Manchester restaurant Dishoom has been praised online after one of its servers scribbled the calorie counts off its menu at a customer’s request.
Calorie labelling on menus became a legal requirement for restaurant groups employing over 250 staff in the UK earlier this month, but the move has already been widely criticised by eating disorder charities, restauranteurs, chefs and food critics.
Visiting Dishoom’s popular Manchester restaurant over the weekend, English teacher Sophie Bartlett asked the staff for a menu without the calories listed next to every dish but was told that they didn’t have one – so one of her servers took a pen and scribbled them all off for her instead.
Image: Sophie Bartlett via Twitter Image: Dishoom
Sharing an image of the menu alongside her experience in the restaurant to Twitter, Sophie praised Dishoom and her server Georgia, writing: “Massive kudos to @Dishoom Manchester – I asked for a menu without calories but they didn’t have one so one of the staff (Georgia) took a menu and scribbled out all the calories for me.”
The restaurant has since replied to Sophie to say that it will be adding a calorie free menu option, available on request, at all of its sites ‘very soon’.
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The tweet from Dishoom in reply said: “Hi Sophie, I’m glad to hear our Manchester team was able to help. We will be having an option of a calorie free menu, if requested, very soon in all our cafes.”
Image: Dishoom
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News yesterday, Sophie described the government’s new calorie labelling legislation as a ‘lazy’ response to promoting health and wellness in the UK.
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She said: “I know some restaurants have calorie-free menus available upon request already, I visited three restaurants over the weekend at the servers at each of them said they disagreed with the policy – one of the servers ever offered to handwrite out the entire menu for me.
“I think this is a lazy, cheap and easy solution to the ‘obesity problem’ that has allegedly cropped up since Covid. This has been done in the US and hasn’t worked. There is also SO much more to nutrition than calorie intake.
Image: Dishoom
“I fear it will create such a negative relationship with food with people – particularly women. I think there should at least be the option of a calorie free menu – and to have it offered, not just upon request.”
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Sophie’s original tweet has since been liked over 16,000 times with hundreds piling into the comments to give their thoughts on the new calorie-listed menus.
One person wrote in reply, “This is great, a calorie listed menu should be available to those who want it rather than forced on everyone.”
A third wrote, “Jumping in to answer this. 🙂 For people with a history of eating disorders, seeing calories on a menu can spark intense anxiety and inhibit their recovery (Or potentially stop them eating anything which is heartbreaking to witness)”
Another said, “I wish I could remember the exact numbers for you but children are like 200% more likely to develop an eating disorder than diabetes. Our societies obsession with diets and weight is causing a lot of problems for our kids. :(“
Read more:‘Until I’m forced to do it, I wouldn’t’ says Simon Wood as calorie counts added to UK menus
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However, some users appeared to be in support of the calorie labelling system and defended the new calorie labelling system.
The Department of Health and Social Care has said that obesity is one of the biggest health issues being faced in the UK today, and claims that food labelling plays an important role in helping people to make healthier choices.
A spokesperson added people were ‘used to seeing nutritional information on products sold in supermarkets’ and that the governments’ policy has been informed by extensive research conducted with mental health charities and experts.
Feature image – Dishoom
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Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently
Danny Jones
We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.
If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.
As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.
“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”
Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.
Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.
Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.
Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”
“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”
“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!
“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”
They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.
As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.
Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.
AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.
It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.
In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.
Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.
The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.
Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.
More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.
The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.
Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.
This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.
This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.
It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.
AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.
Georgina Pellant -
19th April 2022 
