24 dumplings for under £14 - there can't be a better offer in Manchester

Mr Su’s is another import from the other side (could we even say the wrong side?) of the Pennines, one of a few that have made - or are making - the journey from Leeds to plot up here in Manchester.

Craft brewery North Brewing Co has set up here, coupling IPAs with bao buns at its taproom in Circle Square. Soon enough, we’ll have a branch of House of Fu, doing superlative ramen and karaoke till all hours, and Mean Eyed Cat, a deep south inspired dive bar situation on Oldham Street.

Mr Su - now, like North Brewing, also set up on Circle Square - has done great work in Leeds, serving up steaming bowls of noodles and dumplings that you can order by the dozen. And who wouldn’t want to buy dumplings by the dozen? Or two dozen, for that matter.

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Better still, Mr Su (he’s an actual man, not a marketing construct, with a 25 year career in posh hotels in the UK, China and Dubai) is doing everything very much with an eye on price. So a giant bowl of chicken soup with rice noodles will cost you £9.50. And six dumplings are an inflation-busting £3.90. 12 are £7.50, 18 are £10.90 and 24 are £13.90.

Yes, you can buy a plate of 24 dumplings at once, and if there’s a better offer in Manchester, I don’t know about it. In fact, there’s nowhere else in town offering up prices like this, with bowls of ramen (though this isn’t ramen, of course) increasingly clocking in around the £15 mark these days.

Not here though. Instead of waiting staff, once you’ve ordered you get a number and take a seat in the canteen-style dining room. Then every few minutes, there’s a ‘ding dong’ and then an announcement over the PA. It’s like being at the airport.