A sunny new brunch, lunch and coffee spot has opened in the Kampus neighbourhood in Manchester, wedged between a pottery studio and a beautiful lifestyle store.
Kolab Kitchen has opened as part of the Makers Quarter, a hub for creative businesses, workshops and studios.
You’ll be eating your brunch off plates made just next door in the pottery studio, with sun streaming in from those huge Kampus windows.
And now as well as fuelling your creative juices, they’re feeding you too, with a menu of top-quality brunches, lunches and coffees.
You’re going to be feasting on dishes like roasted mushrooms on toast with a homemade green hollandaise; butterbean grilled cheese with three different cheeses involved; and ‘The Copenhagen’, a wholesome plate of jammy eggs, roasted tomatoes, cheese and rye toast.
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There’s also a gigantic truffle hash brown, with soft poached eggs on top. Yes, please.
Kolab Kitchen is also home to a salad bar and a hot plate bar, stuffed with seasonal, local platters you can mix and match from.
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Even the plates you’re eating off are local – they’re made just next door in the pottery studio.
Roast mushrooms and green HollandaiseThe Copenhagen breakfastA spread of breakfast dishes at Kolab KitchenInside Kolab Kitchen
Whether you perch inside the beautiful space, build a salad box to go, or take your lunch up to the sunny terrace, make sure you pay this one a visit.
Kolab Kitchen joins Markets Quarter’s lifestyle store and pottery studio, serving breakfast, lunch and speciality coffee six days a week.
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Stephen Hobson, Co-Founder of Makers Quarter, said: “We’re excited to launch the next phase of Kolab. Our business has always celebrated independent creatives and producers.
“We’ve crafted a sustainable and localised menu — right down to the ceramics your food is served on, made in-house by our talented pottery team.
“Our guests can even add a pottery-making class to their visit, with sessions available all weekend and in the evenings.
“Our drive is to grow our creative community further, what better way than gathering for some great food?”
The open plan restaurant features 30 covers with a further 40 available on their expansive sun terrace overlooking Kampus gardens.
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.
Daisy Jackson -
9th July 2025 
