A brand new canalside terrace bar and eatery is opening up in the city centre just in time for this weekend’s spring sunshine.
Situated on two levels and located underneath The Holiday Inn on Aytoun Street, Roby 1844 – which was inspired by the original Victorian Roby School building next door to the hotel – is bringing a relaxed ambience, awash with festoon lighting, waterside seating, music and an outdoor bar, to Manchester.
The terrace will open to the public 12pm – 11pm daily from Saturday 17th April.
Roby 1844 will be serving up an extensive street food menu, with a selection of burgers, sandwiches and platters to choose from, alongside an inclusive vegan menu boasting dishes such as Vegan Dirty Fries, Corn Ribs and Pulled Jackfruit Baps.
The drinks menu is packed with a range of beers, spirits, wine and cocktails, with local suppliers SEVEN BRO7HERS, Manchester Gin and Three Rivers Gin all featuring.
There’ll also be live music appearing in the bar in the summer months.
That’s not all either, as the bar will even provide a stop for canal barges too, with passengers able to moor and disembark at the Roby terrace for a drink in the Manchester sunshine.
The Manc GroupThe Manc Group
Speaking ahead of the grand opening of Roby 1844, Steve Julian – Manager at The Holiday Inn – said: “We’ve got such a great space by the water and wanted to create a standalone destination, perfect for after work drinks, weekend socialising and get togethers [so] people are welcome to head down for a drink, a bite to eat or both.
“It’s a great place to sit and watch the world go by, and enjoy spending time with people, especially after being apart for so long”.
Roby 1844 will open at 12pm on Saturday 17th April.
Initially, no pre-bookings are required so walk-ins are welcome and encouraged, and you can find menus and more information here.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
Food & Drink
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.
Emily Sergeant -
16th April 2021 
