The Manchester Arndale market has so much going on it’s easy to breeze through and miss out on its hidden culinary gems.
From fresh sashimi, big tilapia, strawberry grouper and shark, to local groceries and full butcher counters selling every cut of meat you can imagine, there’s so much to get stuck into you could eat lunch there every day for weeks without getting bored.
In this piece, we’re here to talk about its street food offering – because this corner of the shopping centre has some hidden gems you really need to try.
In recent years, the market has welcomed some of Manchester’s most exciting and talented chefs, raising the bar for some of the more long-standing traders.
One of Manchester’s favourite spot for a burrito / Image: Pancho’s Burritos
The result? A real mixed bag of street food offerings that far outstrip anything you can get at the food court.
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Of course, the events of the past year have brought some changes to the lineup. Favourites like Holy Crab, Blue Caribou, and Intoku are just a few to have upped sticks – but their spaces were quickly filled by some new arrivals.
Still, it’s one of the best places in the city to grab a quick and tasty lunch. Read on to get to grips with what’s what and work out what you’re trying first.
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Smoke Shed
American comfort food with a global twist. If you’re missing Blue Caribou’s poutine, Smoke Shed has their own popular version, loaded with bbq pulled, house-smoked brisket, smoked onion gravy and melting lumps of mozzarella (£6.50). On the burger front, the go-to order is the buttermilk fried chicken burger, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
Where East Meets West / Image: Salt & Pepper
Salt & Pepper
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Opened by artist Chloe Yung and her brother, Salt and Pepper is one of the market’s most popular stalls. The pair grew up working in their grandad’s Chinese takeaway and now they’ve opened their own – with a modern twist. From chicken strips and wings to shredded beef, king prawns and tofu, everything here gets the Cantonese salt and pepper treatment. Order yours with salt and pepper chips, jasmine rice or mini flatbreads.
Wholesome Junkies
The vegan (and gluten-free) go-to for dirty burger indulgence, Wholesome Junkies began life on BBC Two’s My Million Pound Menu in 2018. Three years later, it’s still going strong. Burgers and loaded tater tots are a strong pull here, but there’s also hot dogs, mac n’ cheese, corn dogs and plenty more sides to choose from. Finish it all off with a tempting chocolate biscoff cheesecake, if you’ve got room.
South Manny Flavas
The go-to here has to be the fried chicken, especially if you like it saucy. SMF has taken over Blue Caribou’s old spot, dishing up boxes of fried chicken, burgers, sandwiches and chips to the masses. Chicken and waffles is the house signature, but if you’re feeling something different we like the look of their Manny cheese steak, which puts a northern spin on the Philly classic.
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Dunkin Burgers specialise in double smash patties, served with a side of gravy / Image: Dunkin Burgers / Lucas Smith Photography
Dunkin Burgers
The clue’s in the name here: Think classic double smash patty burgers, served with a free pot of gravy for dunking. Opened by the guys behind Viet Shack, it’s a genius concept and definitely helping us get over the loss of Fusion Lab’s spectacular squid ink tacos. The OG burger is more than enough for us, but if you’re up for getting messy they get steadily bigger from hereon out.
Viet Shack
The Bahn mi is definitely a favourite of ours here and a great quick lunch order: filled quite traditionally with BBQ meat of your choice, pickled veg, pate and sriracha. When we ask what the most popular dish is we’re hit with a barrage of suggestions. Loaded fries come out as a strong contender (‘quack’, ‘crack’ and ‘shack’ are all on the menu) closely followed in second place by noodle dishes, surf n’ turf and crackling.
Just Natas
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With a trip to sample these Portugese custard tarts in their homeland most likely off the cards this summer, it’s good to know we’ve got our own dedicated stall in Manchester. From the team behind Federal Cafe, pastels are baked fresh here daily and start from £2. Do it right and opt for espresso to enjoy alongside.
At Piazza you can order your own DIY pasta boxes / Image: Piazza
Piazza
Swan Street’s brilliant sourdough pizzeria Ciaooo also has a pasta stall in the Arndale. Build your own box from a host of options and, if you eat cheese, definitely order a burrata on top. We’d recommend checking out their deep-fried pasta sides too. Their fried ravioli and lasagne pieces are a winner.
Wings Dai Pai Don
Alongside its tubs of classic Cantonese dishes, Wings has a big selection of steamed, fried and vegetable dim sum filled with everything from char sui to custard. The go-to order here, we’re told, is “anything spicy” – so if that’s your thing, you’ll want to opt for the Wings Szechuan beef or pork.
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Hansfords
Part bakery, part deli, Hansfords is one of the Arndale originals and in that time the offering has barely changed. In the bakery business for over a century, its counters are stuffed with pies, cakes, sausage rolls and cheese but it’s the sandwiches that have really got our attention. Opt for a Full English in a Vienna at breakfast, or try their legendary gravy-soaked carvery sandwiches for lunch.
Hong Thai is one of the most popular stalls at the Arndale Food Market / Image: Hong Thai
Hong Thai
There’s usually a queue here but it’s well worth waiting as everything is cooked to order. A strong contender for Manchester’s favourite Arndale food stall, Hong Thai does delicious food at very generous portions. There’s a good selection of Thai curries on the ever-changing menu, alongside stir frys, Thai salads, and grilled specials like osaka teriyaki chicken served with rice. A must visit.
Pancho’s Burritos
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Pancho’s first began life as a food stall at festivals, but now its Mexican chef Enrique Martinez and his Mancunian wife Colette are a fixture in the Arndale market. Their speciality is massive burritos (honestly, even the medium is too big for us), but they also do tacos, burritos, nachos, enchiladas and quesadillas. £6.80 gets you a medium chicken or pork wrap, with as many toppings as you like for free. Think cheese, guacamole. fresh chillies and charred sweetcorn, plus spicy house sauces like the vegan habanero XXX.
Onje
The home of Afro-Carribbean meals in the Arndale, Onje was reportedly a favourite of former Manchester United player Odion Ighalo during his time at the club. Serving up fried chicken and fish, jerk chicken, curry goat and beef stew alongside jollof rice, patties, plantain, coleslaw and moinmoin, if you steer clear of the more expensive specials you’re looking at paying about £5 here for a very filling meal.
Greek food court veterans / Image: Zorbas
Zorbas
These Greek veterans of the food court have been around forever and do all the classics. Think wraps, gyros, stifado, salads and stuffed vine leaves, all turned around in a speedy enough window so you’re served before you can say tzatziki. There’s also a good selection of traditional mains like keftedes and lamb lentils on offer here. Gyro pittas start at £5.
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Lotus food
This stall does it all: pizzas, wraps, stew, fish and rice. There are big shouty signs plastered on the counters, advertising lunch deals like rice with chicken leg stew and any 8″ pizza with fries for £5.50. Whilst we’re queueing, we notice one of the other stall holders asks their customer to move whilst he’s waiting because apparently the guys get cross if their signs get knocked. You’ve been warned.
Eat 2 Treat
This little stall is easy to overlook, but it’s worth paying a visit. Much like the stall itself, the menu here is also small but mighty. The counter here is loaded with giant golden fried pakoras and samosas, which can be ordered on their own or in a wrap.
Wraps cost between £2-3 pounds each, making this a tasty, filing option on a budget.
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Kobida legends Market Point have been in the market for years / Image: Market Point
Market Point
Market Point is another stall trying to do it all. Our top pick would probably be the piri piri wings (£5.90), but if you’re a kebab fan they’ve also got a selection of kobides and sharwarmas here.
Bollywood Dharba
Bollywood Dharba is one of the market’s longest standing residents, but has recently expanded its classic offering to include a street food selection. Now, you’ll find snacks like vada pavs, papri chaat and gol gappay alongside curry house favourites chicken tikka masala, chicken madras and lamb balti.
Cafe Greco Signature Baguette
At Cafe Greco the baguettes do look a bit pasty, but they’re very reasonably priced – starting at just £3 for a cheese and tomato sub. More exciting filling options include bolognese, meatballs and fried chicken. Make sure to get it toasted.
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Micro Bar
A favourite with Arndale food market’s more mature drinkers, you’ll find 2 German beers, 2 Belgian and two Beavertown keg ales constantly on draught here – alongside over 100 bottles and cans in the fridges. They’ve also just added cider on draught, with a choice of six now available. Bottles and cans can also be bought to take away.
One of Salt and Pepper’s most popular dishes: the infamous sticky chicken strips, served here with half rice half chips / Image: Salt and Pepper
Can It
The new, cool younger brother to Micro Bar, Can It is owned by the same team but sits on the other side of the food market near to Hong Thai. Packed with colourful cans of craft beer and with some beautiful selections on draught, you can sit in here and eat your meal from another food stall whilst enjoying a proper tipple. It’s very reasonably priced, too, considering the beers on offer.
Kokob Italian Cafe
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Here at Kokob, Eritrean and Ethiopean food sits directly alongside Italian pastas. Think lamb, injera and vegetables. There’s also a scrambled egg dish on the menu that catches our eye. Pastas meanwhile include choices like pomodoro and funghi.
HK UK
With a banner out front that proudly proclaims ‘we’re from Hong Kong’ this stall is not hard to miss, situated on the main walk through into the Arndale from High Street. Here you’ll find food and drink inspired by its owners’ travels with choices like bubble tea, milk foam tea and bubble waffles from £2.50 (cheese, chocolate or matcha) sitting side by side with £2 ice cream scoops and milkshakes.
