be made about this dish would be that it must be consumed moderately quickly as both the filling and the sauce solidifies the more time it passes.

Credit: Guillermo Saenz Rubio @ The Mancunion

After this beautiful introduction, we were beyond thrilled to try our mains. We went for the pollen potato bun with guanciale, roasted tomatoes, rocket, shaved parmesan and fried egg and the bruschetta with whipped lemon ricotta, honey and grated pecorino.

Both mains had similar strengths and weaknesses: the best part of both was their incredibly flavourful ingredients, however, both failed to offer a bread that was on that same level. The potato bun especially suffered: while everything inside the buns was absolutely amazing, from the perfectly fried egg to the crispy and tasteful guanciale, the buns themselves couldn’t keep up. Although it’s true that flavour-wise they didn’t really have a negative impact on the dish, they didn’t really add anything either. If anything, their slight oiliness made each bite feel a bit more greasy than the otherwise light ingredients would have produced on their own.

With the bruschetta, the issue was less pronounced as its only problem was that the bread was difficult to cut. Not unlike the arancini, all of the ingredients harmonised perfectly, with the tomatoes taking the centre stage by being some of the best I’ve ever tasted. The lemon ricotta was also a win for this dish as it was able to keep up with the tomatoes' flavour, while also giving a freshness to each bite that seemed to clean and prepare your mouth for the next one.

Credit: Guillermo Saenz Rubio @ The Mancunion

To drink, we had the Prosecco and the Aperol. Both were quite nice and the staff made sure that our glasses where never empty. Most of the price of the meal lies in the drinks, but there is also the possibility to get the bottomless brunch for twenty pounds less by swapping the alcohol for soft drinks. Whether the price difference is worth it depends on the diner, although both the Aperol and the Prosecco accompanied our dishes nicely.

Although not without its ups and downs, Ornella’s Little Kitchen delivers a generous and high quality brunch with the possibility to get some amazing sides that are completely worth the extra price.

Ornella’s Little Kitchen Bottomless Brunch menu can be found on their Instagram. Their Bottomless Brunch is available Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm to 4 pm.