Heywood Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: “Great food and also a sense that they are putting back into the community” inspires support for this pub-with-rooms on the village green. Run as a youth-focused social enterprise, supporting young people to access training and paid work experience, it has won a string of awards over its almost ten years in operation. In summer, its ‘Incredible Edible Beer Garden’ comes into its own: almost an acre in size and with lots of interest as well as outside seating.

Dark greige and blond wood abound at this ‘Scandinavian Neighbourhood Bar & Restaurant’ in the boonies of North Manchester, which is celebrating its fifth year in 2025. It’s run by chef Danielle Heron and business partner Sofie Götberg, and even those who say “it’s not in a very prepossessing location and has a fairly plain interior” feel “the food is worth a visit”. That’s the least enthusiastic report! Feedback from locals suggests it does exactly what it sets out to: “with a changing weekly menu, the food at Osma is fantastic. Danielle and her team work really hard to bring creative dishes in taster-style portions to my local area. Front of house service is professional and welcoming, with staff knowledgeable on the food and wine they serve”.

“Almost like a speakeasy to get into”, and based in a railway arch, but once inside you’ll find a “totally charming place” that makes for “the perfect cheap ’n’ cheerful night out”. The MO is “fabulous” and “slightly bonkers”: spätzle (a Swabian, noodle-like pasta dish) is the star of the show, with William Sitwell in his June 2025 review – one of many journos to rave about what he called this “Manchester institution” – claiming that “all seems well with the world as you guzzle them”; also on the menu, other “great-value Polish and Eastern European food”, all of which is “wonderfully presented” too. No wonder fans “love everything about this place”.

2022 Review: “Busy”, huge and gaudy Cantonese that sits over the Wing Yip Oriental supermarket, where you can choose from over 300 dishes on the menu. It’s one of the few places left in town (in the country?) where dim sum still comes on trolleys.

“It’s basically a food hall” where you dine in “noisy” surrounds at communal seating, but this converted Victorian venue (the name is a clever inversion of Mayor Mackie, who opened it in 1858 as a fresh produce market) is a “really great place” nonetheless (and hugely well regarded locally). The offering has extended since it launched in 2017, and “you could come here many times and not eat the same thing” – working your way patiently from Pico’s tacos to Honest Crust’s sourdough pizzas, via New Wave Ramen and a craft beer from Blackjack Brewery.

“Great to have a restaurant of this quality in the North West” – Simon Martin won his place in the history books in 2019 when he ended Manchester’s 40 years of pain without a Michelin star with his creation of this award-winning Ancoats champion. By design, there’s a “chilled” ambience created by the large space, where chefs and diners co-mingle naturally as a result of the open plan layout incorporating the kitchen (to ensure that ‘traditional barriers are broken in physical and thoughtful senses’). The cuisine is characterised by its “interesting and innovative approach with some unusual and unique flavours” and enhanced by the “superb” service. Of course, it’s not super-cheap, but no-one seems to begrudge this. The ‘Complete’ tasting menu is £175 per person, with a cut down ‘Extracts’ version available for £110 per person (and at lunch there’s a menu for £70 per person).

“Much more than a pub!” – this once abandoned Victorian boozer was resurrected in 2021 after a decade and a half in the doldrums; now a globetrotting and “high-quality” restaurant out back (‘The Glass Room’), plus a front room offering more casual but “solid” grub, it’s “worth walking out to” the borough of Salford, in the Greater Manchester ‘burbs, to enjoy – and if you take your friends along for the ride they’ll be “duly impressed”.

This Ancoats spin-off from tapas-champion El Gato Negro is “good on its own terms, and a model of consistency”, with Portuguese influences from Porto-born head chef Carlos Gomes. “Set-price menus are good value”, including the ‘Tipsy Tapas’ offer of three dishes and 90 minutes of unlimited booze for £40. Top Menu Tip – “salt cod fritters are a highlight”.

“Surrounded by regenerated mills and terraced houses, from the days of the industrial revolution”, Richard Withington’s “trendy but likeable” Ancoats favourite “serves small plates to be shared” at “a perfect pace” in a “relaxed, modern dining room” and is nowadays in our Top-100 most commented-on UK restaurants in our annual diners’ poll outside London. “The kitchen knows how to cook and manage to consistently keep the standard up” – “the conception and execution of each dish is faultless” and the whole enterprise “manages to feel both forward looking and familiar, while offering exceptional value for money”. (“I was made so welcome as a solo diner that I wouldn’t hesitate to eat here alone again, but will definitely be bringing friends!”).

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”.

“It is what it is…” – namely “a canteen, so service and ambience are minimal” – but the “unimpeachable home-style curries” at this Northern Quarter veteran remain “the best bargain in Manchester city centre”. Their famous ‘rice and three veg’ deal racks in at an absurdly cheap £6, rising only slightly if you add meat. Watch out for the odd celeb among the social media set which likes to frequent it.