The Trafford Centre, Manchester

Hello Oriental Trafford Centre

We visited Hello Oriental last night for dinner. The overall experience was okay, but a few things stood out — both good and not-so-great.

The Korean HOT Chicken Wings were spicy and sweet. Personally, I found the combination just average, but if you enjoy that sweet heat, you might like them more.

I ordered the Beef Ho Fun noodles — they were decent, not spicy at all, which I think could have been improved with a bit of kick or more flavour depth.

My wife had the Stir Fried Udon with Chicken. She thought it was just okay, but the udon noodles were too thick for her taste and quite heavy.

The drinks were a bit of a mixed bag — the Lucky Buddha beer was fine, but pricey at £6.50 for a pint. However, the Strawberry Fruit Tea was a lovely surprise — refreshing and full of flavour. Definitely the highlight of the drinks we tried.

The vibe of the place is lively and modern, but for the price (£46.50 for two mains, sides, and drinks), we expected a little more in terms of flavour and variety.

Would we go back? Maybe — mainly for drinks or to try something different from the menu.

Jenny is amazing as are all the servers. It's my birthday today and was spoilt with a ice cream! So thank you. Honestly the best food around. If it was our last meal on this earth it would be totally worth it. All food was hot and fresh. Thanks again hello oriental

Previously visited the Manchester Centre branch so it was a nice surprise to see them in the Trafford Centre.

This time I ordered small but everything on the menu looked like the Manchester Centre branch.

Salt and pepper chicken wing box - could have done with more wings for the money but you get a lot of chips. 7/10

Prosperity burger - succulent chicken thigh piece in a brioche bun. To be honest tasted like a Bao Bun chicken. Also a bit of a messy eat and doesn’t come with fries or a side. 7.5/10

Shezuan Chips - smoky and peppery, nice taste but the quality of the cut of chips not great. 7/10

Drinks
Mocktails were a winner!
Watermelon Sour….banger!

Service
The staff named Rose was amazing and full of great positive energy. She was accommodating and not shy to recommend items on the menu, great knowledge and impeccable service!
She recommended the dessert options available at the dessert bar (opposite the restaurant). Shaved mango ice cream…wow! 10/10

So impressed! Food was delicious, fresh and hot! Restaurant spotless. Staff so friendly and kind - thank you to our server Joel who was so nice. Food was so quick to be served! Thank you! Huge portions on the lunch deal! Will be back!

First time here! The food was good, tasty and hot. And the best part REALLY GOOD PORTION SIZES. Only downside is I absolutely cannot stand QR codes. What’s wrong with old fashioned service? There was plenty of staff on the shift it just seems so impersonal. We asked for a physical menu due to a severely shattered phone screen only to find out half the items on the menu weren’t available…? when we eventually did order (online) there was no option to pay via Apple Pay and I didn’t have a physical bank card on me - I can see how this would frustrate others too. It would have also been nice to know the food comes as and when it’s ready. There as a good 20 minutes between the first persons dish landing on the table and the last persons dish. Not great if you’ve all ordered at the same time as a group. There was no apology for the wait, the lady running the pass couldn’t even be bothered to stand up whilst doing her job and no one asked how our food was. I feel if you put servers in place, tips would be flowing as the food is actually really nice. Everything else just lets it down a little bit. I would come back however I would want a few more items available on the day - everything I got excited about was unavailable.

Hello Oriental

Ben's Cookies

The best cookies in Manchester by far. This is our go to stop for desserts whenever we visit The Trafford Centre. You get 7 very large and very filling cookies for £12, which is more than fair.

They have a decent variety, ranging from Triple Chocolate to Coconut. My favourite is the Triple Chocolate, followed closely by the Chocolate Orange. Their other flavours are also delectable, so you really can't go wrong.

Went in tonight it was a very good experience. The staff was very friendly and smiling. She helped me through out all the papers and flavours and I will definitely be back.

