Welcome Vegan kebabs, Lebanese pastries and a child-free coffee shop
Less than a month after we brought you news of 11 new food and drink venues opening their doors in ‘these uncertain times’ we already have another 11 for ya. When we pressed pause back in March, Manchester seemed to be the destination for London brands looking for a hot city oop North to migrate to. COVID doesn't seemed to have stopped that trend, with several newbies to the city coming from brands that have been successful elsewhere.
There are some new locally driven independents too though and - whether your jam is party sports bars, fancy all-night casinos or Asian-inspired cooking workshops - it’s all here.
Hats off to this lot who may have had their beloved business plans temporarily thwarted but carried on regardless. Give em some love.
What: The Athenian
Where: Online
When: Open now
Another London operator heads for the glory of the North in the form of Greek fast food gods, The Athenian. The core of the scrollable menu is souvlaki and gyros in a choice of chicken, pork, veggie and vegan proteins swaddled in a flatbread wrap and accompanied by various sauces, fries, fritters and salads. For now, this is a delivery kitchen only operating on Deliveroo - thankfully not Hermes or it’d probably end up in the bin - but if goes well they reckon they will open a proper restaurant here in the future. At time of writing there is free booze on offer with your order from the Salford kitchen.
What: Box
Where: 125 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2LH
When: Early 2021
From the enterprising folk behind Manahatta and Banyan comes Box. Already going strong in the Leeds area, this is the fourth incarnation of Box and the first in Manchester. The premise is a classic sports bar, cubed. There will be gigantic screens showing major sporting events like boxing, Formula One and UFC alongside areas where you can try your hand at sociable, beer-friendly games like darts and shuffleboard - plus live music and karaoke. On the food front expect your square meals to take the shape of booze-sponging favourites like pizza, kebabs and burgers. There’s plenty of booze to be sponged up too, with classic cocktails on tap alongside the usual bevvies.
What: Cedar Bakery
Where: Unit 2, Walmer Street East, Rusholme, M14 5SS
When: Saturday 25th June
This slick and stylish new Lebanese bakery and sweet shop in Rusholme opens this weekend. Decked out with shimmering copper cooking pots and an interior that's all glossy marble and carved wood latticework, it’s visually a far cry from the humble, plastic-seated caffs of the Curry Mile - not that we’re disparaging those little gems of course. Expect sticky, pistachio-ed pastries, airy layered semolina cakes and plenty of rosewater alongside Middle Eastern savoury favourites like Baba Ghanooj accompanied by that gorgeous, cardamom-scented Arabic coffee.
What: Doner Summer @ Yes
Where: Yes, 38 Charles St, Manchester M1 7DB
When: Open now and all summer
We already feel love for this puntastic vegan kebab stand that is going to be popping up in Yes for the summer. The range of kebabs are made with chick’n shawarma, seitan doner meat and five spice chick’n to create Berlin, Greek and Korean style mouthfuls. Accompaniments include pink aioli, pickles and kimchee mayo and there’s also scotch bonnet sauce for those looking for some hot stuff (maybe this evening?) With live music and discos still off the menu for the foreseeable, Manchester’s indie music venues need your support in other ways. There’s your excuse to grab a kebab this weekend, you’re welcome.
What: Dutch Courage
Where: 19C School Rd, Sale M33 7XX
When: Autumn
Bringing unique cocktails, friendly staff and good coffee to Sale, Dutch Courage has an old school apothecary vibe about it and intends to be something different for the area. Unlike the myriad of other bustling coffee shops in Sale, Dutch Courage will be for adults only with hot-desking encouraged in a peaceful child-free environment which will likely appeal to parents and non-parents alike - its owner has five kids of her own. Coffee comes from Broderick’s and there will be pastries, cakes and panini to nibble alongside. In the evenings, cocktails will be the main draw and will only use ingredients from local spirit producers - expect the likes of Manchester Gin, Four Sisters and Three Rivers. There will also be a cocktail members club, Courage Club. Owner Rachel hopes Dutch will bring some hip, city centre style to the suburbs but at local prices.
