There’s a brand new pub right in the heart of the Northern Quarter, as The Lamb of Tartary officially opens its doors.
The stunning space has completely transformed the former Cottonopolis site on Newton Street into a bright and airy restaurant.
The Lamb of Tartary comes from the same team behind the Edinburgh Castle pub in Ancoats, which was recently named one of the best gastropubs in the country. So yeah – safe hands.
Executive chef Shaun Moffat (also an award-winner after being named Chef of the Year at the MFDF Awards), will be in charge of the menu, where he’s created a mouth-watering list of seasonal British dishes.
And they’ll be celebrating their launch today by giving away free pints of Heineken to the first 100 people through the door after 5pm.
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The Grade II-listed building itself looks almost unrecognisable from its previous form.
It’s now filled with ornate panelling and leafy green plants, with a beautiful terracotta-painted ceiling, faux windows with linen curtains breaking up the huge space, and quartz-patterned booths.
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The Lamb of Tartary has taken its name from an old tale, where people believed that lambs grew on trees and came from cotton plants, and is a nod back to Manchester’s history with the cotton trade.
As for the food, there’ll be small plates including Atlantic prawn cocktail with melba toast, burrata with pumpkin and green sauce, Otterburn Farm pork available as bacon collar and loin chops, and Cornish lobster with hollandaise.
The Lamb of Tartary is also going to have a tempting brunch menu, with dishes including bacon chop with fried egg and chips, wild mushrooms and lake’s fried egg on toast, and English muffin topped with potato rosti, fried egg, cheese and tomato jam, available from 12pm until 3pm.
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The brand-new pub, restaurant and bar will have 24 different beers on tap, like local breweries Manchester Union Lager, Buxton Brewery, and Mobberley Brewhouse.
Drinks will include the pub’s take on classic cocktails, like a Gimlet, Old Fashioned, and Sidecar, plus fan favourites like an Espresso Martini with chocolate and orange, and a Paloma with grapefruit and rosemary soda.
A range of hot drinks, soft drinks and a lower-alcohol drinks will be perfect for brunch too, like a Bloody Mary, a Garibaldi, and The Lamb’s Spritz.
Director of The Lamb, Nick Muir commented: “We’re excited to finally be able to welcome the public into The Lamb of Tartary next week.
“The venue has had a complete makeover, transforming it into a light and airy space perfect for enjoying a pint with friends or a meal with loved ones.
“After seeing such success at Edinburgh Castle, we are looking forward to creating something more accessible and casual to those who visit whilst still championing local produce and suppliers we’ve spent the last year or so building up.
“If you are looking for your new local in the Northern Quarter, then The Lamb of Tartary is certainly it!”
The Lamb of Tartary officially opens its doors in Manchester’s Northern Quarter on Friday 1 March – you can book a table here.
Its kitchen and bar will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm, with the bar open from 3pm on Mondays and Tuesdays too.
The Manchester restaurant serving up the ‘world’s hottest curry’ for just a few days
Danny Jones
City centre favourite Zouk is serving up ‘the world’s hottest curry’ again to celebrate National Chilli Day next week.
The popular tea bar and grill located on Chester Street just off Oxford Road is slap bang in the middle of student central and has hordes of patrons lining up day in, day out, to taste their incredible Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
Now, to celebrate every spicy-food lover’s favourite day, Zouk is putting on special, limited-time-only menu to cater to all you heat freaks and speaking collectively on The Manc‘s behalf (several of us having tried it), it’s no joke.
The World’s Hottest Curry will be available for five days from Monday 24 to Friday 28 February, with a challenge on Thursday 27 February with prizes to anyone who can finish the fiery karahi.
The dishes
When it came to coming up with the world’s hottest curry, Zouk didn’t have to look far for inspiration, they simply picked the world’s hottest chilli: the Carolina Reaper Chilli.
Combining the 1,569,000 Scoville scorcher of a chilli with their much-loved and already spicy chicken karahi and vegetable karahi recipes, they knew they were on a winner. You might have to sign a waiver to eat it but that’s all part of the fun, right?
