One of the north’s most beloved independent burger chains has opened a new city centre site and expanded its delivery offering across Manchester today.
Fat Hippo – a group of independent burger joints founded in the North East, before opening up in Sheffield, Nottingham, and Leeds – specialises in the best burgers, loaded fries and more “good old fashioned, roll up your sleeves and get it all over your face” food.
The company’s brand new Manchester site has arrived at Lane 7 in Great Northern for takeaway from today.
But as all hospitality businesses are currently closed, with the exception of takeaway services, during England’s third national lockdown, the group is working closely with Deliveroo and has launched exclusively on the platform in Manchester, allowing customers the chance to enjoy Fat Hippo’s signature burgers in the comfort of their own home.
So what can Manchester’s foodies expect then?
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Well, alongside an extensive menu of their signature beef and boneless buttermilk chicken patties – that come with free fries as standard – Fat Hippo Manchester will also have a carefully-designed range of vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options available.
The family-friendly burger joint is also famed for its quality ingredients and quirky flavours.
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Burgers like the PB & J – a beef burger topped with peanut butter and bacon jam – is undoubtedly one of the fan favourites, and will be on the Manchester menu to try out, alongside all the classics and a great-value kids menu too.
This will be the group’s second venture with Lane 7, with their successful Fat Hippo S1 site already based in the leisure brand’s complex in Sheffield.
And as well as the several other sites in North East, Nottingham, Leeds and now Manchester, Fat Hippo also has exciting plans to continue growing, with further locations being established across the country.
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Fat Hippo Fleet also travels all over the UK, bringing its renowned burgers to thousands of national events.
Speaking on the launch of Fat Hippo Manchester, Michael Phillips – who founded Fat Hippo in the North East in 2010 – said: “The last year has been difficult for everyone, especially the hospitality sector, but we just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with Lane 7 again and bring Fat Hippo to the North West.
“Great Northern is the perfect location for us to be based and we can’t wait for the people of Manchester to enjoy the good kind of gluttony”.
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Michael Johnson – Operations Manager at Fat Hippo – added: “It’s been an incredible ride over the last ten years feeding the ever-growing herd of burger lovers, and now we can’t wait to bring the best burgers to Manchester”.
Although only open for takeaway services for the time being, Fat Hippo Manchester will open for dine in once restrictions have eased.
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You can find the full Fat Hippo menu and place your orders on Deliveroo here.
Make sure you also follow Fat Hippo’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for access to exclusive competitions, sneak peeks and to stay in the loop with this next chapter of its burger journey.
Eats
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is returning to Manchester next month
Daisy Jackson
One of the world’s silliest and most-loved experiences is returning to Manchester this year, offering people the chance to step inside the world of Fawlty Towers.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience sees immersive theatre blend with a three-course dinner, bringing Britain’s most infamous hotel to life.
Fans of the hit 1970s comedy will enjoy two hours of mayhem led by Basil, Sybil and Manuel, all while tucking into a delicious era-appropriate meal.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience has become an immersive dining phenomenon, scooping awards and selling out venues across the globe since launching almost 30 years ago.
In the years since, it’s welcomed more than one million guests, celebrated 13 years of its West End residency in London, and hosted celebrations for 50 years of the original BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.
And now it’s Manchester’s turn, with the event returning to our city between 3 and 15 February.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is returning to ManchesterThe event is hosted by actors playing Basil, Sybil and ManuelAround 70% of the action is improvisedGuests are served a three-course 70s-inspired meal during the Faulty Towers experienceCredit: Rosie Powell
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience will be taking over the Voco hotel on Portland Street for a limited run, starring Aaron Millard as ‘Basil’, Rebecca Norris as ‘Sybil’, and Simon Hourihan as ‘Manuel’.
You can definitely expect two hours of theatre, chaos, and a 70s-inspired three-course meal, but with around 70% of the performances completely improvised, we can’t tell you much more than that…
Producer Jared Harford said: “It’s such a joy to be bringing Basil and the team back to Manchester. After such an incredible 2025 celebrating 50 years of Fawlty Towers, we can’t wait to continue sharing the laughter, chaos and community spirit that make this show so special.”
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience in Manchester:
Tuesday 3 February to Sunday 15 February
Tuesday to Saturday – doors open 6.45pm, seating and show starts 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday – doors open 12.45pm, seating and show starts 1.30pm
Ticket prices, all including three-course meal and two hour immersive experience:
Tuesday to Thursday dinner, and Saturday or Sunday lunch – £67.50 pp (including fees) Friday or Saturday dinner £71.50 pp (including fees). Bookings can be made via the box office on (+44) 020 3700 3138 or online at www.faultytowersdining.com
We’ve found some of the best Chinese food in town – being served out of a snooker hall
Danny Jones
Yes, you heard us right: we’ve stumbled across one of our favourite new places for Chinese food just on the outskirts of Manchester city centre – it just so happens to be served out of a best-in-class snooker hall.
And that really is just the tip of the iceberg here.
Some of you may have heard about and/or seen it already, but we’ll admit we were a little late to the party when it comes to Club 200, a.k.a. the pool, snooker, darts, mahjong club and more, which has so many different things rolled into that it’s really more a Russian doll than a Chinese restaurant or sports venue.
The hook speaks for itself: a place where people spend just as much time practising with chopsticks as they do their cues, as it really isn’t a gimmick, as some pessimistic folk would have you think – the food is banging and so are the vibes in general.
Not only is this quite literally the best snooker club in Manchester – complete with everything from classic American billiards and Chinese 8-ball to king-size snooker tables that the Ronnie O’Sullivan has played and won on, to a special AI system you won’t find anywhere else – it is SO much more than that.
Whilst the backroom was packed with everyone from casuals to those looking to get their pro certification via the official Q Tour, and lads in the front were practising their arrows, as co-owner Simon admitted they get almost just as many darts regulars these days, a storm was cooking up in the kitchen.
It would be unfair to say this place doubles as a bar and restaurant, because we really couldn’t get over how well put together this menu was.
‘Café 200’s food offerings involve classics like fried rice and chow mein dishes, to the kind of sides you could expect from your local Chinese chippy, but it’s even more authentic exports that really impress.
For instance, the beef ho fun seemed to be a big hit with everyone; we loved the salty seafood udon as well (a great chew on those noodles), and we know plenty of people still searching for proper Hong Kong-style French toast – they might just find it here.
Speaking of the special administrative region, which has a twisting and turning but nevertheless rich culinary culture all of its own, that last dish had us hopping with joy.
You’re looking at baked Portuguese rice: a Macau speciality rooted in the region’s colonial history.
We’ve never quite had anything like it before, even in all of our years eating this kind of cuisine around the 10 boroughs, but we haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
And then there’s everything else they do, from karaoke and bingo nights to catering for birthdays and other functions, or even just serving as a cool, somewhat tucked-away spot to watch the footy and other live sport come the weekend.
You can tell this place has built up a real community over the last 18 months or so, and while the food speaks for itself, it’s the sheer abundance and variety going on that makes it especially charming to so many.
Speaking of jack-of-all-trade venues, we stumbled across a similar multi-talented one over in Salford not so long ago, too…
Emily Sergeant -
16th February 2021 
