Harden's says
A new neighbourhood bistro from Sticky Walnut (Chester) and Burnt Truffle (Heswall, Wirral) proprietor, Gary Usher. The restaurant is crowd-funded and serve a similar style of food to the chef's other sites.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“A shining example of how a neighbourhood bistro can deliver refined, comforting food without pretension” – Gary Usher’s “very reliable” bare-brick venue remains good value (especially the midweek lunch and early evening menu at £20 for two courses or £23 for three). (Kala, its city centre stablemate in Usher’s crowdfunded Elite Bistros outfit, closed down in June 2025).
Summary
“A lovely, welcoming atmosphere and enjoyable food and wine” (albeit of the “basic” variety) make Gary Usher’s bistro in a former bank (part of the crowdfunded Elite Bistros group) “a delightful place to relax, unwind and remember why eating out came be so pleasurable” in the first place. It’s particularly of note for its bargainous early set dinners (two courses £15 per person, three courses £20 per person), but one reporter this year called out the “great value” Full English too.
Summary
A former bank in Didsbury doing things in the “best bistro style” – and part of Cheshire-based chef Gary Usher’s crowdfunded Elite Bistros group. Less commented-on than many in the group this year, but reporters applaud its “pitch-perfect service”, “buzzy environment” and “tasty, distinctively flavoured dishes” (including “great Sunday lunches” and early three-course set dinners for a modest £28 per person).
Summary
“Bistro food at its best – well cooked and well presented by knowledgeable staff” – wins all-round applause for this “reliable and accommodating” venue in Cheshire-based chef-restaurateur Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros group, built on a series of successful crowdfunding campaigns.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Hispi Bistro?
1c School Lane, Manchester, M20 6RD
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £33.00 | £40.00 |  |
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| Dinner | £48.00 | £55.00 | |
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Traditional European menu
| Pudding |
|---|
| £0.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £26.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £0.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
1c School Lane, Manchester, M20 6RD
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑10 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑5 pm |
