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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Victim named and murder investigation launched after young woman is killed in Newton Heath stabbing
Emily Sergeant
The victim of a street stabbing in Newton Heath this week has been named for the first time as a murder investigation continues.
It comes after officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) responded to reports of a disturbance at around 2am yesterday (Thursday 15 October) on Dorking Avenue, in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, and when they arrived on the scene, they found a woman in her 20s with serious injuries that were ‘consistent with a stabbing’.
Despite best efforts of all emergency services involved, the young woman was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
As the murder investigation progresses, the woman has now been publicly named and a photo of her has been released for the first time.
She has been named as 26-year-old Alisha Samuels.
At this time, one man, aged 25, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and a man and woman, aged 61 and 38, have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and they all remain in custody – with officers continuing their enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this incident.
Alisha’s family have asked for privacy whilst they deal with the devastating loss of their loved one, GMP has stated.
“We are continuing to urge people who may have information in relation to this incident to please come forward to support our investigation and bring justice for Alisha,” the police force said in a public appeal.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has mobile phone, CCTV, or doorbell footage, is urged to call GMP on 0161 856 5464, or contact them via the Major Incident Public Portal here.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Featured Image – GMP (Family Handout)
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Former supply teacher jailed for multiple upskirting and AI sex offences across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A former supply teacher has been jailed for multiple upskirting and AI sex offences in schools across Greater Manchester.
Abusali Rahman – a British national of Bangladeshi ethnicity from Salford – appeared in Bolton Crown Court this week for his sentencing after first being charged with, and then pleading guilty to, several offences.
The offences are including, but not limited to, 12 counts of taking an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child (images obtained by upskirting), three counts of making indecent photograph / pseudo-photograph of a child (making AI-generated images), and one count of attempting to meet girl under 16 following sexual grooming.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between December 2023 and June 2025, according to Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Twelve girls have been identified in relation to the upskirting offences – aged between 13 and 16 at the time of the alleged offending – at seven high schools in three Greater Manchester boroughs (Bury, Bolton, and Salford).
GMP says it has remained in close contact with the schools, local authorities, and other partners throughout the investigation to ensure all appropriate support is in place for those who need it.
Additionally, the court also heard how Rahman amassed a collection of images of young girls, using AI and other methods to sexualise them.
The images numbered more than 300 in total, ranging from Category A to Category C classifications, and Rahman would post these on social media, often alongside humiliating and disgusting captions.
Rahman was sentenced to six years in prison, and will also be subject to a 20-year Sexual Harm Protection Order.
A former supply teacher has been jailed for child sex offences in schools across Greater Manchester / Credit: GMP
Detective Constable Lisa McGaffin, from GMP’s Bolton Child Protection Team, described Rahman’s crimes as ‘absolutely abhorrent’.
“My thoughts throughout this process have always been with the young girls who have been subject to such indignity,” DC McGaffin said following the sentencing this week. “Their welfare and support will always be a priority for us.
“While working as a teacher – someone who young children should trust and be safe with – Rahman repeatedly took secret photos for his own sick gratification, before posting images online which showed his total disregard for the girls’ respect and dignity.
Georgina Pellant -
19th April 2022 
