Kargo Market is Greater Manchester’s (yes I know Salford is not Manchester!) latest food hall offering following in the hallowed footsteps of Grub, Mackie Mayor, Freight Island et al. Like the aforementioned establishements this is a street food lovers paradise offering tasty dishes from around the world. Nestled at the back of the ghost town shopping centre that is the Lowry Outlet, Kargo Market is the first part of the wider food offering that is Central Bay overlooking the Quays out towards Old Trafford.
First impressions are good! It’s a vibrant place and when we visited on a Friday night very busy indeed. It’s a bit of a battle to find a table and then somewhat anti-social as with no app or menu you have to wander around to decide what to eat and you inevitably split up as you don’t want to lose the table you just battled hard to get! I suspect it will thrive in the summer as it has a lot of outdoor seating overlooking what it likes to call the Salford Riviera
The star of the show from what I ate was definitely the Zazzona from Ad Maiora. This had caught my eye on Insta before we headed out there and despite high expectations it did not disappoint. The perfectly toasted Schiacciata that was so light and crisp on the outside but airy and fluffy inside then absolutely loaded with flavour was a pure delight. Manchester’s sando game is strong right now with the likes of Fat Pat’s, Rack, Mickys etc thriving but these guys definitely deserve their seat at the top table alongside. They do both small and large versions to suit your appetite which is a nice touch given all the other options around you.
To be fair almost everything we ate was good. My only negative experience from all the things we tried was the Spicy Lamb loaded fries from House of Hebesha. While they were tasty (and extremely spicy I might add) the fries were luke warm at best and for £12.50 I was expecting a lot more. The Shawarma fries from Baity on the other hand were absolutely fabulous for a few quid less. Very generous with the toppings and a full flavour running through the mayo sauce.
Jerk Junction was another highlight and somewhere we’d heard good things about. The jerk haloumi wrap was excellent with a generous serving of the cheese and rich jerk sauce and packed with crisp slaw. The guy sat on the table we managed to beg a share of ordered the full jerk chicken, rice and peas when I was eating my lamb fries, serious food envy at that point!
I was determined to avoid burgers and pizzas as I wanted to try some new things and given the amount of exciting things on offer this should have been easy. However, I was lured in by the look and smell of the honey dough ring from Leopard Pie. This was sooooo good! The dough was so light (I suspect their pizzas are awesome too given this is the makeup of their base) and the honey flavour gave it a next-level lift. Stuffed full of stringy mozerella and drizzled with basil oil it was one hell of a side – I have had smaller pizzas in my life!
Overall I would highly recommend a visit. It had a good atmosphere, excellent range of quality food, good choice of drinks (beers, coffee etc) and a lot of potential. Once the other establishments of Central Bay around it open up it should get even better. Hopefully, given it’s location and the transport links that exist out to Salford Quays these days it will thrive. My kind of place!
Central Bay, Quayside, MediaCityUK, Salford, M50 3AG
