Eats

The Manchester ‘Chinese kebab’ stuffed with salt and pepper chicken and chips

These salt and pepper kebabs can be filled with all sorts - including spicy hash browns

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 11th April 2023

There’s a restaurant in Manchester serving a ‘Chinese kebab’ stuffed with salt and pepper chips and chicken, and it sounds like the best thing ever.

The latest offering from local foodie success story Salt & Pepper, these mouthwatering kebabs see the team stuffing freshly baked pitta bread with their signature salt and pepper fillings.

Choices include lightly battered salt and pepper chicken, tofu, calamari, and prawns, with the restaurant’s famous salt and pepper fries also available to be included INSIDE the wrap on request.

Topped off with additional slices of house-pickled cucumber, fresh chilli and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds, it is a must-try for anyone who loves their street food.

Image: Salt and Pepper
Image: Salt and Pepper

According to the team, the bread is baked close by in Manchester and can be filled with any of its salt and pepper flavours – meaning, if you really want to go all out, you could also request one stuffed with their spicy hash browns for the ultimate naughty carb fest.

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Available seven days a week at the Northern Quarter eatery, which describes itself as ‘a merging of the east and west’, the kebabs have already become a huge hit with customers since their launch at the end of 2022.

Read more: We tried Jack Grealish’s massive post-match takeaway meal — and we finished the lot

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Of course, it’s not the only tempting thing on offer – with long-time favourites such as Salt & Pepper’s loaded fries and sticky toppings also continuing to be as popular as ever.

Image: Salt & Pepper
Image: Salt & Pepper

Add to that a whopping ten sauces, including a hot house made curry sauce that has been in the owner’s family ever since their grandad opened his own Chinese takeaway in the 1960s, and it’s easy to see why Salt & Pepper continues to be one of the Northern Quarter’s most popular eateries.

The modern Chinese street food stall-turned restaurant, which specialises in everything salt and pepper, regularly draws huge queues at lunchtime.

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Read more: Warburtons has launched new Crumpet Thins and people are divided

First opened in 2019 inside the Arndale Market, the team opened its first restaurant on High Street in the Northern Quarter last year after being forced to relocate due to a lack of extraction in the shopping centre.

It’s now housed across the road in a large glass-fronted building with casual seating, open from 12-8pm daily.

Featured image – Salt & Pepper

Eats

Huge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signs

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Huge bakery chain Gail's confirms move to Prestwich - but spells village's name wrong in signage

After months of swirling rumours, bakery group Gail’s has finally confirmed it’s moving to Prestwich – but locals have spotted a glaring error at the first hurdle.

The popular artisan bakery will be moving onto Bury New Road, right in the heart of the suburb and directly opposite the new Rudy’s pizzeria.

Prestwich locals have been hearing whispers of a Gail’s arriving for a few months, and finally the London-founded cafe has stuck up signs to confirm it’s on the way.

But the sign contains one crucial mistake – it’s spelled Prestwich wrong.

The red window displays now read ‘Hello Preswich. We’ll be baking here soon’.

One local messaged Gail’s to point out the error and to say it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.

Gail’s has since confirmed it’s in the process of fixing the signs.

The arrival of both Gail’s and Rudy’s has already caused a stir in Prestwich, which has always been fiercely independent and has only a handful of chains within it (Greggs and Costa are perched by the tram stop).

In fact, one local business-owner shared a moving statement about his concerns for the future of local businesses just a few weeks ago.

Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail’s has confirmed it’s opening a bakery in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group

First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.

Today the brand has more than 100 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery.

It’s famed for its freshly-baked loaves, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and coffees, and is likely to go down a storm in Prestwich.

But the signs have been causing a bit of a stir in the wrong way this weekend – in a local Facebook group, one person commented: “Not locals who own it then.”

Another described it as an ‘epic fail’.

And one person said: “Oh the DRAMA of it all.”

Someone else joked: “I cannot wait for Gais to come to Preswich.”

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Hot Blobs – Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it?

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Hot Blobs - Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it?Hot Blobs - Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it?

It’s funny how we all turn a blind eye to the temperature outside when it comes to the Christmas Markets.

At a time of year where should probably all be hibernating inside, droves of us instead head out to brave the elements all in the name of the festivities.

Of course, the Manchester Christmas Markets sell all sorts of wares to take the edge off, and we’re not just talking about the stalls selling woollen mittens everywhere.

Our favourite winter warmers tend to take the form of a tray of piping hot garlic potatoes, or a mug of hot chocolate, or another boozy beverage that’s massively underrated.

The drink in question is a Hot Blob, which is listed on the menu at the Piccadilly Gardens markets as ‘legendary’.

A bold claim, but a lot of long-time Manc residents will understand why.

The Hot Blob is a jaw-clenchingly sweet concoction served piping hot at the Manchester Christmas Market, similar to a hot toddy.

It’s made with Australian fortified white wine, lemon, sugar, and boiling water.

Hot Blobs - Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it?
Hot Blobs - Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it?
Hot Blobs – Retro drink makes return to Manchester Christmas Markets, but what is it? Credit: The Manc Group

The drink was first invented by Yates, that well-known pub chain, which started life as Yates’s Wine Lodge up the road in Oldham.

According to Pubs of Manchester, the Hot Blob has a tendency to ‘speed up drunkenness to a young drinker’.

These days, it’s pretty rare to come across one on a menu, but back in 1990s it was a staple in a few pubs around town.

There even used to be a ‘Blob Shop’ on High Street, run by local legend Ged Ford (now in charge of the equally legendary Millstone pub), which found itself in a state of utter carnage when the IRA bomb went off.

The long-lost institution specialised in ‘cheap wine, cheap beer, and plenty of blobs’.

The old Yates Blob Shop on High Street, Manchester. Credit: deltrems@flickr

Ged sold 6,000 a week.

And while the drink may have fallen out of favour since then, there are still healthy numbers being sold at this time of year, even if they are a damn sight more expensive than they were in the 1990s (£6 a pop, plus a glass deposit).

Anyway. If you’re sick to the back teeth of the endless gluhwein being peddled across the markets, make a beeline for Manchester Winter Ale House at Piccadilly Gardens, where you can find Hot Blobs as well as boozy Vimto and cask ales.

The Manchester Christmas Markets officially end on 22 December.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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