Here at Confidentials, we love a bit of posh nosh, obvs. We get really excited about both tasting and telling people about the very best food that the North West has to offer. Unfortunately for your bank balance, that level of quality usually comes with a matching price tag. It can be an expensive do, this fine-dining lark. But not always. Sometimes we come across outrageously good grub at a very reasonable price indeed, and that’s when we get really excited.
This is our guide to eating really well for less than twenty quid. Many of these restaurants offer more expensive options but they all have either a set menu or decent a la carte menu options that come to less than £20 per person for a decent scran. This usually means a starter and a main course or main course and dessert depending on which side of that particular food fight you’re on. These lot all feature chefs that we consider to be right at the top of their game, no less than the best for our Top 100. The food is all bloody good but casting an eye over the bill at the end of your meal won’t drain the blood from your cheeks.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Bundobust Manchester
Bundobust 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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Book Now Ashton-under-Lyne
Lily’s Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
Lily’s Indian Vegetarian Cuisine is an unassuming restaurant in Ashton-under-Lyne that happens to serve some of the best South Indian food in the UK.
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Book Now 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
Amma’s Canteen
Passionate Keralan-Indian-Brit fusion. A great place to eat can make the back end of nowhere worth visiting – and (largely) Keralan restaurant Amma’s Canteen, on the outskirts of Chorlton, feels like a destination.
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Book Now Altrincham
Tre Ciccio Altrincham
Translating as ‘three chubby friends’ (a self-effacing reference to owner Francesco Scafuri and a pair of his portly pals from back in Campania), Tre Ciccio Altrincham doesn’t look much from the outside, or even the inside, at first.
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Book Now Mossley Hill
Spire
Spire, a grown-up bistro near Liverpool’s Penny Lane, is the brainchild of chef-patron and award-winning regional ‘Food Hero’ Matt Locke.
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Book Now West Yorkshire
Gimbals
For years, Gimbals was a mesmerising neighbourhood bistro with a good reputation. Run by talented husband-and-wife team Simon and Janet Baker, the Sowerby Bridge stalwart has now closed its doors to the usual bookings, and is available for private dining and as a high-end takeaway.
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Book Now Cheadle
Indian Tiffin Room Cheadle
Indian Tiffin Room Cheadle was one of the first local places to step away from the typical menu of the average flock wallpapered curry house and focus instead on Indian street food.
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Book Now Chinatown (Manchester)
Yuzu
Yuzu is a neighbourhood-style Japanese restaurant offering refreshingly uncomplicated dishes served in Zen-like surroundings. You won’t find a conveyor belt of sushi here, but something altogether more traditional, such as spanking fresh sashimi.
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Book Now Leeds
Prashad
Prashad is a Gordon Ramsey-rated thrill for anyone craving Gujarati vegetarian food. Since starring on Ramsey’s Best Restaurant show, the team have made the most of the exposure. Expansion, relocation and even a Sunday Times top 40 rated cookbook followed.
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Book Now Altrincham
Sud Pasta Altrincham
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.