Manchester’s Northern Thai BBQ-inspired restaurant Neon Tiger is closing its doors after less than a year in the city, owners revealed last night.
Sharing the news in a heartfelt statement on social media, the team wrote: “We’re sad to announce that Neon Tiger will be closing our doors for the final time on Sunday April 30th.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has come to see us, raised a glass with us and made this place so special to us.
“We’d like to thank all of the staff for being so wonderful and for all their hard work. We’ll see you for a send-off drink or two this week…. remember when it’s gone, it’s GONE!
“Then, we might just see you again, only in a different form. Keep your eyes peeled, but for now, thank you again. x”
First opened by brothers Ben and Dan Morris on Bridge Street last summer, the short-lived venture briefly wowed diners with an adventurous New York-meets-Northern Thai menu focused on strong cocktails and chargrilled ‘baan yang’ sharing dishes.
Roughly translated to ‘grill house’ in Thai, these rural-style grill dishes saw Neon Tiger pay homage to traditional charcoal cooking methods with a host of grilled skewer dishes and a hero dish of coconut chicken curry noodle bowl – made using hand-pulled noodles created by the Manchester-based Komuji team.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Drinks, meanwhile, reflected the brother’s desire to bring a Dead Rabbit-style neighbourhood bar to the city centre and included a cracking negroni, alongside other strong cocktails, mocktails and a seasonally-changing wine list.
Inspired by the sort of cool New York neighbourhood joints where you can just pop in and enjoy quality plates with good wine and cocktails, Neon Tiger got off to a slow start when it opened on Bridge Street at the start of the summer – then wowed with the introduction of a new Northern Thai-inspired breakfast and brunch menu later in the year.
Now, it seems it has reached the end of the road less than a year after opening its doors in Manchester – and by the comments flooding in on the announcement, it will be very missed.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Manchester favourite Nell’s to open new site for New York-style pizza, karaoke and shuffleboard
Daisy Jackson
Much-loved New York-style pizza joint Nell’s has announced big plans for a brand new location – they’re heading to MediaCity.
Nell’s are stepping things up a notch with the move, adding in private karaoke booths, shuffleboard tables, and a huge outdoor terrace in their new site.
Nell’s MediaCity is set to open this autumn, promising 22-inch New York-style pizza (also served in gigantic slices), frozen margs, and ice cream sandwiches.
There are already several spots around Manchester where you can get a slice of Nell’s, including their restaurants at Kampus and in Altrincham, the OG Northern Quarter site in Common, and at The Beagle in Chorlton.
And now it’s Salford’s turn, with plans unveiled for the team to expand over to MediaCity’s quayside Orange Building.
Nell’s co-founder Jonny Heyes said: “We’ve been thinking about MediaCity for a long time, it’s such a great area and we’ve seen what brilliant operators like Kargo have achieved so when this space came up, we jumped on it!
“The venue is huge which has given us the chance to really play with the experience.
“This idea of karaoke and shuffleboard accompanying our made-for-sharing pizzas and great cocktails feels like a natural next step for us as a brand.”
Nell’s have also partnered with Deliveroo and Slerp to send 14-inch and 22-inch pizzas far and wide.
The new opening is expected to create more than 35 new jobs, and as Common & Co has twice been named in the Times 100 Best Places To Work list, you might want to check those out HERE.
These viral sensations are a plush toy created by Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-raised designer Kasing Lung, who drew inspiration from his love of fairytales to create a character with bunny-like ears, large eyes and big smiles.
They’re swinging off handbags all over the UK at the minute and people are queueing for hours for the latest Labubu drops.
At Sweet Dreams, they’re making edible chocolate Labubus using a special mould flown in from Japan.
Each one has a pistachio kunafa filling and is painstakingly painted by hand.
And that brings us neatly to the next viral craze at play here – Dubai pistachio chocolate.
An army of pistachio chocolate LabubuInside a chocolate pistachio Labubu
Kunafa is a staple in Middle Eastern bakes and pastries but hit the global mainstream last year when thick chocolate pistachio bars stuffed with it went viral online, spawning countless dupes and inspired specials.
And finally, chocolate covered strawberries – hardly a new invention, but this simple dessert has rocketed in popularity especially in food hotspots like Borough Market in London.
Head into Sweet Dreams and you can build your treat from the base up – choose white or milk melted chocolate for your strawberries, layer on pistachio kunafa, then top with either a milk or white chocolate Labubu.
A slightly daft novelty? Yes. But that doesn’t stop them being delicious.
This is the only place in the UK currently selling Dubai pistachio chocolate Labubus.
Georgina Pellant -
27th April 2023 
