Manchester, Italian Restaurant Guide

With its menu of quality Venetian tapas, this bright city-centre staple (on the ground floor of Kendal’s the department store, but with its own entrance) wins consistently good feedback from reporters. Those who find its glam namesake a bit snotty say “the service especially is miles better here than at its bigger sibling nearby”.

“Extremely authentic pasta from Puglia” (“you smell how fantastic it is going to be”) has been successfully duplicated from the Altrincham original at this larger Ancoats spin-off, where “the wine is great value, served in painted jugs”. “The minus has got to be the huge warehouse-y, new-build space, which is of a type that’s abundant in Manchester, but cold and samey”.

Going strong for a decade and looking good after a revamp – Rio Ferdinand’s glossy Italian restaurant and cocktail bar in a “lovely listed building” with twin domed ceilings is rated well across the board for its “exceptional atmosphere” and “great food”.

In a converted railway arch near Victoria Station – opposite the now-sadly-defunct Umezushi – this little 12-seater specialises in different varieties of pasta and dumplings from all over Europe: many of course of Italian inspiration, but including, for example, Polish pierogi. It opened after the survey had started in April 2019 – too late for feedback – but the word on the street is that it’s very good.