Ciaooo Loaded Garlic Bread: We tried the new garlic bread cafe in Manchester – including Hot Cheetos topping

There’s a new cafe in Manchester city centre that has made everyone’s favourite side dish into the main attraction. That’s right, we’re talking about garlic bread.

The new loaded garlic bread cafe in Shudehill is the latest venture from the team at Ciaooo pizzeria, which is located around the corner on Swan Street. Their menu includes a selection of pizza-style garlic breads that come with a variety of traditional and not-so-traditional toppings, as well as pizzette, which are small 10-inch pizzas.

Niche food trends come and go in Manchester, but this one is already proving a hit on social media despite only being open a couple of weeks. We went along to see for ourselves.

We arrived at the cafe on a Friday afternoon and there was already a queue outside the door, as well as a crowd of people inside waiting for their orders. There is limited seating inside, which was all full when we went, but the prime location in the heart of the city means that there are plenty of options of alfresco dining nearby, including Exchange Square and Sadler’s Yard. If you are eating elsewhere, however, remember to take plenty of napkins with you, as things can get quite messy – as me and my new white t-shirt soon found out.

We went for a mix of traditional and something a bit more adventurous. Our £23.90 order included the pesto garlic bread (£6), which comes with garlic butter, mozzarella, green pesto, parmesan and ball of burrata in the centre, and the Hot Cheetos and meatball garlic bread (£8), with a piece of deep fried lasagna on the side (£5). Both the garlic breads are around 10 inches in diameter and they are all cooked fresh to order.

The garlic breads had excellent filling-crust ratios, and the crusts themselves were thick and fluffy, perfect for dipping in the creamy burrata or mopping any rogue toppings that fall off while you eat – it will happen, you can’t fight it. The pesto was the messier of the two, but nothing can beat those classic Italian flavours.

The Cheetos garlic bread was a little more out of my comfort zone, but still very enjoyable. The Cheetos maintain their crunch amid the melted cheese, giving the garlic bread a crunchy texture and kick of heat. The meatballs were also delicious and I was a tad disappointed that you don’t get more of them (there were only four, one on each slice).

The deep fried lasagna squares are the only side dish on the menu at the Ciaooo garlic bread and it is an ingenious concept. You can never go wrong with lasagna and the fact they are deep fried makes it all the more decadent, however, it was cold, which left us a little underwhelmed. But I have no doubt that these are excellent when straight out of the fryer.

I’ve so far resisted the urge to quote Peter Kay, but, in a way, he was right when he said that garlic bread is the future. These niche food spots that focus on doing one thing really well, rather than extensive menus that change with trends, really are an asset to the Manchester food scene.

• You can find Ciaooo Loaded Garlic Bread at 93-95 Shudehill. They are open Tuesday-Sunday 12pm-6pm.