Manchester restaurant and food hall Hello Oriental has introduced a new dessert dish to its menu this month, and it’s been steadily dividing opinions since.
Comprised of a large bowl of salt and pepper chips, topped with piped-on vanilla ice cream, crispy onions and multicoloured party sprinkles, it takes inspiration from a cult McDonald’s trend that sees customers dip fries into their McFlurries or milkshakes.
Yes, that is (apparently) a real thing that people enjoy, so much so that McDonald’s even spoofed its customers with an April Fool’s advert in 2019 promising the introduction of a new series of banana, chocolate and strawberry ‘milkshake dips’.
Now, the bizarre fast food craze has taken an even stranger turn as Hello Oriental co-owners Ricky Yip and Azim Kourah introduce their own Eastern-inspired twist at their Oxford Road side.
Priced at £6.95 a tub, owners said that staff were initially divided over the concept but came soon round when they had tried it for themselves.
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Now, it appears that the salty-sweet fast food treat is taking Manchester by storm with people flocking down to Hello Oriental to get their hands on a tub.
It’s not the first time that the food hall has divided opinions with its desserts. Earlier this summer, operators started mixing up ice cream made from durian, widely known as the world’s stinkiest fruit.
ADVERTISEMENT
Famous for having a truly terrible smell that’s been unfavourably compared to cat p*ss, it’s so pungent that it’s actually been made illegal to eat it on the subway in Singapore.
Served in cute little bear and taiyaki fish-shaped cones, alongside typical soft serve flavours like ube (purple yam), pandan leaf, charcoal, mango and vanilla, on weekends you will also find a limited amount of durian ice cream here.
ADVERTISEMENT
Managing to be sweet, creamy and savoury all at once, some say it tastes like “diced garlic and caramel poured into whipped cream”.
Others have referred to “subtle hints of chives mixed with powdered sugar”.
Multi-storey ‘super-venue’ Hello Oriental was built beneath Symphony Park at the new Circle Square development just off Oxford Road in February this year.
Inspired by dining destinations like Bang Bang Oriental in London and 1800 in Miami, at its heart sits a vast market hall with a fast-paced open kitchen, UK-first supermarket and Hello Bakery.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
Keely Hodgkinson and Sarah Lancashire among famous Greater Manchester names on 2025’s New Year Honours list
Emily Sergeant
Keely Hodgkinson and Sarah Lancashire are among famous Greater Manchester names on 2025’s New Year Honours list.
A new year is here, and that means 2025’s New Year Honours list is out.
This year’s coveted list of names – which is published annually ahead of New Year’s Day, and is used to recognise a person’s merit in terms of achievement and service – has everything from community champions and impressive young people, to sporting stars, acting greats, and major public figures being a part of it.
More than 1,200 recipients are receiving honours this year across all sectors, and two of those famous recipients are two of Greater Manchester‘s most impressive talents from 2024 – Olympian Keely Hodginkson and actor Sarah Lancashire.
Hodgkinson appears for the first time on an Honours list this year, being awarded an MBE for services to Athletics.
Congratulations to everyone recognised in HM the King's New Years Honours 2025! 🎉
The Atherton-born middle-distance runner was already an Olympic medallist prior to heading into Paris 2024, having taken home a silver in the 800m in Tokyo back in 2020, but it was last year’s competition that saw her become an Olympic champion – bagging the gold in that same event.
While 2023 may have been the year that Sarah Lancashire was at the forefront of the public’s praise, most-notably during the final season of ITV’s Happy Valley which got the whole nation talking, it’s hard to deny that she deserves an Honour this year.
Sarah Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in ITV’s Happy Valley / Credit: ITV
Lancashire – who was born in Urmston, before spending the majority of her upbringing in Oldham – has been named an CBE in 2025.
In releasing this year’s recipients, the Government in a statement: “The Government is committed to ensuring that honours are awarded to outstanding people from across the whole of the UK and the system reflects the best of society.
“The list ensures that people from underrepresented communities and a wide variety of types of work are rewarded, to celebrate the fantastic contribution of people throughout the country.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer added: “[Those honoured] represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this Government does.”
Featured Image – British Athletics (via Twitter) / Keely Hodgkinson (via Instagram)
Manchester
Popular Manchester city centre club forced to close on New Year’s Eve due to flooding
Daisy Jackson
The heavy rain that hit Manchester on New Year’s Eve has caused flooding across the region, including the city centre.
One city centre venue had to close early on one of the biggest nights out of the year as water rushed into its basement.
In a statement shared today, Joshua Brooks shared that it had to close its New Year’s Eve party prematurely ‘to ensure everyone’s wellbeing’.
The popular city centre club had moved revellers upstairs to its clubhouse, rather than its basement, but ultimately feared the ‘unknowns regarding electrical safety’ and shut down early.
Luckily, party-goers were able to ring in the new year before the venue shut at around 2am.
Joshua Brooks shared: “Unfortunately, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, we had to make the difficult decision to close the club prematurely due to unexpected flooding in our basement. The heavy rainfall in the Pennine mountains caused the River Medlock and several tributaries to overflow, impacting multiple venues along the riverbank, including ours.
“Our top priorities are always the safety of our ravers and the preservation of our equipment. As water levels continued to rise, we considered moving the party to the clubhouse upstairs. However, there were too many unknowns regarding electrical safety, so we ultimately decided to shut down the event around 2 AM, just under two hours before the end of the night, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused you and sincerely apologise for disrupting your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Our warm-up DJs were absolutely smashing it, and Alan Fitzpatrick was playing great until the moment we had to close.
“While this type of incident is rare and hasn’t happened in years, there is always a risk due to our location. We want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously and exploring all options to minimise the chances of this happening again.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”
Luckily, Joshua Brooks hasn’t been left with any lasting damage to its main bar area, and is set to go ahead with its New Year’s Day party this evening.
Georgina Pellant -
20th September 2022 
