Atmospheric lighting, great service and sophisticated food that will blow your little socks off. These restaurants sure know how to impress. We’re not messing around here, we’re talking fine dining, small plates and Masterchef winners.
New opening Another Hand, with chef imports from The Edinburgh Castle and Hispi Bistro certainly impressed Manchester Confidential’s reviewer when he visited. While you might recognise The French’s Chef Adam Reid from Great British Menu and Simon Wood of self-named Wood from Masterchef.
For modern-style French cooking and impeccable cocktails, try 10 Tib Lane and if steak is your love language, Hawksmoor might just be the way to your heart.
Every restaurant on this list is hand-picked and loved by our editorial team living and working in Manchester, with many being recognised by national publications and food guides as some of the best in the country. Who can argue with that?
For 23 sophisticated dining spots in Manchester, you’re certainly in the right place.
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Manchester City Centre
10 Tib Lane
10 Tib Lane is one of the brave new openings of summer 2021; a time when securing staff and supplies, never mind diners, is an ongoing challenge for everyone.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
63 Degrees
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.
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Manchester City Centre
Adam Reid at The French
Culinary rock and roll from Simon Rogan’s protege, Adam Reid. Enjoy fine-dining in Grade II Listed Victorian surrounds – with a side order of Mancunian attitude.
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Manchester City Centre
Another Hand
From the team that brought you 3 Hands Deli, Another Hand opened in February 2022 in the unit just next door. With a sleek new look, the casual dining restaurant brings brunch, lunch and a relaxed dining experience to Deansgate Mews, Manchester’s newest hotspot.
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Manchester City Centre
Asha’s
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.
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Manchester City Centre
El Gato Negro Manchester
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.
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Book Now Ancoats
Erst
“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.
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Spinningfields
Hawksmoor
The best steakhouse in the North. Opening on Deansgate in 2015, 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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Book Now Manchester City Centre
James Martin
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.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Kala Bistro
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.
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Book Now Ancoats
Mana
Michelin-starred restaurant Mana is the brainchild of chef patron Simon Martin who mastered his trade at the renowned Noma in Copenhagen. In his first few years at Mana, Martin has succeeded in carving his own path – one which confuses and delights people in equal measure.
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Manchester City Centre
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar
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.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Platzki
Modern Polish cuisine is what’s on offer at Platzki, one of the first restaurants to open at Deansgate Mews back in 2018.
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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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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Rosso
If it’s a stylish lunch date destination you’re after or some suitably chic eats for dinner à deux, Rosso might be the one, resplendent in clean white suffused with natural light and with plenty of Italian-inspired vegetarian, pescatarian and meat-lover options on the menu.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
San Carlo Manchester
San Carlo is Manchester’s most famous and, some say, best Italian restaurant. Run by the Distefano family, it’s said to have one of the largest turnovers in the UK. It’s also the place to be papped and there’s usually a bank of photographers outside to prove the point.
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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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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Tast Enxaneta
Let’s face it, Tast Enxaneta is the closest you’re going to get to El Bulli.
After all, co-owner Paco Perez is a friend of the famous Ferran, and with five Michelin stars to his name, he is upholding the spatula of experimental Catalan gastronomy.
The second floor restaurant at Tast takes Catalan cuisine to a whole new level. This isn’t a case of poshing up some patatas bravas, this is mind-boggling kitchen wizardry. Under the direction of Paco Perez, head chef Miguel Villacrosa takes simple ingredients and treats them in ways it will take weeks to get your head around.
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Spinningfields
Tattu Manchester
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.
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Book Now 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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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Wood
The eponymous restaurant of Simon Wood, MasterChef winner and local lad from Oldham, is an accomplished affair. Food is cooked by both Wood and head chef, Mike Jennings, formerly of Grenache in Worsley. The décor – muted natural tones in a glass-clad new build – places the focus of any meal on the fine, Italianesque (yet often locally sourced) food and wine on offer.