The Anthologist

The Anthologist fits well into the cosmopolitan city vibe of the regenerated St Peter’s Square. When you step off the tram here, you’re a world away from one stop on at Piccadilly Gardens, and this slick, stylish venue from restaurant and bar group Drake & Morgan perfectly reflects the change in tone.

The decor is the sort you’d find in any upwardly mobile district of any western city. A bit of exposed concrete, a bit of velvet, Edison lights and house plants. The food too isn’t tied to any particular cuisine or continent. Typical starters, for example, swerve from arancini, to salt and Szechuan pepper squid, to chorizo Scotch egg. 

It’s the kind of menu that covers all bases but in a location like this, busy with office workers and day-trippers, it works. As long as the chefs are up to it that is, and at The Anthologist, they largely are. The food here is decent and the service is professional and friendly.

The Anthologist’s terrace seating is a big draw in summer. Head there for an afterwork negroni with views of some of Manchester’s most iconic buildings. Inside you could be anywhere, but outside you couldn’t be anywhere else.

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