Work forges ahead on Sunderland's new Manjaros restaurant specialising in African and Caribbean food

Work is ongoing on a new Sunderland branch of Manjaros.

Signs have been in place for a while, with the fit out ongoing at the new branch in High Street West.

The chain is taking over a unit which has had a number of guises over the years, including The Theatre Restaurant and more recently as AdventureLand, but has been empty for some months.

Manjaros is already established around the country with branches in Leeds, Birmingham and London, with North East sites in Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool.

Its cuisine is based on a blend of African and Caribbean flavours with its signature Manjaros Sauce, with menu options such as chicken platters, parmos and Caribbean creamy chicken.

Its menus also offer non-chicken options such as pizzas, pastas, steaks, skewers, burgers and more.

No opening date announced yet for the branch, but its social media pages say it's coming soon.

The new restaurant is close to the cinema which ceased operating as Empire Cinema last year when the company fell into administration.

It's been empty since, but at a council meeting in December last year council chiefs revealed they are “actively in dialogue with three or four potential operators” to take the site on and run it as a cinema once again.

At a meeting of the local authority’s Economic Prosperity Scrutiny Committee, it was said they hope to have a new operator in place early this year to run the building and return it to its previous use.