Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in East Didsbury
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best East Didsbury restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 115 restaurants in East Didsbury and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing East Didsbury restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured East Didsbury Restaurants
1. Indian Affair
Indian restaurant in Manchester
46 Blossom Street - M4
“Very good, fresh food” helps win high ratings for this bright, white-walled Ancoats Indian, which first opened its doors in September 2024 (it’s the spin-off of their older sibling in Chorlton). The breezy, attractive style is the work of Delhi-raised Harshit & Natasha Chopra whose menu puts a modern spin on North Indian dishes.
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. San Carlo
Italian restaurant in Manchester
40 King Street West - M3
Well-known in the city-centre as a posh if pricey destination – complete with crisp white tablecloths and nattily dressed staff – this old-school Italian is part of the well-known national chain and (with over two decades service) is sometimes mistaken as the group’s founding branch (although that distinction actually goes to the one in Birmingham, which opened ten years earlier). Its traditional fare can include “wonderful fish”, but it can also seem too “overpriced”.
5. 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.
6. Bundobust
Indian restaurant in Manchester
61 Piccadilly - M1
“These guys could turn me veggie!” – Mayur Patel & Marko Husak now have four Bundos and this was the second plank in their successful Gujarati group, which puts ‘beer and curry together at last’! “It can be a bit chaotic, but it’s heavenly food for veggies and vegans” and “never fails to deliver” a fun time too (“always enjoy coming here… it’s very fun and relaxed… you can mix and match and try a few things… also a really interesting selection of beers”).
7. TNQ Restaurant & Bar
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
108 High St - M4
One of “the nearest things to a French brasserie in Manchester” in style – the name of this prominent corner spot is an acronym for its location, ‘The Northern Quarter’. There’s a well-stocked bar with beers, crafted cocktails and hot drinks to supplement the wine selection and the straightforward cooking – actually resolutely modern British rather than particularly Franglais – puts a modern spin on classic ideas. Top Tip – the lunch menu served till 6pm, with two courses for £21 per person.
8. Indian Affair
Indian restaurant in Manchester
362 Barlow Moor Road - M21
“Super-friendly and very professional service with plenty of good advice” helps win praise for Harshit & Natasha Chopra’s Delhi-inspired restaurant, also complimented for its “delicious, brilliantly presented food with rich, well-balanced flavours”. It’s two years old, and they must be doing something right, as in September 2024 they launched an Ancoats spin-off.
9. Indique
Indian restaurant in Manchester
110-112 Burton Road - M20
The swish inner suburb of West Didsbury has long had a pocket of well-known Manchester destinations and this contemporary curry house – where ‘Indian’ meets ‘unique’ (geddit?) – is one of them.
10. The Lime Tree
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
8 Lapwing Ln - M20
“As always, this stalwart remains the best meal you can enjoy in South Manchester”, according to admirers of Patrick Hannity’s classy West Didsbury brasserie, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year – “they just get everything right without bragging about it”, delivering “delicious food without unnecessary complications”. The venue has a large and longstanding fan club, but also picks up new converts (“I’d never quite got the appeal before but on my last visit each course was excellent”). Top Menu Tip – “save some space for the sublime courgette fritters”.
11. Where The Light Gets In
British, Modern restaurant in Stockport
7 Rostron Brow - SK1
“Very modern, Scandi-style with much foraging and fermenting” characterise the dishes at Sam Buckley’s famous foodie destination, which occupies the “beautiful”, airy space of a brick-walled former coffee warehouse in central Stockport, complete with bright windows and hip post-industrial vibes. It’s all “very well done and service is very good” too, but it’s never inspired the vast volume of feedback that its illustrious reputation would imply, perhaps due to what has historically been the high expense of dining here. Perhaps that’s all about to change, though, as in September 2025 the venue announced a major change of gear, with a considerably cheaper, new five-course sharing menu for £75 per person, with the aim stated on its website of “a format that feels more open, more generous and more relaxed”. What’s more: “The chefs’ table will always be open to walk-ins, offering wines and cocktails by the glass, along with a bar menu for those who just want a drink and a small bite”. More reports on the new approach please!
