There’s a brand-new food hall in Manchester, and you won’t believe where this beauty is… it’s only at Manchester Airport (!).
The food hall craze has travelled all the way to Terminal 2, bringing a whole host of kitchens for you to enjoy before your flight.
You can tuck in to everything from full breakfasts and brunches (with the obligatory 7am pint, because time isn’t real in an airport), to burgers and street food.
Essentially, you can travel around the world before you’ve even boarded the plane.
It’s all part of the terminal’s wider £1.3bn transformation, which now includes a first-of-its-kind market hall-style food and drink offering, with six kitchens around a central dining area, plus a Gooey kiosk and a takeaway hatch.
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Behind the scenes, Great Northern Market is powered by a community of Northern talent. All menus have been crafted by Manchester-born executive chef Amy Tomkinson.
Here are all the new traders who have moved in to the Great Northern Market.
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Gooey
This one surely needs no introduction – Gooey is one of Manchester’s top (and most popular) bakeries, famed for its chunky cookies, fluffy doughnuts, and cinnamon buns.
It’s the first thing you’ll see as you enter the Great Northern Market, a pretty tiled kiosk with its signature neon sign overhead.
As well as fresh bakes and their limited-edition specials, this is the spot to grab a pre-flight coffee too.
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La Casita
This Mexican street food spot has been created with the help of Madre’s Sam Grainger, and is serving a menu of burritos, loaded nachos, and salads.
A highlight is the beef birria nachos – authentic Mexican corn tacos loaded up with refried beans, pink pickled onions, guacamole, cheese sauce, salsa norteña and jalapeños.
Nashville Hot House
There’s another local name involved with Nashville Hot House – Yard & Coop have brought their fried chicken prowess to Manchester Airport.
At the Great Northern Market, you’ll find classic buttermilk chicken burgers, a spicy little K-pop thigh burger, and chicken tenders.
There’s also salt and pepper loaded fries and absolutely loads of different dips.
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Napoli Street Pizza
There’s been a real lack of pre-holiday pizza at Manchester Airport until now.
Napoli Street Pizza makes its Neapolitan pizzas using a a 55% hydration method, and a biga dough that is fermented and used to create the dough daily.
There are loads of different flavours to choose from, like a hot honey and pepperoni, plus flatbreads, Caesar salads, and more.
Kouzina
Kouzina is importing flatbreads from Greece for the most authentic possible souvlaki experience, like a lamb kofta souvlaki with chopped tomatoes, pink pickled onions, cucumber, zhoug, tahini, garlic mayo, and coriander.
You can also order big salads here, mezze platters, halloumi fries, and flatbreads with dips.
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You’ll feel like your in Santorini before you’ve even stepped on the plane (… okay, that might be a stretch).
Black Iron Grill
Smash burgers and skin-on fries are up for grabs at this next Great Northern Market trader, Black Iron Grill.
These burgers are served in glazed brioche buns, with melt-in-your-mouth beef patties topped with a number of different options.
You can also order a side of mac and cheese or some filthy fries loaded with crispy bacon bits, crispy shallots, and garlic mayonnaise.
Palms Cafe
Last but not least – and definitely not something we thought we’d ever see in Manchester Airport – is Palms Cafe.
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They’re whipping up big bowls of ramen, and other noodle dishes, with toppings like satay chicken, sweet chilli king prawn, crispy tofu, pulled Korean beef, crispy fried chicken, and miso roasted sweet potato.
Noodles include hearty ramens, katsu curries, Pad Thai, and sides like prawn crackers.
The Greater Manchester book café serving literary afternoon teas and build-your-own bouquets
Daisy Jackson
If you like your afternoon tea with a side of good books, there’s a Greater Manchester café where you can quite literally have your cake and read it too.
Tucked inside this charming bookish spot, afternoon tea arrives with an unexpected twist. Rather than being presented with the usual three-tiered stand, you’re handed a stack of heavy hardback books.
But don’t start worrying that you’ve accidentally wandered into a very niche library club. The books are hiding something.
Lift the covers in Peony & Parchment – or, more accurately, open the book-shaped boxes – and you’ll discover a full afternoon tea concealed inside.
There are dainty sandwiches to get stuck into, including tiny egg mayo, herby chicken salad, ham and mustard, and cheese and tomato focaccia, alongside a little quiche.
Then comes the scone – classic, fluffy and ready for the obligatory dollop of clotted cream and jam. And, because no afternoon tea should leave you feeling like you’ve been short-changed in the cake department, there are five miniature slices to work through.
Afternoon tea concealed in a stack of booksSome of the other bakes on display
There’s a Victoria sponge with a dreamy vanilla cream, lemon drizzle, rich chocolate cake, a Bakewell slice and a pecan pie, all sourced from a local bakery just across the alleyway.
It’s all served with a pot of tea or coffee, with the option to add a glass of prosecco.
And the bookish theme doesn’t stop at the afternoon tea.
Downstairs you’ll find shelves packed with books, including the intriguing ‘blind books’. Instead of judging a book by its cover, you’ll be given clues and a short summary of what lies inside before taking a gamble on your mystery read.
Downstairs in Peony & Parchment‘Blind books’A role playing village for kids
There’s also plenty here to keep younger visitors entertained, thanks to a children’s area complete with a mini role-playing village.
And if books and cake weren’t enough, there’s another string to this café’s bow.
The Bloom Bar lets you build your own bouquet. Choose the size you want, then wander around selecting your own stems and foliage to create something that’s uniquely yours.
You can build your own bouquetThe Bloom Bar at Peony & Parchment
Of course, you don’t have to be visiting specifically for the afternoon tea. The wider menu includes tapas, full breakfasts and sandwiches, making it just as suitable for a leisurely brunch, lunch or coffee-and-cake stop.
So whether you’re there to discover your next favourite novel, assemble a bouquet, entertain the kids or simply eat your way through five different miniature cakes, this is one café where there are plenty of chapters to explore.
24-hour bus services are now running across all Greater Manchester boroughs
Emily Sergeant
24-hour bus services are now running across all boroughs in Greater Manchester.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy… and now it’s official, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has launched those 24-hour buses this month, along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford now join the rest of Greater Manchester in having 24-hour bus services, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that these new services will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
The routes which will run around the clock from Thursday until Sunday are:
50 (Salford – Manchester)
216 (Tameside – Manchester)
263 (Trafford – Manchester)
192 (Stockport – Manchester)
83 (Oldham – Manchester)
All Greater Manchester boroughs now have 24-hour bus services / Credit: TfGM
They launch alongside the most significant service changes to the Bee Network since the completion of bus franchising last year – including other new bus routes, and more frequent services across Greater Manchester.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy everything Greater Manchester offers, without the worry of how to get there and get home,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Bev Craig.
“By growing the Bee Network, we’re making it easier than ever for people to use the bus, day and night.
“Our night buses are already providing a lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of people who are growing our night-time economy and working in essential public services.”
“Whether people are heading home from a night at the theatre or starting the early shift at a hospital, they can now get on board the night bus as a safe and affordable way to travel.”
Further improvements will delivered from January 2027, and a full breakdown by borough can be found on the Bee Network website here.
Daisy Jackson -
12th February 2026 
