A new takeaway has opened up by Piccadilly Station and it’s here to make all of our late-night chippy tea dreams come true.
Named, simply, The Chip Shop, its arrival is sure to be a welcome bit of news to anyone who’s found themselves wandering around Manchester’s busiest train station in search of a bit of nighttime nourishment.
Housed inside the former Northern Soul Grilled Cheese cafe, speaking ahead of its launch last year owners promised ‘cool’ stainless steel interiors and also feature an Amsterdam-inspired cold sauce rack with more than 10 different options – perfect for those who like a sauce buffet with their chippy tea.
They have delivered, installing interiors that nod to traditional chippies but still feel fresh and modern.
Image: The Chip Shop
Image: The Chip Shop
Speaking on the new opening, a spokesperson said: “We saw this as a great opportunity to have a traditional fish and chip shop on one of Manchester’s busiest routes.
“It’s what the Manchester Piccadilly area is lacking at the moment, so we aim to fill that gap.”
The team behind it said they saw a gap in the market and are aiming to fill it with what they see as a much-needed addition to the area’s food offering, which already includes the likes of Manchester burger bar Archie’s, Canadian favourite Moose Coffee, and quick-serve pasta shop Bravissimi! (they added the exclamation mark, not us).
Open for a fortnight now, those hankering for a midnight chippie can expect to find all the traditional favourites on the menu including battered fish and sausages, alongside traditional accompaniments like salt and vinegar, mushy peas, curry sauce and gravy.
Price-wise, a cone of fries will set you back £2.60 (£3.60 with a sauce) whilst an extra large portion of fish and chips comes in at under a tenner for £8.40.
Mini portions of fish and chips are priced at £6.40, meanwhile those hankering for a classic chip butty will be charged £5.25 to enjoy it with a pot of gravy.
Piccadilly Approach has had something of a makeover in recent years, with a flood of new trendy openings arriving outside the station in 2019.
The Chip Shop marks its latest addition, joining the likes of Piccadilly Taps, Black Sheep Coffee, and Chopstix on this foot-traffic-heavy stretch of Manchester city centre.
Featured image – The Chip Shop
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 -
11th August 2023 
