Everybody knows that the antidote to any *ahem* late Saturday night is an epic Sunday lunch. And if there’s one thing any northerner knows, it’s how to judge one. The Confidentials team all have our favourite spots for Sunday roasts in Manchester and we’re willing to let you in on some secret left-fielders too.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Three Little Words
Three Little Words is housed under the arches at the lesser-visited end of Watson Street, near Beetham Tower. Inside you’ll find the Spirit of Manchester gin distillery, a cocktail bar, and a kitchen serving small plates with thoroughly decent cooking. It’s certainly a place worth knowing about.
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Book Now Salford Quays
11 Central
11 Central is another venture for Seven Bro7hers, only this time their Sis4ers are on board too so the bar is a fantastic mix of craft beer and craft gin.
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Book Now Knutsford
The Bells of Peover
There’s a story behind the American and British flags that fly over the entrance to The Bells of Peover, a country dining pub in a village south of Knutsford.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
The Black Friar
The Black Friar stood empty and unloved for almost 20 years before reopening in summer 2021 after a substantial renovation project. Now a modern British restaurant and a traditional pub, it has two distinct settings with menus to match.
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Book Now Prestbury
The Bridge
Located in a Grade II Listed building from 1626, The Bridge is full of charm, whether you’re going for a weekend away or Sunday lunch. This hotel and restaurant sits on the banks of the River Bollin in the picturesque Cheshire village of Prestbury, and has been newly refurbished.
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Book Now Levenshulme
Cibus
Once a stall at Levy Market, then a pop-up pizzeria above Fred’s Ale House, Cibus took baby steps to get to where it is today; a fully-fledged and much-praised Italian restaurant and bar on Levenshulme high street, and the winner of The Good Food Guide’s award for Best Local Restaurant North West 2024.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Founder’s Hall
Founder’s Hall is a smartly-refurbished pub with an enviable position on Albert Square. It serves up comforting pub food and a vast range of beers.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Grand Pacific
Grand Pacific is the work of Living Ventures and it easily outshines its sibling venues in terms of pure glamour. Not in a big chandeliers, glass and chrome Spinningfields way, but with a decadent blend of colonial Raffles-style grandeur and some of the best of the city’s Victorian architecture.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Malmaison Deansgate Bar & Grill
Malmaison Deansgate Bar & Grill is a confident operation with prime grass-fed British beef and popular classics. The menu veers towards traditional rather than adventurous but great wines and well-aged, matured steaks mean that doesn’t matter. When you’re serving juicy marbled rib eye that everyone loves, what is there to complain about?
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Piccolino Caffe Grande Manchester
With its terrace overlooking Albert Square and Manchester Town Hall, and a beautiful interior featuring a 40-seater private dining room, an open kitchen, and an oyster bar, Piccolino Caffé Grande Manchester is a real destination restaurant. (And, notably, it’s one that doesn’t price people out of the experience.)
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Book Now Holmes Chapel
The Vicarage
The Vicarage sits on the banks of the River Dane, in Cranage, a village on the edge of Holmes Chapel. It’s full of old-fashioned country charm: bucolic surroundings, a wisteria-clad eighteenth century Grade II listed building, beams and roll-top baths.
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Northern Quarter
The Bay Horse
The Bay Horse Tavern, to give it its full moniker, describes itself as a modern take on a Victorian Pub. With its dark hues and warm woods, puttering candles and kitschy knick-knacks as well as its range of gins, craft beers and ‘other libations’, it may well straddle the eras.
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Birtle
Bird At Birtle
The big, first-floor window at the rear of Andrew Nutter’s Bird At Birtle frames the moors – and this gastropub is an ode of sorts to its impressive, rural location.
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Deansgate
Blacklock Manchester
Handsome subterranean restaurant Blacklock Manchester is the first northern opening from this London-based restaurant group.
