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Manchester’s student shopping event is back and ‘bigger than ever’ – with huge discounts at over 120 stores

MCR Student Social is back for one day only on Thursday 29 September.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 22nd September 2022

Manchester‘s popular student shopping event is back and “bigger than ever” next week, and there’s dozens of discounts up for grabs.

With a new academic year, comes the return of MCR Student Social.

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For just one day only next week, both new and returning students can make the most of a whole host of unmissable offers – with over 120 stores inside Manchester Arndale and across the city centre dishing out discounts.

There’ll also be live entertainment, competitions and games to get involved in, and so much more.

Students who make their way into the heart of the city centre between 12pm – 7pm next Thursday 219 September can get their hands on up to 30% off in over 120 stores – including Levi’s, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, River Island, Monki, Pretty Green, Mango, Superdry, Kick Game, Jack & Jones, Office and Schuh.

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Not only that, but if all the shopping has got you working up an appetite, then there’s also up to 50% off on food and drink at places like Döner Shack, Archie’s, Pizza Hut, Pan-n-Ice, Wolf Italian Street Food, and Slim Chickens.

The Cube, and Putters at Urban Playground are also offering up to 50% off too.

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And on top of all those incredible deals, there’ll be plenty of free entertainment to enjoy throughout the Arndale and city centre.

Here’s everything you can expect.

MCR Student Social is back for one day only on Thursday 29 September / Credit: MCR Student Social

Manchester Arndale

As the main hub of the MCR Student Social 2022, head inside Manchester Arndale to spin the wheel at the ‘Student Digs’ for a chance to win some prizes, both big and small, that are perfect for your new home – with everything from toilet roll, to gift cards up for grabs.

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You can also challenge your mates to a nerves-of steel ‘Giant Human Buzzer’ game, where the loser has to put the bins out for a month

Make sure to keep an eye out for the ‘Roaming Roulette’ team too, where you’ll need to stick your hand in the roulette box and guess what the weird and wonderful textures are for a chance to take home some more prizes.

Manchester’s student shopping event is back and “bigger than ever” next week / Credit: Jason Lock Photography (via MCR Student Social)

Play Zone

Exchange Square

If you make your way over to Exchange Square, then you’ll be able to try your hand at Foam Axe Throwing, Pong, Crazy Golf and Virtual Bowling with Printworks.

Plus there’ll also be a table football tournament, giant games, and more from Manchester BID.

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Read more:

New and returning students can make the most of unmissable offers / Credit: Jason Lock Photography (via MCR Student Social)
There’ll also be live entertainment, competitions and games to get involved in / Credit: Jason Lock Photography (via MCR Student Social)

Party Zone, Info Zone & Food Zone

Market Street

Market Street is not only the city’s main shopping thoroughfare, but it’s also home to the MCR Student Social Party Zone, Info Zone, and Food Zone this year.

The Party Zone is where you’ll find Urban Playground’s The Cube, a chill-out area, free samples from Nordic Spirit, aerial performers, dancers, and games, as well as The Manc’s DJ Truck playing the finest hip-hop, funk and party anthems throughout the day.

Over at the Info Zone, you can tke on challenges from King Street Gym and Canal River Trust, sign up with MINT Hospitality & Events people, hear from the Manchester Science Festival, and chat to the team from Nationwide.

Then at the Food Zone, you can enjoy some free pizza from Franco Manca, giveaways from Döner Shack, prizes from Barburrito, and so much more.

Featured Image – MCR Student Social

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The award-winning cocktail bar hidden beneath the old Coronation Street cobbles

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Unbeknownst to many, there is an award-winning cocktail bar hidden beneath Coronation Street‘s original cobbles serving up some of the best drinks in the city.

Recently named ‘one to watch’ at the UK’s Top 50 Bar awards 2023, Project Halcyon has also just won the Best New Bar award – voted for by a community of some 17,000 hospitality staff at this month’s Manchester Bar Awards (MBAs).

Brought to Manchester by the team behind Zymogorium distillery, it originally opened in early 2020 – launching just weeks before the Covid 19 pandemic hit.

Like many other operators, the secret speakeasy – which is connected to the working distillery for Manchester gin makers Zymogorium – closed its doors during lockdown, then quietly relaunched in late October last year beneath Old Granada Studios.

Since reopening, it’s been flooded with accolades. General Manager Adam has just been named amongst the UK’s top 100 bartenders by World Class UK, whilst house bartender Reah Owen recently won the Rising Star award at the MBAs.

And yet, somehow, it’s still managing to fly under the radar as one of Manchester’s best-kept secrets – although, considering all the awards the team is winning, we expect this won’t remain the case for long.

Image: Project Halcyon
Image: Project Halcyon

The bar is something of a labyrinth with numerous corners to explore within its underground warren. As well as housing a large bar at its entrance, it’s also home to a dedicated absinthe parlour, Salon Vert, which has been painted to look like a woodland scene and features vintage crystal absinthe fountains.

Read more: This Manchester restaurant is serving an all-you-can-eat curry buffet throughout Ramadan

Elsewhere, there’s a still room and laboratory where the team uses chemistry equipment to create all the insane ingredients that go into their cocktails.