A fresh addition but a very welcome one on the dessert front / Image: Pancake Cafe
Pancake Cafe
This stall carries a little bit of everything, but it’s all about the pancakes really – as the name suggests. Think classic crepes, filled with classics like lemon and sugar or white chocolate, salted caramel and Oreo.
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Tokyo Tokyo
This little Japanese street food stall has a massive menu, filled with dishes like katsu curry, spicy karaage with rice, suki yaki and spicy yakisoba noodles. All mains comes with a free drink, too, making this a brilliant lunchtime steal with dishes starting from £5.50.
Smoothielicious
With over 40 choices on the menu here, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed – so we asked their stall handler what the most popular choices were to get an idea of what to order. The favourites here are the Mango Tango, a mixture of mango and banana topped with pineapple juice, and the energy boost with strawberries, banana and coconut milk apparently. Everything here is also squeezed fresh daily for maximum flavour.
Featured image: Manchester Arndale
Food & Drink
What to expect from Sticks’n’Sushi, the giant new restaurant that will have Manchester talking
Daisy Jackson
One of the largest restaurant sites in Spinningfields is finally getting the tenant it deserves – Sticks’n’Sushi is heading to Manchester.
In recent months, we’ve seen giant fish being plastered into the windows of the massive two-storey building, which has been largely vacant since Iberica closed way back in 2020 (apart for those weird moments it became a Christmas bar, and then the Oasis merch store).
Work is moving at pace to breathe some life and love back into this building, ready for the official launch of Sticks’n’Sushi at the end of this month.
And the giant fish in the windows give you a good hint of what’s to come, with fresh, quality seafood at the heart of the menus, alongside grilled skewers of meat.
Sticks’n’Sushi is, contrary to what the menu might suggest, a Danish brand – and one of Denmark’s most successful restaurant names, with a dozen locations across its native country plus restaurants in London, Berlin, Oxford and Cambridge.
As well as Manchester, Sticks’n’Sushi has revealed plans to open in Leeds, too. It’s a really impressive operation.
The restaurant started life back in 1994, founded by brothers Kim and Jens Rahbek, and Thor Anderson. The brothers called on their half-Japanese, half-Danish roots to combine culinary traditions from both backgrounds to create their menus.
Beef tataki at Sticks’n’SushiShake tatakiEbi bitesMaki, and nagiri Sticks’n’Sushi also makes excellent cocktailsSashimi Deluxe
It’s still a family affair too, with their nephew working in their rooftop Copenhagen restaurant that overlooks the famous Tivoli Gardens.
When Sticks’n’Sushi lands in Manchester, they want to bring that sleek Scandinavian atmosphere to Spinningfields, along with the precise craftsmanship of Japanese cooking.
They’re perhaps best-known for their sharing menus, which show off a mix of both sticks and indeed sushi.
Highlights will include slithers of beef tataki, topped with artichoke chips and miso aioli (the trick to eating this one is to try and fold the beef around the chips).
The miso-marinated black cod skewers are another popular choice, along with melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu yaki sticks and Shoyu Tebasaki chicken wings.
House roll highlights include shrimp, gochujang and avocado maki, soft shell crab rolls, and lobster abokado.
Sticks’n’Sushi Manchester will transform the two-storey corner unit in Spinningfields with glass and timber, with Berlin architects Diener and Diener working on the project.
It’ll also have a sizeable outdoor pergola terrace and bar.
Bookings are open now HERE ahead of its 30 March launch.
The lost but still much-loved Greater Manchester food and drink spots that Mancs miss the most
Danny Jones
Unfortunately, these days, it feels as if we read about another place closing across the Manchester boroughs almost every week at this point – in fact, many of you might find out about those very closures right here on The Manc.
But, like anyone, we often just sit thinking back on some of our favourite bars, restaurants, takeaways and more that have sadly closed over the years.
10 of the most missed restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs in and around Manchester
1. Danish Food Centre
Starting off with the one we saw the most in the comments is the Danish Food Centre on the shopfront of the Royal Exchange on Cross Street, before sadly closing during the mid-1980s.
Exactly what it sounds like, this old Scandinavian spot first opened back in 1965 and was even known for a traditional sarnie known as ‘The Danwich’, as well as an interior lounge dubbed ‘Copenhagen Corner’.
That being said, many people used to nip here on their dinner break, to meet friends for lunch and a brew, or even to buy things to take home. It was eventually shut down by the Danish government, and we still envy those who got to experience it; still, without the original, we’d never have the likes of KRO Bar.
