Manchester’s culinary scene speaks for itself, with some of the best restaurants and street vendors you’ll find anywhere in the country – yeah, we said it – so it only seems right that the British Street Food Awards would also wash up on our shores.
The annual celebration of the very best street food the UK has to offer, which also forms part of the wider European Street Food Awards (ESFA), is broken up into regions and this year’s Northern final is taking place right here in Manchester city centre.
Set to take place at Freight Island, where there’ll also be live entertainment as well as plenty of food and drink on top of the competition and ceremony itself, this year’s awards are set to attract a massive and very hungry Manc crowd.
Taking place over a full weekend, we can’t think of many better ways to spend our time.
Credit: Supplied
So how does it work? Well, the British Street Food Awards (BSFA) brings together top street food traders to compete for the British Street Food Awards ‘Northern Champion’.
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The Northern finalists are set to showcase their one killer signature dish for a judging panel. This year’s judges are still yet to be revealed but previous panels have welcomed the likes of Michelin-star chefs and acclaimed food writers such as Ed Cooke, Richard Corrigan, Gizzi Erskine, Giorgio Locatelli, and more.
Following this stage, successful regional finalists then take their dishes to the UK final in London on 13-15 September as they compete for the ultimate domestic award: the prestigious British Street Food Awards Champion.
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From there, the sky’s the limit and they can go on to compete in ESFA, whose grand final takes place in Germany later this year.
Past winners include popular names such as Wingmans, MEATliquor, BAO and more. The event promises a weekend filled with mouth-watering dishes, vibrant atmospheres, and the chance to discover the next big name in street food. Safe to say we know a thing or two about that around here.
In addition to the obvious wealth of food offerings at your disposal over the weekend, there’ll also be a performance by Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip on the Sunday, as well as live sets by Body Heat DJs.
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The competition itself not only showcases the finest in street cuisine but also offers food enthusiasts the unique opportunity to vote for their favourite vendor in The People’s Choice award. Both The People’s Choice and the Northern Champion will be announced on the final day of the awards.
The British Street Food Awards regional final for the North West takes place at Freight Island on Saturday, 17 and Sunday, 18 August from 12 pm until 6pm. You can book your tickets to the Northern edition of the 2024 British Street Food Awards HERE.
Until then, we highly recommend you feast your eyes on what is just a taster of one of the very best street food hubs in our wonderful city – though we’ll pre-warn you, the mouth will water…
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.
Danny Jones -
22nd July 2024 