Add to this a self-playing grand piano and a rare collection of expensive spirits, and it’s safe to say Project Halcyon is very much up there with the city centre’s best cocktail bars.

As for its current drinks menu, open it up and you’ll discover that each signature cocktail is accompanied by a stunning illustration of a rare bird.

Choices include ‘Fourteen Days’, a long, tart drink that nods to the Halcyon days of Ancient Greece, and ‘Phoenix Down’, a smoky combination of smoky, nutty bourbon with bitter back notes that symbolises rebirth and eternal life.

Image: Project Halcyon
‘Murder of Crows’ (Chairmans Reserve Original – Cane Toad SMBS – Ming River Baijiu – Mandarin – 5 Spice). / Image: Project Halcyon

Elsewhere on the list, you’ll find the brilliantly-named cocktails ‘Act of Vanity’, a combination of melon liqueur, blueberry and Veuve Cliquot champagne, and ‘Murder of Crows’, a moody and short mix of spiced spirits that promises to be both dark and funky.

Read more: Inside the Manchester restaurant serving ‘India’s answer to a Wigan kebab’

The bar also serves up a list of six house classics, all of which are prebatched, prediluted and kept at -14 degrees ready to be poured at your table. Interestingly, though, because the drinks are already kept at the right temperature they aren’t diluted with water but rather with a variety of house-made concoctions.

General Manager Adam told The Manc that the most famous of these is the house vodka martini, made with Boatyard vodka, Cocchi Americano vermouth and clarified banana juice as the dilute.

Image: Project Halcyon
Image: Project Halcyon

“It makes for this insanely creamy, flavourful martini that’s classic but approachable,” he said, adding: “Our approach to the bar is that the science is for us to worry about, the hospitality is for the guests.

“We don’t put all this crazy techy stuff at the forefront of what we do. We prioritise good, classic, personal hospitality first and foremost.”

Read more: ‘We were treated awfully’ – ex-staffer speaks out as Freight Island gears up for reopening

The bar also boasts a vast collection of rare and expensive spirits – and amongst the usual suspects, such as Louis XIII cognac, sit some interesting pieces like the latest seasonal release from Nc’nean and Elena Wright, the latter a close friend of the bar and an award-winning Manchester bartender.

It also serves up a strong selection of wines and beers, not to mention a cracking gin and tonic. Of course, being run by one of Manchester’s original craft gin distilleries, we’d expect nothing less.

Feature image – Project Halcyon

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Inside the Manchester restaurant serving ‘India’s answer to a Wigan kebab’

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

When it comes to finding new and innovative ways to enjoy the humble potato, it’s fair to say that we Brits pretty much have the art down.

From creamy mash to deep-fried chips, crunchy hasslebacks, hash browns, and the all-time classic that is bubble and squeak, you name it, we’ve tried it.

Still, somehow it took the arrival of Indian street food favorite Bundobust for us to be introduced to the concept of a mashed potato burger – and we are forever thankful.

Comprised of a deep-fried potato dumpling placed inside a brioche bun, accompanied by two house-made chutneys and a whole green chili pepper, since its introduction to the Manchester food scene in 2016 the Vada Pav has become one of Bundobust’s most iconic dishes.

Also known as a Bombay burger, the vegetarian fast food snack sells in its thousands back home in Mumbai and has now become something of a signature dish here in Manchester too.

We recently popped down with Deliveroo for an episode of Takeaway Champions to try the dish, and after one taste our reviewer immediately called it the ‘Indian answer to a Wigan kebab’. It’s simply carbs on carbs on carbs, and we’re here for it.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

That said, it’s not the only thing worth ordering when you visit.

Other longstanding menu staples at Bundobust include its barbecued paneer, mushroom and pepper tikka kebabs, sweet and crunchy Bundo chaat, and crispy okra fries; whilst new dishes include the Ragda Pethis – a north-meets-east combination of mushy peas and potato cake, sev, tomato, onion, and tamarind chutney.

Having first opened in Manchester in 2016, today Bundobust has two sites in the city centre. Its original home still sits underneath Piccadilly Gardens, with a second restaurant and in-house brewery residing over on Oxford Road.

The restaurant – initially born in Leeds before making its way to Manchester – has always had a strong reputation for sourcing excellent craft beer, but since quietly opening its own brewery during the Covid lockdowns it’s only gone from strength to strength.

Read more: ‘We were treated awfully’ – ex-staffer speaks out as Freight Island gears up for reopening

Housed in a unique 100-year-old space within the iconic Grade II listed St James building, the Manchester-based brewery is a custom-built 10-hectolitre facility capable of producing 20,000 pints a month.

Today, alongside beers from other respected brewers, the restaurant serves up a list of specially-made house beers, all designed to complement the flavours of its dishes.

These include a coriander lager, a masala chai porter and a tropical pale ale, as well as its latest concoction: a mango lassi beer created in collaboration with brewers at Northern Monk.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Read more: The Sparrows ‘ever so proud and honoured’ after award from famous ‘lip licking Michelin Man’

To see the full menu click here and to find out more about Bundobust head over to their Instagram page here.

Oh, and to save on your next Deliveroo order from Bundobust make sure to use our code BUNDO10 when you check out.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

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