Apparently, the average Italian eats around 27 kilos of pasta every year, and to be honest it feels like we’re not too far behind. We could lament all day about it – silky ribbons of perfection in real, proper carbonara are almost heaven-sent. And the weighty feel of a slab of homemade lasagne slowly bending a serving spatula is a sheer delight.
With over 350 shapes of pasta, life can sometimes be a little overwhelming, but when a bowl of orecchiette starts making its way from kitchen to table, drenched in deep tomato sauce everything just feels right in the world.
Manchester is chock-full of distinguished pasta masters, so here is the rundown of our favourites (and don’t forget to use our search to find even more pasta perfection in Manchester and beyond) :
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Book Now Greater Manchester
A Tavola
A Tavola has an offbeat charm. Don’t be put off by the exterior. Sicilian delights await within.
Inside, it is a bit of a squeeze. Intimate, as they say. It will be even more of a squeeze after you’ve stuffed yourself silly on authentic Sicilian food. And the food is the thing.
From the look of the place, you might be expecting a few simple pizzas and not much more but you’d be wrong. Pizzas are most certainly on the menu but there are all sorts of dishes, from Sicilian street food to decadently alcoholic tiramisu. What links them is the quality of the ingredients, with many shipped over from respected Italian suppliers.
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Book Now Levenshulme
Cibus
Ah, those awkward encounters when you bump into someone at a party and can’t recall their name or where you know them from. This is how the conversation goes. “Cibus – you remember, stall at Levy Market. No? OK, pop-up pizza place above Fred’s Ale House…”
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Prestwich
Lupo
Patiscerria and small-batch Italian hand-roasted coffee that’s the name of the game at the award-winning Lupo Caffe Italiano.
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Book Now Sale
Mano A Bocca
“Roma è arrivata a Sale!” – Rome has arrived in Sale – proclaims the website, which is a slight exaggeration, although is at least true of the Roman-style thin-crust pizzas served at Mano A Bocca. Meaning “hand to mouth”, this pizzeria advises ditching the cutlery, the base not unlike focaccia.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
Sicilian NQ
Based in the Northern Quarter, this friendly neighbourhood bistro and bar is the place to avanti if it’s a taste of traditional Sicily you fancy – from authentic street food snacks through big plates of pasta to desserts and holiday memory gelato, eat in or take away.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
The Pasta Factory
The group of friends behind The Pasta Factory’s story originally hail from Turin in the northern region of Piedmont, so this is the place for authentic Italian food full of flavour, with dishes created from scratch using only the best fresh ingredients in season.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
Salvi’s Manchester Northern Quarter
Salvi’s NQ is the baby of what claims to be Manchester’s first independent Neapolitan restaurant, and if traditional, authentic southern Italian cuisine is on your mind, this is definitely a place to sniff out.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Bottega
With its floor-to-ceiling views over Exchange Square and chic Selfridges setting, Bottega is a stylish spot for cocktails, lunch or dinner.
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Book Now Green Quarter
The Sparrows
Green Quarter start-up and Good Food Guide entry, The Sparrows (sometimes with an umlaut) serves up a variety of continental pasta and European origin dumplings, “made daily with love”. Spätzle, gnocchi, pierogi, pelmeni and more are on the menu here.
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Ancoats
Sud Pasta Ancoats
SUD Pasta is a must-visit restaurant in Manchester. Since opening their first pasta kitchen in 2015, they’ve taken the city and suburbs by storm.
With restaurants in Altrincham, Ancoats and now Sale, they’re a firm favourite amongst locals and visitors alike.
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Book Now Salford
Vero Moderno
Another fab addition to the clutch of good, independent Italian restaurants in the city is Vero Moderno. Situated on the regenerated Chapel Street just inside Salford, it joins Salvi’s, Pasta Factory, and Lupo on our list of ‘proper’ Italians which swerve the standard carbonara and bolognese in favour of something a little more considered.