12. Bar San Juan
Spanish restaurant in Manchester
56 Beech Rd - M21
This “authentically Spanish” little corner bar on a backstreet in Chorlton “ranks among the best tapas places around Manchester – and there are plenty of them!”. A fixture since 2010, “it surpasses the hype, thankfully,” and “puts a smile on your face every time” with its “excellent traditional food and wine”.
13. Croma
Italian restaurant in Manchester
500 Wilbraham Rd - M21
2024 Review: “Pizza with an inventive streak” – plus all the standards “for those who are less adventurous” – is the offer at this surviving branch of an independent Manchester group founded in 2000. The flagship in the city centre and the Didsbury branch have closed down in recent times, to the dismay of their many fans, leaving just Chorlton and Prestwick standing.
14. Mowgli
Indian restaurant in Manchester
Unit 1, University Green, Oxford Road - M13
Nisha Katona’s Liverpool-based operation has two branches in London (Charlotte Street and Westfield Stratford) offering her “very tasty” Indian street food – “with the occasional hint of raw spice”. The Lancashire-born former barrister launched the business in 2014 and now has 28 outlets around the country, whose “enjoyable, authentic food” is “really great for a chain”.
15. This Charming Naan
Indian restaurant in Manchester
78 Sackville Street - M1
2022 Review: A curry house like no other, with the all-vegan dishes named after Smiths' songs; superfan Max Paley founded it as a delivery service from a kitchen inside the Retro music venue (address listed; sit-in dining planned for post-lockdown). Dishes include Girlfriend In A Korma and How Saag Is Now?.
16. Escape to Freight Island
International restaurant in Manchester
Baring Street - M1
2023 Review: This vast street-food and entertainment concept accommodating up 1,000 visitors in an old freight depot by Piccadilly station is simply “another world” – “a mind-blowing-sized venue and organisation” where “the food is not really the main attraction” – although there is plenty of sufficient quality to earn high ratings, from 15 different restaurants and bars in an “eclectic mix” that ranges from Voodoo Rays pizza, Brad Carter’s One Stop Döner Bar and asador grills from Baratxuri to tacos from Madre.
17. Refuge by Volta
International restaurant in Manchester
Oxford Street - M60
2022 Review: Justin Crawford & Luke Cowdrey (aka the ill-titled ‘Unabombers`‘, who also run Electrik and Volta) are behind this “rather glam space” in an old Victorian office block. Serving small plates – inspired by their “global DJing trips” – fans say it’s “a mighty fine place to dine”; others that it’s “just OK”.
18. Habesha
Ethiopian restaurant in Manchester
29-31 Sackville Street - M1
2024 Review: The “very basic setting” shouldn’t put you off a visit to this cheap ’n’ cheerful Ethiopian pitstop, above a kebab shop on Canal Street. As is typical for the cuisine, many dishes are served on an injera (a large circular bread) – “there are excellent veggie options on the short menu with reasonably priced beer”.
19. Three Little Words
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
Watson Street - M3
2022 Review: “An amazing bar and signature cocktails” are hailed in early reports on this two-year-old haunt in the characterful arches beneath Manchester Central station, from the people behind the successful Manchester Gin brand. Though its selection of small plates is not the main point, nor is it an afterthought.
20. James Martin
British, Modern restaurant in Manchester
2 Watson St - M3
2024 Review: TV chef James Martin’s over-18s-only, industrial-chic flagship shares a home in the historic Great Northern Warehouse with Manchester235 Casino; the location is “slightly odd”, to be fair, “but once you’re seated in the restaurant you forget about it” – and can focus on the “absolutely delicious food” (be it an “excellent tasting menu” or slap-up afternoon tea).
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