“If you’re not hungover at least one day of the weekend, you’re a boring person,” jokes Eunji Noh with a joyfully infectious giggle as she takes our order.
It’s early still, but at 5 o’clock on a wet Friday afternoon spent stomping around Chorlton I’m more than ready for a drink and speedily order a pint.
Ok, honestly it’s not my first, but it seems that Eunji and I are on the same page. My date, however, has already had enough. She asks me if it’s ok if she orders a Coke.
When I say yes, of course, Eunji laughs, then explains – saying I’m a good friend, and that all of hers would have flat-out refused to allow her to have a soft drink on a night out.
Considering this place is called The Thirsty Korean, I guess we should have both known what we were getting into.
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Straddling the line between bar and restaurant, drinking is, evidenltly, highly encouraged here – but the dishes are also substantial and well-worth coming in for on their own (if you can swerve the peer pressure, that is.)
Eyeing the menu eagerly, and almost instantly deciding that I want all of the kimchi, we opt for a pot on the side as well as one of Eunji’s spicy, thin fermented cabbage pancakes.
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Served with a dipping sauce littered with tiny sesame seeds, it’s hot, spicy, crispy, a little sweet, sour, and a little salty at once. Chunky slices of cabbage keep coming to the fore. It’s stunning.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Perfect washed down with a pint of beer, after some enthusiastic slicing and dipping we move onto the main attraction: beef noodles and fried chicken.
The chapaguri noodles are relatively simple to make, famously comprised of two different packets of instant noodles – slightly sweet jjapaghetti and spicy neoguri – then topped with steak and, in Chorlton, a sprinkle of spring onion.
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Internaionally renowned thanks to their appearance in the four-time-Oscar-winning South Korean film Parasite, which took home Best Picturem Best International Film and Best Director in 2020, I couldn’t resist opting for a portion despite wondering if they had been a bit overhyped at the time. How wrong I was.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Stir fried in a black bean sauce with hefty chunks of sirloin on top, it’s simple but effective with a mild spice.
As for the KFC? It’s a perfectly crisp and casual end to a rainy afternoon, served with a sweet and sticky chilli dipping sauce on the side.
Quite a few people, prior to my visit said that if you want to eat like a true Korean then this is the place to go.
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Its walls are decorated with Korean film posters, post cards and photographs of friends, whilst the furniture has something of a hodge-podge, thrown-together feel about it that merely adds to the bar’s charm.
The real highlight, food (and soju) aside, though, has to be Eunji herself – a bonafide bubble of positivity, with a friendly, jokey way about her that just makes you feel instantly at home.
If there was any doubt about her happy radiance, it was my trip to the ladies that really sealed the deal.
It’s not something you’d usually put in a food review, going to the bathroom, but this has to be mentioned.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
The walls, inside, are plastered with inspirational quotes dating back to 2019 and stretching all the way through the pandemic – a difficult time for many eateries, The Thirsy Korean included.
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En masse, they are overwhelming, especially after a few drinks, a long day and a belly full of fried chicken, kimchi and noodles.
One, dated to June 2019, reads: “You don’t inspire others by being perfect. You inspire others by how you deal with your imperfections.”
Another says: “Stop trying to make everyone happy. You’re not tequila.”
All signed ‘Your friend EJ”, it’s hard not to feel a bit emotional as we make our departure. Yes, part of that might be the drink, but even on our way out I find myself making plans to come back – just to bask in Eunji’s warmth.
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It’s easy to see why Chorltonites rave about this place so much, and after a visit I’m definitely joining their ranks.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Acclaimed restaurant staffed by prison inmates announces sad closure
Daisy Jackson
The Clink, an acclaimed restaurant where the food is prepared and served by prison inmates, has announced its devastating closure.
The charity behind the restaurant, which is attached to HMP Styal, has confirmed that it will close for good on 31 July 2025.
The Clink is famed for the training and experience it provides inmates, helping them to get a head start into the hospitality industry when their sentence ends.
It’s also achieved plenty of acclaim as a restaurant in its own right, consistently being rated as the best restaurant in Wilmslow and voted Cheshire Restaurant of the Year in 2024.
