#AD / Arndale market relaunch

I don’t often pop into town around lunch time as I don’t work in the city centre, but I really like the Arndale market’s mix of varied food stalls. When Sue Gregson, Assistant Market Manager, emailed me inviting me to the relaunch and to meet the traders, I jumped at the opportunity! I really like getting to know the people behind the food so this was perfectly me!

The Arndale market has typically been divided into two main sections, the food part and the non-food part. Well, this has changed with some food stalls opening and additional seating on the side that didn’t use to have food! Let me walk you through some of those new stalls.

New stalls

Hong Thai

Hong Thai stall

Hong Thai is owned by Lilia and she sells Thai comfort food such as curries and burgers with a Thai twist. With most meals costing £6 with a drink, this is good value for money. Lilia will add extra chillies if you want a spicier version of your favourite dish. The burgers are cheaper (I can’t remember how much, though, I think around £4!) and come with some chips but without a drink.

This is not Lilia’s first venture either. She has previously launched Hey Mian sushi in Marple!

Heaven

Heaven is an Italian Cafe owned by Tinbite and they are already set up at Gorton market. As part of the relaunch, they now join the stalls and will be bringing some of their foods to the Arndale market! They will be selling baguettes and pasta, with the menus changing often.

Fusion Lab

Viet Shack

Fusion Lab will be a new venture from the guys who run Viet Shack. I spoke to Leo, one part of Viet Shack and he was keen to have the new venture be different rather than expanding on Viet Shack’s pure Vietnamese cuisine. The food will be a fusion of East meets West to create interesting dishes, such as an Asian scotch egg and Korean fried chicken burger. The new venture will be next door to the existing Viet Shack. 

Old stalls

There were some old stalls as well taking part in the relaunch, which I will quickly mention here.

Bollywood Dhaba

Bollywood Dhaba

Papari chat

Bollywood Dhaba sells authentic Indian food unlike many places in Manchester which sell food from Pakistan or Bangladesh (Rusholme, I’m looking in your direction!). Pinky, the owner, also owns Arnero on Sackville Street and she recommended the Papari chat to me. This was a gorgeous dish and she called it the Indian nachos.

Onje

Onje

Selection at Onje

Onje has been around for over 8 years and owner, Victoria, is passionate about sharing her African-Caribbean meals. Food includes different kinds of rice with meals such as goat curry and jerk chicken. I highly recommend the latter if you love spicy food!

Panchos Burritos

Panchos Burritos

Burritos and nachos

Panchos expanded into another unit so they are bigger and now offer more variety of foods. They do the best burritos in Manchester! If you can’t get to the Arndale, they also have another branch on Chester Street near Manchester Metropolitan University.

Overall comments

The relaunch is exciting and I welcome the new stalls! If you haven’t been down to Arndale market, I highly recommend you head down and visit stalls both old and new!

Information

Address: Manchester Arndale, 49 High St, Manchester M4 3AH