News

Kong’s is opening a taco and quesadilla kitchen in the Northern Quarter

Kong’s chef-owner Tom Potts has revealed to The Manc that he has a new Mexican concept up his sleeve

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 3rd August 2022

This month, it’s all change in the Northern Quarter.

Fried chicken favourite Kong’s is on the move, leaving its home at Northern Monk Refectory after a very happy year of naughty burgers and roast dinners to venture onto pastures new.

In its place, Manchester’s lasagne restaurant Lazy Tony’s will take over the taproom’s kitchen later this month – bringing its famous giant five-layer slabs and obscenely good mozzarella sticks with it.

Meanwhile, Kong’s chef-owner Tom Potts has revealed to The Manc that he has a new Mexican concept up his sleeve and will be moving into a new site in the Northern Quarter with it later this month.

ADVERTISEMENT
Launched in lockdown, Tom first launched Kong’s Chicken Shop with this iconic ‘chicken crackling’ burger – now he’s about to launch his fifth concept in two years. / Image: Kong’s Chicken Shop

Read more: Manchester’s lasagne restaurant is moving to a new home this month

From the man that brought us fried chicken roast dinners and double-dredged burgers with a special chicken ‘crackling’ now comes Kong’s Cantina.

Serving up a range of cheesy quesadillas and flavourful tacos, it is set to open permanently inside an NQ basement kitchen later this summer – taking over from another popular eatery currently on the cusp of opening its own restaurant.

The Cantina is the sixth concept to be launched by the brand, which first emerged in lockdown after former CBRB bar manager Tom Potts found himself furloughed and with plenty of time on his hands to experiment with what he loves best.

Read more: Manchester vegan restaurant closes after just eight months in the city

Tom Potts, founder of Kong’s. / Image: Kong’s Chicken Shop
The famous Kong’s fried chicken roast dinner. / Image: Kong’s Chicken Shop

After a successful couple of years for Kong’s, he now lays claim to the original Kong’s Chicken Shop, Kong’s Diner at Dogbowl, and the Kong’s Sandwich Shop at Hatch.

ADVERTISEMENT

He also briefly ran Kong’s Meat and Three from Northern Monk, which drew inspiration from Nashville’s famous ‘meat and three’ barbecue restaurants, and a Christmas kebab shop in partnership with now-closed Spinningfields bar Clubhouse.

Read more: The Manchester kitchen inspired by Nashville’s famous meat and three restaurants

Clearly full of ideas, the menu for Kong’s Cantina is yet to be released but we’re expecting very good things when it drops (hopefully sometime later this week).

To keep up with more news and announcements ahead of the opening, make sure to follow Kong’s on social media here.

Feature image – Kong’s Chicken Shop

News

New stations appear across Manchester for city’s rentable ‘Burnham bike’ scheme

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

The roll-out of Greater Manchester’s Bee Bike cycle hire scheme has stepped up a gear, with new docking stations appearing across the city centre.

The scheme, nicknamed the ‘Burnham bikes’ as a nod to London’s ‘Boris bikes’, initially launched in Salford and along the Oxford Road corridor.

Several new yellow stations have appeared around Manchester now, with plenty more on the way.

The next phase of the roll-out of the Bee Bikes has seen stations installed around St Peter’s Square and Manchester Central.

‘Burnham Bike’ cycle hire stations near St Peter’s Square. Credit: The Manc Group

By the time the scheme is complete, bike numbers will increase to 1,500, which will include 300 e-bikes.

It’s all part of the vision for a Bee Network – a joined-up, integrated public transport network across the region.

And it’s certainly off to a more successful start than Mobike, which famously withdrew from Manchester due to high levels of vandalism and theft.

The Bee Bikes are funded by TgGM and operated by Beryl, which runs similar schemes in London, Watford and Bournemouth.

Richard Nickson, programme director, Cycling and Walking at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The cycle hire scheme has really taken off in Greater Manchester since it was first introduced, and we are seeing significant numbers of riders and distances travelled by on the bikes- which is fantastic, particularly as we are still in the early days of the scheme’s roll out.

“The next phase of the roll-out has now started in Manchester city centre, with new stations installed at key locations including Manchester Central Library, Manchester Central Convention Centre and
St Peter’s Square.

Read more: Manchester is OFFICIALLY in the running to host Eurovision

“More stations are due to be installed in Manchester city centre over the coming weeks, before the scheme continues to expand its footprint to new locations in Salford and Trafford.

“Once complete the scheme will see bike numbers increase to 1,500 – including 300 e-bikes – and over 150 new stations in operation.”

To see all the new stations as they appear and find the nearest one to you, you can download the Bee Network Cycle Hire app.

Featured image: TfGM

News

Manchester is OFFICIALLY in the running to host Eurovision

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

The potential host cities for Eurovision 2023 have been announced this morning – and Manchester is officially in with a chance.

The UK has stepped in to host the global singing contest in place of this year’s winners, Ukraine.

As our nation was runner-up this year with Sam Ryder’s Spaceman giving us our biggest success in years, it’s over to the UK to welcome all the countries taking part.

Cities have been announcing their bids for several weeks, with 20 expressions of interest to host sent in.

Sam Ryder came second in last year’s Eurovision. Credit: BBC

But it’s a complicated event, so those who wish to host need to actually have a suitable venue and the financial contribution too, and demonstrate that they will celebrate and honour Ukrainian culture and artists.

The shortlist of seven cities has just been announced live on BBC Radio Two, on Zoe Ball’s breakfast show.

The full shortlist for the cities that may host Eurovision in 2023:

Birmingham

Glasgow

Leeds

Liverpool

Manchester

Newcastle

Sheffield

If Manchester is successful, Eurovision will take place at the AO Arena in the city centre, Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig has announced.

She said: “We are thrilled to have made it through to the next stage to become the 2023 Eurovision host city.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Manchester stands ready to put on the biggest party in the UK at the city’s AO Arena, taking our place in Eurovision’s unique history.

Read more: The Eurovision Song Contest will officially be held in the UK in 2023

“We have a large and proud Ukrainian community in Manchester. It would be our privilege to host this iconic celebration on their behalf and we will do everything we can to honour them throughout.”

“We’re exceptionally grateful that the BBC has accepted to stage the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023,” said Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest’s Executive Supervisor.

“The BBC has taken on hosting duties for other winning countries on four previous occasions. Continuing in this tradition of solidarity, we know that next year’s Contest will showcase the creativity and skill of one of Europe’s most experienced public broadcasters whilst ensuring this year’s winners, Ukraine, are celebrated and represented throughout the event.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The final decision will be based on scoring criteria from the BBC and the EBU.

It’s expected that the host city will officially be announced in the autumn.

Featured image: EBU / Corinne Cumming

More News

Business

New record high number of jobs being advertised in the UK for 2022

City Centre

Manchester restaurant famed for ‘inflexible’ tasting menu completely flips the script

News

A massive Boeing 747 plane is cruising up the M6 near Manchester today

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches