A superfan of the iconic Manchester band The Smiths has decided to pay homage to them in one of the most genius ways there is.
By giving a nod to them in the name of his new business venture.
Madchester music fanatic Max Paley has opened up a curry house celebrating his favourite band – named This Charming Naan – with dishes also named after some of their most famous songs, including Girlfriend In A Korma and How Saag Is Now?
The 25-year-old Smiths superfan – who is originally from Oxford – sells 20 dishes with lyric-inspired names from a kitchen he rents inside the Retro Bar music venue on Sackville Street in the heart of Manchester city centre, and the food is even endorsed by band members too, with former The Smiths drummer Mike Joyce naming a dish on the menu – Last Night I Dreamt That Some Bhaji Loved Me.
In what will surely be music to the ears of the meat-free among us – Morrissey included – the new restaurant is completely plant based.
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The restaurant opened for takeaway in December of last year, and Max has plans for customers to eventually be able to sit-in and eat among Smiths’ memorabilia with their tunes playing in the background when the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions are finally lifted.
Max – who previously ran a music venue – had just six months’ experience working in a kitchen before starting the business venture.
He opened March and hoped to run it as a restaurant and a festival van, but both plans were halted due to lockdown, and so as a plan B, he opened as a pop-up stall at the street food hub Hatch in Manchester city centre through the summer, going on to earn rave reviews from customers and deciding to open up again before Christmas.
The two-man operation – Max and his pal Joe, who do all the cooking and take all the orders – has seen orders flood in from music fans in the city.
Max added: “I have been going to music festivals since I was 12 and I’d always had a dream of taking a food truck to festivals. I was thinking of ideas with a friend a few years ago and I had the idea of This Charming Naan and wanted to get a food truck together of that name.
“We opened as a restaurant last March and two days later, lockdown hit so we had to stop.
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“I fully intend to go around the festivals in This Charming Van as soon as we can and as soon as festivals can start up again.
“We opened again as a takeaway on December 1 and business has been good, but the reaction has really blown me away.”
He continued: I grow the menu organically whenever I want to update it,”
“I’ve taught myself to cook using the internet and videos.
“I’m a vegan, but I don’t push the vegan aspect of the restaurant to the forefront, it just is what it is. I’d rather people judge the food for what it is.
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“We started off with just a few dishes like Girlfriend In A Korma and Madras is Murder.
“As I expanded the menu, I tried to keep it to just Smiths songs, but it’s too hard thinking of them all to fit, but most of them are named after songs from Manchester bands.
“I had to go with a Jimi Hendrix song for a dish called Vindaloo Child.
“Supergrass is included on the menu as a little ode to Oxford, they are one of my favourite bands and they are from my hometown.
“My favourite dish to cook is Heaven Knows I’m Masala Now or Vindaloo Child, because I’m a spice man [and]I like making spicy dishes.”
This Charming Naan is currently delivering across Manchester via Deliveroo and Just Eat, and you can read the full menu via the restaurant’s website here.
You can also keep up to date with the restaurant as it grows on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Eats
The Pack Horse – the Michelin-recommended Peak District pub serving the best pre-hike breakfast in the North
Daisy Jackson
There’s a pub in the Peak District that’s comfortably established itself as one of the very best in the UK, and this banging local isn’t just about pints and Sunday roasts.
The Pack Horse in the village of Hayfield is also a purveyor of an excellent breakfast, perfect to fuel you up before a big hike in the surrounding hills.
Want a little taste of this pub’s accolades? In the space of just one week, The Pack Horse placed in the Top 50 Gastropubs and then got added to the Michelin Guide – a stunning double header.
The restaurant in Hayfield was praised by Michelin inspectors for being ‘a true village local’.
Just this week, it was also added to the Good Food Guide’s list of the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
Headed up by chef and co-owner Luke Payne, The Pack Horse in the village of Hayfield is an outstanding establishment.
Here is a pub where you can have a world-class meal that shows off the best of British produce, while sipping an ale, with muddy boots on your feet.
Inside The Pack Horse Hayfield. Credit: The Manc GroupOutside the Pack Horse in Hayfield
It doesn’t really matter who you ask, The Pack Horse is readily and consistently named one of the best pubs in the entire UK and anyone stepping through its door would struggle to argue with that.
Because although the price point sits a little higher than your average boozer, it still has all the trappings of a proper country pub.
