Northern Quarter favourite Tokyo Ramen has finally opened its doors again after more than a year of closure.
The restaurant shut at the beginning of the pandemic and hasn’t reopened since – until now, that is.
Tokyo Ramen kept Manchester ticking over with homemade ramen kits during the successive lockdowns, but now the venue is back bigger and better than before.
And there’s nothing quite like having the real thing in the restaurant.
Fans will be pleased to hear that as well as the return of some old favourites, the team have also spent the period of closure coming up with some brand new menu additions to tempt you back through their doors (as if their return wasn’t enough of a pull on its own).
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We’ve got our eyes on a fried chicken ramen bowl that looks absolutely peng, which features Tokyo’s signature chicken bone broth, tan tan tare, Koji fried chicken, kale, a seasoned egg, lime and fermented chilli oil – but there are some other very nice looking options to be found here, too.
New menu additions like the veggie gyozas sit alongside a choice of four different ramen bowls; which include tempting choices like the Sio Ramen (chicken bone broth, sio tare, torched pork belly, seasoned egg, dashi oil and nori) and Shoyu Ramen (chicken bone broth, shoyu tare, torched pork belly, mustard greens, seasoned egg, spring onion oil and nori).
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For veggies, there’s also a bowl of Kinoko Ramen consisting of mushroom dashi, miso-mustard tare, roast tomato, tonkatsu pickled shitake, crispy enoki and a seasoned egg with mayu oil.
Tokyo Ramen has reopened after more than 17 months of closureVegetable gyzoa is one of the new menu additions at Tokyo Ramen, which has reopened its doors for the first time in over a year
The team behind the restaurant have also given the interior a little bit of a refresh ready to welcome customers back in full force – and given the rainy weather this weekend, we’re sure there’ll be a queue back outside just like the old days before we know it.
Heed our warning and get down as soon as possible. With the recent temporary closure of neighbouring ramen rival CBRB, Tokyo’s definitely the place to be getting your slurp on in the Northern Quarter right now.
Feature image – The Manc Eats.
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‘Hidden’ Manchester cocktail bar shuts down after only six months
Daisy Jackson
A cocktail bar in Manchester city centre that opened only last December has reportedly closed down, with its final service today.
Ego Death, a ‘hidden’ speakeasy-style bar in the Northern Quarter, told CLASS magazine that they were told by backers that they would have to close.
It opened under the steer of acclaimed bartender Cressida Lawlor, co-founded by Beau Myers, who also founded the original Almost Famous.
The bar is beneath newcomer smash burger joint Super Awesome Deluxe and accessed through an unmarked door within the takeaway.
Shortly after Super Awesome Deluxe opened, Almost Famous went through a high-profile closure of all of its restaurants this year, later bought out and reopened by D2.
And now just six months after launch, Ego Death looks set to be closing for good.
Cressida told CLASS: “The team here is wildly talented so the goal now is to get them into jobs so they can pay their bills and keep a roof over their heads.
“No one wants Ego Death to die and I think we’ve made enough of a stir in the six months that we’ve been open to find a new site and investment.
“Our last day is going to be Sunday, so anyone who can get here for one final party should come down.”
She later added on Instagram: “Truly gutting but there is always light in any form of darkness. Come see us this Sunday for the final service as we go through a true ego death.”
Ego Death came from the same team behind Socio Rehab (which if you remember it from 2004 was a bit of a local institution) and had a cocktail menu inspired by the speakeasy bars of New York City.
Behind the bar the stars were bourbon and champagne, plus cocktails inspired by the Big Apple – including one named after Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones.
Beau Myers, co-founder at Ego Death said at the time of its opening: “It’s been 20 years since we opened Socio Rehab so it seems pretty poignant to be opening another amazing cocktail bar. We changed the landscape of cocktail bar culture then and that’s something we’re trying to do again.
“We’ve partnered with Cressida Lawlor to make this dream happen. She’s a total firecracker and reminds me a lot of myself 20 years ago, she’s the future of cocktails and bartending and has that maverick spirit.
“Together we’ve created Ego Death, hidden in a basement behind an unmarked door at the back of a burger shop will be this cocktail haven. An underground escape throwing out the best classic cocktails, bourbon, and champagne from top level bartenders.”
This Manchester bar serves a bottomless cheese fondue with endless beer and wine
Georgina Pellant
There’s a bar in Manchester serving a bottomless cheese fondue with endless wine and beer, and it honestly sounds like the perfect treat.
While it might scream cosy winter night in, with a huge outdoor terrace, The Mews is also a firm favourite during the summer months.
Add in a board of melt-in-the-mouth charcuterie, springy pieces of garlic sourdough and a host of crunchy cheese biscuits, and you’ve got yourself the ideal afternoon if you ask us.
But there’s more. Alongside all that cheese and meat and bread, included in the price of The Mews’ bottomless fondue, cheese lovers can also enjoy 90 minutes of non-stop drinks.
Bottomless cheese fondue at The Mews on Deansgate in Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Costing £37.50 each, included in the deal is a huge pot of melted Italian Fontina cheese served with homemade garlic croutons, sourdough crackers, and slices of British charcuterie.
You’ll also get to enjoy an hour and a half of endless pints of house pilsner and carafes of red or white wine to enjoy alongside.
Serving up to six people, the bottomless cheese fondue is available only when you pre-book, so make sure to get in touch ahead of your visit to let The Mews know that you’re coming.
If you’re not on the sauce, you can opt for the cheese fondue alone. Without the booze, it’s quite a bit cheaper at £25 for one, and £2.50 on top for any additional people who want to get stuck in.
Housed up on Deansgate Mews, just behind the main hustle and bustle of Deansgate, there’s plenty of space inside as well as a large, secluded terrace that is quite the suntrap (when the Manchester sun is shining).
Georgina Pellant -
6th August 2021 
