Where to eat in Manchester

Manchester’s redevelopment has seen blocks of flats and offices shoot up at lightning speed, changing the city’s skyline and vibe forever, and not without controversy. But, as part of mayor Andy Burnham’s integrated and subsidised Bee Network, the city can now be explored on a free city bus. And explore you should, for when it comes to food, there is much to enjoy here…

Best for pastries and coffee

If you’re looking for a coffee and pastry for breakfast in town, Pollen – with locations in Kampus and Ancoats – offers enormous pains au chocolat, croissants and buns alongside great coffee and breakfasts served on very good sourdough. There’s a reason why you’ll find a queue, but the seasonal pastries and cakes are well worth the short wait.

 

If you fancy a trip out of town to the ‘burbs, head to Levenshulme where, on a red-brick residential street,  you’ll find Long Bois Bakehouse, a wooden-clad cornershop bakery run and owned by women. It’s been offering inventive cakes and viennoiserie for three years. On our visit we sampled a crisp golden pastry encasing cherries and just-set custard, as well as a feta, za’atar and honey scroll.

When you’re done, you can journey (by train or bus) to one of the city’s many cultural institutions: the Lowry, overlooking MediaCity in Salford; the People’s Museum; or the Whitworth art gallery on Oxford Road.

Best for fine dining

If you’re in the mood for haute cuisine, newly opened Skof is winning hearts and minds wherever you look with its 12 and 15-course tasting menus prepared by an impressive crew led by chef Tom Barnes. Highlights on the menu we tried included a barbecued lobster toast, rich with butter and offset with sauerkraut; miso custard topped with crispy hen of the woods mushrooms; and a fantastic dish of onion broth and jersey royals with pickled garlic.

 
Tom’s food is highly inventive and the service is exceptional, with the whole operation running like a well-oiled machine. It’s worth noting that the number of courses will have you sitting at your table for over three hours, but if you’re in Manchester to try the best of its food, Skof should be on your list.

Best for wine and snacks

If you fancy a laidback drink by the marina, Ancoats – formerly a rundown industrial district that had been badly bombed in World War II and only rebuilt in the 1990s – is the place to visit. It’s now home to Flawd, a natural wine bar offering a small menu of simple hits alongside fruity, interesting wines. We ordered a romaine lettuce salad coated with an unforgettable dressing of ‘nduja crème fraîche and showered in cheese, as well as a smoked mackerel, pickled ginger and lovage toast.

 

Best for modern British

Erst in Ancoats is our top pick if you have only one night in Manchester and you don’t know where to spend it. The food is simple but perfectly executed and the produce is hyper-seasonal and packed with flavour. Highlights on the menu when we visited included a beef fat and onion flatbread, and stuffed courgettes swimming in a tomato sauce – it had the heartiness and simplicity of something you’d find in an Eastern European canteen. Puddings are well worth saving room for, and might include pannacotta with prunes in armangac or Manchester honey tart. The wine list is long but the friendly staff are on hand to offer their excellent recommendations.

If natural wine and small plates are words that lure you in, 10 Tib Lane in the city centre offers much to be enjoyed across three stories. On Sunday, their focus changes to a roast dinner of epic proportions, complete with two kinds of cabbage, carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes, yorkshires and gravy.

Best for a quick bite

Sometimes you need to eat quickly (and/or cheaply) and if that’s the case, the Yadgar Cafe on Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter will provide the goods. Offering three curries and rice for £7.50 or £7.90, depending on if you want a vegetarian or meat selection, this spot has been serving up top-tier Pakistani food for over a decade (the dal, aubergine and potato and lamb curries are some of our favourites). The restaurant won’t win any points for decor (its front door was broken on our visit) but the food and friendly owner more than make up for that. Note: it’s cash only.

When the mood for a burger hits, Burgerism, founded in 2018, delivers impeccable smash burgers all over Manchester. They have a location at Freight Island – a food hall, music venue and sports bar – should you want to eat at the source. The meat patty is well charred and the bun is soft and pillowy, allowing the meat and cheese to shine. Try the buffalo dipping sauce, which somehow cuts through the richness despite being decadent itself.

 

Best for late-night eating

Fenix (pronounced Phoenix) is a modern Greek restaurant in a slightly soulless part of Deansgate that’s being redeveloped. Despite that, the food and drink on offer here are engineered to please, in the form of pitta and dips, deep-fried halloumi, grilled meats and pastas with a Greek twist. The decor is all glamorous round edges and taupe animal prints, and in the evenings there are DJs and a bar that serves drinks until midnight. A great place to live it up.

Where to stay in Manchester

Native Manchester
This former warehouse at the station end of the Northern Quarter is Grade II-listed, and is now home to impressively vast apartment hotels. Each room offers plenty of space, its own fully equipped kitchen, bright sky-blue interiors and memorably comfy beds. Downstairs is Ducie Street Warehouse, open all day, and DJs offer up the tunes in the bar in the evenings. Doubles from £134 room-only.

The Dakota
This swish all-black hotel further up Ducie Street has dressing gowns and slippers for lounging in style, and bathrooms with rainfall showers. The floor-to-ceiling windows provide views of the Rochdale Canal down below. Doubles from £255 (breakfast not included).