If you follow me on Snapchat, Instagram or Twitter you will have seen many pictures regarding the wonderful Bents Garden Centre Winter Market event.
Bents Garden Centre is located in Leigh and I'm sure many of you are sitting there thinking 'didn't you used to work in Leigh, how have you never heard of it before?' To which I'd say I honestly don't know... Funnily enough I used to pass the roundabout sign on my journey home and I never made the connection... but hey ho I'm ditzy like that!
Bents Garden Centre is located in Leigh and I'm sure many of you are sitting there thinking 'didn't you used to work in Leigh, how have you never heard of it before?' To which I'd say I honestly don't know... Funnily enough I used to pass the roundabout sign on my journey home and I never made the connection... but hey ho I'm ditzy like that!
Earlier this week lovely PR Team at Bents mentioned that they were having an opening evening and asked if I would like to come along... I personally couldn't take them up on the offer fast enough! Once the words Food and Christmas were mentioned I was instantly sold!! The team also very kindly asked if I would like a plus one so off I dragged the grinch to try and 'poison' him with some festive cheer (it seems to have worked so Thank you Bents Team!!)
Currently you cannot miss Bents Garden Centre for the bazillion icicle lights that stream the length of their building and I must say it looks damn good and is rather eye catching!! Upon arrival I decided to have a little nosy at their Christmas displays and truthfully they are absolutely stunning. I always love the displays most Garden Centres put on, but Bents have really knocked it out of the park with this years displays. I will definitely be taking Andy to have a proper look around in the next week or so and I have also planned another trip with my Mum & Dad, because this is just the type of cute trips they love to take.
There were several more displays but if I included those photographs this post would be 90 years long. Upon arrival there was a lovely duet singing Manchester Hits, and I noticed a cheeky Blossoms 'Charlemagne' dropped in which was brilliant, along with some classical Christmas Songs. The children in attendance loved the tunes and were bopping away, which was adorable to see.
Now I get to talk about what me and Andy are passionate about FOOD and DRINK!!! I have to tell you that the food at the Winter Market was amazing! There were Bratwursts from Germany accompanied by bread that has been specially designed by head chef Tony (Best bread I have ever tasted and I'm tempted to ask Bents to roll out the recipe in their food shop!) What I loved about this was they had a Vegan option. I always go on about how happy I get when this happens, because so many of my friends have been excluded at Winter Markets due to there being no Vegan or Veggie options! The Bratwursts come accompanied with SauerKraut (which was surprisingly delicious) and a variety of other condiments are available. You can chose from original, Chilli beef or Vegan. Andy had the original as he doesn't like spice and I chose the Vegan option, both were absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend. Each stall has an authentic shed ascetic and the Bratwursts are cooked traditionally via Fire Pit which adds a wonderful smoky flavour! There was also another stall which sold Pulled Pork Baps and Pulled Mushrooms Baps as a vegetarian option. Andy had a Pulled Pork Bap and said it was lovely and filling, however I was too full after my Bratwurst to consider any other food (I needed a bit of a comfort break!)
There were also drinks stall, selling everything from hot drinks, hot alcoholic drinks and even Craft Beer. I got the wonderful job of being the designated driver so had a few sips of Mulled Wine (which was beautiful!!). They also had Hot apple cider which I wished I could have tried so I will be heading back for round two. I had two hot chocolates, a normal and a white. Both were delicious, and you can add a variety of syrups from Cherry to Cinnamon to really give your drink an extra winter kick. The staff were wonderful and had me giggling all night with their festive spirit and brilliant dance moves.
My favourite part of all markets are Crepes and Waffles... I genuinely don't think the UK manage to make Waffles or Crepes as good as our European counterparts, but I was proved extremely wrong with the wonderful chocolate and Nutella Crepe and Nutella and Smarties Christmas Tree shaped Waffle I had! The Cinder Toffee was melt in your mouth delicious and I honestly could have had another tub if I was feeling greedy.
I had to be rolled out of Bents Garden Centre as the food portions were massive and great value for money. The crepes were fascinating to watch being made. Every stall is open so you can see how your food is made and really feel a part of the process.
Bents Garden Centre have wanted to create a Winter Market for four years and took the plunge this year; I am honestly so glad that they did. The food is wonderful, the drink is even more wonderful and the staff are so welcoming... One of the best Winter Markets I have ever been to. The Market itself has not been stingily done with seating areas being made in Poland and decorated with real hops that are used to make beer. There are Christmas lights, Christmas Trees and music creating a cheery atmosphere and the decorating team had outdone themselves with the entrance area. I hope that the Winter Market receives an awful lot of great press and from the amount of comments on the Warrington Guardian Post, which I rather embarrassingly ended up in the back of some shots despite trying my hardest not to mess up the photographs haha, I believe it is set to be a huge success.
If you live close to Leigh, Manchester, or even Warrington I recommend a visit! Even if Christmas isn't your thing Bents Garden Centre has a lot to offer from Dinosaur Crazy Golf, which I will be back to try, a Tapas Bar and Food section. It would make a great day out for little ones, couples and families and I cannot wait for my next visit! We would like to thank the Bents Team for inviting us as we had such a wonderful time and I know that everyone else in attendance did to!
Overall Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
I cannot sum this experience up in a few words as it was just so amazing... Instead I will simply say read the whole post again and go and check it out for yourselves!
Until Next Time
T
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