Where to celebrate Father’s Day in Manchester

Pacific Rim fusion fare for the fashion set. The undeniable theatre of the place, the approach of the staff and the craft of the food make any occasion feel like a million dollars at Australasia.

Banyan in Manchester’s Corn Exchange has something for everyone and one of the best outdoor drinking and dining spots in the city.

The Bay Horse Tavern, to give it its full moniker, describes itself as “a modern take on a Victorian Pub” and, with its dark hues and warm woods, puttering candles and kitschy knick-knacks, and range of gins, craft beers and “other libations”, it may well straddle the eras.

Coronation Street Tours gives you the chance to go behind the scenes of the long-running soap and walk those famous cobbles.

Ducie Street Warehouse is all sorts of things, but one of those things is a restaurant. It’s an all-day affair with everything from classic brunches to late-night cocktails. On the menu you’ll find a good selection of small sharing dishes and large plates – it’s a sociable kind of place. And of course, you’ll also find Ducie Street Warehouse’s signature focaccia flatbreads.

Dunham Massey is one of the National Trust’s top 10 most visited properties, bringing in 439,000 people in 2020/21. We reckon at least 80% of them were Mancunians escaping the city for their nearest bucolic country park.

The ultimate rainy day activity (and Manchester certainly has its wealth of those), Escape Hunt at the Corn Exchange places you in a locked room for 60 minutes for fun.

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.

The first Hawksmoor steakhouse outside of London opened on Deansgate in 2015 and is a confident affair. Well sourced steak and attention to detail have created a place like no other.

The Hyatt Regency hotel is one of the most highly rated hotels in Manchester, with incredible views of the city and University Green from the rooms on the higher floors. 212 rooms are decked out in a modern style, all with floor-to-ceiling windows and king beds.

Located in the heart of Clitheroe, Holmes Mill is a bountiful food, drink and entertainment venue as well as a lovely place to stay in Lancashire. Featuring its own beer hall, bar & grill, hotel, food hall, bowling alley, cinema and much more, this former textiles mill is the gift that keeps on giving.

The Ivy Manchester is an exuberant over-the-top place that’s perfect for glamming up and going out. The décor is wild yet smart and service is smooth and professional. The roof garden is a must.

There’s an abundance about The Ivy with the costumed doorman, and the levels and levels of fun: The Ivy Asia; The Brasserie; The Ivy Roof Garden; the lurid floors; the lacquered screens; the mirrored central bar. It all adds up to a sense of occasion, a place where dining out is something special, something to dress up for.

King Street Townhouse is a 4-star luxury hotel in the heart of Manchester City Centre. It’s well known for its spa facilities – including a very special infinity pool with views of the city from the top floor of the building.

Lane 7 Deansgate has bowling lanes as well as more than seven other things to do while you’re there and that doesn’t even include drinking a gin cocktail in a stein. Obviously, that’s just a given.

As well as bowling, there is fancy-pants bowling with neon zig zags. A bit of a cross between a new restaurant opening and Blade Runner. All the bowling is pretty sleek and shiny though with the standard graffiti décor.

Non-bowling entertainment includes just about everything that could possibly be construed as competitive with the exception of tiddlywinks.

Malmaison Manchester Piccadilly Bar & Grill isn’t just for overnight guests, its reputation for cocktails, quality beef and a buzzing atmosphere mean it’s respected as a restaurant in its own right.

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.

Mosey down Mosley Street between Piccadilly Gardens and St Peter’s Square, and you can’t miss the Greek columns that flank the front of Manchester Art Gallery. It’s one of Manchester’s most visited cultural attractions thanks to its central location and extensive collection of historical and contemporary art.

Manchester Museum reopened in February 2023 following a £15m transformation to make it more inclusive and more imaginative in how it tells its stories.

Want to fall in love with your city all over again? Take a boat tour from Manchester River Cruises, and you’ll see its iconic views from a new and surprising perspective.

If you’re a fan of cosy pubs with good beer and great craic, Mulligan’s in Manchester will be right up your alley. Located just off Deansgate, it’s full of character and is Manchester’s oldest authentic Irish pub.

The Japanese word MUSU translates as ‘infinite possibilities’ and while Chef Patron Michael Shaw’s quartet of menus may not be infinite they are certainly unique for Manchester at least. With a combination of Japanese and more locally-sourced ingredients, the guest is invited to choose the way they prefer to dine at MUSU.

Where else but footy-mad Manchester to house the National Museum of the UK’s favourite sport? Explore the history of the beautiful game inside the unusual-looking Urbis building next to Manchester Victoria train station.

Return to your youth and relieve the stresses and strains of adult life by whacking baddies Double Dragon-style or jumping gleefully from platform to platform in Bubble Bobble at NQ64. Get your arcade thrills as well as cocktails and craft beer at this underground bar.

From shoot-‘em-ups to pinball, classic platform games and button-bashers, you’ll find them all at NQ64.

If you want to catch the big West End or Broadway productions on tour in the North of England, The Palace Manchester is your place.

A stone’s throw from Selfridges and the designer stores around Exchange Square, Piccolo by Piccolino is a Southern Italian restaurant serving Neapolitan pizza, pasta and salads.

Point Blank Shooting is an interactive virtual shooting range designed to test yours and your teammates quick-draw skills.

From the same team behind Piccolino, Riva Blu Manchester aims to bring a little bit of La Dolce Vita to The Corn Exchange. With a sleek cocktail bar, open kitchen, and alfresco terrace, it’s styled on the high-society glamour of the 1960s, and “modern Italian” cuisine is the name of the game.

One of two Roxy Ball Room venues in Manchester, the Deansgate bar is an ideal “adult playground” perfect for parties. With golf, pool, shuffleboard and even ice-free curling at this upstairs space on Manchester’s busy Deansgate. 

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 you’ll sometimes see a bank of photographers outside to prove the point.

Much like the once mighty industrial power of the North, Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum has shrunk noticeably over the years. But it’s still well worth a visit.

This bar on Cutting Room Square from the Seven Bro7hers Brewery clan is perfectly placed to cater for the craft beer drinkers of Ancoats.

Sixes Social Cricket opened in the Corn Exchange in August 2021, bringing a different kind of sporting experience to Manchester City Centre. Already a popular concept down south, Manchester might not be quite as bowled over with Cricket as it is with football, but don’t let that stop you.

The second of their city centre venues, Tampopo Manchester Corn Exchange has the same wok-fresh East Asian menu as its older sister on Albert Square, but with a bigger, more style-led setting. Think statement lighting and tiles, splashes of bright colour, and low-lit individual tables instead of the shared bench seating of the original.

Hearing the thud of axes can be a little unnerving as you leave the cinema in the Great Northern – especially after a slasher film – but the axe throwing at Whistle Punks is about letting off steam not cutting off limbs.

It’s competitive and a bit like darts really, only you’re throwing whacking great axes at the target instead. A bullseye with an axe is very satisfying indeed.

If you’ve never known the joy of flying over a lake on a rope swing and daring yourself to let go, get it on your bucket list, and then get yourself over to Wild Shore Delamere to tick it off.