What: Eat New York
Where: 24 Bury New Rd, Prestwich, Manchester M25 0LD
When: Soon
Oldham Street’s slice of the Big Apple has been sowing its seeds in the ‘burbs and their long-awaited Prestwich branch looks set to open imminently amid much teasing on the ole socials. Having survived lockdown by banging out a cartload of home delivery orders, this second bricks ’n mortar branch will bring NY deli style bagels, salt beef and quivering Reubens the size of the Chrystler building to the North Manchester masses. Moving into the former Rawson’s chippy unit on a busy stretch of takeaways as multicultural as Manhattan itself, ENY should fit in nicely.
Raksha Bhandhan is on the 3rd of August 😊 pic.twitter.com/ZNUEHjghGq
— Lily's Vegetarian (@LilysVegi) July 23, 2020
What: Lily's Deli
Where: Chorlton
When: September
The team behind the award-winning Indian restaurant Lily’s Vegetarian in Ashton have just revealed that they are to open a new deli in Chorlton in a few weeks. In a return to the style of the original Lily's, the Chorlton deli will be a small and humble cafe with a big focus on the takeaway offering. South Manchester fans of their mind-boggling treasure trove of jewel-coloured Indian sweets and savouries will be pleased they no longer have to make a pilgrimage to Tameside to grab a box. The team are still working out plans and say they haven't fully decided what will be on the menu yet but you can be sure that Confidentials will let you know as soon as we do. See our recent feature and interview with owner Parul for more.
What: Napoleon’s Casino
Where: 57 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3HP
When: Autumn
With an £8m investment and interior design by Chapman Taylor, Napoleon’s new 24-hour Manchester casino has been a long time cooking. It’s set to open finally this autumn on Portland Street, creating 120 new jobs. With state-of-the-art slot machines and electronic roulette - as well as table games such as American roulette, blackjack, three-card poker and punto banco - gambling fans should be chipper. But what about the food? The luxuriously decked-out restaurant overlooks the gaming area Vegas-style, and serves the kind of food you’d expect there too. Think burgers and grills along with old school mains like lamb rump with dauphinoise potato pureé, creamed peas, pancetta and mint pesto with black forest gateau for afters. The bar menu - all about the patties - serves until 3am.
What: Noodlehaus
Where: 37-49 Devonshire Street North, Manchester, M12 6JR
When: September/October
From NAPS to noodz. In a natural progression following the success of her popular pop-up noodle workshops and supper clubs, Pippa Middleton (AKA Pippy Eats) is finally getting a permanent bricks and mortar home. This Northern doyenne of dumplings is Insta-famous for her mesmeric stop-motion recipes and gorgeous food photography and won the BBC’s Britain’s Best Home Cook in 2018. Pippa is looking to raise over £30k on Kickstarterto help get Noodlehaus off the ground with cookbooks, supper clubs and chilli oil among the perks for investors. When it opens, the space will be used for workshops for the public as well as free ones for kids and will also be available to hire by others for their own creative purposes.
What: Oodles
Where: 6A Oxford Rd, Manchester M1 5QA
When: Open now
The train station end of Oxford Rd is something of an Asian food pick n mix these days with the Japanese Oishi Q, Korean Chimaek, Vietnamese Banh Mi Co Ba and Chinese One Plus all within a few minutes' walk. Indo-Chinese newcomer Oodles brings, well, oodles of noodles to the party with the family-owned fast food chain’s twelfth UK branch taking up residency next to Korean supermarket of dreams, Oseyo. In the now familiar step-by-step style of the grab and go genre, customers choose a box size then layer up from bases like udon noodles or egg fried rice topped with a ‘saucy’ dish (like Manchurian chicken, Chinese lamb curry or chilli prawns) and a ‘dry’ dish (such as vegetable paneer, kung po chicken or crispy veg) with optional extras including things like spring rolls, wings and chips. Oo-deal for the local student community.
What: Tsujiri Tea House
Where: Ground Floor, Upper, 50 Faulkner St, Manchester M1 4FH
When: Open now
Established in 1860 in Kyoto, matcha tea dessert palace Tsujiri is a global brand that has chosen Manchester for its third UK branch - the first outside London. Bringing a jade-green palette to Chinatown, the premise is simple: desserts made from matcha tea. It may be an acquired taste but the stuff is hugely popular all over Asia and hipster coffee shops have been dabbling with it in latte form for a while here. Now Manc fans can order not just green-hued lattes but bubble tea, sundaes, chocolate tarts, ice cream and all kinds of squishy rice-flour mochi to enjoy in-store or take away. There are also packets of matcha tea leaves and teapots for sale to take home.
