Rola Wala, an Indian street food brand that’s been a cult favourite since launching 2016, is expanding to Manchester.
The restaurant has secured a site on Deansgate, where it will serve its legendary foot-long naan wraps all the way through to 3am.
Founded by Mark Wright (no, not that one) as a street food stall in London, it quickly expanded to open its first restaurant in Leeds‘ Trinity Kitchen that same year.
It’s now built up a huge following thanks to its filling rice bowls, curries and wraps, and is branching out to our city at last.
One the menu you’ll see build-your-own naan rolls (Rola Wala literally translates to ‘man that rolls’ in Hindi), filled with authentically spiced Indian fillings.
There are also healthy and heart lunches like naan tikka tacos and rice bowls.
The brand’s ‘buy-one-give-one’ incentive means that they donate one meal to a hungry child in the developing world for every naan roll sold – so far, that’s totally 850,000 meals delivered by Rola Wala.
Rola Wala is set to launch in November and will have late-night opening hours until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as selling food through Deliveroo.
Rola Wala is opening on Deansgate in Manchester. Credit: SuppliedRola Wala is opening on Deansgate in Manchester. Credit: Supplied
Every order is made fresh in front of you from dishes made from scratch daily – choose from a regular or a foot-long naan, then pick between fillings that include 10-hour slow-cooked Nagaland pulled lamb, chicken tikka, and loads of different veggie and vegan options.
Then pile on fresh salads and garnishes, and your choice of five different freshly-made chutneys, from ‘no-chill and mild’ to extra spicy.
Meals start from just £5.95 and the majority come in at less than 500 calories.
Rola Wala even has Hollywood credentials, appearing in Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper.
Rita Ora and Saturday Kitchen dubbed it ‘London’s Best Wrap’, and it even made a cameo appearance on Jamie Oliver’s Friday Night Feasts.
To celebrate the opening, Rola Wala are giving residents in Manchester the chance to win a year’s worth of free Rola Wala and get access to a free meal on the launch day. To enter and claim you simply need to download the Rola Wala app and sign up before 8 November.
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.
Daisy Jackson -
16th October 2023 
