Since its arrival in Manchester, Michelin-recommended new wave Thai BBQ favourite District has staked its reputation on two things: fantastically surreal, delicious food and an extremely inflexible tasting menu.
Until recently its diners have had two choices, opt for the ten-course tasting menu or spring for the twelve, and whilst everyone I’ve ever known to go has swooned in delight over the whole experience, there’s no denying it hardly makes for a cheap night out (or an easily organised one).
Deposits have always been required up front, and adaptions have famously never been made for a customer’s dislikes, or even religious needs. It’s for this reason, and this reason alone, that until last week I’d never made it over – despite wanting desperately to go.
Simply put, I’d just struggled to find anyone prepared to give up a whole evening (and a shed load of cash) to come with me. Amazing, I know, but thankfully, that’s all now changed.
Last year, the kitchen made headlines after getting embroiled in a ‘religious diet’ row with a Jewish customer who’d taken umbrage with its refund policy.
The whole affair culminated with District posting the entire altercation to its social media pages, alongside a caption stating it ‘will not be bullied or threatened into returning deposits’.
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During the row, the customer had asked, “why not shout loud on your homepage ‘We don’t cater for Jews’”. Still, they held firm.
A year on and it seems that external pressures may have caused that iron will to buckle, because for the first time ever the Michelin-acclaimed restaurant has moved to offer dishes individually.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
In a complete change of direction, diners can now pop in off the cuff to enjoy a few plates and a couple of drinks. Personally, I think it’s the best news ever, but then I would. It’ll be much easier to get my friends in now.
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Suddenly one of the best restaurants in the city has become so much more accessible, and its timing couldn’t be better. After all, we’re all getting poorer, and whilst not everyone has £100 to spend on dinner, everyone deserves a taste of the magic happening in the kitchen here.
Whilst the restaurant maintains that diners can either curate their own District experience or simply pop in for a few dishes, on our visit it is very much a small plate, tapas-style service, with everything appearing on the table in front of us in quick succession.
Translucent stone bass (£9) floats alien-like in its dish with crispy purple yam antennae suspended above a shimmering nam jim, whilst a pinky-purple pigeon satay (£9) is rich and gamey, dressed with sweetcorn, pumpkin seeds and crisped turnip all unfolding on the plate like a flower in bloom.
Every dish here is a surprise, ranging from a beautifully fresh salad of peach, pear, ginger and shrimp floss, to chicken fat rice, which comes showered in a generous helping of crumbed crispy skin.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
That rule extends into the desserts too. Homemade ‘tangfastic’ tamarind and chicken fat fudge sweets appear, suspended, on their own white marble platform like some sort of futuristic offering.
Elsewhere, a calamansi curd pavlova with sheeps yoghurt and passion fruit reinvents any preconceived notions I might have had about Thai food – or pavlova for that matter.
As Marina O’Loughiling wrote in her review of District for The Times last year, this is “Thai, but not as we know it”.
Speaking on the change of direction for the restaurant, owner Ben Humphries said: “We are passionate about creating the highest quality experience for our customers.
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“Our aim is to capture the essence of Thai flavours whilst maintaining the highest quality produce, suppliers and dishes.
“Changing our service style will give us creative freedom in the kitchen. We can develop dishes that don’t have to fit into a tasting menu format. We will also have the opportunity to offer daily changing special dishes.”
The new menu is available now with bookings being taken under ‘New Wave Thai’ on District’s bookings page here.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
11 arrested and £70k cash seized during early-morning police drug raids across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
11 people have been arrested, as well as a large amount of cash and drugs seized, during early-morning raids across Greater Manchester.
The raids took place during the early hours of the morning yesterday (Thursday 19 March 2026), where Greater Manchester Police (GMP) successfully executed eight warrants simultaneously across Tameside, Oldham, and Rochdale to tackle a ‘suspected criminal network’ involved in the distribution of class A drugs and firearms.
Officers from Tameside Programme Challenger team, the District Intelligence Unit (DIU), and GMP’s Tactical Aid Unit (TAU) were deployed to each of the addresses.
Following weeks of intelligence gathering and preparation, a total of 11 people – each aged between 24 and 77 – were arrested on suspicion of drug-related offences during the raids.
Eight men and three women were arrested on suspicion of a range of offences, including conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, being part of an organised crime group, possession with intent to supply, money laundering, and possession of an offensive weapon.
They all remain in police custody for questioning at this time, GMP confirmed.
During searches of the addresses, various class A, B and C drugs – including crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and nitrous oxide – were seized, while further recoveries of £70,000 in cash, a zombie knife, a BB gun, and four vehicles were also made at the same time.
Speaking following the success of the raids yesterday, Chief Superintendent Shan Nasim, District Commander for Tameside, said: “[This] operation has been a powerful example of our continued, determined effort to dismantle organised crime in our district and Greater Manchester.
“We have 11 people in custody being questioned by our investigation teams in relation to an organised crime group (OCG) that have been causing widespread harm across our communities.
“This action caused significant disruption of an organised crime group (OCG) and has prevented drugs and weapons from reaching the streets, as well as the associated harms that come hand in hand with organised crime.
“Organised criminals exploit vulnerable people and blight our communities; we will take robust action to catch offenders, keep our communities safe, and protect vulnerable people across Greater Manchester.”
Featured Image – GMP
News
The Premier League is keeping its crucial cap on away game ticket prices – for now
Danny Jones
The Premier League has announced it is extending its crucial price cap for away games, as the general cost of match tickets continues to creep up all over the country.
Most season card holders, be they here in Greater Manchester or elsewhere, are likely looking at their annual spending going up simply, so steps like these are key in keeping first division football as affordable as possible.
And that’s just the ongoing cost of living, let alone the clubs that are continuing the trend of charging more each year and, unfortunately, even pricing some supporters out entirely.
With that in mind, the news of England’s top-flight sides voting unanimously to keep the £30 cap intact for at least another two years comes as relief to those who spend most of the year putting their hard-earned cash towards following their team home and away.
BREAKING: The Premier League extend £30 cap on away tickets for another two seasons 🚨 pic.twitter.com/L336aZwmn3
Now confirmed to remain in place until the end of the 2027/28 campaign, travelling fans obviously still spend plenty of money on transport and so on every year, but at least they don’t have to worry about rising general admissions.
At least not for the time being…
Writing in a statement, the Premier League said: “Away fans help create the incredible atmosphere Premier League matches are renowned for. Since the cap’s implementation in 2016, it has contributed to attendance at away games increasing from 82% to 91%.”
They also acknowledged the significant and regular funds that supporters still spend on these trips, with plenty of people online also praising the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), which helped spearhead the campaign over a decade ago.
With so many other obstacles still getting in the way of fans making it to games either at their usual stadium or on an away day – not least of all the constant and increasingly frustrating rescheduling of fixtures – it’s good to see this isn’t an area the Prem are trying to target.
As always, the multi-billion-pound business can always seek out other, newer money spinners, and we’re absolutley certain they will. For instance, there’s at least one happening over in Spain that we’d happily see carried over here.
Following the news, this now means that fans will ultimately have enjoyed 12 back-to-back seasons of the benefit, and long may it continue.
Nevertheless, the biggest barrier for people to watch the beautiful game at its highest level in the UK remains the cost of standard tickets.
The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Leeds and more have already let matchgoers know that their season ticket prices will be going up, and the likes of Man City have already seen backlash for increasing rates amid the expansion of the Etihad Campus.
Georgina Pellant -
11th August 2022 