Yes, there are crisps behind the bar. Yes, there’s a pub quiz. Yes, there’s a resident pub dog (Lola the Labrador will sit and stare you out if there is anything edible in your immediate vicinity).
But what we haven’t seen anywhere near enough people harp on about is the breakfast at The Pack Horse.
The ingredients on their breakfast menu are all sourced so locally you could probably hike to any of them with a bit of grit and determination.
From Port of Lancaster smoked kippers to bacon cut thick and laced with maple, everything is of the highest quality.
You can’t go wrong with The Pack Horse signature breakfast, which has eggs, bacon, Manchester sausage, crispy hash browns, Doreen’s black pudding, wild mushrooms, confit tomato, trotter beans, AND sourdough.
A bacon and egg muffin at The Pack Horse HayfieldCoffee, juice and a breakfast menu at The Pack Horse. Credit: The Manc Group
You can have the full portion for £20 or just take one of each item for £10 and then immediately regret not having more.
The bulk of the menu beyond that centres around the pub’s homemade English muffins, toasted and buttered and filled with whatever breakfast item takes your fancy (scrambled egg and bacon for me, always).
It’s a breakfast worthy of the fanciest hotels and most popular of brunch spots.
Once you’re suitably fuelled and ready for a walk there are two hikes nearby that aren’t too strenuous and crucially don’t take too long (those daylight savings hours really mess with a big hike, eh).
The Sett Valley Trail starts just across the road and is a consistent and mostly flat out-and-back.
Kinder Reservoir in the Peak District. Credit: The Manc GroupKinder Reservoir in the Peak District. Credit: The Manc Group
You can follow it all the way to the Torrs Millennium Walkway in New Mills if you fancy, or just turn back when you’ve had enough.
Or you can head the other way through Hayfield out towards Kinder Reservoir – the loop will take you over streams and stepping stones and little wooden bridges, past the huge body of water, through woodland and fields, and place you within sight of Kinder Downfall waterfall.
This is the poster child of the Peak District and one of the National Park’s best, most comprehensive walks.
You’ll also be close to Kinder Scout, but this is a more challenging hike and at this time of year we’d really recommend setting off nice and early to get maximum daylight hours.
And that would mean no time for a Pack Horse breakfast, which just won’t do.
Peek inside the space-themed festive tipi bar that’s appeared in Manchester city centre
Daisy Jackson
A gigantic new festive tipi has appeared in Manchester city centre, and this one’s out of this world.
Nova Star is an intergalactic, space-age tipi, filled with twinkling stars and shimmering galaxies.
The space-themed pop-up bar has appeared in Sadler’s Yard, right outside New Century.
Inside, you’ll be able to get your mitts on festive food specials from beloved Christmas Markets favourites Parmogeddon.
Their menu includes raclette-covered roast potatoes, with additional toppings like hot honey, brie, stuffing crumbs and gravy.
There’ll also be pigs in blanket hot dogs topped with cranberry and chilli ketchup and stuffing crumb, with an indulgent pot of gravy for dunking, plus profitteroles with a homemade brandy cream filling.
Nova Star’s bar will have a menu of shimmering cocktails and ice-cold beers too, with a full menu of Cosmos, including a Nebula Cosmo (which tastes a lot like a pina colada but is blue), a Cosmic Amore (close to a classic Cosmopolitan), and the Milkyway (a sweet and creamy concoction with hazelnut and vanilla).
Loaded raclette roasties at Nova Star, Manchester. Credit: The Manc GroupA pigs in blanket hot dog. Credit: The Manc GroupProfiteroles from Parmogeddon. Credit: The Manc Group
Nova Star will be serving up their very own signature ‘Nova Staro’ pints, created in collaboration with Czech Pilsner specialists Staropramen in their first ever rebrand.
It’s a far cry from your typical Bavarian Christmas experience, swapping out holly and ivy for stars and shimmers.
Visitors will also be able to enjoy a line-up of festive entertainment.
Abby Moore, managing director at New Century, said: “Nova Star is all about celebrating Christmas at its most magical – and for us that means with all the dazzle of the space age.
“It’s a chance to escape the traditional and enjoy a spectacular atmosphere, stellar cocktails and incredible food.
“We can’t wait to welcome the people of Manchester to our space-age Christmas destination.”
Nova Star opens at Sadler’s Yard on Friday 22 November.
Emily Sergeant -
18th January 2021 
