The Real Greek is opening its first northern restaurant in Manchester
Popular for its souvlaki wraps, halloumi fries and massive mezze selection, The Real Greek will take over the former Wahaca unit in Manchester's Corn Exchange
Popular greek restaurant The Real Greek is opening a new restaurant in Manchester, it has been revealed.
Part of the same restaurant chain as Franco Manca, it will take over the former Wahaca unit inside The Corn Exchange after choosing Manchester as its location for the group’s first restaurant in the north.
Incredibly popular down south, the restaurant is known for its amazing souvlaki wraps which come stuffed with a choice of Loukaniko sausage pork belly, pork skewer, halloumi, chicken, lamb meatballs, falafel with tahini or jackfruit, alongside chips, homemade tzatziki, and salad.
It also offers a huge selection of hot and cold mezze, including a grill section featuring the likes of grilled octopus with fava beans, chicken Monastiraki, beef and pork sausage skewers, aubergine, and vegan meatballs served in a tomato and cumin Soutzoukakia sauce.
Elsewhere, you’ll find crowd-pleasing favourites like halloumi fries, stuffed vine leaves, battered salt cod and Greek moussaka, plus spinach tiropitakia – handmade filo parcels stuffed with creamy leek, spinach and feta – and jackfruit stifado.
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The Real Greek Manchester will also offer a set dinner menu, Filoxenia, priced at £13.95 for a selection of four dishes. This will give you a choice of flatbread or crudites, a hot mezze, a cold mezze, three sides or salads – all for less than £15.
Further set menus listed include Tonia’s Selection, priced at £36 for two to share, and the slightly more expensive Santorini (£40), also designed for two to share.
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Image: The Real GreekImage: The Real Greek
As for desserts, think homemade baklava (crisp filo pastry drenched in honey and walnuts), Greek filo custard pie (a traditional dessert from Sérres, North Greece, known as Bougatsa), and a Grecian caramel, pecan and vanilla cheesecake.
On the wine list, you’ll find a good selection of Greek wines including a selection of delicious full-bodied reds produced on the slopes of Mount Vermion – one of the first AOC regions to be registered in Greece.
You’ll also find Ouzo on the list here – the popular dry anise-flavoured aperitif for which Greece is well known amongst holidaymakers.
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Image: The Real Greek
The new opening is part of a planned group expansion across the UK, which will also see The Real Greek open a second new site down in Kent.
Speaking on the new opening David Page, chairman of Fulham Shore, said: “Fulham Shore continues to experience growing sales across both our businesses. Many of our restaurants throughout the UK continue to break trading records on a regular basis.
“We are accelerating our growth in the UK and abroad. We continue to trade ahead of our own expectations and have a strong pipeline of exciting new locations.”
The opening date for the new site is still under wraps for now but make sure to follow them on Instagram for further updates.
Take a look inside the new Operation Ouch! interactive exhibition opening in Manchester tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
Fancy plunging headfirst into the incredible world of our senses?
Well now you can, as back by popular demand after a successful run over these past two years, but with a fresh new adventure lined up for 2025, Operation Ouch! has landed in Manchester once again, and this time around, you can journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.
The major new exhibition for children and families, which is titled Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You, is officially opening down at the Science and Industry Museum from tomorrow.
Visitors are being told to prepare themselves for an “epic exploration of the senses”.
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies, and You is opening in Manchester tomorrow / Credit: Science Museum Group
Mini Manc medics can explore their brilliant brains by banging on an eardrum, venturing into a massive eyeball, and even taking a whiff of a ‘smell library’ during what sounds like a properly playful and lively interactive adventure at the museum.
You’ll get to enter Dr Chris’ brain headquarters through his giant ear, making sure to dodge the earwax, before venturing through the five senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste with loads of hands-on science experiences, as well as discovering some of the secret senses that help us with our balance, know when it’s time to sleep, and even when to go for a wee.
Educational as well as entertaining, you’ll even get to find out about how our sensory experiences can vary from children who are living with disabilities.
Video appearances from Dr Chris, Dr Xand, and Dr Ronx from the hit BBC children’s TV series, Operation Ouch!, will pop up throughout the exhibition to help visitors understand more about the science behind the fun.
Ahead of the opening of the exhibition, Steven Leech, who is the Curator of Exhibitions at the Science and Industry Museum, commented: “From sight and sound, to some lesser-known senses, our bodies are truly sense-sational.
Visitors can plunge head-first into the incredible world of our senses / Credit: Science Museum Group
“Our brains rely on our senses to help us understand and explore the world around us, and in this exhibition, you will take part in an epic experiment that is bursting with brilliant brain science.
“Just like our previous Operation Ouch! exhibition, Brains, Bogies and You will offer a playful experience that builds confidence in young people who want to explore science, so get ready for the trip of a lifetime and come and get stuck into the science inside all of us.”
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You opens at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester city centre tomorrow (14 February 2025) and will run right up until 4 January 2026 – with tickets priced at £10 each and now on sale.
Free roses are being handed out at a Manchester train station this Valentine’s Day
Danny Jones
In an effort to spread the love this Valentine’s Day, free roses are being hands out to commuters at a Manchester train station this week.
Add that to the ever-growing list of why we absolutely adore this place.
Not everyone is coupled up come the most mush day of the year, nor do they need to be – self-love, Galentine’s and even just a whoelsome pint or two with the boys – but it’s nice to see Greater Mancs going out of their way to make things nicer for each other.
In our eyes, in a relationship or otherwise, this day is just about sharing the love with everyone and if you happen to arriving or leaving Manchester (excuse me, why would you ever?) from Victoria station this Friday, you could be in for a lovely little surprise.
The brains behind the touching little gesture is the city’s legendary live music and entertainment space, AO Arena.
Although many arrive at the venue via the Trinity Way Tunnel on the other side of Arena, the AO is already directly attached to Victoria by a simply set of stairs, meaning you can arrive in the city centre via train or tram and arrive directly at your destination.
It’s also one of the busiest stations in the North West, so for commuters looking to start the day with a little love, whether that be to treat their significant other, brighten a colleague’s day or just make themselves feel good, these roses are set to be handed out on Valentine’s Day morning.
100 of the most romantic flowers will be up for grabs from 8am at Manchester Victoria Station on a first-come, first served basis, naturally, Simple as that – but it gets better…
There is also an exciting chance to win a handful of surprises, including free tickets to a show at the arena, which will be given away with a select few lucky roses.
This year marks an extra special milestone for the AO Arena, as they are celebrating thirty years of spreading joy in the city as Manchester’s longest standing large music venue.
With that in mind and tying together the arena’s history and love for entertainment, each rose will be individually wrapped in a special 30th birthday edition print.
This design features the names of all artists and acts who have performed there over the last three decades; consider it just a small token of AO‘s love and affection for 0161, wrapped in nostalgia.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Manchester – you’ll always be ours x
Georgina Pellant -
10th November 2021 
