Now open: Manchester’s Siop Shop bakery & cafe on Tib Street

Common bar’s former in-house baking team, Iwan Roberts and Lucy Jackson (Blawd.Co), have set up their own operation just around the corner from the Northern Quarter bar on Tib Street. Siop Shop opened yesterday – Thursday 19 October – and joins the Mackie Mayor food hall (read our story here) in bringing excellent new dining opportunities to the ‘North’ Northern Quarter this Autumn. As you’d expect from a leading independent, the walls are adorned with works by local artists (and Common alumni) such as John Powell Jones and Aliyah Hussain, while the menu echoes of the kind of healthy, casual grub that used to be on sale at Oklahoma. Yesterday’s offerings included sweet potato, coconut and lime soup, a fig and gorgonzola tart, and pastrami, emmental and purple slaw on Pollen sourdough, as well as a range of salads, and bakes. Lunch is around £5, and the aim, according to Roberts, is to stick to roughly that price point going forwards. Sounds good to us. Blawd.Co is well known for handmade doughnuts, but other options include salted caramel brownies, banana bread and cherry and almond cake. Watch this space for a review to follow.

Now open, Siop Shop, 39-41 Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1HW, opening times vary, closed Mondays, @siopshop