On the outskirts of Ancoats, where Oldham Road meets Great Ancoats Street, a hub of South East Asian businesses have created a community serving some of the best food in Manchester
Anh at Pho No1 on Oldham Road in Manchester (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Vietnamese pandan green tea is also known by its other moniker, Trà Sâm Dứa. It is a fragrant and aromatic elixir, with sweet grassy notes and flavours of vanilla and almond.
Strained and served from a stainless steel teapot into tiny metal cups it provides an instant boost for digestion and immunity, and stepping off Oldham Road into the warmth of Que Huong Viet, it is the perfect antidote for weary legs and tired heads.
Mother and daughter, Trang Bui and Thi Minh Ly Bui offer us a cup as we step over the threshold into their Vietnamese fine food store and restaurant, and they never stop replenishing it.
Even as they tend to customers, nip into the restaurant to serve up steaming bowls of Pho, and speak to us about the last few years working in Manchester, the warm hospitality never falters.
Que Huong, means ‘native land’ or ‘hometown’ in Vietnamese, and along a short strip of road just outside the city centre, the venue stands shoulder-shoulder with a variety of South East Asian family run cafes, coffee shops and restaurants – all bringing a taste of their homelands to the city.
Mother and daughter, Trang Bui and Thi Minh Ly Bui run Que Huong Viet on Oldham Road(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
The majority sit opposite the Royal Mail Sorting Office and the behemoth that is Wing Yip Supermarket, serving up everything from steaming bowls of broth and fragrant spring rolls to classic Banh Mi and speciality Vietnamese coffee.
In the past, the area was known as ‘Little Italy’ due to the influx of Italian immigrant settlers who moved to Manchester in the late 19th Century.
Today, the outskirts of Ancoats, where Oldham Road meets Great Ancoats Street, has emerged as a small hub for these South East Asian businesses, taking on the nickname of ‘Little Vietnam’, or as we like to think of it ‘Scranoi’ in homage to the Vietnamese capital and its mouthwatering cuisine.
Wing Yip on the edge of Ancoats (Image: Manchester Evening News)
Here, bowls of pasta have been swapped for all manner of delicacies, and while there’s a strong showing from the Vietnamese community, there’s also Chinese food spots and Hong Kong-style coffee shops, illustrating the continued evolution of this small patchwork of businesses and the diversity of Manchester’s food scene.
The aroma of Bún bò Huế, a spicy beef and pork noodle soup wafts around Que Huong Viet, as Trang tells us that it’s one of their most popular dishes.
“We’ve been told it’s the best one in Manchester,” she beams as she translates for her mother who is floating between the shop counter and the restaurant.
Que Huong Viet on Oldham Road(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
“We’ve run the shop and café here for about three years, and in the shop a lot of our produce is brought up from London,” she continues.
“In the supermarket the majority of our customers are Vietnamese, but in the restaurant most people that come in are Chinese, and then Vietnamese and then British.
“Our food is quite similar to some Chinese food so it’s an easy reference point and they love our food too.
“We’re not far from the city centre here so it’s quite easy to attract people, and a lot of people walk around here so will come by. For us, the community along here is nice and it feels safe.”
Que Huong Viet on Oldham Road serves as a supermarket and restaurant (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Sitting next door to The Vietnamese Store, which opened its doors almost 20 years ago now, Que Huong also serves their community in Manchester with essential items that might be harder to come by in mainstream British supermarkets.
Somewhat crammed in and with row upon row of bottles, jars and and tins to peruse, this tiny, but well-stocked emporium accounts for everything from fish sauce and hot-sour shrimp flavour dipping seasoning on the top shelves, to subtropical guava, hot mint and Thai sweet bail sealed away in the fridges.
Ca Phe Viet is next along and quickly became a go-to for traditional Vietnamese coffee – think treacle-thick with condensed milk floating on top – when it opened around ten years.
Ca Phe Viet is well known for its traditional Vietnamese coffee(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Proudly, it was one of the first places in Manchester to sell the much-loved Banh Mi – a French baguette stuffed with cold cuts, crunchy salad and slathered with pate and mayonnaise.
Walk around the city centre now and you’ll find a host of venues serving up their own versions, but this stretch of road sells some of the best – and of course, most authentic.
Towards the north end of the parade of shops sits Wow Banh Mi, which as you might have guessed specialises in the lunchtime staple. They even have their own Banh Mi station.
Susan, Michael and the team at Wow Banh Mi on Oldham Road(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
A relatively new addition to the fold, the family run joint opened early last year and dishes up a real hotchpotch of flavours and influences, spanning traditional Vietnamese broths and baguettes, Taiwanese bubble tea, German Bratwurst and American corndogs.
The fusion of food and culture here is the work of Susan and Michael Diep, the face and heart of the business that’s hard to miss on account of its bold green exterior and shiny gold signage.
