Hip Liverpool Cantonese outfit Yum Cha is to open its first branch in Manchester this spring, at the £250million Kampus redevelopment on the former Metropolitan University site between Piccadilly station and the Gay Village. The Merseyside connection will be reinforced with Madre taqueria and Middle Eastern specialist Maray also moving into Kampus. Manchester’s own Cloudwater […]

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Chef Andrew Wong’s latest restaurant Kym’s is to open this September in The City’s new Bloomberg Arcade. The steel and glass culinary arena, designed by Norman Foster Partners, is Bloomberg’s new European HQ. Already in situ are brands such as Shake Shack, Homeslice, Koya, and the new and lavish Brigadiers, which Harden’s previewed in depth […]

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Yu and You, Copster Green “An unremarkable building on the A59 between Preston and Clitheroe houses this remarkable Chinese-inspired restaurant”, where the food – “a westernised style” of Cantonese cuisine “like no other” – is “not heavy or greasy”, with “higher quality ingredients than you’ll find in many Chinatown based operations”. Service is “impeccable” too, and even if “the […]

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Nicholas Lander in The Financial Times reviews Kai Mayfair, Grand Imperial at Charing Cross Hotel and Four Seasons on Chinatown’s Gerard Street, in anticipation of Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog begins on 16 February)… “The long-established Kai Mayfair has a menu that is well attuned to wealthy clientele. While the high prices could, I suppose, […]

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Modern Chinese restaurant Shikumen is to open its fourth branch in late April, in the new Dorsett City Hotel next to Aldgate station. Since making made its debut at the Dorsett Hotel in Shepherd’s Bush, Chinese-owned Shikumen followed up with branches in Ealing and Finchley – so the new venue will be its first in central London. […]

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