A restaurant in Manchester is serving up a bottomless curry buffet throughout Ramadan and it sounds absolutely epic.
From today, 23 March, Zouk Tea Bar & Grill on Oxford Road is bringing back its brilliant all-you-can-eat Indian buffet – serving up unlimited quantities of customer favourites including the likes of chicken sindhi biryani, dall makhani and tarka dall curries alongside assorted naan breads, roti, and basmati rice.
Served throughout the month of Ramadan, there are an impressive amount of dishes on offer – and all for the price of £25pp for adults or £12.50 per child (under 12), with under 5’s eating free.
image: Zouk
image: Zouk
Add to the list a huge quantity of chicken tikka and seekh kebabs, a whole stuffed lamb raan, chicken 65, vegetable samosas, and more curries of lamb and potatoes, spinach and chicken, and it’s easy to see why Zouk’s bottomless buffet continues to be such a hit year-on-year.
It doesn’t stop there, either. There is a mouthwatering selection of desserts included in the buffet too, with choices like mango and raspberry Mumbai mess, chocolate brownies and fresh fruit alongside traditional favourite gulab jamon.
Each day the menu will vary slightly but it will always include a wide selection of salads, starters, curries, chutneys, accompaniments, desserts, and roasted lamb.
This year Zouk has created two sittings for the halal buffet, following requests from customers to keep it running for longer each evening. There will be one sitting at Iftar (sunset) each day and a second sitting an hour later.
Booking is advised and when customers go onto Zouk’s website they can book at Iftar or later in the evening for the additional buffet sitting on their chosen date.
Image: Zouk
Customers are advised to note that the timings do change slightly throughout the month of Ramadan, due to the variation in BST and the arrival of lighter evenings.
Owner Tayub Amjad said: “Everyone is welcome to join us at this special time and we have created a secondsitting of the buffet an hour after Iftar.
Tayub added: “By offering two sittings, we can accommodate families who wish to pray together at home before coming out to eat and also customers who may not be fasting or participating in Ramadan personally but who wish to experience the fabulous buffet with friends and family and learn more about Ramadan.
“All diners joining us will be helping us to support the homeless in Manchester, as we will make a donation from every cover charge to local homeless Charities.”
These viral sensations are a plush toy created by Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-raised designer Kasing Lung, who drew inspiration from his love of fairytales to create a character with bunny-like ears, large eyes and big smiles.
They’re swinging off handbags all over the UK at the minute and people are queueing for hours for the latest Labubu drops.
At Sweet Dreams, they’re making edible chocolate Labubus using a special mould flown in from Japan.
Each one has a pistachio kunafa filling and is painstakingly painted by hand.
And that brings us neatly to the next viral craze at play here – Dubai pistachio chocolate.
An army of pistachio chocolate LabubuInside a chocolate pistachio Labubu
Kunafa is a staple in Middle Eastern bakes and pastries but hit the global mainstream last year when thick chocolate pistachio bars stuffed with it went viral online, spawning countless dupes and inspired specials.
And finally, chocolate covered strawberries – hardly a new invention, but this simple dessert has rocketed in popularity especially in food hotspots like Borough Market in London.
Head into Sweet Dreams and you can build your treat from the base up – choose white or milk melted chocolate for your strawberries, layer on pistachio kunafa, then top with either a milk or white chocolate Labubu.
A slightly daft novelty? Yes. But that doesn’t stop them being delicious.
This is the only place in the UK currently selling Dubai pistachio chocolate Labubus.
Beloved Stockport burger joint The Last Stop is closing its doors this month
Danny Jones
Much-loved burger joint and bar The Last Stop has announced it will be closing the doors of its original Stockport restaurant later this month.
The popular burger, gyros and Heaton Chapel hangout spot only just opened back in April 2024, but following the growing pressures throughout the hospitality sector, the team have made the decision to shut down their flagship brick-and-mortar site.
Confirming the news on Tuesday, The Last Stop informed their followers that this weekend will mark the venue’s very last round of service, “firing up the grills for the final time” and hosting one more big blowout on Saturday, 26 July.
They shared a lengthy statement explaining the reasoning behind their decision on Instagram, and fans of their food, drink and atmosphere are understandably gutted.
The post reads: “Despite a fantastic first year for The Last Stop, we’ve decided that the time is right to make a change in the Chapel.
“Over the last year, we’ve been fortunate enough to grow The Last Stop from scratch rapidly: collaborating with The Salmon of Knowledge bars (with a 3rd opening lined up for August), entering into the Egyptian Rooms [Oldham] Produce Hall [Stockport] food halls and having the pleasure of serving you thousands of burgers and gyros in the Heatons!”
“Nonetheless, whilst these ventures prove successful, well-documented cost increases and changes in consumer spending habits, since April in particular, have meant simply that our Heaton Chapel site in its current format is no longer economically viable.”
Bosses Dominic Ingleby and Niall Peters have gone on to assure that existing staff have secured positions at alternative branches, all suppliers have been fully paid up, and that their other locations are thankfully set to remain.
In fact, although one venue will be bidding a bittersweet goodbye, as hinted above, they will be moving into the old Dockyard bar over at MediaCityUK, Salford Quays, which is set to become another Salmon of Knowledge location.
The Last Stop Stockport might be closing but their NQ residence is staying put.As is their neighbouring Produce Hall pop-up stall.Credit: The Manc/The Last Stop (via IG)
We’re relieved to hear that The Last Stop name will be sticking around and it’s going for good, but Stopfordian residents are nevertheless gutted that the Heaton Chapel favourite, which became a regular quiz night, ‘sip and paint’ and late-night stop among locals, will soon be no more.
They sign off by adding: “We’d love to see you all this week for one last smashed cheese in the four walls where it all started, & to toast a pint or 7 on the Saturday!
“Thank you all for being a part of the journey and a pleasure to get to know. We’ll see you soon; maybe sooner than you think… Dom, Dom [Swarbrick] and Niall.”
We’ll leave you guys to try and figure out what that last bit means, but for now, thanks for the memories and the bloody good buns.
Georgina Pellant -
23rd March 2023 
