Styal Restaurant Guide

Named in homage to a rocky outcrop that has long been a settlement for Buddhist monks, Don Buddhika’s black-fronted restaurant is “still going strong with its Sri Lankan speciality dishes” – small plates, curries, grills and more, with dedicated vegan and gluten-free menus. Besides this venture in the swanky Manchester ‘burbs, as of late 2023 they’ve also opened a second outpost a short drive away in the market town of Knutsford.

2024 Review: “An excellent local restaurant with talent in the kitchen (Miarisuz Dobies) and professional front of house” (his wife); regulars are “never disappointed” by the French- and Central European-inflected food (including five- or seven-course tasting menus), with “every detail wonderful and made in-house”.

2024 Review: “Forget flying to southern Italy – go to Sud for wonderful pasta and other Italian dishes”, say fans of the “fresh, vibrant, authentic food” served at this “fun” Altrincham outfit with “slick and friendly service” – the original of a group now with outposts in Ancoats, Sale and Manchester city centre, and which changed its name from Sugo to avoid a clash with a Glasgow operation of that name. “Lots of eye-rolling, and funny noises came out of my mouth, and my wife and I literally didn’t speak for 15 minutes during the main course – I’ll never eat pasta with a knife and fork again!”.

“Casual dining on long trestle tables in a successful food hall” – the MO at this revived Victorian indoor market, where there are “plenty of food outlets” to take your fancy, ranging from sourdough pizza heroes Honest Crust to new arrivals Soots Pasta. Add in “wines and beers from the surrounding independent stallholders” and this “fun venue” is a “go-to destination” when in town (and “child-friendly – they love it as much as mum and dad”).

“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”.

“Very much a place to see and be seen” in Cheshire’s Golden Triangle – “great for celeb-watching and the waiters are proud of that” – this two-year-old from the national Italian stable is the result of a reputed £3m makeover, complete with palm trees and a terrace with a retractable roof. Investment has continued, with the addition of the 60-cover ‘Il Giardino’ for al-fresco dining last summer. Marcello Distefano, who now runs the group founded by his father Carlo, grew up in the area and knows the site well from its days as Brasingamens nightclub, a celebrated hangout for WAGs in the ’90s and ’00s.

2024 Review: “Absolutely superb” regional Indian street food is the MO of this well-performing joint, also with a sibling in Hale; “usually everything they do is very good to excellent” (be it biryanis, dumplings or cocktails) and while “prices have crept up” a tad of late, “no surprise there and it could be much worse”.

2024 Review: Opposite a twelfth-century church, this “really good” village outfit is “exactly what you’d want from a good-quality pub”: a “relaxed, friendly and chatty” spot turning out some “perfectly judged” food (not least fish ’n’ chips, though the desserts are also “technical and brilliantly flavoured”).

Opened in April 2025, this much-glazed 1980s landmark has, in its time, served as the HQ of the Co-operative Bank, and was converted following a £1.5million refurb into a new Indian restaurant with three banqueting suites accommodating 1,250 people plus a 400-seater restaurant. It opened too late for any survey feedback, but in his June 2025 review, The FT’s Jay Rayner was forced to rethink his prejudice against buffets (the menu format here, at £29.99 per person). “The aesthetic is classy cruise ship” and a buffet counter “so long you could run time trials down it” with 100 different dishes to a mainly British Asian crowd: the warming lights are not kind to poppadoms, but the fried items – chicken wings and samosas – turn over so fast they don’t have a chance to go soggy, while the “startling array of curries actually benefit from sitting on a gentle simmer”.

2023 Review: Founders Diana & Justin have backed up their passion for Californian-style coffee with a “relatively cheap” menu of sandwiches and nachos plus biodynamic wines, at the Altrincham café they opened five years ago in an “ideal location near the end of the M62”.

HK ex-pats, Brian & Priscilla Hung, launched this Hong-Kong-inspired pub in 2024 (named for Harcourt Road, the location in the former colony of the Umbrella Revolution in 2014). Its mix of ‘Authentic Hong Kong Cuisine & Local Craft Beer’ has won the praise both of local review site ‘The Confidentials’ and The FT’s Jay Rayner, both of whom approve its down-to-earth, pub-faithful style, the latter noting with approval: it’s “not refined. It’s not delicate. It’s solid and comforting; cooking that makes a damp and difficult day so much easier. It’s precision engineered to go with a pint”.

An “excellent Thai restaurant in the heart of Altrincham”, which has provided “very friendly service and good-value meals” for more than a decade – “its lunch for £16.95 for 2 courses is a bargain”. There are branches in Wilmslow and Sandbach, the latter “always a treat to visit, the staff are so polite and welcoming”.

“Bloody-tasty pasta!” – handmade on site – is the USP at this lone surviving branch of a group that has expanded and contracted across Manchester under different names (Pasta Sugo; Pasta Sud) over the past 10 years. “Now that they’ve settled down from an ill-advised rebrand and colour scheme and focused efforts on their Altrincham site, it’s back to its best quality wise” and “delicious as ever”. “Living up to its Puglian roots with super food and wines in a communal seating – it’s a great foodie destination opposite the Altrincham Market. A limited menu is loaded with cracking pasta and seafood dishes and appetising aromas waft from the adjacent small kitchen”. (“There’s just this Altrincham branch left now” – those in Sale and central Manchester have gone – “but the quality of the food remains brilliant… it’s the place to go if you love pasta!”)