How is it nearly September already? Despite the promise of gravy-soaked Sunday roasts, red wine season and cheese boards, the end of summer still seems to have come around a tad too quickly.
Not that we should complain. There are, after all, some great new restaurants opening in Manchester this September – not least the trendy Mayfair restaurant Mnky Hse, which will mark the latest in a long line of new ‘glam sushi’ openings making their way to the city.
Elsewhere, the new arrivals are varied, ranging from a non-profit cafe and bookshop being opened by the charitable arm of a local solicitors firm, to a no-nonsense butty shop where you’ll find established local bakers building hench sandwiches from the bread up.
On top of all this, think a new arrival in the old Northern Quarter Cafe Cafe, a swanky new cocktail bar in a bank vault, a new chicken wing shop, dessert cafe and more.
Keep reading to find out where to put on your list this month.
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Yes Lah
Image: Yes Lah
Image: Yes Lah
Newly opened in West Didsbury, Yes Lah comes from street food favourites Mama Z (Zos Fulwell) and Wok’s Cluckin (Yen Tham). Part shop, part deli and restaurant, they’ve funded the whole thing through Kickstarter.
Between them, they’re serving Pan Asian favourites like nasi lemak, daily rice and noodle bowls like chicken adobo, alongside kimchi bowls, fat baguettes, and a selection of treats from the deli counter. They’re also planning to host supper clubs and workshops in the future.
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Open now
Gooey Cafe
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Opening inside the former Cat Cafe unit on High Street, Gooey’s new home boasts an in-house open bakery, new all-day brunch menu and take-out coffee offering.
Serving up brunch classics delivered with a Gooey touch (think dulce de leche-filled French toast, crispy hash browns and black pepper-cured bacon sandwiches), diehard fans will also find a counter full of the cookies, doughnuts and other sweet treats the bakery has become known for.
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Open now
Read more:Inside Gooey’s new cafe and bakery as it prepares to open in Northern Quarter
Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria
It all feels like musical chairs in the Northern Quarter this month, as a number of our established favourites move from one place to another. Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria, most recently found slinging out slabs from the Alvarium kitchen, is one such place.
As of the end of August, owner Danny has moved once again – this time into the kitchen at Northern Monk, where he’s offering all the staples, alongside some new slabs and Italian subs.
Open now
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Kong’s Cantina
Fried chicken heroes Kong’s is opening another concept this month as the team makes a permanent move into the kitchen at Black Dog Ballroom.
Taking over from modern Chinese takeaway favourites Salt and Pepper, from September you can expect to find a range of suped-up tacos and quesadillas coming out of the kitchen.
Open now
Salt and Pepper
Image: Salt Pepper Manchester
Image: Salt Pepper Manchester
At last, Manchester’s favourite modern Chinese street food pop-up has found a permanent home of its own. This month sees it move into a new restaurant opposite the Arndale Market, where it all began for them in 2019.
Opening next door to the English Lounge pub, diners can expect big flavours, fast food-style service and a new boozy list of drinks to wash it all down.
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TBC
Coffee Block
Image: Supplied
This new addition to Stockport’s Merseyway Shopping Centre specialises in barista coffee alongside a wide selection of delicious cakes, paninis, and sandwiches.
Opened by David Howarth, a Stockport local with 25 years’ worth of experience in hospitality behind him, find it next to The Body Shop on the High Street.
Open now
Sterling
Image: Sterling Bar
Image: Sterling Bar
From the same brothers behind award-winning bars Schofield’s and Atomeca comes Sterling, an appropriately-named cocktail bar in a bank vault.
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Housed underneath Ryan Giggs’ Stock Exchange hotel, the new bar promises a high-end selection of classic cocktails.
TBC
The Food Hall at New Century
Welcoming six new food traders, legendary 60’s concert hall New Century unveils the first phase of its redevelopment this month.
Here, you’ll find a new butty shop from Adam Redi (of The French at The Midland), a wild pizza concept from PLY, award-winning street food from father and son duo BaoBros23, plus Japanese delights from Zumuku Sushi, top-quality steaks at Tallow and Vietnamese bites from Bahn Vi.
There are also coffee and grab ‘n’ go concepts from New Century, plus local beers, wines, cocktails, teas, juices and smoothies.
