Popular Leeds ramen spot House of Fu has just opened up its second restaurant in Manchester city centre and now we know exactly why this place gets so much love.
Popping up in the perfect location along Portland Street, the Yorkshire favourite has taken over a stunning two-storey venue that combines that classic few-frills, red-brick Manc industrial look with a bright orange and white colour scheme, neon signage, graphic tees more.
Feeling not only like a modern noodle bar but genuinely giving off the vibe of a place you can drink at, House of Fu has brought along a stellar reputation from years of serving slurpers in Leeds to 0161 in style and we’ve been excited about seeing if it lives up to the hype forever since it was announced.
We’ll cut straight to the point: it did not disappoint — in fact, we left not only with full bellies but drowsy smiles and we prepared for the impending food coma. So worth it.
Trying a total of three different bowls of lip-smacking soup and noodles — the classic tonkotsu, the ‘Spicy Fu’ and the kimchi and cheese ramen — as well as a California super bowl (which certainly lived up to its name — we’re not joking when we tell you we could literally drink gallons of all these broths.
With plenty of spice, great texture in the noods, a brilliant range of meat and veggie toppings, as well some really ace sides such as kakuni pork belly, whipped tofu, cripsy cauliflower and more.
We also treated ourselves to a few cheeky drinks from their wide selection of cocktails, all of which can be enjoyed during happy hour from 4-6pm where you can get two for £13.
Speaking of making menus, there’s also the ‘Fu Style’ set menu, which promises a main and sharing portion of their sides from just £22, £28 if you want one of their frozen cocktails like the perfectly sour and sherbet-filled lemon drop, £30 if you want some extra gyozas and £35 if you want to finish off with some plum sake.
House of Fu’s Manchester location opens in style. (Credit: The Manc Group)
There honestly wasn’t a single thing we didn’t like about this place, from the food and service to the design and even cool merch that we’ll definitely be going far — we’ve been looking for a t-shirt that actively advertises our love for noodles and broth for ages.
They’ve even got a private dining room and karaoke booths downstairs because what’s better than polishing off a massive bowl of ramen and then having a bit of a drunken sing-song afterwards?
House of Fu‘s new Manchester venue is open to the public from this Friday, 20 October onwards and we can assure you we’ll be spending a lot of time in here.
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.
Danny Jones -
18th October 2023 
