A new Thai restaurant taking inspiration from the country’s northeastern region will bring street food-style barbeque dining to Manchester next month.
Brand new Manchester bar and kitchen Neon Tiger will open on 64 Bridge Street this June, in the former Grindsmith unit next door to what was once Randall and Aubin’s Manchester brasserie.
Here, its chefs will use traditional cooking processes of live fire and smoked meat to create a range of sharing dishes to be enjoyed with cocktails and a seasonally-changing wine list.
The Thai grill house, or Baan Yang, will pay homage to traditional charcoal cooking methods with a host of grilled skewer dishes.
Image: Supplied
Diners can expect house made lemongrass and turmeric smoked sausages, King oyster mushroom skewers, and coal-roasted aubergine served with soft boiled egg and sweet soy dressing.
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Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find a centrepiece coconut chicken curry noodle bowl – made using hand-pulled noodles created by the Manchester-based Komuji team – as well as bright salads and reimagine nostalgic Thai favourites.
Working closely with a range of premium Manchester-based suppliers, a fluid and seasonal wine list will be provided to the restaurant by Northern Quarter-based specialists Ad Hoc – promising to showcase organic and sustainable wines from around the world.
As part of this offering, a wine flight will also be available as part of the restaurant’s dining experience.
Furthermore, the restaurant will house a contemporary open bar at its front that will serve fun speciality cocktails based on individual flavours like melon, pineapple, grapefruit and rhubarb.
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Image: Supplied
Ben Morris, Co-Founder of Neon Tiger, said: “We love this city and are looking forward to bringing what we think will be a new F+B experience to Manchester.
“Neon Tiger was born from our obsession with classic neighbourhood bars, incredible wines and exciting cocktails.
“Food-wise we have taken inspiration from some of our favourite restaurants like Kiln, Smoking Goat and Temper in London as we have always been massive fans of this style of BBQ and think that the bright and bold flavours you get from these dishes would shine in a more relaxed and bar focused space.
“Most of all we hope to have created a welcoming and comfortable environment for people to come and try some delicious things.”
Neon Tiger will open on Bridge Street on Wednesday 8 June, 2022. Opening hours will be Monday to Thursday from 4pm to 12am; and Friday to Sunday from 12pm to 12am.
Feature image – Geograph
News
1,500 miles of roadworks lifted to help ease congestion for drivers this bank holiday weekend
Emily Sergeant
1,500 miles of roadworks have now been lifted across the UK.
With half term well underway already, and now millions of drivers set to hit the road over the next five days as Easter bank holiday weekend arrives, giving Brits two extra days off, National Highways has now confirmed that, as of today (Thursday 2 April), around 1,500 miles of roadworks have been lifted nationwide.
Roads are expected to be ‘especially’ busy tomorrow in particular (Good Friday), National Highways predicts, as this is the day people are most likely to head on a spring getaway.
So, in a bid to help ease congestion for drivers up and down the motorways, roadworks have been removed up until Bank Holiday Monday (6 April).
“By keeping 98% of routes clear, we’re supporting the wider economy where it matters most to tourism, freight, and local businesses,” National Highways said in a statement.
1,500 miles of roadworks have been lifted to help ease congestion for drivers this bank holiday weekend / Credit: pxfuel
The decision to lift the roadworks comes as a new national survey revealed a total of 71,254 breakdowns were recorded in spring (March–May) last year, compared with 56,702 in 2022.
It also showed that more than one in two (53%) UK drivers have broken down on a motorway or major A-road in their lifetime, highlighting how common the experience is for both drivers and passengers, and why it’s important to take relevant safety precautions from all sides.
29% of drivers think their breakdown could have been prevented with simple vehicle safety checks, but 17% admit to rarely or never conducting these.
National Highways echoes the statement that most of these incidents could be avoided through ‘quick and basic’ checks, and is urging drivers heading away this bank holiday weekend to familiarise themselves with how to do these before hitting the roads, so they can reach their destinations safely, saving costs and reducing delays for all road users in the process.
“Millions of people will be hitting the roads over Easter, and we want everyone to have a safe and smooth journey,” commented Colin Stevenson, who is the Road Safety Information Lead at National Highways.
“A few simple checks can help to prevent many of the breakdowns we see each year and help drivers avoid unexpected delays, cost and stress.
“Our teams work around the clock to keep motorways and major A-roads moving and these small steps from drivers can make a big difference.”
Featured Image – Mike Birdy (via Pexels)
News
Police reinvest record £18m seized from criminals back into Greater Manchester’s communities
Emily Sergeant
A record £18 million seized from criminals within the past year has now been reinvested back into Greater Manchester’s communities.
Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) confirmed that its dedicated Economic Crime Team recovered a whopping £18,150,322.56, to be precise, from criminals in the past year alone, and it’s cash that will be now be reinvested as part of the successful Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) back into communities across Greater Manchester.
This is a record figure for the police service.
Throughout the past year, GMP says it has conducted more than 850 Proceeds of Crime (POCA) hearings.
As a result of these hearings, police have recovered millions from convicted drug dealers, fraudsters, crime gangs, and money launderers, as well as recovering a ‘significant’ amount of gold.
Police have reinvested record £18m seized from criminals back into Greater Manchester’s communities / Credit: GMP
You may remember that, back in May last year, officers working at Manchester Airport stopped a man found to be carrying five gold bars weighing more than 15kg in his hand luggage as he prepared to fly abroad.
Following this seizure, GMP was then granted in February its largest-ever forfeiture order for gold bars – valued at £1.8m.
Some of the other seizures and forfeitures over the past year include just over £135,000 from a suspect after his car was stopped on the M62 in November 2025, and another £138,144 was recovered from a man after he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
GMP was granted its largest-ever forfeiture order for gold bars – valued at £1.8m / Credit: GMP
“The work of our Economic and Cyber Crime Unit in the last 12 months to recover over £18 million in criminal assets has been nothing short of outstanding,” commented Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson, who is GMP’s lead for crime.
“This record figure reflects the hard work and dedication of our officers and staff to investigate, solve crime and bring offenders to justice.
“As we move into a new financial year, we will continue to maintain an ambitious and innovative approach while adapting and developing with partners to target criminal assets and embrace technology to remain a step ahead of changing criminal activity.
“Through using the ARIS process, this criminal money can be reinvested back into local communities for the benefit of the public we serve.
“This work reflects GMP’s continued drive to deliver an outstanding service to our Greater Manchester communities while building public trust and confidence in the service we deliver.”
Georgina Pellant -
30th May 2022 
