A huge Irish Festival Village has returned to Manchester city centre today to kick off the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Over the coming 10 days, there’ll be live Irish music, street food, retail stalls and – of course – plenty of Guinness flowing.
The main event is now open at St Ann’s Square, where a gigantic marquee festooned in green, white and orange has been installed.
Inside here, the bar is being run by the O’Shea’s team, and the stage will host loads of live music and great craic.
Outside you’ll find Birchwood Pizza, who have got a menu of pizzas inspired by the Emerald Isle.
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Pizzas include the What’s the Craic (a fry-up pizza with white pudding and Dubliner sausage) to The Black Stuff (black pudding, rosemary potato and streaky pudding).
The Irish Festival Village has opened as part of the wider Manchester Irish Festival celebrations across Greater Manchester.
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The Irish Festival Village is back in ManchesterIrish pizzas at the Festival Village on St Ann’s SquareYou can shop Irish treats outside
There’ll also be a Saint Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday 16 March, which will weave its way from the Irish World Heritage Centre all the way onto Deansgate.
The parade will showcase and champion local groups and organisations such as GAA clubs, Irish dance classes, marching bands, and pipe bands, along with a strong representation of the 32 counties in Ireland.
And it handily winds up around King Street, just beside the Irish Festival Village.
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The gathering spot will be open from Friday 7 March all the way through to St Patrick’s Day itself – find out more HERE.
Inside Tyga, as a Manchester favourite changes its stripes for a new era
Danny Jones
We recently had the pleasure of visiting Tyga, Manchester city centre’s latest Indian restaurant, which has taken the place of former local favourite, Asha’s.
The Peter Street spot had always been a great place for a curry and progressive takes on the nation’s staples, often pulling inspiration from the Rajasthan region, but now the unit is the start of a new chapter.
In truth, the food was always pretty damn good here – often truly great, even – as we found out the last time we reviewed it; however, it’s clear that there’s been a greater honing of the concept.
Put simply, Tyga is trying to elevate what the team already did so well, whilst adding an extra layer of fine-dining refinement.
@the.manc Peter Streets Indian spot Tyga, has had a serious glow-up, bringing a more refined, fine-dining take on Indian cuisine while keeping all the bold flavours at the heart of it. The 24-hour slow-simmered lamb shank is an absolute must, as is the butter chicken which just melts in your mouth. 😍 It’s not just about the food here though, with an extensive cocktail list that brings theatre to the table, they’re the perfect accompaniment to your table full of scran. It’s the perfect spot for date night, celebrations, or when you just want to seriously impress someone over dinner. 🍸 Get it booked. 📍 47 Peter Street, M2 3NG #themanc#tygamanchester#manchesterfoodie#manchestercurry#wheretoeatinmanchester♬ original sound – The Manc
You hear sentences like a ‘contemporary twist on cuisine’ and ‘modern approaches to classics’ recycled quite a lot, and we get it: it can be a great way to get across that you’re trying to push culinary tradition(s) forward, but it often feels a bit of a throwaway term that’s used far too much.
That being said, while there’s definitely a feeling of familiarity to this recently refreshed foodie lineup, this is one of the times and places where it actually seems like that phrase means something.
While the building and stunning venue itself might have stayed largely the same, bar some knick-knacks being swapped for a few different tiger-based decorations, the authentic clay-pot lamb, ‘Tyga’ prawns, salmon tikka, and Vepudu spiced stir fry show some real innovation.
A lot of these might be rooted in a kind of food we know very well here in Britain, but these latest iterations in recipes and experimentation with their components result in some very cool creations.
The ember wings were smoky and moorish in a way that we’ve not had in a restaurant like this before, and the lamb chops alone were worth ordering by the wheelbarrow full.
Small plates have also been thrown into the mix more seamlessly this time around, too, as have some of the Indo-Chinese options that feel less like a footnote now and, instead, like a continuation of the tweaking and trying out new things seen throughout the rest of the offerings.
Even the vegetarian/vegan section of the menu has been lifted in certain aspects, too, with previously popular dishes being brought back better and more beautifully presented than ever.
Before we forget, a special shout-out goes to those beetroot dill patties.
Speaking of presentation, although they might have simplified some stuff (such as the okra fries that simply need to be dumped on the table and be devoured in seconds by gannets like us), as mentioned, plenty of other bits have been levelled up.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, that they’ve just been voted alongside some fellow standout spots by the Asian Catering Federation.
They’ve never shied away from a bit of pageantry, and nothing has changed in that respect.
Everything from the plating to even giving you a rotating water jug that revolves on a single point and never spills has a bit of flair, without being too much or straying into gimmicky territory.
Most importantly of all, whether you want a classy room for your next date night, somewhere intimate the next time you go out for tea with your partner, or still fancy a more banquet-style feast for you and your mates in the form of the updated ‘Maharaja’s Grand Platter’, Tyga can turn its paw to any occasion.
Brewch is getting bigger: Cereal milk stars open new café in Chorlton
Danny Jones
Anyone who lives in or around Gatley will undoubtedly have heard of Brewch Coffee, but now this cult favourite café has just opened up a new location in central Manchester.
Making their way over from the suburban edges of Stockport, Brewch’s second site has just launched in the centre of Chorlton.
So, what’s different about this one? Well, a few things…
For starters, the menu has expanded ever further, and they’re already becoming one of the busiest spots on Manchester Road.
@the.manc You can now get iced coffee AND matcha topped with Frosties-flavoured cereal milk and my god it’s good. It’s all thanks to the wizards @Brewch 🧙 Choose between coffee or matcha as your base, a huge pour of that delectable milk, all topped off with a handful of crispy Frosties straight from the box. This sweet treat is only available at their Chorlton site – go, go, go. 📍 97 Manchester Road, Chorlton, M21 9GA #themanc#cerealmilkcoffee#chorlton#viralcoffee#chorltoncafe♬ original sound – The Manc
The well-known stretch of the leafy Manc neighbourhood isn’t short of brunch spots and coffee shops, of course, but we will say that this latest one also arrives with a great reputation built over a few years.
Most notably, this most recent addition is more of a grab-and-go style concept compared to the original digs and some others in the area.
For example, as well as some proper good brews, they’ve also got a strong selection of hot sandwiches freshly toasted with everything from classic toasties to the steakhouse melt and siracha tuna.
Then we turn our attention to a pretty insane bakery counter, where you’ll find the GOATed hot honey toast, white chocolate rainbow sprinkle cookies and their increasingly popular trademark and well worth the hype cookie/croissant hybrids.
Call them what you want, all we know is they’re bloody delicious.
As for the hot drinks themselves, it’s not just the usual selection you’ll see on most menus these days; they’ve got creative – including with one of their signature ingredients.
One of their specialities is their Spanish lattes, but just this week, they’ve now introduced new cereal milk lattes and iced matchas. Served over ice, using milk steeped with Frosties and decorated with a final sprinkling of cereal, these aren’t like anything else on the market in Greater Manchester right now, really.
They soak the sugary goodness overnight, and if you’ve ever heard of Christina Tosi’s famous Milk Bar flavoured drinks and desserts like the legendary ‘crack pie’ (just Google it), then you’ll know how tasty these can be.
Already laying plans to hopefully open a third venue here in Manchester city centre sooner rather than later, we’re fully locked into Brewch’s expansion. They’ll have some stuff competition, of course, but we reckon they’re well-equipped to go toe-to-toe with even the biggest names.
Daisy Jackson -
7th March 2025 
