15 brilliant places for breakfast and brunch in Manchester

On the outskirts of Prestwich, OSMA (the founders come from Oslo and Manchester) offers some of Manchester’s finest food and warmest of welcomes. And its breakfasts and brunches don't disappoint. There’s delicious homemade granola and porridge, the perfect simplicity of sourdough and jam made in the restaurant, through to open sandwiches, hearty soups and sweet treats. 

This small chain offers a stunning menu in an old Iranian-style café. Familiar items like granola, the humble omelette or a bacon roll are given an exquisite eastern twist, Asian spices firing up the flavours. There are plenty of vegan options too, including a full fry-up. Served daily from 8am (9am at weekends) until noon, the Dishoom breakfast is one of the best in the city.

This Northern Quarter stalwart serves all manner of breakfast classics and a very welcome all-day brunch menu. From carefully poached eggs to beans and sausage (veggie if you prefer), full breakfasts and even lemon cheesecake French toast if you’re feeling fancy, Ezra & Gil offers a great range for those seeking something hearty after a bit too much party. Or even if you just want something delicious to get the day off to a great start. 

This Northern Quarter institution may have moved around the corner from its original Stevenson Square address but it remains the area’s destination of choice for hangover-banishing breakfasts. This is no ordinary greasy spoon – the interior features vibrant street art (credit is due to local artist Hammo) and spacious red booths, while the full English includes black pudding at no extra charge to those who dig it. Tea, filter coffee and hot Vimto are joined by beers and Bloody Marys behind the bar. Breakfast pint, anyone?

Affordable, friendly and serving one of the best flat whites in the city: it doesn’t get much better than Idle Hands. This cheeky coffee and pie spot has a fab breakfast selection, but the hash brown stack is a must. Order a base of two triple-cooked homemade hash browns for a fiver, then go to town with as many toppings as you dare. Poached egg, bacon, homemade cowboy beans, avo, cheese, jalapenos, sausage: they’re all around £1-£2. Order the lot and regret nothing.

Prestwich continues to impress with its burgeoning restaurant scene and the brunch menu at All the Shapes is one of the area’s culinary highlights. It serves a good range, from granola to toast through to full English and, a particular favourite, the sumptuous Turkish eggs. It’s served from Thursday to Monday, 9am to 4pm, and the coffee is great too.

Achingly cool décor is the first thing that hits you about Trove. Next is the food. Happily, this joint nails both style and substance. Expect all your breakfast staples, but with elevated ingredients: sausages are spicy merguez; french toast is made with croissant loaf and poached rhubarb; eggs royale is served with tea-smoked trout. Add a Bloody Mary for £5, grab a cake to take away and you’re set up for the day.

This trendy bar and nightclub hidden among Whitworth Street’s antiquated railway arches is a wonderful place to eat or drink, day or night. Breakfast is a treat and the full English is very popular indeed – and not just with those returning to the scene of last night’s antics. Feeling really hungry? Opt for the royal version of the classic: it’s massive and even better with a Bloody Mary or espresso martini on the side.

This quirky café in the Northern Quarter is more spacious than it looks and is packed with more trinkets and kitsch ornaments than your nan’s living room. Sure, there’s the occasional wait, but food-wise, everything’s spot on. Adventurous breakfasters can opt for waffles, served with fried chicken after noon, or the protein-packed steak, avo and eggs combo. Bottomless filter coffee from local roasters Has Bean seals the deal.

For a proper blowout, the Northern Quarter’s Pen and Pencil offers a bottomless brunch that just keeps coming and coming. So do the drinks. Given that, it would be easy for a venue to skimp on the quality, but that’s not the case here, with the standard of the food more than matching the endless dishes landing on your table.

An unassuming board outside this wonderfully restored Victorian fish market in the Northern Quarter hints at Oak Street’s existence. It runs alongside the Manchester Craft and Design Centre: a collection of independent artisan workshops selling jewellery and ceramics that make for dreamy post-breakfast window shopping. Refreshments include quality teas, coffees and juices. Food is good throughout the day, but breakfast is particularly strong. Expect a wide selection of American-style pancakes and indulgent cakes.

It’s all here at this bustling food market (named after Ivie Mackie, the mayor/alderman who opened the place as a meat market in 1856, fact fans). High-quality sausage sandwiches from Tender Cow, confit duck leg waffle from Rotisserie, mind-blowing pastries and flat whites from Wolf House Coffee... bagsy one of the huge tables and order from your favourite. A crowd-pleaser, but in the best possible way.

Manchester’s Northern Quarter isn’t short on quirk – both in its venues and those who frequent them – and Sugar Junction’s attention to vintage detail has to be applauded. Afternoon tea is its forte but the eggs benedict and florentine are great too, as is the Tib Street Hash served with a fried egg, butternut squash, roasted red pepper and halloumi. Coffee is excellent and breakfast is served until 5pm.

Just around the corner from the shops and crowds of Market Street, Moose is a fantastic place to get away from the city-centre bustle. The menu is extensive and will probably make more indecisive folk a bit stressed. Rest assured, though, you could pick something with a blindfold on and rarely go wrong. The fluffy pancakes, quite rightly, have a dedicated fanbase.

Tucked away in West Didsbury, you’ll find plenty of choice at this café with a mildly hippyish vibe (and an excellent name, we approve). Ingredients are locally sourced and veggies will be in their element. The Veg Out breakfast is appropriately massive (chargrilled halloumi, homemade hash browns and all the trimmings). Other options include duck eggs benedict, an ace vegan fry-up and breakfast burritos.