The best restaurants in Manchester

What is it? A relaxed, high-end tasting menu restaurant from Michelin-seducing Cumbrian chef Tom Barnes. And yes, it just won its very first Michelin star, right on cue. 

Why we love it: Thanks to this 2024 opening, you no longer have to schlep to the Lake District to enjoy a four-hour tasting menu full of dishes like miso custard with hen of the woods, truffle and mushroom dashi or steamed West Coast cod with whey Cippolini onions, smoked eel and buttermilk. With his first solo project Skof, Great British Menu star Tom Barnes has carefully propagated the seeds of his Cumbrian success into a thoroughly Mancunian setting.

This is food you actually want to eat: no dehydrating and rehydrating cabbage until it looks like a Rubik’s cube – just good, seasonal ingredients, cooked with reverence and skill. Don’t get me wrong, some of the dishes look like miniature ornamental gardens. But it’s respect for good produce first and theatre second.  

Time Out tip: Skof’s popularity means getting a table is akin to bagging Glasto tickets. We recommend signing up to their newsletter to be notified when the next reservations are released. That said, don’t underestimate the power of the standby list. 

Address: 3 Federation Street, NOMA, Manchester M4 4BF

Opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday 12-1.30pm, 6.30-8pm. Closed Sunday-Tuesday

Expect to pay: Full tasting menu £130 or £175, four-course set lunch £55

What is it? A stylish natural wine bar and restaurant. 

Why we love it: This meticulously curated space looks like it’s come off the cover of a magazine, and equal attention goes into creating big flavours on the menu. At the heart of Erst’s kitchen, an open-flame grill kicks out dishes that vary according to the season. Think ice-cold oysters, deliciously fatty and crisp pork belly and cured fish with seasonally changing accompaniments.. Don’t miss the signature flatbread with beef fat and urfa chilli. 

Time Out tip: Trust the staff to recommend a bottle of natural wine and settle in for the evening. 

Address: 9 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6HS

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 1-3pm, 4.30-10pm. Closed Sunday-Monday

Expect to pay: £4-£29 per dish (you’ll need around 5-6 between two)

What is it? Probably Manchester’s hippest restaurant. 

Why we love it: Dream team Joe Otway, Richard Cossins and Daniel Craig Martin have Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, Noma and Where The Light Gets In on their CVs. Higher Ground has sustainability at the heart of its ever evolving menu. Whole animals from local farms are used across a variety of dishes so you might get pig head terrine and pork belly one month or slow cooked brisket and T bone steaks another. Organically grown fruit and veg from their own Cinderwood Market Garden (which also provides for many of Manchester’s best restaurants) plays a starring role. Wines are low intervention and tunes are smooth. On top of all that, the service makes you feel like a guest of honour.

Time Out tip: Sure, there is a lot of nutritious stuff on the menu here but don’t skip the decadent Pitchfork Cheddar tart, a menu staple since day one.

Address: Faulkner House, New York St, Manchester M1 4DY

Opening hours: Wednesday‑Thursday dinner 5‑11pm, Thursday lunch 12.30‑3.30pm, Friday‑Saturday lunch 12.30‑4pm, Friday‑Saturday dinner 5.30‑midnight. Closed Sunday‑Tuesday

Expect to pay: Set menu £40 lunch, £60 dinner or choose your own small plates £7.50-£35

What is it? Avant-garde British fine dining. 

Why we love it: Slick and serious Mana – which in 2019 became the first restaurant in Manchester to receive a Michelin star since 1977 (that was The French at the Midland Hotel) – serves thoughtful dishes using under-celebrated British ingredients and produce. The open kitchen enjoys surprising guests with anything from aerated yeast to duck hung over burning grape vines. The innovative menu won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for a unique and memorable experience, this is the place..

Time Out tip: This previously unaffordable-for-many restaurant has just launched a lunch menu for a more manageable £70.

Address: 9 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6HS

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 1-3pm, 4.30-10pm. Closed Sunday-Monday

Expect to pay: Extracts menu £110, complete menu £175, lunch menu £70

What is it? Intricate, ingenious dishes assembled from the simplest of parts.

Why we love it: Despite its name, there’s a distinctly English twang to Mancunian Adam Reid’s menu and you’ll experience textural and sensory saturation as you make your way through the captivating courses. Now that The Midland hotel which houses it has had a £14 million refurbishment, The French, which had a Michelin star back in the 1970s, is finally in a setting deserving of its reputation.

Time Out tip: If you’re going to splurge on The French, go the whole hog and get the fantastic matched wines too.

Address: 16 Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS

Opening hours: Wednesday-Thursday 6-8.30pm, Friday-Saturday 5-8.30pm. Closed Sunday-Tuesday

Expect to pay: £75-£235 depending on day, time, and how crazy you want to go

What is it? A modern, airy dining room serving a meat-focused tasting menu.