Over the years, hundreds of students have earned qualifications including City & Guilds NVQs in Food and Beverage Service, Professional Cookery and Food Hygiene.
The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing
But The Clink has now announced that it will be closing this summer due to ‘a number of factors’, including costs and participant numbers.
Donna-Marie Edmonds, Chief Executive of The Clink Charity, said: “The decision not to renew our contract at HMP Styal has been made with an incredibly heavy heart.
“The Clink Charity’s mission is to reduce re-offending and we have been doing this at Styal, producing outstanding results for over a decade.
“Although the restaurant will officially close this summer, our partnership at Styal will be remembered not only for its landmark training outcomes, but as a beacon of hope, where women have sought refuge and rehabilitation.”
As one of those students put it: “If it wasn’t for my journey at The Clink, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Deansgate’s new mini brunch triangle attracting big queues – and rightly so
Danny Jones
Manchester is absolutely bursting at the seams with brilliant brunch spots, and don’t even get just started on trying to pick from all 10 boroughs as a whole, it’s impossible.
However, over the past year or so, we suddenly realised that somewhat of a city centre trio of brunch spots serving unreal breakfasts, midday delights and early afternoon scran has emerged.
While some have been there longer than others, all three of these places within aren’t just within spitting distance of each other but are enjoying a real wave of success at the moment – and it’s no surprise why: they’re all utterly incredible.
Three brilliant city centre brunch spots for you to try
1. Bruncho
First up on the list is the aptly named Bruncho, which opened just last summer, and despite announcing itself to the Manchester hospitality scene rather quietly at the time, it’s starting to pick up some serious pace now.
Specialising in unreal breakfasts and Mediterranean exports like menemen, Turkish eggs, their own spins of spicy favourite shakshuka, as well as plenty of dessert-forward plates with colour palettes as full as the plates themselves.
It goes without saying that you can obviously get a proper good ‘Bruncho Full English‘, but we’d encourage you to branch out and, who knows, maybe have a brekkie that features ice cream? In fact, it’s sentences like that which make it our Thomas’ favourite way to start the day – albeit ideally a lie-in.
Now, another very strong candidate which has been around on the Manc brunch scene much longer than the other two on this list is local success story, Alex’s Bakery, though we’ll admit we’d mainly visited this place for the unreal brownies, cupcakes and other assorted sweet treats until recently.
However, in addition to the popularity of their lunch deal (a panini, cupcake and drink), they’ve really stepped up their wider brunch offerings of late, going from what was once just a Manchester Artisan Market back in 2014 to branching out into everything good you can put on toast and tonnes more.
It may not garner the often ridiculously long queues of other places, but that’s because this place has a steady flow of regulars all week long who’ve steadily fallen in love with it over many years. They’re tres leches cakes alone are well worth the visit.
3. Acai And The Tribe
Last but not least, the acai craze is undoubtedly one of the biggest foodie trends around right now, as proven by the lines that gather outside this Great Northern venue at least once virtually every weekend – but Acai And The Tribe has actually been on the hype for ages.
That being said, after moving from Arndale Market to Deansgate Mews back in 2022 and now along the main strip in recent months, their popularity has skyrocketed. If you’re looking for a health brunch open packed with vibrance, vitamins and plenty of other very nice toppings, this is the one for you.
We’ll warn you, finding the right window to visit is essentially if you don’t want to wait around for ages these days, but both Clem and Daphne still greatly approve, so it’s it gets the seal of approval from us.
So, while we could recommend you a whole load of fantastic places in around Manchester city centre, we’ve been particularly charmed by this mini Manc brunch triangle around Deansgate.
Best of all, it’s just always great to see local businesses thriving, isn’t it? Especially when it comes to people lining the streets and sending it viral just for a chance to taste their offerings.
Modern breakfast and brunch are things that can be either perfect in their simplicity or surprising in their creativity; either way, we’re glad there are plenty of examples of that here in Manchester.
Georgina Pellant -
28th July 2023 
