Independent Polish restaurant Platzki is bringing back its famous vodka and pierogi festival to Manchester this week, and we couldn’t be more excited for some hearty dumpling fare.
Notorious for its top-tier filled pierogi, which are made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savoury or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water, Platzki is already something of a go-to for fine Polish food in Manchester.
But now, traditional European dumpling fans have another reason to get themselves down as the restaurant will be focusing almost entirely on pierogi for two days this week.
Platzki’s famous pierogi. / Image: The Manc Eats
Image: Platzki
Taking place across Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October from 3pm until sell-out (or at 9pm, whichever comes first), diners will have the chance to try Platzki’s perfect homemade pierogi in a range of mouth-watering flavours.
There will be plenty of different fillings to try, including some brand new vegetarian pierogi for non-meat eaters.
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That’s not all, either. There’ll also be a midweek vodka tipple on standby as Platzki shows off its huge range of favourite Polish vodkas.
Think salted caramel vodka, strawberry vodka, golden black cherry vodka, hazelnut vodka and delicious cherry-chocolate vodka, all of which are (as we know too well from experience) dangerously drinkable.
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Each day, the team will be making hundreds of pierogi for local dumpling lovers to sample.
Karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles. / Image: The Manc Eats
Karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles. / Image: The Manc Eats
Elsewhere, they will also be serving up some of their favourite dishes from the menu including a hearty sausage stew with freshly-baked bread, and melt-in-the-mouth karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles.
A fixture in the city since 2018, Platzki has built up a reputation for serving an interesting list of Polish vodka and wine alongside traditional dishes like dumplings, pork neck and meatballs.
It has a gorgeous plant-filled restaurant and a bright terrace that backs onto the Great Northern Warehouse, giving diners views over the Great Northern Square as they dig into some of the best Polish food in the city.
To find out more about this week’s dumpling festival, follow Platzki on Instagram here.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Enormous Manchester venue set to open (again) after brief rebrand
Daisy Jackson
A huge, glamorous restaurant and bar space looks set to reopen just months after it closed down and attempted to rebrand.
SakkuSamba announced back in June that it was closing for a short while to undergo a refurbishment.
That news came after two years hosting all-you-can-eat sushi dinners and star-studded parties in Spinningfields, like an afterparty with Ne-Yo following his show at the AO Arena.
They wrote at the time: “Exciting News! We will be closing our doors on June 2nd for an exciting refurbishment and upgrade. We’re sorry to be closing for a little while, but stay tuned for updates over the next couple of weeks as we begin this transition!
“We can’t wait to show you what’s coming next soon!”
But then SakkuSamba never reopened and the space instead became Raft, essentially Manchester’s most boujie buffet.
Raft had a huge dining room upstairs, a hidden club room, a ‘toilet disco’, 360-degree DJ booths, and a ‘coastal boozer’ on the ground floor.
The restaurant when it was previously SakkuSamba. Credit: The Manc GroupVs when it was Raft. Credit: The Manc Group
Raft was only open for three months when it was suddenly bolted shut, with a forteiture notice in the window that was apparently linked to a ‘historic dispute’.
And now, in an unexpected twist in events, SakkuSamba has shared that it’s coming back to Manchester.
Keeping up okay? Let’s continue.
In the first post since announcing the temporary closure and refurbishment of both of its restaurants (in Manchester and in Bradford), SakkuSamba wrote: “SakkuSamba 2025. Manchester keep your eyes peeled, major announcement coming soon.”
If it follows the same format it took previously, that means a fusion of Brazilian and Japanese cuisine together in a swanky all-you-can-eat setting.
And hopefully it’ll last longer than poor Raft did…
Northern Quarter craft beer bar Fierce Bar announces sudden closure
Thomas Melia
A much loved independent craft beer bar in the heart of the Northern Quarter is set to close before the end of the year.
Fierce Bar, which opened in Manchester city centre in 2020, has been a firm favourite for Mancs and visitors alike with their range of beers and IPAs.
The Fierce Beer company has established itself as a leading force within the beer community winning ‘Scottish Brewery of the Year in 2021’ and numerous Scottish Beer Awards.
Their wide range of drink flavours pay homage to varieties from the USA and offered people who frequented their Thomas Street site in the Northern Quarter were treated to a refreshing taste of the transatlantic.
The Thomas Street bar had previously been home to 57 Thomas Street, a bar operated by Marble Brewery, which also operates The Marble Arch.
In a post on social media which opens with, “Some sad news…”, the company have stated: “We face continually spiralling costs that unfortunately mean it’s going to be unsustainable to continue operating the venue viably going forward”.
There’s still some hope as beer brand have also announced: “This is not the end for Fierce Beer south of the border though; we’re continuing to keep an eye on the market and aim to get back as soon as we can with a new physical location.”
Anyone wanting to continue the bar’s legacy in Manchester can sport the indie establishment’s range of t-shirts, hats and funky glasses, some of which adorned the walls.
Being a Scottish born and bred brewery, if you’re still after your alcohol fix, you can still visit their two other locations in Edinburgh and Aberdeen next time you’re heading up north.
The last day of trade for Fierce Bar will be 20 December where the founders Dave and Louise will be heading to the Manchester site say a sad goodbye.
As it will be the final night of service ever, the team are urging anyone to pop down for a pint or two to commemorate the Manchester home.
It’s a shame to see such a well-used city centre social space shutting its doors, however Fierce Beer loyalists fear not as their online website is still very much alive and thriving here.
Georgina Pellant -
3rd October 2022 
