Some guy on TikTok is being absolutely roasted after making what he claims is ‘the official sandwich of Manchester’ and we can quickly confirm two things: one, no it’s not and two, we’ve absolutely never heard of it whatsoever.
The online food content creator known as ‘Big Nibbles‘ started a series where he began making the official sandwiches of UK towns and cities earlier this year and now several episodes in, he has been rumbling locals all across the country — none more so than us Mancs.
Posting the video of the so-called official Manchester sandwich across his social platforms, he was quickly met with droves of people promptly responding, “can safely say never had this”, “I’m a Manc and we deffo don’t eat this” and so on.
In fact, the whole thing has gone so awry that multiple videos have been hit with copyright strikes and he had to replace his original voiceover with generic ‘food-tok’ music.
Assembling what we can only surmise is either pulled pork or some form of brisket, a kind of quick-pickle red onion and slices of gouda cheese on a big sub-style roll, this absolute heretic is peddling nothing more than a pretentious pretender to the throne.
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The reaction was summed up pretty succinctly by one commenter who quipped, “oh yes the famous Manchester pulled pork Gouda and onion hoagie”.
Better still, there were countless people that simply replied, “Surely the official sandwich of Manchester is a chip barm?”, “bacon butty” or even just “a crisp sandwich”. Preach — less of this faffing about.
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Obviously made fairly tongue-in-cheek, with his original voiceover labelling 0161 as “London 2.0” with an “alarming amount of gun crime”. Wash your mouth out, you cheeky get.
With plenty firing back by saying, “‘London 2.0’ nah don’t insult Manchester like that” and asking “What has Manchester done to you?”, we were glad to see plenty of you lot sticking up for the best place in the world.
It might have been exactly what he said we’d do but the point still stands…
All that being said, if you were in charge of creating the official sandwich of Manchester, what would you put in it? Then again, you could always just go and get a chip butty or slap some Walkers between two slices of bread and have absolutely no complaints.
Inside Voyeur, a mysterious new post-punk 80s-inspired cocktail bar
Daisy Jackson
A brand new cocktail bar is set to open in Manchester this week, with dark and mysterious interiors, 80s inspiration, and a raunchy theme.
Voyeur is opening in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and here it’s all about modern drinks in a post-punk 80s setting.
The walls are decorated with beautiful voyeurism photography from the 80s, including artists like David Hockney, Nick Taggart, and Malerie Marder.
Even the menus celebrate the artistic side of voyeurism, with drinks presented within a book of photography.
Those drinks include creative twists on drinks dating back more than a century, from the Kaleidescope of Lies (a two-in one cocktail inspired by a pina colada, with a strawberry daiquiri foam top) to The Voyeur (made with coriander-infused tequila for a savoury punch).
There’ll be monthly themed specials, kicking off with The Breakfast Club, where seasonal drinks take inspiration from Lucky Charms cereal, chai latte and an acai bowl.
Cocktails inspired by The Breakfast Club at VoyeurCocktails at Voyeur in the Northern QuarterInside Voyeur, a new Manchester cocktail barInside Voyeur, a new Manchester cocktail barVoyeur on Oldham StreetThe cocktail menu is presented as a photography book
The dark space is lit by marble table lamps and a glittering green disco ball (and not much else), perfect for an evening spent sipping cocktails into the early hours.
Between Thursdays and Sundays, Voyeur will have DJs spinning vinyls.
Voyeur is opening this week on Oldham Street and will be open from 5pm to 2am between Tuesday and Sunday.
A brand-new dessert, ice-cream and doughnut shop in a former Manc food spot
Thomas Melia
Sweet lovers and dessert connoisseurs alike, a brand-new dessert, ice-cream and doughnut shop is opening in Manchester city centre this month.
Titled ‘Baby Mayhem’, this sweet-filled shop has been teasing its arrival for the past month with videos showcasing everything from new instalments to their graffiti-style logo.
This brand-new opening will be located on Radium Street, not too far away from Chinese superstar Wing Yip and fellow sweet treat specialists, Flat Baker, right in the heart of Ancoats.
The interior has been given a very nice and bright facelift too, going from an all white four-walled site to a bold and distinctive baby pink-covered site.
Manchester seems to have quite the sweet tooth at the moment, as it was only last month that our Northern Quarter was christened by cake gods, Get Baked.
As for this new dessert shop, they’re starting from scratch, with a temporary wooden window frame with their branding spray-painted onto it fitted ahead of their soft launch later this week.
Baby Mayhem is taking up residence in the much-loved Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria shop, and it really is out with the old, in with the new, as the familiar neon ‘No Lasagne’ sign has been traded for a sweeter read of ‘Fresh Donuts’.
It may be Yank spelling, but this still feels Manc through and through.
Case and point: all their signage, stamps and stencils have been done by local laser cutting service and neighbours, Drawn By The Light – also on Radium Street.
Enough salt, let’s have a serious amount of sugar. (Credit: Baby Mayhem via Instagram)
Baby Mayhem are taking sweet treats to the complete extreme, serving up everyone’s beloved combo of coffees and cakes, while also creating our soon-to-be-favourite indulgence: doughnut sandwiches. 10/10, no notes – genius.
There really are no complaints here; what’s not to love?
Baby Mayhem is taking up residence in the former Lazy Tony’s site, 23 Radium Street in Ancoats, and will be serving up their sweet treats for all to try from this Saturday, 26 April.
Danny Jones -
19th August 2023 
