There aren’t many places where you can get off the train (Piccadilly station) to find, say, a traditional Chinese jian bing (Jerry’s) less than five minutes from a farm to table set menu (Higher Ground), then walk a further ten minutes to a warming plate of rice and three.
The open kitchen and dining area at Higher Ground, Manchester.
Rice and three (rice and three curries), is emblematic of Manchester dining. It is thought to have been created in 1984 by This & That in the Northern Quarter, and it remains one of the best and most popular rice and three cafes in the city. There are several in the Northern Quarter, too, all offering their own take on the classic. Kabana and Yadgar are equally great, offering a rice and three for under a tenner. Just make sure to cover it in raita, diced onion, green chilli and tamarind sauce.
Northern Quarter tends to favour quick, hearty meals over restaurant experiences. Some of the best fast food in Manchester, and the only American biscuits joint in the UK, is Cardinal Rule, a pop-up residency at Northern Monk on Dale St. Or walk towards the Arndale for a delicious kebab at Arndale Shawarma, where the freshly made bread steals the show. It’s not quite Levenshulme Bakery, but Arndale Shawarma is certainly the best in the city centre.
A stone’s throw from the Northern Quarter is Ancoats, famed for its old textile mills and now a bustling community on the edge of the Rochdale Canal. In and around Cutting Room Square you’ll find Erst for small plates, Edinburgh Castle for the best pub food in the city and the original Rudy’s for neapolitan pizza. For a New York style slice, Nell’s is the place to go.
The original Rudy’s for neapolitan pizza.
Venture out of Ancoats and further up the canal and you will find Companio bakery for amazing sandwiches and bakes, before arriving at the New Islington Marina, home to the award-winning Pollen Bakery. Be prepared to queue. Then, stroll up the marina to Flawd for the best natural wine and one of the city’s most inventive menus.
New Islington Marina, home to the award-winning Pollen Bakery.
Heading back towards the city, you may stumble across some Vietnamese hidden gems on Oldham Road. Ca Phe Viet’s pho and Que Hong Viet’s com dia are some of the best dishes in the whole of Manchester. Should you take the Port Street direction back towards town, Asmara Bella serves amazing Ethiopian and Eritrean food.
By this point, you might be in need of a coffee. Siop Shop on Tib Street is good for coffee as well as donuts and savoury bakes, or down the street Just Between Friends for an excellent flat white. Tib Street is also home to The Butcher’s Quarter, an artisanal butcher, cheesemonger, deli and wine shop where on special late-opening evenings you can enjoy a glass of wine with some cheese and charcuterie or fresh oysters. A few minutes’ stroll is The Manchester Craft and Design Centre which hosts BQ Bitesize, an artisan café from the same team, serving up seasonal sandwiches, soups, salads and more.
If coffee isn’t cutting it, perhaps a pint at one of Manchester’s many historic pubs? Just off St Peter’s Square is the 190 year-old City Arms. It’s a real ale pub but if you’re lucky, they will have hot pies behind the bar, as well as the usual pub snacks of pickled eggs, pork scratchings and scampi fries. Carrying on towards Oxford Road, The Peveril of The Peak sits proudly at the corner of Great Bridgewater Street – a pub since the 1820s. Just around the corner from the “Pev”, Briton’s Protection is another stalwart of the Manchester pub scene, serving traditional English ales and a large selection of whiskies.
As well as pubs, the city centre boasts some of the best cocktail bars in the UK. Schofield’s takes the top spot for amazing drinks and hospitality, alongside sister bar Sterling which sits under the Stock Exchange Hotel. As well as the classic spots, there is the recently opened Stray bar at Mackie Mayor, where the tomato vine margarita is gaining a cult following. With so many great drinking establishments, you might be in need of a big breakfast the next morning. I suggest you head to Koffee Pot for a much-needed fry-up.
Manchester has the second largest Chinatown in the UK. On Faulkner Street, Mr Hong provides authentic Sichuan dishes, handmade noodles and grilled skewers, just make sure to ask for the blue Chinese menu. Happy Seasons is famous for its roast meats. It has been a mainstay of Manchester’s Chinatown since the 80s and there are still queues out the door most days. For a late night Chinese meal, A Plus is open until the early hours – get the mapo tofu and stir fried lettuce with garlic from the grey menu. If you fancy a sweet treat, Tsujiri has a wide selection of ice creams or head to Wong Wong, Chinatown’s only bakery, for a bean curd bun.
A short walk from Chinatown towards Oxford Road will bring you to the city’s best sushi at One Sushi. The omakase set menu is served standing up (for an authentic experience), but their takeaway sushi is equally fantastic. Also on Oxford Road is Bundobust Brewery – vegetarian Gujarati street food from the son of the family behind West Yorkshire's Prashad. Just off Oxford Road on Charles Street sits One Plus, a three storey Chinese restaurant with a different concept on each floor. This might sound like a gimmick, but the upstairs Chinese BBQ and ground floor hot pot are very worthwhile.
For European spätzle, Russian pelmeni and Polish pierogi served alongside sake in a beautiful dining room tucked under a railway arch, head to The Spärrows in the Green Quarter. Nearby in the neighbouring NOMA district, Skof is the first solo project of L’Enclume alumnus Tom Barnes. And finally, one of my favourite dining rooms in Manchester is Hawksmoor, where you can always rely on great service and great food.