Susan moved from Vietnam in 1978 to the UK and as she approached 60 she decided to make her dream a reality by opening her own restaurant on Oldham Road.
From the beautiful wall paintings depicting the quaint town of Hoi Ann with its colourful shop fronts, to the Banh Mi station and menu of Vietnamese delights, it is utterly transportative.
Wow Banh Mi offer five types of baguette including the grilled pork skewers and crispy pork belly as well as the signature Banh Mi(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Just a few units down, Anh Trieu is finishing off her food before the lunchtime rush. Pho No 1 has been a mainstay of this parade for a long time now, and she took it on only a couple of years ago.
“As we’re opposite Wing Yip that brings a lot of people to this area and that’s partly what attracted me,” she reflects.
“Most of our products come from Wing Yip in the morning like the meat, vegetables and tofu, and I shop there most days. But I also buy some fruit and vegetables from Smithfield Market.
“I just want the freshest produce for the restaurant. When you cook with fresh ingredients it gives you a better result, a much better taste.”
Pho No 1 sits alongside a number of South East Asian businesses on Oldham Road(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Anh arrived in the UK 43 years ago from Lang Son, an area regarded as a hidden gem in Northeastern Vietnam, and known for its cuisine, breathtaking natural scenery and historical relics.
“We try to be as authentic as possible. A lot of customers come in here and they’ll say that the food reminds them of a trip they took to Vietnam.
“A lot of people travel there now for holidays so when they come back they’re trying to recreate the taste of Vietnam – they just want that experience again.
“It’s very mixed in terms of clientele coming in here, as it’s very multicultural in this part of Manchester.”
Owner Lilly (in green) with the staff at Hong Thai(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Speaking to that diversity, just next door is Hong Thai, another family-run restaurant which rose from the ashes of a devastating fire just a couple of years ago.
Having been based within the Arndale food markets for seven years, Hong Thai quickly grew a loyal following for their homemade, fresh delights inspired by Hong Kong and Thailand cuisine. But their success came to a grinding halt back in November 2023 following a fire at their unit.
After a brief hiatus, owner Lily uprooted and started again, this time with a full unit on Oldham Road. People flock in and out of the restaurant, keen to try their Pad Thai, teriyaki chicken and Thai curries.
As the name suggests, the food on offer at Hong Thai consists of dishes inspired by cuisine from Hong Kong and Thailand(Image: Manchester Evening News)
There’s also their wonton and braised beef brisket 12-hour broth, ihao soi egg noodles and the delicious guay tiaw keg, which features vermicelli noodles with chicken, king prawn, tofu and vegetables in a special Thai herb paste and coconut sauce.
Lilly, who is originally from the Philippines, met her husband, who is from Hong Kong, whilst he was working as a chef there. The pair moved to the UK after he received an offer to work for the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London and have stayed here ever since.
As she told us last year: “Our food is homemade, everything is made from scratch – even the sauces. The menu is nice, and we have new additions.
“We are really authentic because our chefs have more than 45 years of experience. Their experience is really wide, they have worked in countries like America, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and India.”
Noddy Lau with his wife Cyrus Chan outside their coffee shop (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
They’re not the only newcomers though. Just yards away, with huge, beaming smiles on their faces, Noddy Lau and his wife Cyrus Chan are rushed off their feet at their coffee shop, Artista Perfetto, which only opened a couple of months ago.
“I was born in Hong Kong and worked there, but we started the coffee shop in Taiwan with partners because I was only young when we began” explains Noddy who recently moved to the UK.
“After seven years in Taiwan, we went back to Hong Kong and opened the coffee shop there.
Noddy has opened coffee shops in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and now Manchester(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
“A lot of people have moved from Hong Kong to Canada or the UK, and it’s a chance for us to have a shop overseas as well as get the British National (Overseas) Visa.
“We wanted to have a better lifestyle and more freedoms so we chose the UK. We moved to Nottingham first because we had family there.
“Here in the UK I discovered coffee is very big, especially here in Manchester. There’s more energetic people here,” he laughs.
As well as coffee with beans straight from Hong Kong, Cyrus has become well-known for her cookies, which she bakes in varieties including Lemon and Earl Grey, Matcha with Macadamia, and Oreo Dark & White Chocolate Chips.
Cyrus bakes cookies in varieties including Lemon and Earl Grey, Matcha with Macadamia, and Oreo Dark & White Chocolate Chip(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
“We mainly get our ingredients from Asia, like the matcha powder from Japan. Because we still have our coffee shop back home I also really want the flavours of Hong Kong, so we do the shipments to make sure we have the same ingredients we have over there.
“The coffee industry in the UK is mature, people know what they want when they come into a shop so I didn’t want to put like flat whites on the menu, but opted for variants of black and white coffee, but we can make what people like too.
“People can try lots of different types of coffees and culture from our shop. I feel very happy because it’s a similar size to my Hong Kong one and people can come in and sit at the communal table and interact or just listen in.”