Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Manchester
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Manchester restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 117 restaurants in Manchester and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Manchester restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Manchester Restaurants
1. Indique
Indian restaurant in Manchester
110-112 Burton Road - M20
Fans are consistent year on year in their adulation for this upmarket West Didsbury curry house; the name (‘Indian’-meets-‘unique’) translates to a “lovely selection of snack-y, less frequently found, starters that work well to share” but no fear – there’s also a section of the menu devoted to ‘conventional curry dishes’ with many “successful flavour blends”.
2. Indian Affair
Indian restaurant in Ancoats
46 Blossom Street - M4
Indian Affair showcases North Indian cuisine cooked Dilli-style. It’s inspired by the city’s diverse flavours and home-style cooking.Whilst the dishes on our menu can be found across North India, the way of cooking is specifically from the Delhi region which...
3. MUSU
Japanese restaurant in Manchester
India Buildings, 8 Brunswick St - M3
It’s all change at this “beautiful restaurant with incredible Japanese food” which has operated for two years now on a site that was formerly Randall & Aubin (RIP). As of autumn 2024, the original chef Michael Shaw has departed and it is about to undergo major expansion so we have left it un-rated. Under the new plans, it is to be divided into three separate experiences. Kaji (see also); a new space will house MUSU Miyabi, led by chef-patron Steven Smith – formerly of the well-known Freemasons at Wiswell – which given his renown promises to be a major launch in itself; and also MUSU Theatre of Omakase, under executive sushi chef Andre Aguiar.
4. TNQ Restaurant & Bar
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
108 High St - M4
The “delicious bistro-style food” – “simple dishes always done reliably well” – is what brings guests back “time and again” to this neighbourhood spot in the Northern Quarter: “if only everyone were so lucky to have one around the corner from their home”. There’s a “good quality/price ratio, especially for their themed evenings” .
5. KIRA by Sunitha
Pan-Asian restaurant in Bollington
88 Palmerston Street - SK10
At KIRA Bistro & Lounge Bar, we believe that dining is more than just a meal; it’s a culinary experience that engages all the senses. Imagine the tantalising aroma of our signature dishes wafting through the air, each masterpiece showcasing Sunitha&r...
6. Indian Affair
restaurant in Chorlton-cum-Hardy
362 Barlow Moor Road - M21
Indian Affair showcases North Indian cuisine cooked Dilli-style. It’s inspired by the city’s diverse flavours and home-style cooking.Whilst the dishes on our menu can be found across North India, the way of cooking is specifically from the Delhi region which...
7. San Carlo
Italian restaurant in Manchester
40 King Street West - M3
This decade-old fixture (with many a sibling in the city and beyond) is certainly “a bit flash” – lots of crisp tablecloths and well-dressed waiters – and accordingly popular with business types as well as those celebrating a special occasion – and those who are simply keen to star-spot. The “food is standard Italian but well presented”, while the old-school service is “very attentive” (albeit slightly “overwhelming” for some tastes).
8. Tattu
Chinese restaurant in Manchester
3 Hardman Sq, Gartside St - M3
A pink-lit tree inside the dining room helps seal the Insta-potential of this glam pan-Asian venue – a glossy scene in Spinningfields that has helped spawn what’s now a national chain. Feedback remains more limited than we’d like, but remains consistently positive about its modern Chinese cuisine (whose definition is stretched a bit to include dishes like Japanese Wagyu and tempura; and tuna tartare with caviar).
9. Bundobust
Indian restaurant in Manchester
61 Piccadilly - M1
After 10 years serving a combination of craft beer and Indian food, this northern-based group is “still the best veggie curry place” – the venues might be “quite basic”, but the “quick service” and “tasty” Gujarati food make them “great for a cheap bite to eat”.
10. Chez Nous Bistro
British, Modern restaurant in Sale
179 Marsland Road - M33
2023 Review: Needing to eat in Manchester’s plush southern ’burbs? – this ‘suburban bistro with urban attitude’ (their words) doesn’t generate huge feedback in our survey, but such as there is rates it as excellent value.
11. Tampopo
Pan-Asian restaurant in Manchester
16 Albert Sq - M2
2023 Review: This “family fave” has assembled a greatest hits of East Asian cuisine, from satay skewers, spring rolls and gyoza dumplings to nasi goreng, pad Thai, ramen and laksa. They’re “geared up for a great family experience with a top attitude towards children” – who will always find something to eat on the menu. There are now three branches in Manchester and one in London. Top Tip – “love the secret off-menu chicken options!”.
12. Wing’s
Chinese restaurant in Manchester
1 Lincoln Sq - M2
2023 Review: “A superior mainstream Chinese” – this large, modern Cantonese in the city centre is eighteen years old and fans say it “shows just how familiar dishes should be done”, and with “excellent service” too.
