Missing home hits hardest at dinner time. Here's where to find the dish you're craving, from Salford Quays to the Curry Mile, and nine cuisines worth the bus fare.
The first time I couldn't find tamarind paste anywhere near campus, I stood in the reduced aisle of a supermarket nearly crying over a basket of past its best bananas. It wasn't really about the tamarind. It was about wanting one thing that tasted like home, in a city that still felt like a stranger's front room.
If that's you right now, missing a specific dish you can picture in more detail than your own timetable, this one's for you. Not another settling in checklist. Just FOOD. Where to buy it, and where to go when you don't feel like cooking.
Groceries first
Salford Shopping Centre is your nearest stop, free to reach on the 50 bus with your student ID. Salford Superstore and The A World cover Afro Caribbean, Asian and English groceries, and Aldi and Lidl round out a weekly shop for under £30 if you stick to staples. 🛒
Kargo MKT at the Quays is 19 independent kitchens on the waterfront at MediaCity, everything from Ethiopian to Korean to Palestinian to Mexican. Not a weekly shop, but a genuinely good "I need this tonight" trip.
For the ingredients that don't substitute, the right spice, the specific cut, the brand from home, cross into Rusholme, the Curry Mile, for South Asian and Middle Eastern grocers, or Cheetham Hill for Eastern European, Caribbean and Asian shops. Both are about 45 minutes away on the 50 or 51 bus, so it's worth batching it once a month rather than treating it as a weekly dash.
Where to eat, by cuisine
£ under £15pp, ££ £15 to £30pp, £££ £30pp or more, or a proper occasion.
Prices and opening hours change, so it's worth a quick check on the restaurant's own site before you head out.
South-Asian 🥘
Salford Curry King £, Eccles New Road. The reliable takeaway curry, big portions, tikka sauces people specifically ask for by name.
Bundobust ££, Piccadilly and the Oxford Road Brewery. Indian street food rather than curry house classics. The okra fries are the whole reason people go back, crisp chickpea batter dusted with black salt and mango powder, and there's chaat and pav style plates if you're after something specifically Mumbai street rather than a Sunday dinner.
Do not skip out on Manchurian Wings!
Middle Eastern 🥙
Maray ££, Brazennose Street. Go for the small plates and order more than you think you need. The whipped mushroom and the aubergine are the ones people bring up unprompted, and the disco cauliflower is the one everyone photographs.
Vietnamese 🍲
Viet Soul ££, Northern Quarter. The vegan stir fry is bang on, and it's one of the only places on this list with a wide range of Asian beer selection, deff worth sticking around for 🍻.
Sushi and ramen, for a fancy night out (or just a comforting one) 🍱
Ramen bowls have, hands down, always been so comforting, especially on cold dark winter days!
Lucky Ramen and Sushi ££, the original Ancoats site plus a bigger new branch at Circle Square on Oxford Road. Ramen, sushi and cocktails, consistently good.
P.S.: Ask for Truffle Broccoli 🥦🧄
Shoryu Ramen or Wazuzhi £ to ££ are worth trying if Lucky's queue is out the door. Wazuzhi does lunch bowls from around £8.
Italian 🍝
Lina Stores ££, Quay Street. Handmade pasta, and the truffle tagliolini is the one people call the best they've had outside Italy.
Dom's Italia ££, Deansgate. Heavy, proper, baked dishes. The spinach and ricotta chef special is the kind of meal that ends your evening early, in the best way.
Thai 🍚
Zaap Thai ££, Spinningfields. About 80 dishes on the menu and a genuinely good atmosphere, the lunch set is around £15.
Thaikhun ££, also Spinningfields, a couple of minutes from Zaap if you want a second option in the same trip.
My Thai £, Tib Street, Northern Quarter. The reliable takeaway order when you can't be bothered to sit down anywhere.
Mexican and Latin 🌮
Las Iguanas £££, Deansgate. Bottomless tapas, 90 minutes, from around £17 to £20pp depending on the day, check their site before you book as the offer rotates. Good for a group celebration rather than a Tuesday dinner.
Caribbean 🍗
Caribbean Flavas £, Chapel Street, Salford, opposite Salford Central. As local as it gets, and it has legendary status locally for the jerk chicken, curried mutton and saltfish fritters.
Pull Up ££, Swan Street, on the Northern Quarter and Ancoats border. Louder, later, good for a night out rather than a quick dinner.
West African 🌶️
Roots Restaurant ££, Hyde Road, Gorton. Jollof rice and goat suya, Afrobeat on the speakers.
Ya Koyo ££, Kenyon Lane, Miles Platting. Nigerian soups, ofada stew, cocktails on the side.
Go eat that homesickness away!
Whatever you cook or order this week, we want to see it. Tag @SalfordSU, we'll be very nosy about it 🙂↕️