Queens Arms

The Queens Arms in Eccles has won new-found fame as the best pub in Britain. The Good Food Guide rated it above all others in its Britain’s 100 Best Pubs 2026. Congratulations to the team who are flying the flag for Greater Manchester.

In some senses, the Queens Arms is exactly as you’d expect a proper pub to be. It has the Edwardian detailing that gives it Grade II listed status, a jumble of cosy rooms and snugs, wallpaper that wouldn’t be out of place in your nan’s house circa 1995 and stern black and white Victorians staring down from picture frames. Above all, it has that sense of welcome that makes you feel instantly at home.

On the other hand, the Queens Arms completely reinvents the notion of a traditional pub. Owners Anthony Sit and Mr Lo have been running the pub as a Japanese izakaya since January 2025 after the previous owner retired. Given the food offering had been limited to crisps, it’s a complete turnaround.

The pub still attracts its loyal locals who just come for a drink. As an izakaya is all about food and beer, the menu is winning them over. How can you resist prawn tempura with your pint?

It also attracts a huge Hong Kong fanbase who come from around Manchester for the amazing lunch deal. Under £13 for pork cutlet katsu with curry and rice plus a soft drink. No wonder the place is rammed on a Wednesday lunchtime. And I can confirm that the panko is even crisper than the Walkers that used to be on sale behind the bar.

It’s a real community pub and the prices are to include people, not to impress them. The menu has it all, from grilled eel to teppanyaki Angus steak rice bowl or fried udon noodles with vegetables.

Drinks-wise you’ll find lagers and beers but also a good selection of Japanese whisky, sake and umeshu as well as imported sodas and teas such as honey yuzu or roasted rice tea with matcha.

As if being the best pub in Britain wasn’t enough, this is a place with plenty of history. Tall tales that make it the sort of pub of which George Orwell would approve in his deliberations on the perfect watering hole. There’s a visit from Queen Victoria which gave the pub its current name, a second claim to fame as the Oldest Passenger Railway Pub in the World and a cool story about trains stopping outside the pub so everyone could partake in ale and eccles cakes before the disruption to the timetable put paid to such larks. Still, as excuses go, it’s better than leaves on the line.