The glorious Chinatown bakery that’s been feeding Manchester for 20 years
Whether you're after egg tars, pandan cakes or coconut flower buns, this fresh Chinese bakery is a must visit whenever you find yourself in Manchester city centre.
Over in Manchester’s Chinatown, there’s a little family-run spot that is the place to go when you’re craving delicate Chinese buns, pastries and cakes.
From egg custard tarts made with the lightest, crumbly Chinese puff pastry, to fluffy buns flavoured with ham and cheese, sesame, red bean, pandan and more, if you’ve not been to a Chinese bakery before then trust us, it’s well worth a trip for the colourful cream cakes alone.
First established in 2003, Wong Wong Bakery is a firm local favourite with a wide variety of sweet and savoury choices on offer. Ever since Ho’s Bakery closed in 2021, it’s also the last shop of its kind left in the neighbourhood.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Sitting on Princess Street next door to Yang Sing (which happens to be one of Chinatown’s oldest restaurants) it is easy enough to find, with a jolly-looking baker good-naturedly juggling plates of goodies in each hand on its colourful sign.
Inside it is clean and modern, with red lanterns hung up high in anticipation of the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations.
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On display are bevvy of colourful and enticing treats, ranging from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Think bright green pandan cakes and coconut flower buns to savoury bread: some covered in ham and cheese, others filled with pork floss, sweetcorn and tuna then rolled in seaweed.
Wong Wong Bakery’s pork floss, sweetcorn and tuna seaweed roll. / Image: The Manc Eats
There are some unusual (to a Western palate, at least) flavours on offer here, as well as some cute looking buns – including an adorable one shaped like a tortoise, complete with two eyes and a cartoonish smile on its tiny head.
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They also serve traditional pineapple buns, so named for their characteristic cracked golden yellow topping (so don’t expect to find any pineapple in there), as well as tempting celebration cakes that look so good they have us wondering who in office has a birthday coming up next.
When we visit, there’s quite a queue. People line up to get their fill of tarts, pastries and buns on a Monday lunchtime – their gold wire baskets brimming with bags of buns snatched from the grab-and-go display cabinets next to the front door.
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Everything here is made, fresh with the bakehouse clearly visible from the shop. As you line up and wait, you can see the bakers through the glass working away in a pristine-looking kitchen that sits in the corner.
Opposite are the cashiers, their tills flanked by two glass cabinets brimming over with innumerable cakes and pastries.
Speaking of the cashiers, for our final word let us warn you: if you want your treats, make sure to bring cash. It is strictly cash only, and there’s no wiggle room on that.
We, ourselves, forgot and had to run back to the office to beg borrow and steal some money. Don’t be like us. These bakes are too good to miss out on.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
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.”
Featured Image – GMP
News
Dispute over Manichester now ‘resolved’, say Mounfield family
Danny Jones
The family of the late, great Manchester musician, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, have said that the drama surrounding the highly-anticipated tribute festival in his name, Manichester, has now thankfully been settled.
Now the focus can once again return to remembering him as best as possible.
Following plenty of talk about the project following his passing late last year, a live music festival honouring Mani was finally confirmed in March, and the reaction following the event’s announcement has been unsurprisingly phenomenal.
Well, at least for the most part, as there was also some confusion over whether or not Manichester was still a charitable effort as advertised, with son Gene Mounfield disputing claims online. Fortunately, it all seems to have been put to bed now.
On behalf of the boys, and as their legal guardian, I want to thank everyone for the kind messages and concern for their wellbeing. There was a misunderstanding regarding the upcoming Manichester tribute concert, but we’re pleased to share that everything has now been resolved. pic.twitter.com/j8jEMrFzsD
Being organised by Madchester.com and locally-founded fashion label, GIOGOI, the debut edition was said to have the total blessing of Mani’s family, including his brother, Greg Mounfield.
It was also said that the funds raised by the show would be going to the legendary Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassists’ twins, George and Gene, but the latter recently argued that “nothing” was going to either him or his brother and that the news was “dropped” the plans just a fortnight prior.
Gene also said that “if it was a charity gig it would be at Co-op [Live] or Heaton Park, and it would be done by SJM [Concerts]”: a Manchester-based promoters and events company.
All of this was also wrapped up in ever more paper talk and sensationalism, as some were reporting that Noel and Liam Gallagher, as well as other members of Oasis, would be surprising fans as the still yet to be revealed ‘major headliner’.
These rumours have since been quashed, as has whatever miscommunication caused the misunderstanding between the parties concerned, and we are now back to simply looking forward to seeing an already stacked lineup here in the city centre this May.
Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene (a fellow bassist who also tours with Richard Ashcroft) is helping organise and will also be performing on the night itself. As for the surviving Mounfields, they went on to add in an accompanying Instagram post: “We would also like to express our gratitude to PH.
“It means a great deal to all of us that so many people loved Mani enough to give their time and energy to honour his memory in this way. We are genuinely touched by the support.
“It has been an incredibly difficult few years for the boys and for our whole family. We hope this event will bring some much‑needed joy and create new, positive memories for everyone who cared about him.
“With love and thanks – The Family”
It goes without saying that we can’t wait for this city and Greater Manchester as a whole to honour a Manc icon and are looking forward to another year celebrating the thing that never fails to bring us all together: music.
Georgina Pellant -
17th January 2023 
