Hong Thai – a firm favourite of all the traders in the Arndale Market – has finally found a new home after a devastating fire shuttered its first Manchester location.
The beloved Thai business now has its very own bricks and mortar restaurant just a short walk away from its original spot in town.
Now based on Oldham Road, a strip often referred to as Little Vietnam, Hong Thai is back with a vengeance and ready to open on Friday.
Their cosy new restaurant has been decorated in sunny yellow and colourful wall art, matching the sunny welcome that all diners are greeted with.
While it’s a brand new location, they’re sticking to the winning formula that gained them so many loyal fans in the Arndale.
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That means huge portions at low prices, warm-hearted service, and vibrant dishes that will warm you from the inside out.
Thai and Hong Kong dishes and snacks start from just £3.50, and absolutely nothing on the menu will cost you more than £12.
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Lilly and the team at Hong ThaiHong Thai’s new home in Manchester is on Oldham Road
House favourites include their menu of hearty Thai curries, always packing just the right amount of heat and singing with fresh flavours.
Hong Kong beef buns have a satisfyingly crisp base from their meeting with the frying pan, but are soft and juicy inside.
There are classic stir-fries like a crispy chilli chicken, coated in a sticky orange sauce, and a Thai green curry packed with perfectly-cooked veggies.
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A highlight is the Khao Soi, a northern Thai take on a laksa – it’s a gigantic bowl loaded to the brim with a coconut curry sauce, chicken balls, prawns, tofu and egg noodles.
Vegetable dumplingsThai green curryTricolour coconut and red bean iceKhao Soi from Hong ThaiSoft beef buns
Posting about their new home in Manchester, Hong Thai wrote: “After a long six months of plenty of hard work, sweat and tears we are finally happy to announce that Hong Thai is back!
“Our doors open to the public on Friday 24th May. We know the anticipation has been high so we will do nothing other than fulfill our customers expectations.
“With a new-improved menu with our classics still making a feature, we are ready to serve up our heartwarming customers.
“Our new home is located in Ancoats, 140 Oldham Road. Across the road from Wing Yip Supermarket. Just a 6 minute walk from Shudehill Bus Station.”
Inside Chinatown’s enormous new three-storey restaurant, with futuristic karaoke booths
Daisy Jackson
A gigantic three-storey restaurant and karaoke bar has just opened its doors in Chinatown in Manchester.
Sovereign Clouds is the newest addition to one of the city’s most beloved and ever-evolving neighbourhoods, taking over a sizeable building on Faulkner Street that’s been vacant for 10 years.
Inside the 1,000 sq metre space, you’ll find a glittering restaurant adorned with marble and gold, where you can tuck into a massive menu of dim sum and traditional dishes.
One floor up and you’ll find yourself surrounded by live lobster tanks and the massive kitchen, alongside several flexible private dining spaces.
And up on the top floor are the most futuristic karaoke rooms in town, where you can customise lights, LED ceilings, and even sing through an autotune microphone.
Three roast meats from Sovereign CloudsDelicious dim sumAuthentic Chinese cooking from Sovereign CloudsBlack Gold Lava Buns with salted custard fillingThe massive Sovereign Clouds restaurant
On the menu you’ll find tonnes of steamed dim sum, stir fries, traditional claypot stews, roast meats, and loads more.
There’s seafood like stir-fried lobster with salted egg yolk, and traditional Cantonese steamed grouper; a whole section for abalone (advance orders only) including braised goose feet and fish maw; and a good selection of spicy Sichuan dishes.
The chefs here also have an impressive array of Chinese roast meats, like Peking crispy duck, pork belly, and char siu, as well as three roast meats with rice.
Futuristic karaoke roomsThe main restaurant at Sovereign CloudsFuturistic karaoke rooms
And that’s alongside ingredients you don’t find on a lot of menus in Manchester, like jellyfish, tripe, and century eggs.
It’s all led by Terry Ni, who has been behind the popular Dynasty Chinese and Thai takeaway in Timperley for more than a decade, and has spent years transforming this empty old building into one of Chinatown’s most glittering restaurants.
Come for dinner, stay for a turn on the karaoke upstairs, and tell everyone – Sovereign Clouds is a fantastic addition to Manchester.
‘Surreal’ moment Stevie Wonder dines at Stalybridge restaurant after enormous Manchester gig
Daisy Jackson
Stevie Wonder has stunned a local restaurant in Stalybridge after he popped in for dinner after his massive Manchester show.
The soul icon had performed a huge gig at Co-op Live on Sunday night, performing hits from his illustrious, decades-long career.
And while you might expect someone of Stevie’s fame and stature to dine at one of the city centre’s many Michelin-recommended restaurants, the star instead headed straight for the suburbs.
He was spotted dining at Cafe Continental, an independent restaurant that’s become one of the Greater Manchester’s most-hyped neighbourhood haunts since it launched two years ago.
The stylish spot is famed for its European-style restaurant and cafe culture, aiming to recreate the atmosphere of the sort of place you’d stumble upon down a back street in Rome or Paris.
On the menu they’ve got a rotation of small plates, open-fire dishes, pastas and burgers, along with their divine Parisian hot chocolate, served with a bowl of whipped cream on the side.
Cafe Continental has had a good track record for pulling in local famous faces, but arguably nothing comes close to Stevie Wonder himself.
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc GroupSoup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc Group
The night before Stevie’s visit, they’d served his band and daughter – and clearly word got back to Stevie fast, because he returned the next night to test it out for himself.
Cafe Continental posted: “Surreal things happen now and again. This is one of them! Pleasure to welcome Mr Stevie Wonder to the restaurant to close off his tour!”
And according to the MEN, Stevie left a whopping £1,000 tip for the staff.
Not only did Stevie Wonder support a local hospitality business, but he also arrived dressed in Drama Call, a Manchester-based sportswear brand.
Daisy Jackson -
23rd May 2024 
