This Manchester bar is doing a bottomless ‘rice and three’ with unlimited prosecco, lager and wine
Manchester has a special relationship with rice and three shops, but this new bottomless rice and three curry night at The Smithfield Social NQ is taking things to a whole new level.
Walk through the backstreets of the Northern Quarter today and it won’t take you long to stumble across one of the city’s famous ‘curry caffs’, where a dollop of rice and three aromatic curries will typically set you back just a fiver at lunch.
Now closely-guarded Mancunian institutions, they first sprung up in the 80s to provide local textile warehouse workers with a quick fix lunch. Suffice to say, a city-wide obsession soon followed.
Image: The Smithfield Social NQ
Well aware of how much us Mancs love a good ‘rice and three’, the team at The Smithfield Social NQ has gone one better by adding a bottomless booze option to its proceedings – which it’s calling ‘Ruby Tuesdays’ in a nod to co-owner Liam Fray’s rock and roll heritage.
Alongside belting out rock and roll tunes from the likes of Bowie, The Monkeys, The Clash and more, for £27.50 you’ll be treated to ninety minutes of unlimited prosecco, lager, red or white wine alongside your choice of rice and three – with naans included.
You’ll be treated to ninety minutes of unlimited prosecco, lager, red or white wine alongside your choice of rice and three with naans included / Image: theoverdramaticvegan
Served on a Tuesday night only, the bottomless rice and three menu changes weekly – drawing inspiration from different regions of South Asia. This week, expect to tuck into some delicious Punjabi chicken, a lamb rogan josh, and a vegan curry with mushrooms, aubergine and coconut.
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Vegans, meanwhile, can enjoy sag aloo and lentil daal alongside their curry to make the most of the deal too.
Image: The Smithfield Social NQ
As well as all that, you can also spring for some optional extras to pad out your table if you feel like going the whole hog on the night. With extras like tandoori lamb chops and prawn pakoras, alongside daal and sag aloo, you’ll be pretty spoilt for choice.
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Served every Tuesday night from 5 to 9 pm (last tables must be seated at 9 pm), this is the bottomless curry deal that Manchester has been waiting for.
To find out more and book your table. visit their website here.
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Cult US sustainable clothing brand Reformation to open in Manchester city centre
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Cult US sustainable clothing brand Reformation is set to open its doors in Manchester very soon.
Since it was first founded in Los Angeles all the way back in 2009, Reformation has gone on to become one of the largest sustainable womenswear brands on the planet, and is now known and loved for making beautiful, timeless apparel and accessories that aim to ‘inspire confidence’ across life stages and occasions.
Operating on a business model that pairs a smart approach to merchandising with a responsive supply chain, Reformation now operates more than 70 retail stores across the US, UK, Canada, and France.
At the heart of the Reformation story is a genuine commitment to ‘doing things differently’.
Since day one, sustainability has been woven into everything the brand makes – from the eco-certified fabrics and responsible factories, to its famously transparent sustainability reports.
Currently, Reformation has five UK stores to its name – but, it may come as no surprise to fans of the brand that they’re all in London.
That’s why the news of this new Manchester opening is such a big deal.
Set to be the label’s first UK store outside of the capital, Reformation has secured a prime spot on King Street in the heart of the city centre, and although there’s no confirmed opening date as of yet, if the shop windows saying ‘Summer 2026’ are anything to go by, we can only imagine it’ll be very soon.
“For Manchester, it’s a landmark moment, and for King Street, it’s the latest signal that this is one of the UK’s most exciting retail destinations,” a spokesperson for King Street said in a statement.
Stay tuned for details on opening dates to be announced in due course.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis
Emily Sergeant
A series of ‘everyday fixes’ to help combat the rising cost of living crisis are soon to be rolled out nationwide.
Kicking off with two measures today, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he plans to ban retailers from making ‘misleading’ claims to customers about discounts.
The Government says shoppers have ‘increasingly complained’ about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as increasing prices only to then immediately advertise ‘discounts’ to make savings look larger than they really are, which goes on to create an uneven playing field for honest competitors.
The Prime Minister also wants to see an end to so-called ‘subscription traps’, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions, and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost.
Set to come into force in January 2027 and saving people an average of £14 a month for every unwanted subscription, the changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders. and a ‘much easier’ exit to contracts.
Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis / Credit: gov.uk | Piotr Cichosz (via Unsplash)
A new 14-day cooling-off period will also be introduced to let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.
Certain charitable memberships, like the ones for cultural and heritage organisations for example, will be excluded from the new subscription rules due to the fact they have a unique role in preserving the nation’s history, landscapes, and cultural collections.
The Prime Minister says he is ‘determined’ to use every chance he gets to restore fairness and take pressure off people.
“I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps,” Andy Burnham said. “Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life, but I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives.”
Georgina Pellant -
20th September 2021 
