Sophisticated dining in Manchester City Centre

Cool Pacific Rim fusion fare for the fashion set. Australasia combines a sense of theatre with professionalism and culinary wizardry, making any occasion feel special.

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?

The MUSU Collection is a group of innovative modern Japanese dining experiences, all under one roof. With three AA rosettes, this is the cutting edge of Manchester’s restaurant scene.

Skof is the first restaurant from chef Tom Barnes who, as head chef at Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume, helped it win its third Michelin star. 

10 Tib Lane was one of the brave new openings of summer 2021; a time when securing staff and supplies, never mind diners, was an ongoing challenge for everyone. If you can launch a new restaurant in that environment, you must be doing something very right – so it’s no surprise that three years later, it’s still going strong.

Lincoln Square’s traditional Cantonese restaurant Wing’s has been an institution in the city centre since 2004, when it first found fame through the patronage of Premier League footballers.

It takes more than famous names to keep a restaurant thriving though – and it’s testament to the consistency and quality of the upmarket British-Cantonese food that Wing’s is still going strong 20 years later.

Ran by husband and wife team Eric and Florence Moreau, 63 Degrees is a classic chef-proprieteur French restaurant with roots in the refined cuisine of their home city of Paris.

Culinary rock and roll from Simon Rogan’s protege, Adam Reid, and head chef Blaise Murphy, formerly of Mana. Enjoy fine-dining in Grade II Listed Victorian surrounds – with a side order of Mancunian attitude.

There is quite some experience behind owners Julian Pizer and Max Yorke at Another Hand, including time spent at Cottonopolis, The Edinburgh Castle and Hispi. In this intimate restaurant on Deansgate Mews, they put it to excellent use on an ever-changing, seasonal menu that takes advantage of some of the best suppliers in the region.

Modern Indian restaurants come with their own USPs such as street food, home cooking and regionally-specific cuisine. Asha’s, near the library end of Peter Street, has decided to go high-end with proper posh Rogan Josh nosh.

The first thing you notice when you step into fine-dining restaurant Climat is the view. Situated on the roof of Blackfriars House, you’re just above the city skyline, close enough to see the details of the architecture, but high enough to feel like you’re in the clouds.

El Gato Negro is an upmarket Manc-Spanish fusion restaurant that really, really works. Originally from Yorkshire, chef Simon Shaw has created an indulgent, three-storey church to his passion for the best in Spanish food and wine.

“Yet more small plates in Ancoats?” we hear you cry. Well yes, but trust us, Erst is worth your attention. This is a place for serious foodies so don’t come looking for mac n cheese balls. Plenty of other places can satisfy that filthy craving for you.

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.

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.

A fine-dining restaurant inside a casino with a celeb chef name above the door? Alarm bells. Yes, James Martin has his name across the massive billboard outside, but this is not an ostentatious venue.

Kala describes itself as a humble bistro but humility is not usually a word associated with Gary Usher, the chef behind the Elite Bistros group. Having said that, perhaps the social media motormouth has every reason to feel pretty darn perky. Some very well-regarded chefs have only good things to say about him, such as former boss, Angela Hartnett, and the supposed ‘humble bistro food’ at Kala is elegant and impressive. It’s more fine dining than simple fodder, that’s for sure.

The dishes sound simple but they have a flair and a verve that can’t fail to delight. Expect starters such as baked goat’s cheese with purple carrots and smoked garlic or crispy pig’s head croquette. Typical mains range from miso glazed squash to pan-roasted cod with curry and almond sauce but the rightly famous featherblade of beef is a mainstay.

Michelin-starred restaurant Mana is the brainchild of chef patron Simon Martin who mastered his trade at the renowned Noma in Copenhagen. At Mana, Martin has succeeded in carving his own path – one which confuses and delights people in equal measure.

Set inside Manchester’s iconic Midland Hotel, Mount Street Dining Room & Bar is a chic space with an all day menu that offers a modern take on British classics using top-notch, locally sourced, fresh seasonal ingredients.

Modern Polish cuisine is what’s on offer at Platzki, one of the first restaurants to open at Deansgate Mews back in 2018.

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.

The Sparrows serves up a variety of fresh, handmade continental pasta and Central and Eastern European dumplings in an unexpectedly airy space underneath a railway archway in Red Bank.

Located in the heart of the Spinningfields business district, Tattu Manchester is an Instagrammer’s dream. Think penumbral lighting, body art-inspired cocktails and a full-size cherry blossom tree with hand-sewn silk petals. You’d be forgiven for expecting such opulent surroundings to outshine the food. Not so.

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.