One of Manchester’s favourite ramen shops is set to open a permanent new home on Tib Lane in Manchester city centre this year.
New Wave Ramen, one of food hall Mackie Mayor’s most popular kitchens, is expanding as it gears up to open a second location in town this October.
Promising “no geishas, no gimmicks,” the new two-floor restaurant, situated in a historic building, will serve ramen bowls by day inspired by the new wave styles of Tokyo.
By night, meanwhile, it will serve an evening izakaya menu celebrating native produce “with Japanese soul,” consisting of family-style small plates and sharing dishes cooked over sustainable charcoal.
The new restaurant at 16 Tib Lane will sit close to the popular French Bistro 10 Tib Lane – opened in August 2021 by the teams behind the now-closed late-night NQ ramen restaurant CBRB and Chorlton cocktail bar Henry C.
A pork sando at New Wave Ramen. / Image: New Wave Ramen
Truffle Shoyu ramen at New Wave Ramen. / Image: New Wave Ramen
Dishes will include signature ramen bowls and small plates from the binchotan-fired grill, alongside sustainable seafood, and a strong plant-based selection of dishes dictated by the availability of local growers.
This will be accompanied by a thoughtfully curated wine and sake list, highballs, and local beers, and served to the backdrop of an eclectic playlist.
Joining owners Phil Cook (former CBRB), and Matt Walsh (brains behind Tender Cow) on this project will be Elliott Williams, DJ and member of noughties Birmingham rock band Editors.
Image; The Manc Group
The ramen bar at Mackie Mayor. / Image: New Wave Ramen
Sunshine ramen by Matsudai ramen shop during New Wave’s summer of takeovers. / Image: The Manc Group
There has long been a link between food and music cultures, in particular with ramen, and the group hopes to harness this to create a special atmosphere for customers.
New Wave is bringing together a strong team on all fronts, with experience from Michelin restaurants and ramen shops across Europe.
The team will be armed with knowledge and passion for Japanese food and culture, and be ready to share this with their guests from October.
The venue will be built on the core principles of Japanese hospitality, with the aim to offer the very best experience for customers. Just the highest level of service, with great food and drinks, all served in a fun and relaxed space.
Featured image – Supplied
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 -
26th July 2023 
