Eats

The Wigan chippy serving affordable fish suppers from the living room of a terraced house

It's a local institution and a right time capsule.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 29th May 2026

There’s a chippy in Leigh that’s got to be one of the most unique – and delightfully unchanged – takeaways in Greater Manchester.

Robbins J Chippy operates out of the front room of an ordinary-looking Wigan terrace, where it’s been serving affordable fish suppers since 1893.

The chip shop has passed through a few hands over the years, but has been operated by John Robbins for the last four decades.

This friendly local character welcomes in familiar faces every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, some of whom have been regulars since the 1960s.

This is Robbins J Chippy in Leigh / Credit: The Manc Group

And these locals who queue out the door from 11am will swear that Robbins is doing the best chips in the country – crispy, golden yellow, and fried right in front of you.

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The tiny chip shop is a real time capsule, from the wood-panelled walls covered in flyers for local businesses and Liverpool FC memorabilia, to the prices.

A felt peg board displays a menu that also feels semi-trapped in the 80s – battered fish for £4, jumbo sausage for £1.20, a chip barm for £1.50.

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There’s also the ‘Super Barm’, a giant butty of mushy peas, half a battered fish, half a jumbo sausage, and chips, drowned in salt and vinegar and served in a muffin, for just £2.50.

Robbins J Chippy
It’s a local institution and a right time capsule / Credit: The Manc Group

John makes all his own steak puddings – or ‘Babby’s yed’ (this is Wigan, after all) – steamed to perfection.

Not only does John live in the same building as Robbins J Chippy (you can see his living room from behind the counter), but his mum is just next door, even sharing the same phone line.

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This is a proper Leigh institution that’s serving traditional fish and chips just like it used to be – just don’t come in a Manchester United top.

Featured Image – The Manc Group

Eats

Coffee Rules: The Greek-born cafe that’s gone on to become a beloved Greater Manchester brand

Danny Jones Danny Jones Coffee Rules Manchester locations

It’s rare that you find a place in an already saturated food and drink scene like Greater Manchester’s that genuinely comes across like a local community cornerstone, but that’s exactly what we got when we visited Coffee Rules in Salford.

We went for a brew, one of those viral iced coffee we’ve seen on socials, and maybe a nice bite to eat – but we left with much more and the impression that these lot are onto something big.

Opened in Arta back in their home country (also up in the northwest, by the way), they’ve never struggled to get queues out the door, and it’s no different here. This one is run by two siblings, 23-year-old Thomas and his big brother Marios, 30, who have been smashing it since 2023.

Since launching their growing UK brand in the likes of The Meadows neighbourhood – one of two they have in the city of Salford alone, the other being Swinton – they’ve brought the lines with them. With authentic Greek food and drink like this, it’s not hard to see why.

coffee rules salford
marios thomas coffee rules
Credit: The Manc Group

They’ve now expanded to more than eight sites total, including one still keeping their own local reputation alive over in Athens, and this looks to be just the beginning.

Having not only spread across the ten boroughs but further out into the region with their Liverpool locations as well as a Yorkshire stronghold up in Sheffield, there’s more to come from Coffee Rules, both in terms of premises and their plans to take on the rest of the brunch game and beyond.

Suburban Mancs may have already seen the regular midday and weekend crowds that pack out their Chorlton venue, the Rusholme one is often filled with fresh-faced uni students in need of their caffeine fix, and it’s an increasingly similar story for those based in Bolton.

Or maybe you’re one of the many people based in Manchester city centre, who nip to their quiet, tucked-away corner of Ancoats for a fresh bake or even to have your eye caught by some of their merch with that modern mythological-inspired logo.

Whichever one happens to be closest to you, you’ll have the same satisfying experience, from sipping on speciality coffee and the scran, to the service and all-around atmosphere.

They’re also about to start hosting board game nights over at their Salford site, where they’ll be making the most of their large terrace with plenty of seating, which also has the added bonus of a retracted pergola – perfect for sunny days or simply sheltering from the Manc rain.

