Manchester is to get its first-ever bar dedicated to sake, it has been confirmed, with an opening date set for next month.
Whilst the likes of Cottonopolis, Yuzu and The Sparrows are all well known for stocking a (more than) decent selection of premium sakes, this will be the first time that a bar completely dedicated to the fermented rice wine drink has opened up in the city.
Called Monkey Trio, it will offer drinkers a range of different Japanese sake styles, as well as various Japanese-made whiskies and craft matcha beers.
Monkey Trio will open next to the popular match dessert tea house Tsujiri beneath Vita Living North sometime in May.
Details of the exact sake brands are being kept under wraps for now, but we hope to see a selection of sparkling and flavoured sakes on offer alongside more traditional styles like Junmai daiginjo as a minimum.
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The new sake bar comes amidst a bevvy of new food and drink arrivals at the Circle Square development, and will be joined by a new chicken wing specialist and a bubble tea cafe with a Manchester twist.
Image: Supplied
Chicken wing specialists Bird of Prey will bring its superior fried chicken to the Oxford Road site, offering up platters of fiery wings on their own or loaded on top of waffles, American-style.
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A secret dredging and frying method is said to put this chicken as a cut above the rest – although with some serious competition already in Manchester it remains to be seen if Bird of Prey can seriously take on the likes of Kong’s Chicken Shop and Chimaek.
Elsewhere, the development will also welcome a new traditional bubble tea cafe with a localised Manchester menu, featuring classic milk and fruit teas, alongside unique specials like Iron Goddess fresh milk tea and sweet potato boba.
Circle Square also houses Hello Oriental – a three-storey Asian food hall where diners can feast on everything from Chinese roasts to dim sum, baos to noodles, and fried rice to seafood.
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Speaking on the new arrivals at Circle Square, Max Bielby, Chief Operating Officer from Vita Group, said: “Circle Square is fast becoming Manchester’s go-to destination with new restaurants and retailers opening each month, there’s a real buzz surrounding this new community and what’s to come.
Read more:Inside Hello Oriental, Manchester’s giant new three-storey Asian food hall
“We can’t wait for Manchester to get its first Japanese sake bar with Monkey Trio and Tsuiri, showstopping fried chicken and waffles thanks to Bird of Prey and Pan-Asian teas and cosmetics with Uncle T and Momo.”
Feature image – Unsplash
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Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Georgina Pellant -
11th April 2022 
