Neon Tiger
Wednesday 8th June
This North Vietnamese-inspired live-fire barbeque restaurant and bar is set to open up next week in the old Grindsmith unit on Bridge Street. It promises a new sharing dining concept – with reimagined Thai recipes, from flame-kissed skewers to bright salads and noodle bowls. A large part of the menu will be dedicated to Baan Yang (Thai for ‘grill house) – traditional processes of live fire and smoked meat cooking. There’s also going to be a bar here with a dedicated cocktail menu, plus a curated wine list from the Northern Quarter’s Ad Hoc Wines.
Pollen
Thursday 9th June
Another new arrival to KAMPUS this month will see the New Islington bakery and cafe occupy a 2,600 sq ft unit on the ground floor – incorporating a dedicated pastry kitchen (behind a glass gallery where you can gawp at the pastry team), and a much bigger cafe space, which will offer an expansive seasonal menu showcasing the best available produce across the year. There’ll also be outdoor seating, so you can enjoy your cruffin in the lovely neighbourhood garden.
Primo Bagel
Monday 13th June
Californian, long-fermented bagels. That’s what Primo specialises in and we’ve had them and they’re absolutely bloody brilliant. They’ve been available rather sporadically over the last year or so, even popping up at Cloudwater’s taproom for a spell. Well, you’ll now know exactly where they are when you’re craving one from now on – over at SEESAW just off Princess Street. Yep, they’ll be “bringing mind-melting flavours and the hottest baked goods” to the space from mid-June.
Blanchflower Sale
Tuesday 14th June
Pioneers of the café culture that we’ve experienced in the city over the last 8 years, Blanchflower was there from the beginning, offering up top-notch coffee, home-baked bread, pastries, cakes, and high-end restaurant quality food to the world of cafes. Their new location in Sale is finally set to open this month, another addition to a quickly expanding and exciting future for the area, and joining a host of already established venues.
Adelphi Lads Club
Friday 17th June
We’re finding it a little hard to comprehend how they’re going to make the long-derelict Adelphi Lads Club in Salford into a summer food and drink destination – but come Friday 17th June – I suspect we will probably all have egg on our faces. They’re promising a BAR, KITCHEN and GARDEN and we, for one, cannot wait to see what they do with the space.
Kitten
Friday 17th June
A modern Japanese fine-dining restaurant and contemporary cocktail bar, Kitten will be opening mid-June down at Deansgate Square. The interior is being hailed as one of the most visually striking settings in the city, with vast 8m high ceilings, walls of bamboo and Venetian plastering, an extensive marbled bar and a towering 5m bonsai tree. The restaurant will feature a menu of fresh sushi, prepared right in front of you, plus a Robata open flame menu.
Dokes Prestwich
Monday 20th June
From the creative brains behind Ancoats’ Elnecot comes ‘Anglo Saxon’ pizzas from Dokes, who will be opening up in early June in their very own restaurant space in Prestwich. Dokes has actually been operating from SOCIETY food hall since early last year, so this is a major step up for them. One which I’m sure they’ll relish and absolutely smash it out there in the ‘burbs – with pizzas as good as this – there’s no way they can fail.
Great North Pie
June TBC
After anxiously waiting for months for Great North Pie to open in KAMPUS, it looks like June is going to be the month that you get your hands on these exquisite pies without having to traipse down to Altrincham or get on a train to the Lake District. They’re bringing their multi=award winning, handcrafted pies to the city centre neighbourhood, taking a spot on the long-forgotten but now transformed Little David Street.
Sakku Samba
June TBC
Taking over the too-long empty Artisan unit on Spinningfields, this new restaurant concept is set to be launched by restauranteur Zack Isaak, who’s bringing two of his most popular brands into one. So we’re set to get a Brazilian-Japanese fusion restaurant, and it’s likely that it’s going to offer rodizio-style eating – essentially ‘all you can eat’ – alongside unlimited sushi. It’ll be split across the unit’s two floors with a cocktail bar on the ground floor and space for 300 diners in the upstairs restaurant.
North Brewing Co. Taproom
End of June TBC
There have been rumblings about a new bar and taproom at Circle Square for a while now, but the development has recently confirmed that the Leeds brewers will indeed be moving into a unit overlooking Symphony Park. The award-winning brewers started back in 2015 and they turned their 10–year dream of making their own beer into a reality by opening a brewery with a 200-person capacity taproom. We should expect some fantastic beers and perhaps food from the North’s best street food vendors.
Bird of Prey
June TBC
Another Circle Square addition and Bird of Prey will be located on the edges of the development, along Charles Street. If you go now you’ll actually see the boardings are up, along with their logo – so it’s definitely legit. Anyway, this place will specialise in “superior” fried chicken, which is produced using their secret method for dredging and frying the chicken. There’ll also be great shakes, homemade sauces and tonnes of sides.