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Book Now Heaton Moor
The ‘Burbs
The ‘Burbs is exactly the sort of informal neighbourhood spot you want round the corner from your house.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
Dakota Grill Manchester
Dakota Grill Manchester is the work of former Malmaison owner, Ken McCollough and it is as dark-hued and handsome as the successful boutique hotel chain. It’s an inviting place with flickering candlelight, very retro-sexy – sure to be the setting for many a first date.
The focus at Dakota is on steaks which are very good – all grass-fed, 28 day-aged, hand-cut Aberdeenshire beef cooked over hot coals.
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Ramsbottom
Eagle & Child
The Eagle & Child is famous for offering excellent Sunday lunches and award-winning pub grub in the hills above Manchester.
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Ancoats
Edinburgh Castle
The Edinburgh Castle is a fortification for fortifying yourself, full of hearty British fare. This defence against hunger has two parts. No, not motte and bailey, but an upstairs restaurant and a downstairs pub. Upstairs, downstairs and all the connotations that go along with that.
The downstairs is a traditional old pub with a welcoming drinking zone and a separate eating area. Traditional pub or not, this is much more than just some Scampi Fries. In fact, this is some of the very best pub food in the city.
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Ancoats
Elnecot
Named after the first recorded name for Ancoats, Elnecot (meaning ‘lonely cottages’) takes its influence from historical cooking methods with lots of fermenting, a little foraging and a few nose-to-tail dishes.
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Ancoats
The Firehouse
Found in the former E & A Auto Services garage depot on Swan Street, Firehouse is the sister restaurant to Ramona’s Detroit-style pizzeria. It’s part restaurant, part bar and part performance venue where tables are available to book for dinner and “after dark drinking”. The space is open and airy with a real laid-back feel. White shutters, bleached brick and glitter balls hanging from the high ceiling complete the chilled out party ambience.
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Marple
Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop
Fold Bistro and Bottle Shop is a new addition to the foodie scene in Marple Bridge, and has already gained a reputation as a must-visit spot in the town.
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Manchester City Centre
Gaucho Manchester
For many people, Argentinian restaurant Gaucho Manchester is the destination in the city for very good steak paired with very good wine. Housed in a converted Methodist church on Deansgate, with an open kitchen, and the original church organ still in-situ, it’s also known as one of Manchester’s best-looking spaces for dining.
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Spinningfields
Hawksmoor
The first Hawksmoor steakhouse outside of London is a confident affair. Well sourced steak and attention to detail have created a place like no other.
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Didsbury
Hispi
Hispi is, quite simply, a great bistro. Fifth in a growing chain of restaurants conceived by Gary Usher, the concept started with Sticky Walnut in Chester (see also Top 100), a neighbourhood operation which made its name off the back of great, simple food, quaffable wine served in beakers, and excellent quality produce. Expect chunky British dishes – such as chicken liver pate and braised featherblade – made with fresh ingredients and great results.
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Chorlton
The Jane Eyre Chorlton
The Jane Eyre Chorlton is a neighbourhood restaurant and cocktail bar on Beech Road, Chorlton’s most charming street. This offshoot of the Ancoats original has fitted in nicely to its location which has been home to some of Chorlton’s best restaurants over the years – and a few short-lived mistakes. The Jane Eyre is definitely in the former camp.
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Manchester City Centre
The Marble Arch
George Orwell may have named his ideal (and imaginary) pub The Moon Under Water but Wetherspoons on Deansgate was not what he had in mind. It’s The Marble Arch which has all the qualities that mark it out as the perfect boozer.
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Spinningfields
Masons
Nestled in the Grade II Listed former Freemasons Hall, Masons Restaurant and Bar serves retro fine-dining fare in princely surrounds.
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Greater Manchester
Mr Thomas’s Chop House
Thomas Studd and his wife Sarah established their Chop House in booming Cottonopolis in 1867, and it’s still going strong, serving up top-end pub grub in the famous tiled back room restaurant along with flagons and snifters in the bar and on the sunny St Ann’s Square terrace.