2. Horts/Ronnie’s Cafe Bar
Another one that popped up plenty in the long list of replies was Horts that used to sit on St. Ann’s Square and the attached Ronnie’s.
The former was more of a wine bar and the latter your standard cafe, but together, they were an ideal city centre favourite that served locals day and night.
By the late 80s, both had sadly disappeared, but people still reminisce about “the grand piano sat under a gorgeous glass dome” and how much they “loved the comfy leather Chesterfield sofas.”
Also up there in the trio of most-mentioned places below the post was the legendary Dutch Pancake House – no, not the one that rears its head at the Manchester Christmas, but at least you can still look forward to your annual fix.
The one we’re talking about was the busy corner of Elisabeth House (now 1 St Peter’s Square), which served a giant menu of sweet and savoury pancakes.
We lost it in the 2000s after developers bought the building, and lots of people are still angry about it.
Number four is Blinkers French and Bistro, which held that border between Salford and Manchester, and was owned by Cheshire-based millionaire, Selwyn Demmy.
The Wilmslow-born businessman may have been known for his famous ‘Hunter’s Moon’ in Wilmslow, but he was also the man behind the bar, restaurant and club which used to be on King Street West.
Before that, it was called the Le Phonographe, and it’s also not to be confused with the modern-day Blinker Bar now serving up top-notch cocktails over on Spring Gardens. By all accounts, it was a real ‘if you know, you know’ kind of gaff…
Next up is the old Grinch bar and grill, which used to be on Chapel Walks just off Cross St, and sadly closed back in 2016 after more than two decades.
More than a few Mancs said they “loved” either visiting and/or working here back in the day, and another cited that “their fried chicken was amazing”.
There’s plenty still open around there these days – including the likes of 10 Tib Lane, New Wave Ramen and the ever-reliable Town Hall Tavern – but evidently, there’s still plenty that really miss it. These days, it’s a pretty good Korean place called Annyeong.
6. Dry Bar/’Dry201′
This next one is a location that does still exist and is technically still a very busy bar most evenings, weekends and sunny afternoons if you can get a seat in the window.
However, many will argue that nothing quite compares to the old Dry Bar, a.k.a. Dry201/’FAC 201′, over in the Northern Quarter.
Nowadays, it’s home to the new and improved Freemount, which moved from its previous venue on Oldham Street; nevertheless, countless people still recall the watering hole in “the original format” as one of the best bars in town.
Their social presence still exists. (Credit: Dry Bar via Facebook)
7. UCP
One we’ve heard tales of now and again over the years, but still slightly wince whenever we hear the full name. In case you’re unaware, UCP is an abbreviation of United Cattle Products, which was the name of a company that had a big presence here in Greater Manchester.
To be fair, it was a pretty familiar brand across the region and the North as a whole, but their flagship four-storey shop over at Market Street/Pall Mall was the go-to place for lots of meat products.
We’ll say it, one of the main things people would go there to seek out was that word that still makes lots of people squirm: tripe – but remember, for generations this was a very common ingredient in various meals and for some, still is.
8. Croma
Ok, this one is more of a recent one that we’re sure lots of you still remember like it was yesterday, because in relative terms to most of this list, it kind of was.
Croma in Manchester city centre shut in 2022 after the pandemic, their Didsbury restaurant closed by March 2023, and the Chorlton site followed suit just last year.
However, we still maintain we’ve had some of our best pizza nights in these places.
For our/your penultimate pick, a fair few people noted Henry’s, which also lay claim to being Manchester’s ‘first’ cafe bar back in the day – that, of course, is still up for debate.
The group behind this brand opened up a venue in our city centre back in 1986, near Parsonage Gardens, but only made it to 2007 despite remaining fairly popular for a long time.
It went on to be replaced by another chain in Revolution; however, they are also closing locations all across the UK. Gutting.
It was arguably better known in London, such as in Mayfair. (Credit: Ewan Munro via Flickr)
10. Cornerhouse
Last but not least, the legacy of the Cornerhouse cinema needs no explanation, really, but there’s a lot to be said for the lasting love lots of people had for their memories made in there and the joint bar next door, quite literally spitting distance away.
Still sitting like a bittersweet reminder on the (you guessed it) corner leading up to Oxford Road Station and Whitworth Street, the theatre itself is home to little more than gig posters and an ever-changing rotation of murals these days.
However, you will be glad to know that the bar and visual arts centre across the road is still Manchester Metropolitan’s Arts, Culture and Media Hub, so it’s still alive in some fashion.
We (well, I*) couldn’t wrap up this round-up without paying tribute to one of the best places this city has ever seen, let alone just NQ.
It might not be right at the top of your dream revival list, but we’re sure plenty of you will agree that, for a period of time, CBR+B was the place to be.
Georgina Pellant -
8th August 2021 
