Salt & Pepper Manchester has announced it is to permanently take over the kitchen at Black Dog NQ from Monday.
Launched by “Chinese kids born and bred in Manchester”, Salt & Pepper is undoubtedly a firm-favourite on the Manchester foodie scene, but after two successful years of being a staple at the Arndale Food Market, it’s time for pastures new.
The beloved Chinese-inspired street food stall has announced via social media this afternoon that it will be moving to the Northern Quarter’s Black Dog Ballroom from Monday.
The exciting move coincides with ‘Step Three’ in the government’s roadmap to lifting England’s national lockdown, which allows hospitality to reopen indoors after four weeks of outdoor service only.
In a post to Instagram, Salt & Pepper said: “It’s our 2nd birthday and we have BIG BIG news. From Monday 17th May, we will be taking over the kitchen Black Dog NQ PERMANENTLY, so you’re gonna be able to get your Salt & Pepper fix in the evenings, with beer, and cocktails, and pool”.
For those still keen to grab their Salt & Pepper fix for lunch though, the eatery made sure to confirm that the Arndale market stall continue to run as usual.
If the permanent move to Black Dog NQ wasn’t exciting enough as it is, Salt & Pepper has also announced an unmissable competition on Instagram as a thank you to “all our amazing customers from the whirlwind of the last two years”.
Five lucky people can win £22 off their food orders when they visit Black Dog.
The winners will be announced ahead of the grand opening on 17th May, and will be informed via DM, so if you fancy being in with a chance of winning, head on over to Salt & Pepper Manchester on Instagram to find details on how to answer.
Featured Image – Salt & Pepper Manchester
Food & Drink
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Emily Sergeant -
13th May 2021 