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Prestwich
OSMA
OSMA is a contraction of Oslo and Manchester, the home cities of its two owners. However this portmanteau is even more well-travelled than that. Ingredients are local, lunches are Scandinavian and evening meals are an ever-changing roster of small plates from further afield.
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Book Now Greater Manchester
The Pack Horse
Humbly describing itself as a “community gastropub”, The Pack Horse is raking in the glowing reviews, including by food critics making a special trip up from That London – it’s even been named one of the Top 50 Gastropubs 2022 and it’s Michelin Guide listed.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
Dakota Grill Manchester
Dakota Grill Manchester is the work of former Malmaison owner, Ken McCollough and it is as dark-hued and handsome as the successful boutique hotel chain. It’s an inviting place with flickering candlelight, very retro-sexy – sure to be the setting for many a first date.
The focus at Dakota is on steaks which are very good – all grass-fed, 28 day-aged, hand-cut Aberdeenshire beef cooked over hot coals.
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Whitworth
The Red Lion Inn
The Red Lion’s location in Whitworth, Rochdale is semi rather than fully rural but in terms of character and style, you can’t get much more ‘country pub’ than this. It’s got the cobblestone square outside, the roaring fire inside, the sleepy dogs by the bar, the sturdy British cooking. It has the history too, dating from the 17th century.
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Manchester City Centre
The Refuge
Winning small plate fusion in an iconic and glamorous setting. Housed in Manchester’s iconic The Refuge Assurance Company dating back to 1858, this DJ-run restaurant and bar is large and sassy.
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Urmston
Restaurant Orme
Restaurant Örme is a small fine-dining restaurant situated on an inconspicuous street in Urmston. But don’t be fooled by its humble size and location – this is a restaurant that means business.
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Salford
The River Restaurant
The River Restaurant at The Lowry Hotel is Manchester’s classic fine dining restaurant. Huge names that have run the kitchen include Marco Pierre White, while diners have included Jose Mourinho and Kylie.
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Levenshulme
Station South
Housed in an old railway station building saved in 2018 and restored with Heritage Fund support, Station South is a “destination cycle café and bar”, complete with bike workshop and urban garden, that sits overlooking the Fallowfield Loop cycle path, once the Fallowfield Line.
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Congleton
The Swettenham Arms
The Swettenham Arms is in an idyllic location, right next to the Lovell Quinta Aboretum. The pub even has its own lavender field, wafting soothing floral notes over outdoor drinkers. The Swettenham Arms itself is pretty idyllic too, dating from the 1500s. With all that history, it’s no surprise that it claims to be haunted.
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Manchester City Centre
Tender
Tender is an elegant restaurant in Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel. The food lives up to the grandeur. Headed by Chef Niall Keating, it wouldn’t be a surprise if his cooking here earned him some more of those Michelin stars. He’s on his way to becoming a culinary constellation.
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Northern Quarter
TNQ
This unassuming, independent restaurant overlooking the historic Smithfield Fish Market is a stalwart of the Northern Quarter’s dining scene. Co-owner and chef Anthony Fielden has been cooking up a storm at TNQ since 2004, winning various awards and accolades along the way.
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Northern Quarter
Trof
Longstanding Thomas Street bar Trof has got ‘top Manchester night out’ written all over its labyrinthine three storeys. But it’s just as well known for its morning-after comfort feeds as its cocktails. The Sunday Roast has a reputation for greatness, and the weekend brunch menu is popular. Go for the full English breakfast or the confit duck hash with sriracha and honey glaze.
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Book Now Oxford Road
Zouk
Zouk specialises in ‘apna’ – home-style cooking shot through with colour and heat from the spices and herbs. In recent years it has incorporated elements of global street food to its menu (Lahori wagyu sliders for example) but the main focus is still the authentic Indian and Pakistani cooking that made Zouk a success.