Known for their tasty vegan fusion dumplings, Desert Island Dumplings has announced that they are landing permanently in at Manchester’s Afflecks. Opening up in the Manchester institution this month, Mancs won’t have to go far to get their dumpling fix.
Hailed as ‘ones to watch’ at The Golden Chopstick Awards last year, the accolades just keep coming as the independent business has now been selected as finalist for the 2023 British Street Food Awards. Desert Island Dumplings started at the tail end of 2020 and began trading swiftly after, making waves in both the Liverpool and Manchester food scene, with owner Lucy Linford saying she is “made up with how far the business has come”.
Lucy Linford said: “At the beginning it was all through Insta, with me and my housemate, Robbie, racing around orders on our bikes.” After launching on Instagram , the addictive deep-fried fusion dumplings grew a strong and loyal fan-base, vegan and non-vegans alike.
“Desert Island Dumplings tapped into a gap in the market. Before we came about, veggie dumplings were stuck in a mushroom/tofu vacuum. It’s a lot of fun coming up with new flavours,” said Lucy.
Generously filled with flavours such as cheezburger, smokey cheez pizza, salt n pepper chikn, mock duck, spag bol, fried breakfast, f*sh, chips & curry, lasagna…you name it, they’ve done it. In the past two years Desert Island Dumplings have had residencies in at Liverpool’s Kazimier Gardens and Cafe Tabac, as well as Manchester venues Sadler’s Cat, Stretford Foodhall, Ancoats General Store and GRUB, which was the first spot to showcase them in the Manchester food scene.
With all that being said Desert Island Dumplings nomad days are numbered as they have finally found a permanent space to call their own. This summer, Desert Island Dumplings have set up shop in the Northern Quarter‘s Afflecks Palace, which boasts an impressive number of independent traders.
Lucy Linford said: “It’s been a long time coming for sure and I’m really excited to have a HQ base for our regulars to get their fix. We’re thinking Desert Island Dumplings meets cafe culture.. There’s gonna be space to sit and chill, we’re thinking small plates, filter coffee, Simpsons Guess Who; it’ll be a vibe.”
The Afflecks location will serve the usual deep fried dumpling fan fair and combo boxes along with frozen dumplings you can cook at home.