A massive new food hall is opening its doors in Manchester this weekend, with three floors packed with food from across Asia.
Hello Oriental has an Asian-inspired bakery and cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant, a Chinese supermarket, and a huge food hall serving East Asian street food.
The multi-storey ‘super-venue’ has been built beneath Symphony Park at the new Circle Square development just off Oxford Road.
It’s been inspired by dining destinations like Bang Bang Oriental in London, and 1800 in Miami.
The new supermarket at Hello Oriental. Credit: The Manc Group
The heart of Hello Oriental will be its food hall, Downtown Oriental, a vast market hall with a fast-paced open kitchen.
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Here, diners will be able to feast on everything from Chinese roasts to dim sum, baos to noodles, and fried rice to seafood.
Downtown Oriental, Hello Oriental’s new food hall. Credit: The Manc Group
Downtown Oriental will also serve bubble teas, and taiyaki ice cream, a type of soft-serve presented inside an adorable fish-shaped cone.
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Elsewhere, Hello Bakery will sell modern fusion bakes alongside coffees and high-grade teas.
Food at Hello Oriental. Credit: The Manc Group
On a purpose-built mezzanine level, Vietnamese restaurant Rice Paper Pho will serve traditional dishes like pho, summer rolls and salads, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free options.
A UK-first Hello Oriental supermarket will open soon, selling products, produce and ingredients from East Asia.
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Azim Kourah, director of Hello Oriental, added: “It’s been a long time in the making but we are thrilled to be opening our doors to Manchester.
Credit: The Manc Group
“From Saturday onwards, our brand-new concept will be spicing up Manchester’s food scene, bringing three floors of incredible flavour, excitement and atmosphere to the city.”
Bradley Topps, commercial director at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Hello Oriental is going to be a real destination and cornerstone for Circle Square – there’s nothing else like this in the Northwest.
“Spread across three floors, there’s a space for every occasion, whether you’re looking for evening food, drinks and music, tea and cake, or to stock up on supplies from the specialist supermarket.
“The variety is unrivalled, the complex is incredibly cool, and it’s going to be bursting with atmosphere at all times of day.”
Hello Oriental joins TRIB3, a specialist high-intensity fitness studio, with a host of additional food, drink and entertainment also due to launch at Circle Square later this year.
Hello Oriental’s flagship food hall will open on Saturday 12 February and will be open daily from 10am to 11pm.
Viral chicken shop Wingstop is opening inside the Manchester Arndale
Daisy Jackson
Wingstop, the chicken shop famed for its vast range of wing flavours and sauces, is opening another spot in Manchester city centre.
The brand will be taking over the old Yo Sushi site in the Manchester Arndale, which shut down just last month.
It’ll mean there’ll be two Wingstop locations within a few minutes’ walk of each other, with another takeaway already well-established on Piccadilly Gardens.
Wingstop UKI has found viral fame with people taste-testing its wide range of hand-sauced chicken wing flavours, ranging from garlic parmesan all the way up to the eye-watering ‘Atomic’.
As well as chicken wings, it serves delicious tenders and burgers, all cooked to order.
There are also a range of sides, including loaded fries, sweet potato fries, and cajun fried corn, plus dips like ranch, honey mustard, and blue cheese.
Wingstop is also famed for its thick milkshakes – which are a necessity if you order your chicken down the spicier end of the scale.
Established in Texas in 1994, Wingstop rose rapidly to become one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the US.
The brand launched in the UK market in 2018, and into Ireland last year, and now operates more than 85 locations.
Wingstop is opening in Manchester Arndale
Wingstop will be moving into the 5,928 sq ft unit upstairs in Manchester Arndale, just opposite Next.
Scott Linard, Portfolio Manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Wingstop to our vibrant F&B offer; an addition we’re sure will resonate with our younger visitors.
“With the additions of popular restaurant chains like Wingstop, coupled with the arrival of new retailers such as Arc’teryx, Alo Yoga, Pro:Direct and Sephora, we are strategically creating a destination where people across the North West and beyond want to spend their time.”
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “Wingstop will join Manchester Arndale’s varied F&B mix, including Popeyes, Sides, Hotel Chocolat, Joe & The Juice and Café Nero.
“In-demand operators like this help create energy and momentum that allows the brands across the scheme to thrive, driving increased footfall, longer dwell times and a more compelling offer for visitors.”
The best cheese tasting party in the North is BACK at a new Manchester venue
Danny Jones
That’s right, one of the biggest and best cheese tasting nights in the entire land is returning to Greater Manchester at a brand new city centre venue.
Not to be over-the-top, but this isn’t just another experience sampling possibly the greatest foodstuff on Earth, it’s a fully-fledged cheese-lovers’ party.
Some of you may have come across Homage2Fromage before, but for anyone unaware of the Yorkshire-born event, it started out as a monthly cheese tasting club and went on to expand across the dairy-adoring North at large.
Relaunching here in Manchester for 2026, all you lactose-intolerant people better watch, because Home2Fromage is coming back with a vengeance and heading to the Northern Quarter. Here’s how it went down the last time we visited one in Leeds:
Leeds, Sheffield, Harrogate, Manchester and who knows where else next.
Posting up in a relatively recent addition to NQ‘s bar and restaurant scene, The Faraday – a pub on Lever St that replaces the old Seven Sins back in October – it looks set to be an ideal venue for the regular evening series.
Homage2Fromage will be making its Manc return this month, and better still, they’re holding a cheeky little giveaway to sweeten the pot.
As in the deal, we mean – not the inevitable bowls full of olives, chutney, oil and various other dips…
To welcome this celebration of all things cheese coming back to Manchester city centre, they’re giving away a bunch of free tickets: 20 pairs in total.
Worth over £50 a piece for each twin set of tickets, you’d be a fool not to at least throw your hat in the ring for this one.
As you can see, the competition closes this Thursday, 19 February, ahead of the full relaunch party next week (Wed, 25 Feb), and all you have to do to enter is fill out this super quick survey.
It really is as simple as that; a few quick words are all that stand between you and a potential mountain of cheese and more.
You can find all you need to know about the event right HERE, and in case you haven’t popped into The Faraday just yet, see more down below.
It’s still somewhat early days, but we can see ourselves spending a fair bit of time in this up-and-coming Manchester watering hole, especially when there’s cheese nights involved.
Daisy Jackson -
11th February 2022 
