Starting life in a remodelled horsebox, vegan street food favourite Herbivorous has revealed it is now launching its first bricks and mortar site in Withington.
Founders Robyn Marsh and Damian Myles first fell in love with vegan cuisine during an epic, coast to coast road trip across the States, and returned home to England inspired to share what they’d found.
Their first stint at a food festival saw them sell out within two hours after working through the night to prepare dishes, which led to the purchase of an old horsebox which they proceeded to tour up and down the country.
The horsebox that Herbivorous toured up and down the country / Image: Herbivorous
Today, the brand has a well-established site at Hatch on Oxford road – and they’ve also just revealed plans to open a second in Withington.
Due to launch in September, it will serve up all of its popular vegan comfort food classics, such as their Big Kahuna Burger, as well as running a delivery service to those nearby.
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A large kitchen has got the team excited about testing new dishes for their menu and restarting their popular vegan cooking masterclasses – teaching new skills in making staples like seitan, vegan mayos and plant-based ‘bloody’ burgers.
A pot of vegan soft serve from Herbivorous / Image: Herbivorous
And that’s not all. The vegan foodies behind the brand are working with local distilleries, brewers and wine merchants to curate an entirely vegan drinks menu – something that’s actually a lot harder to achieve than it sounds.
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After all, many people don’t realise that a lot of alcohol is filtered using fish guts (yes, really – they call the subtance ‘isinglass’, confusingly).
They’ll also be stocking products from other local vegan producers like Manchester independents Drizzle City Bakes and Drinks of Tradition to showcase the very best plant-based food and drink in the region.
The Philly Cheesesteak sandwich at Herbivorous / Image: Herbivorous
The new Herbivorous restaurant will be open weekday evenings and all day from Friday to Sunday from its new home on Wilmslow Road and plans to launch a new brunch menu at the site, available on Saturdays and Sundays only.
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“We’re so excited to be opening our first bricks and mortar restaurant in this vibrant part of south Manchester,” said Robyn Marsh, founder of Herbivorous.
“The Withington restaurant will be the next evolution of Herbivorous, bringing together everything that has influenced us over the last four years, and the time we’ve spent building the brand.
A solid spread of guilt-free food, pictured at herbivorous / Image: Herbivorous
“Working with other local independents is something we are really looking forward to as there are so many wonderful and talented brands locally who we would love to collaborate with.
“Our team are so passionate about crafting our house-made products, dishes and meat alternatives, we can’t wait to open our doors in this fantastic neighbourhood and share our food with everyone”
For more updates on Herbivorous, follow them on their socials here.
Feature image – Herbivorous
Eats
Huge new Salford Quays restaurant slams ‘idiot’ who ran off with iPad in broad daylight
Daisy Jackson
A huge restaurant in Salford Quays has shared CCTV of a man taking an iPad and running away in broad daylight.
Unagi, which only opened its huge futuristic sushi and Asian restaurant last summer, shared a frustrated appeal online.
“As if January isn’t already tough enough!!!” they wrote in the Instagram post.
In the video clip they shared, the man is seen standing at a counter as though he’s waiting to be served.
But then he reaches across the counter, seizes an iPad and runs out the door with it under his arm.
Unagi has slammed him as an ‘idiot’ who has struck during what is famously a ‘VERY tough time for the hospitality industry’.
The popular Asian restaurant, which now has locations in Cheetham Hill, Altrincham, West Didsbury, Wilmslow and this beautiful spot in Salford Quays, said it was the ‘cherry on top’ of a challenging time.
Unagi in Salford Quays shared CCTV of this man stealing their iPad. Credit: foodunagi, Instagram
The iPad that was stolen is integral to the restaurant’s operations, controlling their booking systems.
In their post, Unagi Salford Quays wrote: “As if January isn’t already tough enough!!!
“As everyone knows January is a VERY tough time for the hospitality industry, then you get idiots like this who make it impossible. Cheers for that, happy new year to you too.
“We’re already facing enough challenges and you’ve really just put the cherry on the top!! Taking our IPad which controls all of our bookings system!!
“If anyone happens to have seen this guy around the Salford Quays area please give us a shout. But also any businesses in the SQ area, watch out!!!
Unagi in Salford Quays. Credit: The Manc Group
“On a lighter note, THANK YOU, to everyone who is out supporting the hospitality industry this January. Your support means so much to everyone!!”
Unagi has been flooded with support from customers and other operators, with one person writing: “Shocking, so sorry for you guys. We had a lovely lunch in there today.”
Someone else commented: “So sorry this happened. And your employees are such sweet people. Always serving everything with the utmost kindness.”
And fellow restaurant Gran T’s said: “What an absolutely loser, so sorry guys.”
There’s a non-alocholic pairing dinner coming to Manchester this Dry Jan
Thomas Melia
A one-night-only pairing of two dining out staples from the food and drink world is coming to Manchester next month, and it also happens to be non-alcoholic for anyone doing Dry January.
Taking place at the wonderful Maray over on Lincoln Square, each dish served throughout the night will be expertly paired with a non-alcoholic drink from zero-per cent experts, Lucky Saint.
This Middle Eastern eatery is always surprising its diners, last September they made their infamous roasts free for one day only, and this upcoming event is sure to be as exciting with its unique tastings.
Lucky Saint came to fruition after partnering with a historical brewery in Bavaria who’ve produced beer for over 400 years, creating a non alcoholic alternative which greeted UK drinkers in 2020.
Lucky Saint will be readily available and paired with every meal.Diners can expect some sensational food as always from Maray. Credit: Publicity Picture (Supplied)
Titled ‘The Official Beer Of Dry January’, supplying IPAs and lagers to a host of stockists, not only are their products fully non-alcoholic but they’re also entirely plant-based – meaning they’re the perfect tie-in with Veganuary.
If their website is anything to go by, diners are set to enjoy refreshments such as their unfiltered lager and a 0.5% ‘Hazy’ IPA which contains juicy tropical notes. Don’t mind if we do.
Although it’s hard to say what the food offerings may be, it’s guaranteed that anyone who attends is in for a treat as this site has even served famous faces like Dua Lipa back in 2022 while she was on tour.
Their vegan menu features some meat free feasts like a falafel sharer and a delicious oyster mushroom shwarma, it’s a well-loved restaurant.
Vegans are certainly catered for at this event as it’s not only the free-flowing drinks that contain no animal products, there will also be an entirely vegan menu on hand.
Maray have multiple locations but anyone who couldn’t get enough of the flavours the first time in Manchester can attend their Liverpool pairing dinner which is happening the very next day.
The Maray x Lucky Saint Dry January Pairing Dinner is coming to Manchester on Wednesday, 15 January from 7-9:30pm with tickets live HERE.
And if you’re looking for other places to enjoy a guilt-free drink in the city centre this month, we’ve got a few suggestions for you:
Doing #DryJan doesn't have to mean staying in or saying goodbye to the pub. 🍹
Georgina Pellant -
16th July 2021 
