Alan Ng, owner of One+, Manchester’s incredible three floor noodle bar, Chinese BBQ and hot pot conveyor belt restaurant, has just opened an Oriental Minimart at Circle Square.
If you’ve ever dined at One+ and wondered where you can get the essential ingredients from to have a bash at home, now you know. One Home Minimart is only a stone’s throw away from the Charles Street restaurant and is a fantastic new shopping experience for all your Oriental and ingredient needs.
The bright, modern shop offers an extensive range of Oriental snacks and dry goods, along with fresh produce such as seafood, meats, fruit and veg. You can also pop in for a selection of reasonable priced street food dishes and milk tea (boba/bubble) on the go.
We had a quick chat with Alan to find out how it all came about.
“We’ve always noticed the building opposite was empty and we were really interested in it. With it being all empty over lockdown it started to play on our minds a little bit, so we decided to get in touch with the Vita people - we cater for a lot of their functions anyway – and as soon as we had a look we decided to take it,” says Alan.
But wasn’t he tempted to turn it into another restaurant?
“No, purely because of lockdown and all the uncertainty. We put our heads together and thought ‘you know what? There’s a big far eastern following around this area, they probably need something like this.’ So that’s why we decided to build a little store.”
What can customers expect to find at the minimart?
“Well, my vision of the place was more of a high end shopping experience. You know how when you visit an airport and you go to Duty Free it has that particular ambience? That’s the type of feel and spaciousness was what I was after. The aisles are nice and wide and it has really high ceilings as well. I could have easily squeezed in another row of shelves in between but I didn’t want to. I wanted to give it more of a spacious feel. We wanted to create a really cool place.”
How did you choose your products?
“We’ve never done anything like this before so weren’t really sure who to go to. But we’ve got some really supportive friends who know a lot of people in the industry and we did some research in places like Birmingham. Everyone has been really helpful helping us make connections. Product wise, you’ll see a lot of the kind of snacks and things you can get in Europe and the Far East, so Lays crisps for example rather than Walker’s.”
Tell us more about the street food we can get from the new Minimart.
“We offer something very similar to what we offer across the road, our Chinese hot pot, but on the go. So we’ll give you a little bowl to hold and we’ll put some fish balls in it and some squid, some noodles in there – around 8 items with a little bit of stock soup - you can have chilli or not - we’ll give you a fork and you can just eat it on the go for around £4.50. Soon we’ll also be offering Chinese pancakes which are more like a wrap.”
Circle Square by Oxford Road is an up and coming place to eat, drink and shop. Brands coming soon will include boutique fitness studio TRIB3, and live entertainment venue Canvas along with some innovative retailers and leisure operators, restaurants, bars, and pavement cafes, all centred around Symphony Park complete with terraces, lawns, and beautiful trees.
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If you visit One Home Minimart in its opening week (up to 8th August) you can take advantage of 10% off everything (AND be seen in one of the coolest independent convenience stores in Manchester).
Opening hours 10am – 9pm
One Home Minimart, Circle Square, Nobel Way, Manchester, M1 7FA
Also - One +, 42 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB