Big New Indian Restaurant, Stock Restaurant Closes And Lovely Raw Beef

SleuthSleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to publish. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @mcrsleuth

Brimful of Asha

Manchester is to gain an Asha from the Birmingham group of the same name that likes its restaurants big. The new place will be on Peter Street at the junction with Southmill Street, the former site of Baby Grand, in Lancashire House.

Brum AshaIt will be a huge 6,000 square foot restaurant and bar over two floors, with a big function room. The Asha restaurants are co-owned by award-winning Indian singer Asha who has recorded more music than anybody else, more than 11,000 songs according to the Guinness Book of Records. The restaurant will open in October and will hope to be another hit.

The Birmingham operation is pictured here. Menu items will include delights such as Muscat Gosht, a ‘boneless tender lamb cooked in clarified butter, with whole spices in a rich onion and tomato’.

The menu probably won’t include cannabis. A factory of the latter herb, with over 300 plants, was discovered in the derelict top floor after a fire in 2011 in Lancashire House. The building is about 100 yards from Bootle Street police station. 

Asha nosh

Stock Restaurant Closed For Good

Odd food. Lamb and chilli.In amongst the splurge of new openings a former giant of the Manchester scene has closed. Stock was opened by Enzo Mauro, one of the great adopted Manchester Italian chefs in 2000, in the grand old hall of the former Stock Exchange. It's been struggling for a while.

In the editor's October 2013 review he wrote about the food: 'It wasn't bad food, some of it was fine, but it was so crazily distinctive as to border on the maverick. Like Alice I felt I'd fallen through the Looking Glass into a place where everything was almost but not exactly the same, where a huge chilli placed on lamb might be an every day occurrence.' He also recalls immediately after his starter being presented with a dessert menu. "Can't I have the main course I ordered?" he asked plaintively.

The building is now owned by ex-United player and England assistant manager, Gary Neville. The smart money says he's going to convert it into a boutique hotel. 

Stock Restaurant's grand domed interior

Damp Museum Experience

Sleuth was chatting to a friend about the Museum of Science and Industry aka MOSI the other day. The friend got the name mixed up. “I took the kids to the Museum of Industry, Science and Technology,” he said. Sleuth worked the acronym out. “It’s MOSI, Museum of Science and Industry, not MOIST, Museum of Industry, Science and Technology,” he said. MOIST is somehow a less savoury acronym. 

Sleuth’s Face Riding A Bicycle Picture Of The Week

L’Oreal Blackett, Confidential writer and our Stretford correspondent, found this remarkable chap at Parklife and fell a little bit in love with him.

Face rides bicycle to Park Life

Sleuth's Surprising Stat Of The Week

Visit Britain, the state tourist body charged with promoting visits to Britain and welcoming guests, has been talking this week about how we need to spread overseas visitors more evenly across the country. London takes a whopping 52% share of all tourism. Manchester is the third most visited city. But the surprising stat was that Manchester Airport was operating at less than 50% capacity, despite being used by over 21m travellers a year. Let's get more flights in, thinks Sleuth...well maybe not Ryan Air. 

Sleuth's Bravest Weed-Picker Of The Week

Sleuth loves this daredevil shrub remover doing his stuff on the former National House high above Parsonage Gardens. Confidential friend, Howard Sharrock was enjoying the view from his balcony in Century House when he spotted him. "I remember him doing this without a safety rope," he says. Typical. Bloody health and safety gone...er...sensible.

Get that shrub Mr Cornice-Walker

Sleuth's Gorgeous Food Of The Week

Sleuth had a go at the new menu at Mr Cooper's House and Garden. Lots of bits to float a foodie boat. The standout dish is shown at the top of this page, the raw beef dish came with a marinade or some such wizardy that tasted tangily Moroccan or spicily Eastern. Exceptional work. Rush and buy it. It was also good to quaff a fine local ale. The Hop from Salford brewery First Chop was a winner that lived up to its name. All hotel operations should promote local ales, adds a splash of distinctiveness to a visitors experience of Manchester, builds identity. 

Hop along

Sleuth's Lies To Tell Tourists

England's 2014 July parade through Manchester streets following their World Cup victory in Brazil was a total success.