Why we love it: Off the tourist track but well worth the pilgrimage, Where The Light Gets In has been pivotal in transforming Stockport’s fortunes. The passionate team operates in the loft of a lovingly restored Victorian coffee warehouse in Stockport and many of the ingredients are sourced from their own nearby allotment. With star chef Jess Furniss now at the helm of the kitchen, a more relaxed (and affordable) era has arrived. Now’s the time to try it if you have never been before. 

Time Out tip: While you’re in the area, nip to Yellowhammer bakery and wine bar round the corner, the side project of WTLGI owner Sam Buckley. 

Address: 7 Rostron Brow, SK1 1JY, Stockport 

Opening hours: Wednesday-Thursday 6.30-11pm, Friday 12-2pm, 6.30-11pm, Saturday 12.30-2pm, 6.30-11pm, closed Sunday-Tuesday 

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £85 

What is it? Intimate, low-lit date night spot with locally sourced small plates. 

Why go? This gorgeous three-storey restaurant is a true hidden gem tucked away down the unassuming Tib Lane just near the town hall. 10 Tib Lane’s menu of small sharing plates changes frequently and always has exciting seasonal veggie options featuring things like heritage tomatoes, young leeks or racing green cavolo nero. There’s also cracking fish and seafood and impeccably cooked meat, like ex-dairy ribeye with bearnaise or a flamboyant whole roast skate wing, and a carefully selected wine list featuring both natural and conventional gems.

Time Out tip: Don’t neglect the cocktails, the owners also own Chorlton’s coolest cocktail bar Henry C and they really know their stuff.

Address: 10 Tib Lane, Manchester M2 4JB

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12pm-midnight, Sunday 12-10pm. Food served until 10pm Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday roast until 7pm. Closed Monday

Expect to pay: Smaller plates £8-£15, larger plates £15-£60

What is it? A much-loved neighbourhood bistro with Lyonaisse heritage and Mancunian charm.

Why we love it: Some of Manchester’s most alluring restaurants are in the less glitzy suburbs and satellite towns and Stretford Canteen is a case in point. This pocket-sized bistro on the edge of a 1970s shopping mall (currently undergoing an extensive refurb) with the sexy view of a dual carriageway still manages to be cute as a button. Owned by Josephine Sandwith – daughter of Maureen and David who ran Beaujolais, one of Manchester’s OG French bistros – and her husband Dean Taylor, the canteen started life as a much raved about pop up before becoming a proper grown up restaurant. 

Time Out tip: If you want to keep the night going after dinner, nip down the road to the laid back Manc boozer HEAD which always brings the tunes – often via vinyl DJs. 

Address: 118 Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester M32 8BT

Opening hours: Wednesday-Friday 5-10pm, Saturday 12-10pm (dinner until 11pm), Sunday 12-7pm. Closed Monday-Tuesday

Expect to pay: £24 for two courses or £29 for three

What is it? Startlingly skillful modern cooking on a hidden street. 

Why we love it:  Another Hand started as a passion project of two chef friends Julian Pizer and Max Yorke, and is now handled by Max alone. This tiny dining room has a cult following of dedicated foodies in the city. You’ve got to work to find it on Deansgate Mews. Head up some rainbow coloured steps that lead to an elevated street behind a row of estate agents on Deansgate. There’s a good chance you’ve walked past it many times. Expect the unexpected on your plate too. You might find olive oil or artichoke in a dessert or locally cultivated lion’s mane mushroom with chocolate sauce as a main.

Time Out tip: Expect the unexpected, it’s all part of the fun.

Address: Unit F, 253 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN

Opening hours: Tuesday 5-11pm, Wednesday-Saturday 12-3pm, 5-11pm. Closed Sunday-Monday

Expect to pay: Smaller plates £5-£15, larger plates £20-£35

What is it? A modern British restaurant with generous portions, white tablecloths and flickering candles

Why we love it: Winsome is the debut restaurant from well-loved chef Shaun Moffat who is most famous up North for transforming the menu at The Edinburgh Castle but also has London restaurants Berber & Q and Manteca on his CV. He’s teamed up with Tom Fastiggi (Schofield’s Bar) and Owain Williams (Madre) to create a restaurant that feels like a destiny fulfilled. Very much the feeder, Shaun cooks up huge sharing rabbit pies, meticulously grilled, sliced and fanned out chops, and whole fish presented artfully on nostalgic sauces like parsley liquor. Smaller plates and snacks showcase local produce and everything shimmers with an almost fetishisation of British food nostalgia, in the best possible sense. The wine list is cracking too.

Time Out tip: Unusually for these times, Winsome is open every day of the week, so avoid the crowds by treating yourself to an early dinner on Monday or Tuesday

Address: 74 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6JD

Opening hours: Thursday‑Sunday lunch 12‑3pm (Sunday closes at 8pm); dinner Monday‑Saturday 5‑11pm, Sunday 3‑11pm

Expect to pay: Upwards of £100 for a meal for two plus drinks