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The Manc - 3rd January 2020

Eats

‘Manchester’s best lunch deal’ that’s only available for two hours a day

Daisy Jackson

'Manchester's best lunch deal' that's only available for two hours a day

There’s a cafe in the centre of Manchester that’s had queues all the way down the street thanks to its incredible value lunch deal.

Although it’s been in Spring Gardens for two years now, Meridian has remained one of Manchester’s best-kept secrets online, thanks to its decision to stay totally off social media until recently.

That hasn’t stopped the queues though, and they’re all here for the same thing – a loaded £5.80 lunch box.

Tucked away just off Market Street, Meridian is an unassuming cafe operated by founder Dan.

It’s much more than a coffee shop, with a menu of Asian fusion dishes served in the cafe, as well as for grab-and-go lunches.

The lunch boxes start from just £5.80, which gets you a box absolutely packed to the brim with delicious Chinese and South East Asian items.

You start off with a base of either egg rice fried, chips, or noodles; then lash on a sauce like Malaysian curry, Thai sweet chilli, or satay.

The Meridian lunch boxes in Manchester — Meridian in Manchester

As for the toppings, there’s a massive list including popcorn salt n chilli chicken, Japanese gyozas, roasted pork ribs, tofu bites, and crispy spicy beef.

Meridian’s success has skyrocketed recently thanks to a couple of viral TikTok videos (including our recent episode of Takeaway Champions).

And the demand for its lunch boxes is driven even higher by the fact you can only get your hands on them for two hours a day.

Meridian serves takeaway lunches between 12pm and 2pm, Monday to Friday, and they’re some seriously comforting bowls.

You can watch our full episode of Takeaway Champions here:

@the.manc
This is @Meridian Cafe, serving up loaded lunch boxes from just £5.80; pick your base, sauce and topping, and for an extra quid, you can get three toppings (trust us, it’s worth it). 👌 #manchester #lunch #manchesterfood #asianfood #placestoeatinmanchester
♬ original sound – The Manc

Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Plans officially submitted for ‘vibrant’ new food hall in Wythenshawe

Emily Sergeant

Are you feeling hungry? Good, because a new food hall is on the horizon.

That’s right – plans to transform Wythenshawe Civic have taken another exciting leap forward this week, as Manchester City Council and placemaker Muse have submitted a planning application to bring a brand-new food hall to the town.

Set to be housed within the three units next to the former Peacocks store – which has now been demolished – the new food hall will become a ‘vibrant’ destination for independent and local food vendors to attract people with ‘delicious and diverse’ offerings.

Developers also hope the new food hall will keep the suburban Manchester town’s centre ‘bustling’ throughout the day and into the evening.

The announcement that the new food hall is in the works comes as part of the already-announced plans for Wythenshawe Civic – with work to soon begin on everything from the public realm, and outside space, to the vacant office space above the existing Iceland-store, which will also be transformed into modern new workspace to support local start-ups and bring new jobs into the town centre.

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Developers also recently submitted three separate applications to create 422 new affordable homes for social rent across three locations in the town centre.

“Listening to local people over the last year and more, we know that Wythenshawe residents want more from their town centre – more things to do, opportunities to spend time in Civic and night time attractions that give the area a lift and attract visitors,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.

“This is the drive behind the Culture Hub. A place for local people with an interest in the arts to take part in creative activities, see a show or enjoy the cinema space – right in the heart of their community.

“This is another exciting chapter in the transformation of Wythenshawe Town Centre.”

Joel Chandler, who is the Senior Development Manager at Muse, added that developers are ‘moving at pace’ with plans to give the town centre the ‘regeneration it deserves’.

“The food hall will be a hive for a range of local outlets and will provide new spaces for the community to spend time in and give the town’s nighttime economy a major boost.”

Featured Image – Supplied