Indian Summers will bring Mumbai and Deli’s street food markets to Cheshire this summer, recreating its very own version at the stately Arley Hall.
Khanawala Street will boast seven totally different food stalls selling everything from kebabs, wraps and Bhangra Burgers to authentic Indian curries and snacks.
Expect wafting scents from charcoal-grilled vegetables and meats to fill your nostrils as you take in the bright colours and aromas of this wonderful part of the world.
There’ll also be a cocktail van, gin bar and Cobra stand selling refreshing Indian beer on hand for adults to enjoy.
Less spicy fare, such as stone-baked pizzas, burgers, chocolate churros and doughnuts, can be found at the artisan food stalls in the market.
A massive Indian street food festival will bring the markets of Mumbai and Delhi to Cheshire this summer
Running on July 3-4, the Indian food festival will take over the site once famously used as the backdrop for the award-winning TV show Peaky Blinders, transforming it into a South Asian street food haven.
There’ll also be a giant sandpit, fairground rides and a donkey sanctuary where you can pet the animals – so if you’re planning on taking the kids, there’s no need to worry about keeping them entertained.
In fact, the festival’s even created its own ‘Kidchella’ – a world-first zone entirely dedicated to children.This is where you’ll find the aforementioned sandpit and donkey sanctuary, both perfect for children of toddler and preschool age.
Then, there’s the fair ground, which will have rides suitable for all ages, plus classes teaching dancing and circus skills for slightly older kids.
Elsewhere, tamasha – or live entertainment – will include performances from an Indian Drummer band and the sensational Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners.
There’ll also be a Bollywood dance party, an Indian-inspired performance by the local Stagecoach Performing Arts School, and free yoga class taking place as part of the programme.
Tickets are on sale for the festival now, priced at £10 for adults or £5 for children. Discounts are available for families and early birds.
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 -
8th June 2021 
