This category contains places which serve food from East Asia and South East Asia. This compromises cuisines from the following countries:
China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
I’ve seen poké (pronounced po-kay) online through various foodie channels. It is a Hawaiian dish inspired by the food fisherman ate as they took the offcuts. It is heavenly influenced by Japanese cuisine with the use of raw fish, rice and soy sauce. Manchester’s own poké place, Oké Poké, opened in April so I was excited to come visit one evening.*
I don’t often pop into town around lunch time as I don’t work in the city centre, but I really like the Arndale market’s mix of varied food stalls. When Sue Gregson, Assistant Market Manager, emailed me inviting me to the relaunch and to meet the traders, I jumped at the opportunity! I really like getting to know the people behind the food so this was perfectly me!
Every year, Manchester hosts its Manchester Food and Drink Festival around September-October and it is a festival I continually look forward to year on year. It takes place outside Manchester Town Hall on St Albert’s Square and is a 2-week free entry festival featuring market stalls from independents and chains as well as specialised events such as themed meals or workshops. This year there is an experimental vegan banquet as well as several hidden banquets including one by MilkJam. There is also Manchester’s own Bake Off competition.
Here, I explore what’s available on the second day of the festival.
The UoM Food Market runs at the University of Manchester every Tuesday from 11:30am – 2:30pm. It is set up on Bridgeford Street, next to the Manchester Museum so it’s quite easy to locate. The UoM Food Market is basically Levenshulme market but with just food!
One of the few non-student places to eat near the University of Manchester South Campus is Red Chilli. With its huge windows facing Oxford Road and Grafton Street, most people have walked by it but its grand stature and ornate furniture had probably deterred a lot of people from dropping in over lunch. Here, my colleague, Phil, and I will walk you through our experiences of visiting this restaurant.
There is also a Red Chilli in China Town which has a near identical menu.
Prior to this visit, Elsa had been to Thaikhun before but she was eager to take Ryo there for a proper review of the place. Thaikhun was going around social media as a very authentic Thai place and Elsa had high hopes having not quite found the perfect Thai place. Being located in Spinningfields, both felt slightly out of place within the plaza of high rises and up-market boutiques.
