The brand new food hall ‘set to rival Mackie Mayors’ with £4 pints and live music

A brand new food hall set beneath the swung arches of a beautiful Grade-II listed building has now finally opened its doors in Oldham town centre.

The long-awaited Egyptian Room is the final part of a multi-million pound renovation of Oldham’s Old Town Hall building on Parliament Square.

Bringing together Oldham’s historical splendour and contemporary dining, food stalls and a bar are set into the Egyptian-inspired architecture of the 180-year-old building.

The food hall is intimate but grand, with indoor seating for around 150 guests, six kitchens and a bar – alongside a music nook where live bands and DJs will play on the weekends.

More seating on an outdoor terrace at the hall’s entrance faces towards the new Tommyfield Market hall off Spindles shopping centre (due to be completed next year).

The food hall was developed by Oldham Council and is now managed by Northern Lights Group (NLG).

And as well as putting Oldham on Greater Manchester’s culinary map, the hall is supposed to be giving back to the local community by employing 42 locals, including 26 team members out of long-term unemployment

Local bosses have claimed the hall is ‘set to rival Mackie Mayors’.

It’s a tall order, putting the new hall level with Manchester’s ever-buzzing converted market hall.

Fortunately, it delivers – with an impressive selection of some of the North West’s best food concepts, from Manchester favourite Ply Pizza, to an off-shoot of Kambuja, and The Last Stop, as well as a brand new Oldham-grown Caribbean venture.

The town isn’t known as a food and drinks destination, with the local high streets having struggled to stay afloat in light of declining footfall in the last few years.

But the £37m makeover of the old town hall, started in 2016, has hoped to turn the tide, with parts of it transformed into a seven-screen Odeon cinema, Nandos, Molino Lounge restaurant and an independent dessert cafe called Bittersweet.

Now local figureheads have high hopes for the final phase of the transformation, which they see as the beginning of a turning point for the town.

The venue’s assistant manager Nicola Stone said: “I’m from Oldham myself.

"Oldham desperately needs this.

"So, there’s been so much excitement about this.

“The food is amazing, the staff is amazing, the location is fantastic.

"I just can’t wait to see how the people of Oldham react to it.”

Local MP Jim McMahon, who was involved in the original conception of the town hall renovation and attended the food hall’s launch, said: “This used to be the home of pigeons and rats when it was derelict for a generation.

"[Now], people in Oldham will look at this for generations.”

So, what exactly is on offer at Oldham’s Egyptian Room?

There are some well-known stars among the carefully selected five restaurants currently open at the venue.

Ply is serving up its trademark stonebaked pizzas and garlic breads, along with mouth-watering pasta dishes made fresh on the day.

And Kambuja, the well-established restaurants in Stockport and Altrincham, are bringing almost a decade of experience serving up Asian Fusion to Greater Manchester in its newest venture Tuk Tuk.

The Cambodian chefs have an expansive menu on offer at their miniature kitchen, including their fabled Cha Kuthiew, Cambodia’s answer to Pad Thai.

There’s also a brand new kid on the block, Seacoles.

The Caribbean duo were a huge hit on the hall’s opening night, with rich, varied flavours across their fried dumpling (splits) and taco selection, alongside spicy wings, wraps and plantain chips.

And there’s no shortage of choice for meat-lovers at the new venue.

Wings of Power serves fried chicken in all guises – wings, tenders and burgers, including an intriguing chicken filet-pineapple-habanero combination called ‘Tropicana’.

Meanwhile, The Last Stop head chef has jazzed up his menu with halal beef burgers and Greek-inspired gyros. Both have veggie alternatives too.

But perhaps more impressive than the aromatic flavours drifting through the air is the actual space.

A comparatively modest and modern foyer, home to Ply, opens through a gargantuan arched doorway into the main hall.

Here, circular columns covered in original Egyptian-inspired tiling – restored individually by hand – reach up to a bowed ceiling, where a shower of golden lights twinkle in the low mood lighting.

A mezzanine terrace at the back of the hall provides a bird’s eye view over the busy floor below, with a dining bar running along the balustrade.

An Egyptian Room bar runs along one end of the main hall, serving a relatively affordable ‘Egyptian Room’ draught for £4 a pint (drinkable for the price) and wine from £5.30 for a 175ml glass.

Food ranges from £5 to £12 – making it a slightly cheaper night out than its city centre rivals.

The high ceiling also makes for impressive acoustics.

Assistant manager Nicola has made full use of this by booking up the next few weekends with a live gig on Fridays and a DJ every Saturday.

The music, she says, will include everything from Jazz and Country to Oasis tribute bands, so there’ll be something for everyone.

The food hall is open Tuesday to Sunday, with food served from noon until 9pm.

The venue is open until 10pm on weekdays, midnight on Friday and Saturday and 9pm on Sunday, with kids welcome until 9pm every day.

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