13. Baratxuri Manchester
Spanish restaurant in Manchester
St George's House, 56 Peter Street - M2
2022 Review: This celebration of Basque cuisine in a Lancashire former mill town is a sibling to Levanter a few doors away, and the two “brilliant” venues effectively operate as one, offering diners the option of Hispanic bar-hopping. The wood-fired Pereruela oven allows for larger dishes to be served, such as sirloin on the bone from 10-year-old Galician oxen, to go with the smaller pintxos and tapas.
14. Adam Reid at The French
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
16 Peter St - M60
This “lovely space in the Midland Hotel” is part of the city’s heritage in many ways: a famous Grade II listed chamber that was already sufficiently well-known that Charles Rolls first met Henry Royce here in 1904 on the path to establishing Rolls Royce. Later in the 20th century it held Manchester’s first Michelin star, only to lose it in 1957. Great British Menu winner Adam Reid is currently the head chef, having arrived at the stoves in 2013 when the dining room was run by Simon Rogan, and then staying on in his own right as chef-patron in 2016. Under Adam, it has won an impressive four AA stars… but not one from the tyre man as yet. Choose between the ‘Signature’ menu for £160 per person, or the ‘Signature Experience’ at £230 per person. Fans say it’s “absolutely stunning and brilliant!”.
15. Peter Street Kitchen
Fusion restaurant in Manchester
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street - M2
2021 Review: Part of the Radisson occupying Manchester’s iconic Free Trade Hall, this fusion two-year-old occupies a glossily designed space on the ground floor with floor-to-ceiling windows; and is one of the ‘Kitchens’ run by London’s Edwardian group. Its unusual offer presents Japanese and Mexican small plates on separate menus, but – even if the prices are not bargain basement – all feedback is positive: “the food is so fresh, the tastes are clean and vibrant, I love it!”
16. El Gato Negro
Spanish restaurant in Manchester
52 King Street - M2
“It’s impossible to have a bad meal” at Simon Shaw’s “vibrant” and “excellent tapas spot with a changing menu” in the city centre, with “welcoming staff” and a “great atmosphere” – it’s also “a great place to dine if you have any vegetarians or vegans in your party”.
17. Albert's Schloss
East & Cent. European restaurant in Manchester
27 Peter Street - M2
This “great lively place” is certainly something a bit “different”: a Bavarian-style beer hall where the food (bacon kroissants with a ‘k’, schnitzel, spätzle and funky pretzel donuts) is more reminiscent of something you’d get up the Alps than in Manchester city centre. Much like an après-ski bar, it’s also all about entertainment, with regular cabaret and DJ nights amplified by further insanity during Oktoberfest. The local Mission Mars group who run it now has outposts in Birmingham, Liverpool and (as of early 2024) a ‘600-cover pleasure palace’, as an impressed Grace Dent put it in the Guardian, on London’s Leicester Square, which has taken over the old Rainforest Café site.
18. Kala
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
King Street - M2
This “outstanding” and “vibrant” venue from Gary Usher’s Cheshire-based Elite Bistros occupies a “smart location in the heart of Manchester” – a “friendly” but slightly more “formal” venue than its siblings – where it offers a “more than decent choice of good food and wine” served by “welcoming and gracious staff”. Top Tip – “good-value lunch (£17 for two courses, £20 for three)”.
19. Tast Cuina Catalana
Spanish restaurant in Manchester
20-22 King Street - M2
2022 Review: Multi-Michelin-starred Barcelona chef Paco Pérez was the marquee signing for Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, the trio behind Manchester City’s success, when they launched their upscale Catalan restaurant three years ago. The cool interiors – industrial chic for communal eating on the ground floor, minimalist glamour upstairs – are designed to throw a focus on the food, served as ‘tastets’ (small plates with more complexity than tapas). The verdict? definitely Premier League (in both quality and prices), if not yet a Champions League winner.
20. Six by Nico
International restaurant in Manchester
60 Spring Gardens - M2
“A six-course themed taster menu, that changes every six weeks!” is the “playful idea” at Nico Simeone’s national chain, whose two London branches (in Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf) are “great for special occasions, but also affordable for a regular monthly meal out to experience the different cuisines”. At such keen prices, it’s unreasonable to expect perfection and most diners acknowledge this: it’s “a clever, and obviously very popular, concept, albeit one where the experience can seem a bit manufactured”; “although it doesn’t always live up to expectations, when you get the right menu everything clicks into place”; so while inevitably it’s “hit and miss, it’s also great value”, and “for a fun evening it does the job well”.
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