A Manchester cafe is giving away massive prizes in a Willy Wonka-style giveaway, with golden tickets hidden in its cakes.
Loaf MCR, which has sites on Oxford Street, Affinity Living, and in Selfridges Trafford Centre, will be hiding the golden tickets beneath its mini loaf cakes.
Anyone lucky enough to find one will win prizes including two tickets to see Jason Manford with a chance to meet him, a meal for four at Bundobust, and a Birthday Party Cake Package worth £200 from Loaf.
The golden tickets are going to be hiding underneath Loaf’s Willy Wonka-inspired special loaf, a super-chocolatey chocolate sponge with a smooth ganache centre and a white chocolate-infused buttercream.
The cake is then topped with colourful sweets inspired by Roald Dahl’s classic tale, like a swirly lollipop, fizzy sweets, popping candy and pink mushroom foams.
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A golden ticket sticker will be hidden in five of the £4.50 loaf cakes between Monday 27 November and Sunday 10 December.
Loaf MCR wants to spread a little festive cheer as Christmas approaches and is offering Mancs five chances to win big.
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As well as the three massive prizes already announced, there are still two top-secret rewards to be revealed.
Inside Loaf’s all-pink cafe on Oxford Street. Credit: The Manc GroupLoaf’s doing a huge golden ticket giveaway to spread Christmas cheer. Credit: Loaf MCR
Aiden Ryan, founder of Loaf MCR, said: “We love to play with nostalgia and Willy Wonka gives just that! We love that we can infuse Christmas with a little bit of magic.
“At Loaf, we believe in giving people great experiences, and what better way than to start the Festive season with a treasure hunt?
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“We’ve partnered with some great Manchester businesses to make this happen!”
There’ll be a limited number of the special-edition Willy Wonka loaf cakes available.
Once all five golden tickets have been found, there’ll be one last chance to win ‘The Golden Key’, which will get you free coffee and cake from Loaf MCR for a year.
But you won’t be able to find the golden key through cake – this prize will be given to someone nominated by the community of Manchester, and will reward someone who deserves something special this Christmas.
Prizes including in the Loaf MCR Willy Wonka giveaway
A Birthday Party Cake Package worth £200 from Loaf MCR, including 50 mini loaf cakes and a birthday cake.
Ultimate Christmas Dinner for four at Bundobust, Indian street food and craft beer specialists, to taste their festive menu. (Yes, your first drink on the house too!)
Two tickets to see Manchester’s favourite comedian Jason Manford live at the AO Arena and a meet and greet.
Two more prizes to be revealed this week…
The Loaf MCR x Willy Wonka giveaway will run from Monday 27 November until Sunday 10 December.
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 -
28th November 2023 
