Tampopo’s New Manchester Venture with Lucy Sykes #Tasty Thursday

Lucy Sykes
30th August 2018

It’s Thursday which means it’s time for our Tasty Thursday instalment. This week, Lucy Sykes from The Manchester Tart is here to tell us all about her visit to East Street in Manchester. We’re already fans of Tampopo so we can’t wait to go to East Street after reading Lucy’s review.

Tampopo is a little bit of a Manchester institution, it’s been serving up fresh, healthy and delicious East Asian food for over 20 years from its small but perfectly formed flagship restaurant in Albert Square. Over the years, a further 3 restaurants and a food kiosk have been added to the Tampopo family, situated in Manchester’s Corn Exchange, the Trafford Centre, and London’s Fitzrovia.

And now another string is being added to the Tampopo bow, introducing the new East Street restaurant in Manchester’s busy Piccadilly Gardens. Located where Rice restaurant used to reside. The folks at Tampopo have been very busy giving the place a completely new look; the restaurant now boasts a  bright new interior, filled with small stylish tables and bar style seating which holds up to 56 people inside and an additional 20 seats outside – a great space to people watch.

I was invited along to the celebratory launch party to see what people could expect from the new Tampopo venture. The concept is a grab and go kind of affair, offering the passer-by quick, fresh, healthy food from as little as £4.95 for a main meal. Perfect if you’re passing through to catch a train or if you need to grab a quick bite at lunch time. Tampopo co-founder David Fox cites a recent trip Malaysia and Singapore as part of the inspiration behind the East Street concept. Which embraces the grab and go dining style that is synonymous with Pan-Asian culture.

To begin, we were given a welcome drink and some crunchy Thai prawn crackers with some sweet chilli sauce. We then got to sample some delicious starters, which included crispy vegetable spring rolls with a beautiful peanut dipping sauce. This was then followed by some delectably sticky and spicy Korean chicken wings, topped with spring onions and sesame seeds and a sweet soy and chilli glaze. The spicy Korean wings has just the right amount of spice for me, but if you prefer a milder taste I’d just advise sticking to the sticky wings! But the star of the starters, in my opinion, were the satay chicken skewers – topped with lashings of fresh ginger and red onion, an absolute delight for the taste buds.

For the main course I went for Singapore noodles with chicken. Beautifully soft noodles with tender chicken, a very generous portion as well for just £6.95. My companion went for the sweet and sour chicken, again, the chicken was cooked just right and the rice was fluffy and soft.

Suitably stuffed we turned our attention to drinks. You can grab an ice cold can of Beer Lao lager for just £3, a bottle of house wine for £12.50 and if you’re in the mood for something fizzy you can get a bottle of Prosecco for only £16. Of course a range of soft drinks are also available. If you’re still feeling peckish, you can purchase a fresh watermelon ice lolly for just 60p. An absolute bargain, and the perfect summer sweet treat.

I really enjoyed the launch night of East Street Piccadilly and would definitely recommend it if you’re after something a bit healthier than the other fast food offerings around Piccadilly Gardens.

East Street Piccadilly is open Monday – Saturday 11am – 10pm and Sundays 12am – 9pm.

Thank you to Lucy from The Manchester Tart for this fabulous piece; if you’re want to find more of Lucy you can find her on her website, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. We can’t wait to hear more from Lucy in the future!