A Manchester chip shop has reacted with surprise and delight after it was named the second best chippy in the whole of the UK.
The Hip Hop Chip Shop in Ancoats ranked second on the list after The Mayfair Chippy in London as part of a ranking put together by Betting company Betway.
The betting company looked at Google ratings, Instagram hashtags and reviews on TripAdvisor in order to compile its findings, also naming another local chippy, Tony’s in Miles Platting, at number 7.
The new accolade has left owner Jonathan ‘Ozzie’ Oswald surprised but pleased, leadinghim to take to Instagram to respond to the award.
Reflecting on the fact that nearly 10% of UK chippies have recently closed for good, he commented on how nice it was to get recognition for the chip shop’s work, writing: “It is always nice to get any sort of recognition of course. This was a surprise bit of promo. I am proud of how we’ve managed to survive, given the circumstances.”
Thanking the people “that get out and support us” he went on to say it was his goal to “put out consistent good quality food and organically grow to survive in this extremely unforgiving tough hospitality industry.”
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
The post also good-naturedly questioned the way that the betting company had compiled the data to get their results, with Ozzie writing: “I don’t wanna bite the hand that feeds or piss on my own chips… but my only wee gripe is it’s been done by a betting company that use this as a way to get press.
He continued: “[…] (everyone needs to promote themselves tho 🤷♂️ so no need to get on the high horse)… but if the validity of their methodology to calculate the scores is consistent and stands up to testing and we did indeed come out very nearly on top then we are still doing, at least something right.”
Fans have since piled into the comments to reassure their favourite chippy that they are, in fact, up there with the very best and well deserving of the award, however it has come about.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
One person wrote: “Hip Hop Chip Shop Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody”
Another said: “Well deserved!!! You’ve created something truly special here and this is a recognition of all the hard work, etc. Massive respect and hopefully more and more people will come and fall in love with the place like we all have!!”
A third asked: “What do they mean second best?”
A fourth added: “Clearly I have never been to whatever is meant to be better than you, because I can’t imagine anything is.”
A fifth commented: “Only really one list I’m interested Ozzie and that’s my order with my favourite chippy (you)! 😁 congratulations all the same, you graft hard and deserve all the accolades you get”
Having first begun life in its hip-hop boombox trailer, today The Hip Hop Chip Shop also has a permanent location in Ancoats. To see its full menu, click here.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Eats
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.
Georgina Pellant -
31st May 2023 