Big shout out to the young girl safaa who served us tonight! She is a major credit to your team

08/03/2025
20:54
Server: Safaa

Finally tried Ben’s cookies today in the Trafford centre after many times walking past and wanting to give it a try and I can tell you they are definitely worth the hype.

Also the customer service was excellent I was served by Steven and asked him which was the best sellers and for his honest opinion, as you can see I bought one to try and had to go back and get a box to take home with me!

Definitely recommend!

After finally launching in the north, Ben’s Cookies does not disappoint! I got myself a 7 cookie box and each one was an absolute delight. My favourites were the chocolate orange and white chocolate, I even got a free broken cookie at the till! I’ll definitely be back for more!

It was 9.15am at the Trafford centre pop up stall and a lovely lady called Helen noticed my autistic son looking at the cookies on display. Despite it being a Sunday before 10am, she was more than happy to serve us.
I just want to say thank you to Helen - a lot of people might have said no to serving us with it being before 10am on a Sunday but she was more than happy to and didn't turn us away and had a lovely chat with us - it meant a lot to me because it is so hard to explain closures and why things aren't available even when they are on display  to Daniel - so thank you Helen for a friendly, positive interaction that left my son happy.

To top it all off, Daniel let me have a bite of the cookie and it was delicious!!!!!!!! I love that the triple chocolate chunk cookie has a gooey middle!!! Yum!

Tru Street - Real Street Food

Shared the Tru Barbarian with 1 other, plenty enough for 2 people and a beast if you're taking on the challenge on your own. Only order if you like a bit of spice.

Great service. Lady was lovely and really helpful.

Definitely recommend 👌

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

We recently visited Tru Street at the Trafford Centre and, unfortunately, had a very disappointing experience. We ordered the Brisket Burger, Wings, and the Hawker, which included Malaysian Chilli Chicken, Crispy Shredded Beef, and Salt and Pepper Chicken.

The Brisket Burger was absolutely dry and bland – easily the driest meat we’ve ever encountered. After just one bite, we had to spit it out. The brisket was truly awful – an insult to what brisket is supposed to be – and the beef patty itself was completely tasteless. It lacked any moisture, seasoning or flavour.

Next came the wings, which were brought to the table by an older man who, rather than greeting us, simply threw the dish down without a word and walked off. His attitude was unwelcoming and downright rude. The wings themselves were the worst we’ve ever had. They tasted overwhelmingly of ginger and appeared to have been cooked in old, dirty oil. Like everything else so far, they were dry, unpleasant, and barely edible.

We were then left waiting for the Hawker dishes, which took a considerable amount of time to arrive. When they finally did, we found them just as disappointing. The Malaysian Chilli Chicken was far too spicy, tasting solely of raw chilli with no depth or balance of flavour. The rice it came with resembled packet rice and certainly wasn’t freshly prepared.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken had no salt, no pepper, and absolutely no flavour. It was bland, dry, and tasted like it had been microwaved. The Crispy Shredded Beef was the only slightly redeeming dish, coated in teriyaki sauce. While it wasn’t amazing, it was at least edible and had some flavour – the only one of the entire meal to do so.

Overall, I would not recommend Tru Street to anyone. It really is not true street food. We spent £49 on food that we couldn’t eat or enjoy. In the end, we took it away and gave it to a homeless person rather than throwing it away. The food was bland, we waited a long time for each dish to come out, which made no sense as it was clearly not fresh, and tasted like it had been pre-cooked and reheated. The service was equally disappointing, with one staff member in particular making us feel completely unwelcome.

Save your money and go elsewhere – this was one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had.

Try TruStreet today the food was amazing, we went for the Iconic Hawkers 3 for £18.99 which is a great deal three small dishes which are very filling.
In the pictures are the manchurian, Malaysian chilli chicken and Chinese crispy beef on one set the other is Taiwanse Salt and Pepper Chicken, The General and Singaporean Crispy Chicken and a side of salt and pepper chips. All was 😍

Please, please, please avoid this place at all costs. I usually check reviews beforehand and did the same this time, but my partner saw someone else’s food and thought it looked nice, so we gave it a try. Yes, the food looks great – but the flavour was incredibly bland. Honestly, worse than any local Chinese takeaway I’ve ever had, and this is supposed to be a proper restaurant.

