A new street food stall has opened inside the Arndale marketselling Takoyaki balls, a salty Japanese fried snack stuffed with diced octopus and topped with seaweed and bonito flakes.
Super scannable, they’re fried in a special pan, which gives them a much lighter texture than deep-fried balls, then topped with lashings of Japanese mayonnaise and Okonomi sauce.
The stall itself is called Takoyaki Master and has just taken over the former Wholesome Junkies space.
Image: The Manc Eats
Run by Violet and Pong Ho, it is pretty much a brand new arrival at the market. The pair have only been in Manchester a few months – having moved over here from Hong Kong, where they tell us they ran a very successful Takoyaki stall for “many years”.
Violet told us they want to continue their business here as it’s something they know how to do well – and that if customers don’t like octopus, they’ll happily switch it out for chicken, cheese or beef.
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They’ve only been in residence at the market for a fortnight, and currently have two styles of takoyaki on offer – one topped with scallions, and one without. Pong also tells us they’re planning to start offering sushi in the near future, once they’ve found their feet.
Although they come out looking like dumplings, in reality, these salty little balls are more akin to croquettes, or they are on the inside at least.
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Image: The Manc Eats
With a gooey, creamy texture inside that causes them to collapse in on themselves as soon as you spike them with a fork, on the outside they’re almost gelatinous – cooked in a special pan with individual semi-circles to give them a unique texture that’s unlike anything else we can think of.
They can be ordered on their own, with prices starting from £4.50 for four balls and £8.50 for eight, with french fries and a range of soft drinks also on offer.
You can find Takoyaki Master inside the Arndale market seven days a week, open from 11am-6pm Monday to Saturday and 11.30am-4.30pm on Sundays.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
New £60m fund launched to fill potholes across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A new £60 million Pothole Fund has been created to repair more of the city region’s roads and pavements.
The fund – which has been set up by new Mayor Bev Craig, and is to be spent across every borough in Greater Manchester – is set to be a ‘major boost’ to efforts to tackle the pothole problem, as it will be enough to repair and maintain over a million square metres, or around 125 kilometres, of road across the wider region.
Around 2.5 billion trips are made on Greater Manchester‘s roads every year – not only by motorists, but also by buses, trams, cyclists, and pedestrians. So the fund will be used to help keep the highways network ‘safe and reliable’.
The fund will enable transport teams to repair hotspots where surfaces are in poor condition, as well as resurface roads and pavements to prevent them from deteriorating in the first place.
A new £60m fund has been launched to fill potholes across Greater Manchester / Credit: TfGM
Cold and wet winters, more traffic, and heavier vehicles using the roads are just some of the contributing factors to the pothole problem, which is why the fund is being introduced before autumn and winter properly arrives.
The amount each of the 10 boroughs will receive is based on an agreed funding formula, with the allocations being:
Bolton: £6,552,000
Bury: £4,374,000
Manchester: £8,155,000
Oldham: £5,258,000
Rochdale: £5,243,000
Salford: £5,388,000
Stockport: £6,820,000
Tameside: £4,980,000
Trafford: £4,992,000
Wigan: £8,241,000
The extra cash comes from the region’s transport budget, with leaders agreeing to reallocate funding towards highways maintenance, and it fulfils a commitment Bev made in her Mayoral Manifesto to repair more roads and make sure pavements are safe.
“Keeping our roads and pavements safe and well maintained is essential for a growing city region like Greater Manchester,” explained Mayor Bev Craig.
“That’s why I promised to create this new Pothole Fund that will benefit drivers and everyone who uses our roads to get around. Properly maintaining our roads will save motorists money on costly repairs, and by preventing potholes forming in the first place, councils won’t have to spend as much money on emergency road repairs.
“This issue came up repeatedly on the doorstep during my election campaign so I’m pleased that I can do something about it so quickly, building on the significant work already planned by councils across Greater Manchester.”
Featured Image – TfGM
News
Six GMP officers dismissed following racial discrimination allegations
Emily Sergeant
A number of police officers have been dismissed following an internal investigation, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed.
Following the internal investigation into alleged racial discrimination against an officer on the Bury district – which was launched by GMP‘s Professional Standards Directorate in July 2024 – six officers and two former officers were found to have committed gross misconduct, and a ninth officer was found to have committed misconduct.
The investigation came after a report was made that an officer had been subjected to ‘racist behaviour’ by colleagues in December 2023.
The panel heard how PC Y – who has African heritage and has been granted anonymity – made a complaint after her accent was mimicked by a group of officers. She was also compared to a suspect with similar skin colour, and one of the dismissed PCs made a derogatory comment about her hair.
PC Y was supported and kept updated throughout the investigation, GMP assured, as well as providing evidence at the hearing.
The misconduct hearing lasted just over two weeks, with the panel concluding that the officers breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to Equality and Diversity, Authority, Respect, and Courtesy.
The six officers who have been dismissed are PC Demi Green, PC Heena Rani, PC Lucy Granby, PC Matthew Barlow, PC Matthew Hill, and PC Mohammed Abid, while the former officers who were found to have committed gross misconduct are PC Jake Holt, and former Officer A – who has been granted anonymity.
The panel also found that Sergeant Adrian Bick’s actions amounted to misconduct, as there was no breach of the standard of equality and diversity.
As a result, the six serving officers have been sacked without notice, while the two former officers would have been dismissed had they not already left the force, and Sergeant Bick was issued a written warning.
“No officer or member of staff should have to come to work and experience discriminatory behaviour from the people they serve alongside,” declared Deputy Chief Constable, Terry Woods.
“Everyone has the right to feel respected, valued and part of the same team with a shared commitment to serving our communities and keeping people safe.”
Georgina Pellant -
1st July 2022 