Typically prepared in a wok and cooked over hot flames with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cumin to create the sauce base, the karahi originates from the Northwest region of Pakistan and has a great flavour. Depending on how brave you’re feeling, you can have it as a kebab or a full curry.
Credit: Supplied
That being said, this version does contain dried Carolina Reapers so you might not taste much beyond the heat of the sun after a few seconds. While the chilli is deemed suitable for human consumption, even Zouk’s chefs have admitted to struggling with the dish. Gulp. So, what can you win?
The challenge and prizes
Us Brits love a good curry and we already know that plenty of you won’t be able to resist the urge to take on the Reaper Challenge simply out of pride, so we might as well just tell you what you’ll have to eat in order to win the prizes.
Here’s what’s up for grabs:
Finish the full Carolina Reaper Curry (either chicken or veg) in one sitting (max eating time 30 minutes and no helping from companions), Zouk will give you the meal for free.
PLUS, a £50 Zouk Gift Card so you can come back at a later date to try their full menu (including some less omg-spicy options).
You’ll also get a Zouk Ice Cream Sunday to help cool off afterwards. Trust us, you’ll need it.
Issuing a statement for National Chilli Day and the Reaper Challenge, owner Tayub Amjad said: “Our food is usually more about flavour than heat but it’s National Chilli Day, and we know our customers love this challenge.
“For those who complete the challenge, you still have chance to come back and dine on us at a future date, so you will still get to experience the real Zouk too.”
What you thinking, Manchester? Are you up for taking on the world’s hottest curry?
Prestwich pizzeria Dokes announces closure as neighbourhood goes through big changes
Daisy Jackson
One of Prestwich’s best-loved independent restaurants has announced the end of its current chapter, saying that it’s become too difficult to operate with tighter and tighter margins.
Dokes, a pizzeria that also served arguably the town’s best roast dinner, has said that it’s going to ‘have to call it a day’ after three years in the proudly independent neighbourhood.
The news comes just months after Rudy’s opened its first Prestwich restaurant just across the road from Dokes, though that of course may just be a coincidence…
The restaurant comes from the same team behind Elnecot in Ancoats, and opened in 2022, promising delicious pizzas made with (wherever possible) British ingredients.
In a statement issued today, chef and owner Michael Clay said that ‘it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant’.
He wrote: “We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.”
He then teased that they would be keeping the Bury New Road site on, with plans to reopen as a new concept.
Prestwich has been growing in popularity in recent years, with a blossoming food and drink scene and healthily increasing house prices.
It’s on the precipice of a £100m overhaul too, which will see the Longfield Centre transformed and new facilities built near the tram stop, including a community hub, a new village square, a market hall, flexible retail and leisure spaces, landscaped outdoor and green spaces, a new travel hub off Fairfax Road and around 200 homes.
It’s always been a village packed with local small businesses until this year, when both Rudy’s and Gail’s opened up – prompting this heartfelt statement from another local indie.
Dokes’ full statement reads: “After nearly 3 years of trying our hardest, unfortunately we’re going to have to call it a day.
“Having originally taken on the premises in between the two lockdowns (remember them?!), we’ve been extremely proud of what we have achieved under sometimes unbelievably difficult circumstances. Our staff have been the cornerstone of this and we would like to thank them for all of their hard work. The feedback we have received over the past couple of years on their food, service and hospitality has been absolutely incredible and we are extremely grateful for the hard work they have put in and the commitment they have shown.
“We feel like we have created a product that you have absolutely loved and a space that you have enjoyed coming to and we now really feel like a part of the Prestwich community – and for that we can’t thank you enough! You came for the pizzas and stayed for the roasts and it’s been a lot of fun.
“Try as we might though, it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant. We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.
“So it is with a heavy heart that we are closing the door on this chapter BUT…we aren’t going to be leaving you completely…
“We have plans for the place which we will be updating you about very soon so please watch this space for more details. We hope you’re going to love it.
“As Dokes, Sunday 9th March will be our final service so please come down over the next couple of weeks, grab a pizza or a roast and say hello. It would be lovely to see you all. Bookings are open and the cellar is stocked so lets fill the little place up and go out with a bang!
Daisy Jackson -
1st March 2024 
