Eats

Rack is opening a sandwich stall in the Manchester Arndale Market

Rack is coming to town.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 3rd August 2023

Having just opened a new cafe in Sale this summer hit Stockport sandwich shop Rack has revealed it will opena third location Manchester city centre.

Opening this month, the new location will find the team slinging out their signature sandwiches and grilled cheeses from a stall inside the Arndale Market.

Taking over the now-vacant Panc Foods unit, formerly also home to contemporary Chinese takeaway Salt and Pepper, the new sandwich spot is set to open on 7 August.

Serving up a dedicated grilled sandwich menu, plus staple breakfast butties and regular specials, fans of things in bread will be as well catered to as ever.

Sharing the news with followers online, Rack wrote: “EXCITING NEW STORE ‼️

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‘We’re taking over from Panc Foods in the South side of Manchester Arndale’s Street Food Market, once the home of the legendary Salt and Pepper- we are here to satisfy your lunching needs, right in the town centre!

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

‘We’re kicking things off by opening 9:30 – 17:30 from Monday 7th August. Bob on down and say hi! It’s perfect for picking up food on your commute through the centre or a spot of lunch on your day out in Manchester.

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Read more: Aldi has just launched new garlic bread-flavoured crisps in the UK

“Don’t be late to the party! Be there or be [square].”

The sandwich spot has recently also opened a new cafe in Sale, moving into a characterful and quirky ex-Barbers following a full refurbishment.

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With a hidden entrance down a side alley and then up a flight of exterior stairs, on the Sale menu fans can find all their sandwich favourites as well as a new brunch menu.

Read more: Manchester’s New Zealand brunch spot Tahi shuts down after less than a year

Featured image – Rack

Eats

Inside Butter Bird – Ancoats’ hottest new neighbourhood rotisserie with a menu dedicated to butter

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

A new restaurant has opened its doors in Ancoats serving up two of life’s greatest pleasures.

Those two things being chicken and butter. And coincidentally, they go very well together.

Introducing Butter Bird, a new neighbourhood rotisserie restaurant that has taken over the old Counter House site on Blossom Street.

If you’ve been living under a rock or you have a healthy relationship with social media, then you won’t know that rotisserie chicken is very much ‘in’ for 2026.

Images: The Manc Eats

So of course, just like anything, Ancoats is first to hop on that trendy bandwagon.

When simple things are done properly then they’re very satisfying indeed, and that’s exactly what Butter Bird have achieved.

Built around classic spit cooking and time honoured technique, with an impressive Rotisol Millenium rotisserie oven at the heart of the space, the chickens are seasoned and brined in house, then slowly rotated over open heat so the meat self bastes as it cooks.

Images: The Manc Eats

The result? Moreish, crisp, golden skin, succulent meat and deep flavour.

If that doesn’t sound enticing enough, they’ve also got a section of their menu dedicated entirely to their house butters.

Flavoured, complex butters designed to compliment your bird in however you desire.

My personal favourite was the moroccan-spiced Chermoula, but the tarragon with wildflower and mustard was also stellar.

Images: The Manc Eats

Drinks wise they’ve got a great selection of Crémant, chosen to cut through the chicken fat, as well as fun cocktails and decent wines.

Obviously you’ll need some sides to go with your bird which you can order as a quarter or half, and they’ve got everything from rotisserie potatoes which you can douse in chicken gravy to a Caesar salad stuffed with enough croutons it’s probably not classed as a salad anymore.

Butter Bird opens to the public on Thursday 29 January, with a launch offer offering 50% off rotisserie chicken when booked in advance for the first two weeks.

Book your table here.

Read more: Quiet Corners: Cult and Coffee – the barbershop bar doing butties, beats and bags more

Featured images – The Manc Group

Eats

Quiet Corners: Cult and Coffee – the barbershop bar doing butties, beats and bags more

Danny Jones Danny Jones Cult and Coffee Manchester review

Every now and again, we stumble upon one of those places that just gives you a great vibe from the moment you step in the door, and Cult & Coffee is one of those places.

Truth be told, we had been in here two or three times before: a couple of times before heading to Old Trafford, when it was packed with both home and away fans, and on a third occasion in the hopes they’d let a young nephew use the loo. They did, by the way (thank you again, guys x).

On all of these visits, we got a good feeling about it – especially from the staff – and in every single instance we said to ourselves, “we really need to go back there soon.”

Well, we finally did just that, and this time it wasn’t just a fleeting visit; we made sure to properly introduce ourselves and see just how much different stuff they had going on.

Safe to say it didn’t disappoint.

Partners Jordan and Harriette James are the husband and wife couple behind this jack-of-all-trades treasure trove that deserves a lot more hype than the largely local and cult following they have most weeks. See what we did there?…

In all seriousness, multi-purpose gaff like this can often feel like a bit of a discordant mix of things cobbled together and concepts shoehorned in on a whim – but not this place.

Somehow, it only takes a few minutes to get used to the open-plan space that rolls from casual cafe and remote workspace to barbers, listening bar, and a handy spot to grab a quick bite to eat.

Maybe it’s something about the largely open-plan nature of the hallway-centric room that simply has to flow from one portion into another, or the fact that there’s just an effortlessly laid-back and cool vibe to the entire venue.

Located over in Clippers Quay on the edge of Salford Quays, with their shopfront tucked just behind some residential railing and quite literally on a stairway leading down to the towpath next to the River Irwell, it simultaneously feels like a tad too hidden and yet also like, dare we say it?… A ‘hidden gem’.

That’s certainly the case when you look at their recently expanded menu, which has since gone from predominantly revolving around brews, bakes and the bar offerings, to a fuller spread than ever, including colourful macro-friendly health bowls and delicious, freshly-prepared focaccia sandwiches.

(Credit: The Manc Eats)

For those who fancy grabbing a coffee whilst getting a haircut, there was already plenty of reason to pop in here, but what Jordan, Harriette and their team have managed to do is turn it into somewhere you can spend the better portion of a day just sat, well, chilling.

In fact, on follow-up visits, we fully intend to order a cuppa and a butty to go, walk down the steps leading down from the door towards the public canalside benches, while we enjoy our dinner (lunch) whilst looking over the water. Preferably on a sunny day, please.

Even if it is a grim day, you already have a slick soundtrack sorted, thanks to their dedicated ‘Cult Sounds’ page, which is even accompanied by regular livestreams.

Barbering, butties, beats and a bar suddenly doesn’t seem so random, does it? Honestly, try Cult & Coffee over in Ordsall for yourselves sometime soon, and you’ll see what we mean.

As for other quiet corners across Greater Manchester that are still criminally unsung, you recommend trying the award-winning Oldham pub that might just be one of the cosiest spots in the whole region.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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