House of Fu, the popular Yorkshire ramen restaurant with a huge following in Leeds, is making its way over to Manchester.
Eyeing up a new home on Portland Street, the restaurant has submitted plans with Manchester City Council to take over the former Leaf site.
Having first begun life as a street food pop-up, House of Fu has revealed it will bring its Toyko and LA-inspired Japanese dishes across the Pennines for the first time – just a year on from opening its first brick and mortar site in Leeds.
Brought to Manchester by the team behind Leeds’ Belgrave Music Hall, Headrow House and Ox Club, diners can look forward to a range of different umami-rich ramen and noodle dishes, as well as dumplings, small plates and sides when it opens its doors later this year.
As for drinks, think frozen yuzu margaritas, homemade kombucha and cans of session sake from Kampai, as well as.a solid sake and wine list and craft beers sourced from local breweries.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Fried cauliflower with gochujang hot sauce, house shichimi spice blend, sesame and QP vegan mayo. / Image: The Hoot
House of Fu’s pork gyoza are made freshly in the restaurant every day. / Image: The Hoot
From homemade gyoza to handmade noodles sourced right here in Manchester, there’s a lot to get excited about – all thanks to head chef Ben Iley, who spent nearly a decade at some of Japan’s finest restaurants before coming home to work on the House of Fu project.
With an impressive CV that includes Aquavit, The Tokyo American Club and Fujimamas, he landed in Leeds following nine and a half years Japan, only to be introduced to the Belgrave team ‘the very same day.’.
From that initial introduction, it would take six years for the concept to fully come to fruition – first beginning life as award-winning street food pop-up Fu-Schnickens before ultimately becoming the ramen restaurant it is today, with Ben taking a short detour into live fire cooking as the Head Chef at Ox Club somewhere in the middle.
Original Fu ramen in a tonkatsu broth, and fried cauliflower. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
When House of Fu opened in Leeds last summer, he told The Hoot: “I first met these guys and we spoke about doing this in 2014.
“The year that I was over in Japan, the guys behind this, Ben Davey included, who was working in Belgrave at the time, had a pop-up […] doing bao buns, chicken wings and that kind of thing, and that’s the year that they won best street food of the year or whatever it was, so they thought right, ok, we’ve got something here, let’s expand and look at building a restaurant, let’s do ramen […] and so they needed to find someone who could do ramen.
“Probably the day that I arrived back from Japan, a mutual friend between myself and Ash hooked us up and said ‘this guy’s just come back from Japan, these guys want to do ramen, like off you go!’ and I was like ‘wow, what an amazing opportunity.'”
In the summer of 2019, ahead of opening the first House of Fu site, Ben took the directors on a intense three-night dash through Tokyo – all eating and drinking their way in a blur across the city in the name of research.
Ramen choices range here from classic tonkatsu broths to miso chicken and mushroom options, and a special ‘green ramen’ made using a shitake dashi. Prices sit between £12 and £14 for ramen bowls, with diners given the option to add on ingredients to suit themselves from just £2 each.
There are also rice bowls and ‘super bowls’ to choose from, as well as sides like kimchi, chilli crunch rice and a ‘sunshine salad’ with Japanese radish, mizuna, jalapeno and yuzu.
Having been incredibly well-received in their hometown, House of Fu is now branching out with a second site here in Manchester.
The new restaurant is tipped to open in early 2023, although an exact opening date is still yet to be confirmed.
Owners Simon Stevens and Ashley Kollakowski said of finding their ideal Manchester site at Bruntwood Works’ West Village Building: “Manchester is home to some of our favourite restaurants and shops and it’s been great getting to know the city a little more whilst looking for a home for House of Fu.There’s such an exciting food scene in Manchester and there seems to be more great openings announced every week, we’re really excited to be part of it!”
Feature image – The Hoot
News
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
“We are definitely going to see the very best of what Rochdale has to offer over the next 12 months and people will come from far and wide to see it.”
Featured Image – Rochdale Council
News
The Lowry Theatre undergoes revamp following Biffa Award grant
Danny Jones
The Lowry in Salford Quays has had a bit of TLC with one of its biggest theatre spaces undergoing a pretty significant refurb this past month.
Following a well-deserved grant distributed via the Biffa Award, a multi-million-pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through community and environmental projects across the UK, the legendary local theatre received nearly £75k last year.
As a result, all 440 seats and various other aspects of The Lowry‘s Quays Theatre have now been renovated and refurbished.
The short story is, she looks more gorgeous than ever – see for yourself:
Being initially handed over in March 2024, The Lowry was awarded a total of £74,816 to reupholster seating in the venue’s Quays Theatre with new padding and fabric.
After almost 25 years of constant use as one of the most popular theatres in the North, the seats in the Quays Theatre were much in need of a refurb, and with work completed in December, Lowry visitors can now enjoy watching the venue’s wide range of theatre, dance, comedy and drama in comfort.
The work was actually carried out between July and December, with seats being carefully removed in batches and reupholstered off-site.
This was made possible due to the Biffa Award’s most recent ‘Cultural Facilities’ theme, which aims to improve recreation, interest and education, drawing funds from the UK government’s wider Landfill Communities Fund.
The old fabric and padding were disposed of sustainably, with lots of it being repurposed where possible to minimise waste and all the new materials used meet current guidance for safety and quality.
The Lowry’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Development, Gwen Oakden, said of the long overdue update:“It is so important that our audiences are able to enjoy our world-class performing arts programme in a comfortable and welcoming space.
“For many visitors to the Quays Theatre, this is their first experience of live performance – often to see a family show or as part of a school trip. We really want it to be the best experience possible, and for them to begin a lifelong relationship with Lowry.
“As a registered charity, without the generous support of this Biffa Award, for which we’re hugely grateful, we couldn’t have carried out this important work for our audiences.
As we head into our 25th Anniversary year, we are delighted to be able to welcome audiences and visitors can enjoy the beautiful and revived Quays Theatre.”
As for the Biffa side of things, Grants Manager Rachel Maidment added: “We are delighted to have supported The Lowry in refurbishing the Quays Theatre seating, ensuring audiences can continue to enjoy performances in comfort.
“Through Biffa’s Cultural Facilities theme, we fund projects that provide engaging and inspiring spaces for communities. The Lowry is a key cultural venue, and we’re proud that our funding, made possible through the government Fund, has helped enhance the experience for visitors for years to come.”
Like most Mancs, we love The Lowry, so here’s to hosting countless more theatregoers in the most comfortable seats possible for generations to come.
We’ve been to some brilliant performances around here of late.
Georgina Pellant -
27th June 2022 