One thing we also noticed was just how many locals not only popped in throughout our time there, but the sheer number that had chosen to start their day at this particular spot.

There’s a regular Greek crowd, of course, but there’s also the native Salfordian and those currently residing in and around the up-and-coming area, who were pulling up in the large car park and taking a pew, or even those just looking for quick and top-quality grab-and-go stuff.

In fact, it’s one of the quickest venues we’ve seen fill up that fast in a hot, Med minute.

iced coffees saflord
greek places salford
juice places manchester
Credit: The Manc Eats

Speaking of, whether it be one of their superb Spanish lattes, or the equally sweet, sultry and viral ‘Freddo Cappuccino’, or their traditional spanakopita, not to mention their many Mediterranean pastry variations, there’s a big call for pretty much everything on the menu.

We could go on at length in listing what impressed us about just this one Coffee Rules branch, and we’ve made many trips to their Chorlton one in the past already, but it’s probably best that we just urge you to give it a try sometime soon. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed.

This is one of the fastest-growing franchises in the UK, and it’s no wonder they keep pulling in plaudits and invites to bigger and better industry within the industry as time goes on events over the past few years.

Oh, and one more thing, there’s plenty of savoury stuff that you’ll likely fall in love with, but we highly reccommend ordering the red velvet. Wow…

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

Eats

Legendary city centre boozer named one of the best beer gardens in the UK

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Sinclair's Oyster Bar in Manchester has been named as one of the best beer gardens in the UK

No phones, cheap pints, and bags of sunshine – that’s the USP of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, and now it’s earned itself the title of being one of the UK’s best beer gardens.

This legendary local pub has placed in an impressive eighth place on a new list of the nation’s top outdoor watering holes, beating beachside boozers and countryside pubs.

Sinclair’s Oyster Bar is the only Greater Manchester pub to make the new list published by Big 7 Travel.

They celebrated it for its ‘old-school pub characteristics’, which is a pretty fair summary of this local legend.

As well as a strict no-phones policy, encouraging its inhabitants to keep devices in their pockets and have a chin wag over a Taddy Lager instead, the pub is also serving pints at some of town’s most old-school prices.

This is one of the few places in town where you can still get a pint for less than a fiver, with its humble selection of beers and stouts priced from £3.50.

It’s also cash-only, and housed in a fascinating building that dates back to the 18th century – though it didn’t always stand in its current location on Exchange Square.

The pub has actually been rebuilt twice – once in the 1970s, being raised up by five feet to match new street levels during the construction of the Arndale Centre; then again in 1996 after the IRA bomb.

The 3000-pound bomb that changed the face of Manchester left the little pub with only minimal damage, but left it (and its neighbour, the Old Wellington) in need of a new home.

Sinclair's has been named as having one of the best beer gardens in the UK
Sinclair’s in Manchester has been named as having one of the best beer gardens in the UK

So these centuries-old buildings were popped up on stilts and moved 300m down the road, meticulously reassembled over 11 months like a giant LEGO set to form the new square beside Manchester Cathedral.

You can read more about Sinclair’s Oyster Bar’s fascinating history HERE.

As for the present day, the pub’s suntrap outside terrace is forever heaving on match days, when football fans from across the globe pack around its picnic tables.

Big 7 Travel wrote: “Known for its old-school pub characteristics, including being cash-only and a no-phones policy, this historic pub – whose origins date back to the early 18th-century – is well known for serving cheap and easy-drinking Sam Smith’s beer, making it the perfect spot to socialise with friends in the city.

“The beer garden is also a complete suntrap, so when the sun’s shining in Manchester, there are few better places to spend an afternoon than Sinclair’s.”

It has placed in the top 10 of the guide’s list of 30 beer gardens in the UK, which has also named a couple of spots in the Lake District and Peak District.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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