We couldn’t even finish half the food – the meat was chewy, the sauces were watery, and everything tasted bland and lifeless. Really disappointed. Do not eat here!

Food is soo tasty !! I have been back 3 times already. Loads of options. The noodles were the best and I love the salt and pepper chicken. Highly recommend. Great service aswell

Tru Street

NICHI

Service was amazing. Thanks to Jake who was attentive, so polite and made our whole dining experience so pleasant. The food was also fantastic. Loved the House cerviche and the short rib burger he recommended. Definitely our fave waiter and we will be back just for this place!

From start to finish, everything was amazing. The atmosphere, scenery, service and most importantly, the food was 10/10. Best advice I can give, if Aziz recommends anything, order it! You will not be disappointed.

5* all around here at Nichi! First time visiting with the kids and as we are local we will definitely be stopping by again. Shay and Kiyan were superb at explaining everything and guiding me via the menu. Food was amazing, full of flavours. Thank you guys and I'm sure the misses got a cheeky cocktail🍸in also. Brilliant 👏

Outstanding service by our waiter (Jake), he was extremely patient while we couldn't make our minds up - very helpful in explaining the menu and answering our numerous questions. The food was amazing and a very memorable experience. Thoroughly recommend this restaurant, you will be amazed too!

Absolutely fantastic food and service. A real treat and something different for the Trafford centre. We were explained by the waiter that it's small plates so great for sharing and trying a few options. They answered and explained anything we were unsure of and it was simply wonderful. The sushmi fish taco was beautiful and full of flavour, and the star of the show. But everything was excellent and well worth a visit

Deliveroo UK

UberEats UK

Slim Chickens

First time visiting here and I think it's a pretty decent place for chicken sandwiches etc. Excellent chips and sauces, definitely didn't look or feel greasy which is appreciated. Would come again.

First time trying this place and it's was honestly amazing. The food was delicious, I got a honey BBQ burger with a chocolate milkshake and fries, it was so good and the fries were lovely and come with red salt on, which I love, and a dip of your choice. Everything came hot and fresh straight from the kitchen and nothing about it was greasy. I particularly dislike having greasy fries, but any greasy food I'm not too fond of, so I was glad for that. It was all crunchy, crispy and just so tasty.
It cost £10 for my meal which I thought was a decent price, especially for the quality, it was definitely worth it.
We went at 11:30 in the morning on a Thursday and no one was there at that time, I was happy about that as I prefer less busy places.
I will definitely be going back, I wish they had Slim Chickens in more places in the country.
I was so excited to try the food and it looked so delicious that I forgot to take a picture of it until I'd almost finished, so this was all I got.

Ate here last night for the first time. It was really busy so thought it must be good. I was extremely disappointed! It cost me around £13 for chicken strips and chips, to take out and it was awful. The chicken was like chewing on rubber. I’ve never had such horrible chicken in my life. I’m still finding bits of the rubbery chicken in my teeth! Definitely won’t be going here again, such a waste of money!!!! I didn’t even finish the meal and I was starving! Just to top off the awful food, the man with the dark hair and glasses who works on the floor was extremely rude! I had bags in my hands and was struggling to pour my drink from the drinks machine and he ran over to me, pushed in front of me and poured his own drink. Such a rude person and disgusting behaviour! Avoid!

Visited here and had some great food. Really good system to ordering. Scan a QR code on the table and order via Safari. The food came out in 10 minutes. Really good portion sizes. There was a wide selection of milkshakes and bottomless soft drinks.

They serve halal food. 4 star because they don't serve hot here. Taste is ok. Neat and clean place.

We serve chicken from a supplier certified as Halal by HFA.

Halal restaurants in The Trafford Centre, Manchester