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Open now
Mnky Hse
Glam sushi is definitely the key food trend for Manchester’s hospitality newcomers this year. / Image: Mnky Hse
Another ‘signature mirror room’ for the glitterati crowd to pose infront of. / Image: Mnky Hse
Already a popular late-night fixture in Mayfair, Mnky Hse will try its luck in Manchester this month.
Moving into a unit in Lloyd House, just off Deansgate, the music-led Latin American restaurant and bar is known for ‘hidden entrance’, Instagram-friendly interiors, extensive cocktail menu and Latin American dishes.
The 102-cover restaurant will boast a central bar and open kitchen serving a great range of tacos (soft and crunchy), sushi, ceviche and grill dishes.
A non-for-profit cafe and bookshop, The House of Books & Friends will open inside The Manchester Club on King Street later this year.
Set up by local law firm Gunnercooke, this new not-for-profit cafe and independent bookshop has been specifically designed with the intention of helping to combat loneliness in the community.
Stocking books for both adults and children, the cafe will use the profits from its book sales to engage with those around the shop – working with local charities to combat social isolation.
TBC
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Creams
Image: Creams UK
Dessert cafe Creams is opening a huge new site at Manchester Arndale this month, bringing its loaded sundaes and waffles with it.
The popular UK-wide dessert shop is taking over a huge space at Halle Place, offering everything from takeaway ice cream cones to boxes of Biscoff and icing-laden donuts and slices of cake.
It is the second Creams site for Manchester, building on the popularity of its Cheetham Hill cafe which first opened in 2017.
TBC
Super Happy MCR
Image: Super Happy MCR
Image: Super Happy MCR
A new no-nonsense sandwich shop from the team behind Batard, Super Happy MCR opens inside Ducie Street Warehouse this month – taking over the counter from popular bagel shop Bread Flower.
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Switching out bagels for butties, every sandwich is built from the bread up – with house-made hoagie rolls and potato brioche buns both set to feature on the menu. Elsewhere, you’ll find choux pastry crullers and Turkish breads, all made using organic flour from Wildfarmed.
1 September
Wingstop
Image: WIngstop
Now open inside the Trafford Centre, this new arrival marks the third Manchester site for Wingstop.
Known for its classic wings, boneless wings and tenders, all available in ten different bold flavours including lemon pepper, this is the newest go-to for chicken lovers, who’ll also find fries and a new ‘ Big Flavour Burger’ on offer.
Inside Great Northern Market, the huge new food hall at Manchester Airport T2
Daisy Jackson
There’s a brand-new food hall in Manchester, and you won’t believe where this beauty is… it’s only at Manchester Airport (!).
The food hall craze has travelled all the way to Terminal 2, bringing a whole host of kitchens for you to enjoy before your flight.
You can tuck in to everything from full breakfasts and brunches (with the obligatory 7am pint, because time isn’t real in an airport), to burgers and street food.
Essentially, you can travel around the world before you’ve even boarded the plane.
It’s all part of the terminal’s wider £1.3bn transformation, which now includes a first-of-its-kind market hall-style food and drink offering, with six kitchens around a central dining area, plus a Gooey kiosk and a takeaway hatch.
Behind the scenes, Great Northern Market is powered by a community of Northern talent. All menus have been crafted by Manchester-born executive chef Amy Tomkinson.
Here are all the new traders who have moved in to the Great Northern Market.
Gooey
This one surely needs no introduction – Gooey is one of Manchester’s top (and most popular) bakeries, famed for its chunky cookies, fluffy doughnuts, and cinnamon buns.
It’s the first thing you’ll see as you enter the Great Northern Market, a pretty tiled kiosk with its signature neon sign overhead.
As well as fresh bakes and their limited-edition specials, this is the spot to grab a pre-flight coffee too.
La Casita
This Mexican street food spot has been created with the help of Madre’s Sam Grainger, and is serving a menu of burritos, loaded nachos, and salads.
A highlight is the beef birria nachos – authentic Mexican corn tacos loaded up with refried beans, pink pickled onions, guacamole, cheese sauce, salsa norteña and jalapeños.
Nashville Hot House
There’s another local name involved with Nashville Hot House – Yard & Coop have brought their fried chicken prowess to Manchester Airport.
At the Great Northern Market, you’ll find classic buttermilk chicken burgers, a spicy little K-pop thigh burger, and chicken tenders.
There’s also salt and pepper loaded fries and absolutely loads of different dips.
Napoli Street Pizza
There’s been a real lack of pre-holiday pizza at Manchester Airport until now.
Napoli Street Pizza makes its Neapolitan pizzas using a a 55% hydration method, and a biga dough that is fermented and used to create the dough daily.
There are loads of different flavours to choose from, like a hot honey and pepperoni, plus flatbreads, Caesar salads, and more.
Kouzina
Kouzina is importing flatbreads from Greece for the most authentic possible souvlaki experience, like a lamb kofta souvlaki with chopped tomatoes, pink pickled onions, cucumber, zhoug, tahini, garlic mayo, and coriander.
You can also order big salads here, mezze platters, halloumi fries, and flatbreads with dips.
You’ll feel like your in Santorini before you’ve even stepped on the plane (… okay, that might be a stretch).
Black Iron Grill
Smash burgers and skin-on fries are up for grabs at this next Great Northern Market trader, Black Iron Grill.
These burgers are served in glazed brioche buns, with melt-in-your-mouth beef patties topped with a number of different options.
You can also order a side of mac and cheese or some filthy fries loaded with crispy bacon bits, crispy shallots, and garlic mayonnaise.
Palms Cafe
Last but not least – and definitely not something we thought we’d ever see in Manchester Airport – is Palms Cafe.
They’re whipping up big bowls of ramen, and other noodle dishes, with toppings like satay chicken, sweet chilli king prawn, crispy tofu, pulled Korean beef, crispy fried chicken, and miso roasted sweet potato.
Noodles include hearty ramens, katsu curries, Pad Thai, and sides like prawn crackers.
Michelin-recommended Greater Manchester restaurant announces imminent closure
Daisy Jackson
A neighbourhood restaurant in Greater Manchester has announced its imminent closure, in a real blow for the local food scene
Restaurant Orme, a restaurant in Urmston that had made its way into the prestigious Michelin Guide, notified followers that with ‘great sadness’ they are intending to sell the business.
In their statements the team acknowledged the ‘significant economic pressures’ facing the restaurant industry, writing: “We find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible.”
But they also detailed that a break in their lease has allowed them to ‘thoughtfully consider’ their circumstances and make the ‘right choice for our growing families’.
The business was founded and operated by a trio of friends, Jack Fields, Tom Wilson, and Rachel Roberts.
Restaurant Orme has said that it can’t yet confirm its final date of service but has encouraged diners holding restaurant vouchers to make use of them in the coming months.
They also wrote: “It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful community and beyond. We have had so much to celebrate over the last three years and will cherish the memories and experiences we have shared.”
Restaurant Orme has been the subject of rave reviews and critical acclaim since launching in 2023, with the Good Food Guide writing that the team were delivering ‘ambitious food while staying true to its local roots’.
Michelin-recommended Greater Manchester restaurant announces imminent closure. Credit: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse
It described Restaurant Orme as a ‘youthful and breezily energetic’ restaurant with ‘lively but serious’ cooking.
And the Michelin Guide hailed it as a ‘pleasantly welcoming’ space with ‘appealing menus’.
Restaurant Orme wrote: “It is with great sadness that we announce our intention to sell the restaurant.
“It is well published that our industry is facing significant economic pressures. Addressing the real impact on trade, we find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible
“This has impacted our decision, however as we approach a break in our lease, we have been presented with an opportunity to thoughtfully consider our circumstances and reflect on what lies ahead. We need to make the right choice for our growing families, right now that means stability.
“As we navigate through this process, we can’t yet declare an official date of closure, therefore if you have exsiting vouchers with a valid expiry date, we urge you to book in within the next six months. New voucher sales have been suspended.
“It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful community and beyond. We have had so much to celebrate over the last three years and will cherish the memories and experiences we have shared.
“Thank you for everything. We will keep you posted when we have clarity on our final farewell.
“Don’t be sad it’s over, be happy it happened!”
And that’s further proof that even the best-loved, most critically-acclaimed neighbourhood restaurants just can’t make the figures stack up in the current climate.
Georgina Pellant -
25th August 2022 
