Tampopo, Manchester’s original, authentic, Pan Asian restaurant has officially re-opened the doors of it Corn Exchange branch, revealing a completely new look, and a transformed dining experience.
Co-Founder David Fox and the team celebrated the launch of the new restaurant last night with a VIP private party. The event was attended by a selection of Tampopo fans including guests from the world of music, TV, sport, showbiz and media. TV’s Hayley Tammadon (about to star in national tour of Chicago) stepped out with friends including Ray Quinn. Legendary Smiths drummer Mike Joyce and I Am Kloot’s Andy Hargreaves also joined the party. Guests enjoyed bite-sized version of Tampopo’s most beloved dishes, as well as plenty of East Asian cocktails. Music was provided by DJ Jamie Bull of Manchester’s legendary Homo Electric club night.
As the first and only Manchester-based restaurant to make their home at Corn Exchange back in 2008, Tampopo represent the longest-standing Manchester brand at the newly developed, dining and drinking destination.
The Corn Exchange re-launch marks an exciting new chapter for Tampopo. The minimal, communal, bench style seating is gone, making way for a more comfortable, cosier environment. The new style is designed to create the perfect atmosphere for special occasions and laid back long lunches, as well as the ‘quick bite/pit stop’ style dining that Tampopo is known for.
This is a more colourful, elaborate and vibrant expression of Pan Asian food culture, reflecting the light-hearted, eclectic nature of dining in the areas from which Tampopo draws it’s inspiration.
The new Tampopo features plush banquet seating; elegant mosaic tiling; romantic Chinese lanterns; a semi private dining space; large communal round dining tables (complete with ‘Lazy Susan’), original, lightbox logo graphic and lots of vintage Asian artwork. The design captures both the bustle and serenity of East Asian dining culture.
A bar area has also been added so that customers can enjoy post or pre-dinner drinks (or just pop in for a cocktail). The restaurant can accommodate 105 diners and bigger parties than ever before – the semi private space can be reserved for groups of up to 35.
Every detail has been carefully planned and sourced to reflect the team’s vision – a vision based on visiting this part of the world for decades, but also inspired by customer feedback.
The team conducted a survey via their 50,000 strong customer database and a lot of the feedback collected has been channeled into the new Corn Exchange restaurant. Tampopo’s menu is no exception. The team has added 7 new dishes, including a new ‘small plates’ collection. The grazing/street snack plates are something that have been in development since the Corn Exchange closed its doors and it was trialed at their temporary Tam Pop Up structure. This social, sharing style of Tampopo dining has proved a hit with diners keen to try a wider range of the East’s fabulous flavours, and has made it onto the menu across all the sites.
As well as all the rest of the Tampopo classic dishes (from Nasi Goreng to Pad Thai), the Corn Exchange restaurant will also have one extra dish exclusive to this site… Tampopo’s very first Massaman Curry!
When asked what dish customers would most like to see added to the menu at the new restaurant, Tampopo discovered an overwhelming desire for Massaman in Manchester! The team then took to social media to get hints and tips for their own Tampopo recipe, and so a true Massaman-chester was born!
This is Tampopo refreshed, revitalized and reborn…
David Fox, Co-Founder of Tampopo, commented:
“This is a really exciting time for us. The re-launch of Tampopo at The Corn Exchange sees so many of our new ideas come together, ideas we’ve been working on and developing for months. Everything from the new look, style and branding, to the realization of our small plates dishes has been a real journey of discovery, one which we’ve shared with our customers. I’m really pleased to see Tampopo evolve – we’ve been around for 18 years after all – and particularly to see our grazing concept take off. Tampopo has always been about exploring new flavours and small plates facilitate that. We now to invite Manchester to join us on the next phase of our journey – its going to be delicious”.
Tampopo at The Corn Exchange is now open:
Monday – Wednesday 12noon – 10:30pm
Thursday – Saturday 12noon – 11pm
Sunday 12noon – 10pm
