Review of 'Soup Co. (Malatang Hot Pot Noodles)'

20240907_175632.jpg One thing I find interesting about big cities such as Manchester is that there are always new interesting restaurants popping up. Recently I stumbled across “Soup Co” a stones throw from Piccadilly Gardens in the heart of Manchester. There was something immediately appealing about the place with the glass front allowing me to see into what looked to be a busy interior. I was able to see people eating from very large tasty looking bowls of soup and noodles…though I knew little more until we actually went in to have something to eat.

Interior

Soup Co has the familiar fast-food interior with fixed plastic tables throughout with the order station at the back. The difference here is that there is a large cooler on the right side of the restaurant. A bit puzzled, I asked someone helping themselves to the cooler what I needed to do.

Ingredients

They pointed me to a fridge containing stainless steel bowls. There are more than 80 ingredients to select from, ranging from various varieties of seafood, exotic (and “normal”) meats, soup balls, vegetables (of all kinds), and noodles. You can choose whatever you want and are charged a flat rate of £2.99/100g. Presenting this at the back till area you choose a soup base or or “dry mix” that your ingredients are cooked with. The soup bases are quite interesting: “Signature Spicy Malatang”, “Tom Yum” (billed as the “best in Manchester”, sadly, it was not available when we visited), “Tomato”, “Mushroom & Vegetable”, “Laksa”, “Chicken Bone”, “Beef Bone”, and “Pepper” while there were two options for “dry mix”, “Peanut Butter Dry Mix” and “Spicy Mala Dry Mix”. The bases are charged at a flat fee of £3.50 which is added to the cost of your ingredients. These are then taken away from you, you are given a table number then they delivered to your table by the friendly staff when they have been cooked and are ready.

Order Numbers

I picked an assortment of meats, meat balls, vegetables (including bok choi), gorgeous looking (shell on) prawns and udon noodles. For my soup base I chose Laksa as it is one of my absolute favourites. With the large bowl we were given the Laksa meant it was VERY rich but absolutely delicious. Amazingly the ingredients were cooked correctly with nothing particularly under or over cooked. The ingredients were all extremely fresh and full of flavour. Of course, it was only pure chance that my dish actually worked properly together…

Laksa Soup

My companion opted for the “chicken bone” broth with meat balls, bok choi, carrots, mini corn cobs and, also, udon noodles. The chicken broth was very tasty. Her only complaint was the sheer amount of soup.

Chicken Bone Broth

Nicely, there is an array of complimentary condiments you can also select from at the back till area to enhance your dish including things like soy sauce, peanut sauce, hot sauces, peanuts, green onions, etc.

Condiments

The drinks are generally reasonably priced soft drinks with a few Asian options as well (including one of my favourites: Aloe Vera juice).

All in all, an amazing and fun experience with delicious soup broths. The only real complaint we had was the cost which can very quickly add up. I figured we had selected only a modest amount of ingredients but it was approximately £22 each which makes this somewhat more expensive than most people would want to pay for lunch (!). If you were a bit more strategic in your selections, obviously you can reduce your cost but with such an amazing array of options it is hard to resist!

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2024-09-07


Cuisine: Chinese

Address: Unit B5, City Tower, Mosley St, Manchester M1 4BT ENGLAND

Location: Manchester (England)

Map:

 

Show in Google Maps  Get Directions

Telephone:

URL: