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.
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.
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.
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.”
Drinks prices for Manchester Oasis gigs announced – and you’ll be pleasantly surprised
Daisy Jackson
The prices of drinks at Heaton Park for the five huge Manchester Oasis shows have been released in advance.
With the Gallagher brothers reuniting on stage in their hometown for the first time this weekend (and then again next week), it’s a huge moment for our city.
Those lucky enough to snag tickets have already forked out a small fortune to witness this moment in history (still scarred from the dynamic pricing debacle).
And most of us were probably bracing to spend another small fortune on beers at the Oasis Manchester gigs.
But you might be pleasantly surprised at the drinks prices up at Heaton Park for Oasis Live ’25.
It’s now been confirmed that pints of lager and cider will be just £6.50.
Before you turn your nose up, remember that pints at our two arenas – the AO Arena and Co-op Live are now sitting around the £9 mark.
Prices for other drinks, like wine and spirits, we’ll have to wait until Friday to see.
Heaton Park will also be the home of the ‘largest beer garden’ and the longest bars in the city for the Oasis reunion.
With a major heatwave predicted for the first shows, fans are being encouraged to stay hydrated (on WATER, not beer, please).
Ticket-holders will be allowed to bring a sealed bottle of water up to 500ml in with you, but it must be collapsible plastic.
Solid plastic and metal containers will be rejected on safety grounds.
There’s a free water point on site where you can fill up your bottles again.
Oasis will perform at Heaton Park in Manchester on 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20 July.
£1.8m revamp of Ancoats pub The Shamrock is FINALLY set to begin
Daisy Jackson
At long last, work to revamp The Shamrock pub in Ancoats is about to begin – and they’re calling on locals to rename the historic boozer.
The Shamrock, on Bengal Street, was taken over by Joseph Holt brewery in 2019 but has been firmly sealed shut ever since, with the pandemic halting its revamp.
But now the family-owned brewery is ready to get to work on the pub, with a £1.8m revamp kicking off very soon.
The Shamrock, which dates back to 1808, will be transformed from an Irish pub into a Joseph Holt’s venue.
Back in the turn of the 19th century, it was a popular watering hole for the Irish and Italian communities who moved to the industrial neighbourhood.
Obviously, Ancoats has gone through some pretty major changes in the years since, and is now one of the city’s trendiest and foodiest suburbs, filled with flats, bars, coffee shops and more.
It’s because of this that the Joseph Holt team felt like The Shamrock was due a new name for its new chapter, and are asking the public to help rename the pub, with a shortlist of five names drawn up.
The options on the table for when the pub reopens include The Victoria Arms (as a nod to the flats and accommodation across the road); The Fleet (the name of a former neighbouring pub); and The Linen Arms, reflecting the city’s cotton trade.
The historic Ancoats pub The Shamrock will finally undergo a £1.8m revamp. Credit: Supplied
The other choices for the public to vote on are The Spinners Rest, after the mill workers who lived in historic Ancoats; and Queen Adelaide, after another former pub around the corner on the main Ancoats Road.
Richard Kershaw, CEO of Joseph Holt, said: “As a family business with deep roots in the area, our pubs are very much at the very heart of the communities where they are located.
“With the moving forward of long-awaited refurbishment of The Shamrock – and with it a new name – we wanted our customers to feel part of the journey.
“So we brainstormed names for the pub that would respect the past and the local area while also looking to the future. Now we’re letting the people who matter most to us, our customers, decide which one to use.”
You can place your vote on the new name for The Shamrock pub HERE. One participant who picks the winning name will receive free drinks vouchers.
Daisy Jackson -
23rd May 2024 
