Alongside Sunday roasts, fish ’n’ chips and fry-ups, London’s classic food scene is built on classic cockney pie and mash. Juicy meat enveloped in flaky pastry, a plate piled high with pillowy mash, lashings and lashings of liquor – what’s not to love? So when M Manze, an icon of jellied eels, meat pies and mashed potatoes, closed its doors on Islington’s Chapel Market, it was a sad day for trad British chow.
M Manze first opened its branch on the market in 1911 and served traditional cockney fare for more than 100 years. But rising rents and business rates forced it to shutter in 2019. Fans of its food – some who’d been eating there since childhood – flocked in their hundreds to wave goodbye to the famous pie shop.
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Now, seven years after its closure, the seductive smell of parsley liquor will be wafting through its doors once again. That’s because the historic site has reopened as No.74 Chapel Market, serving up the same classic dishes it was originally famed for.
Yep, business partners Martin Savage and John Gordon have decided to restore the Chapel Market site to its former glory. Thanks to the Grade II-listed status of the building, the iconic M Manze shopfront sign, tiled walls and wooden tables will all remain.
As for the menu, while the traditional pie and mash classics will be served here, the shop’s new owners want to give a nod to their Irish heritage too.
Savage told the Islington Tribune: ‘The menu reflects the connection between Ireland and England and the working-class people who move between different communities.
‘We’ll put some different flavours in, and we’ll have a few different flavours of mash. It’s all about being creative and interesting with it – maintain the classic menu but with an Irish twist, which complements the local offer.’
No.74 Chapel Market is now open at 74 Chapel Market, N1 9ER.
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