Manchester restaurant and food hall Hello Oriental has introduced a new dessert dish to its menu this month, and it’s been steadily dividing opinions since.
Comprised of a large bowl of salt and pepper chips, topped with piped-on vanilla ice cream, crispy onions and multicoloured party sprinkles, it takes inspiration from a cult McDonald’s trend that sees customers dip fries into their McFlurries or milkshakes.
Yes, that is (apparently) a real thing that people enjoy, so much so that McDonald’s even spoofed its customers with an April Fool’s advert in 2019 promising the introduction of a new series of banana, chocolate and strawberry ‘milkshake dips’.
Now, the bizarre fast food craze has taken an even stranger turn as Hello Oriental co-owners Ricky Yip and Azim Kourah introduce their own Eastern-inspired twist at their Oxford Road side.
Priced at £6.95 a tub, owners said that staff were initially divided over the concept but came soon round when they had tried it for themselves.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Now, it appears that the salty-sweet fast food treat is taking Manchester by storm with people flocking down to Hello Oriental to get their hands on a tub.
It’s not the first time that the food hall has divided opinions with its desserts. Earlier this summer, operators started mixing up ice cream made from durian, widely known as the world’s stinkiest fruit.
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Famous for having a truly terrible smell that’s been unfavourably compared to cat p*ss, it’s so pungent that it’s actually been made illegal to eat it on the subway in Singapore.
Served in cute little bear and taiyaki fish-shaped cones, alongside typical soft serve flavours like ube (purple yam), pandan leaf, charcoal, mango and vanilla, on weekends you will also find a limited amount of durian ice cream here.
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Managing to be sweet, creamy and savoury all at once, some say it tastes like “diced garlic and caramel poured into whipped cream”.
Others have referred to “subtle hints of chives mixed with powdered sugar”.
Multi-storey ‘super-venue’ Hello Oriental was built beneath Symphony Park at the new Circle Square development just off Oxford Road in February this year.
Inspired by dining destinations like Bang Bang Oriental in London and 1800 in Miami, at its heart sits a vast market hall with a fast-paced open kitchen, UK-first supermarket and Hello Bakery.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
Popular bar chain The Alchemist to rewind back to 2010 with cocktails and dishes for £6 next month
Emily Sergeant
One of the UK’s most popular bar chains is celebrating its sweet 16th birthday next month by winding back to 2010.
Money is always tight in January, right?
Once Christmas is over with, and so is the festive feasting and drinking, many like to use the first month of the new year to lay low and save some money back up – which is why The Alchemist is launching a limited-edition ‘2010 Revival Menu’, bringing back some of its most iconic early cocktails and dishes – all at their original prices from 16 years ago.
For the whole month, you can enjoy the curated throwback selection starting from £6, which i perfectly timed for a month of saving without sacrificing going out.
The Alchemist is rewinding back to 2010 with cocktails and dishes for £6 / Credit: The Manc Group
The 2010 Revival Menu includes the return of the fan-favourite White Chocolate Raspberry Martini for £6 on the cocktail menu, which was an early Alchemist staple, alongside other fan-favourites like the Colour Changing One and Virgin Pornstar, both for £6 again.
When it comes to food dishes for £6, you can tuck into a selection of different refreshing salads, while stretching your budget up to £10 will get you things like Chicken in a Basket, a Cheeseburger, and Fish and Chips.
Other iconic Alchemist cocktails returning for a fraction of the price next month include the popular Smoky Old Fashioned, and Dead Read Zombie – both for £8.
The Alchemist opened its original bar in Manchester‘s swanky Spinningfields district all the way back in 2010, and quickly became a popular and stylish destination with its high ceilings and industrial features, and has since developed into a much larger chain – with not only more Manchester destinations, but others across the UK too.
A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit tribute concert to the one and only Queen is coming to Manchester city centre.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
Georgina Pellant -
20th September 2022 
