Considering the high standard of food and wine on offer, some otherwise wonderful restaurants have surprisingly uninspired menus when it comes to low and no-alcohol drinks. Many look like they are squarely aimed at kids, with nothing grown-up or special for non-drinking adults.
Due to the continuing popularity of the G&T, most restaurants tend to have a good selection of premium brand, flavoured tonics from the likes of Fever Tree, Lamb & Watt, and London Essence. There are frequently some non-alcoholic cocktails on drinks menus too, but these can vary wildly from a couple of fruit juices cobbled together and given a predictable name to much more exciting libations using foraged herbs and fancy, alcohol-free spirits. When it comes to 0% beer, the choice is often limited to one – no choice at all then.
With many diners choosing not to drink, or to drink less alcohol these days, there has been a boom of modern drinks producers creating new and exciting non-alcoholic beverages. While we did find one restaurant offering 12 different types of water (!), some really need to step up their game. Who wants a choice of coke or orange juice with an elegant tasting menu? Here are a few places that are doing things differently, whether it’s a non-alcoholic flight of menu-matched, foraged softs at Where The Light Gets In and L’Enclume, alcohol-free Spanish wine at The Roebuck, a connoisseurs range of alcohol-free beers from hazy IPAs to coffee oatmeal stouts at The Moorcock, or house-made, foraged herb sodas at Jöro. You won’t feel deprived at any of these forward-thinking restaurants.
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StockportWhere the Light Gets In
More detailsWith no menu and esoteric wines, Where the Light Gets In doesn’t adhere to the typical fine-dining formula. But it’s been a success for Stockport, thanks to chef-patron Sam Buckley’s belief in doing things his own way.
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Book Now South YorkshireJöro
More detailsOffering Nordic-inspired fine dining inside a shipping container, Jöro has secured accolades galore, including a clutch of AA Rosettes and Michelin Bib Gourmand.
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Book Now MobberleyThe Roebuck Inn
More detailsMulti-award-winning pub in the Cheshire countryside. Winner of countless ‘best pub’ awards, and established in 1708, the latest incarnation of The Roebuck Inn is owned by Cheshire Cat Pubs. The Grade II Listed building is now a bonafide ‘rustic country inn’ with six bedrooms, a bar, a bistro and a tiered beer garden.
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Book Now PrestonThe Cartford Inn
More detailsThis historic coaching house serves adventurous British pub food in poetic configurations. Cooking is by mushroom forager and head chef, Chris Bury, whose CV includes the Fat Duck and Claridges, while award-winning suppliers include local wine merchants, D Byrne and Gornall’s dairy, near Preston. The interior, some of which dates back to the 1800s, is packed with wood panels and idiosyncratic artworks while the wider complex takes in glass-clad extensions, an al fresco terrace, and cool, eco-style cabins, integrated into the landscape. A place to get away from it all for a day, or a night – and enjoy some of the best food in the region at the same time.
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Manchester City CentreBundobust Manchester
More detailsBundobust is a huge beer hall serving craft ales in the heart of Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens. It also happened to win Restaurant of the Year at the 2017 Manchester Food and Drink Festival awards, thanks to its stellar menu of Indian small plates.
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Manchester City CentreAlbert’s Schloss
More detailsAlbert’s Schloss is a Bavarian-inspired fun palace of extraordinary dimensions and clever design. Behind the glistening tiles of the former Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Mission building (est in 1910) you’ll discover a vast bar, real fires, perfectly preserved original plaster, and a wall stuffed generously with flowers by floral artists’ Frog. You’ll also find a stage, DJ booth and network of beer pipes and tanks serving unpasturised Pilsner Urquell to hordes of adoring punters.
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SpinningfieldsHawksmoor
More detailsThe 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 MerseysideFraiche
More detailsMerseyside’s fine-dining star, the tiny Fraiche restaurant is home to an artist behind the pass. Having been rated as a ‘rising star’ by the Michelin guide in 2006 and 2007, the restaurant finally secured the real thing in 2009 and Francophile Marc Wilkinson has since upheld it with ease.
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Book Now CumbriaL’Enclume
More detailsL’Enclume is Simon Rogan’s three Michelin-starred restaurant located in the Lake District village of Cartmel, which is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading dining destinations. The restaurant is situated in a former 13th-century blacksmith’s workshop.
