Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

Fine Dining and Tasting Menus in Manchester

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Nothing says luxury more than a tasting menu. Thankfully, Manchester has a whole host of options for those with a burning desire for multiple courses of high-end and invariably complex and beautiful dishes.

We’ve spent a gout-inducing year or two tracking down the very best, and you can spend your time, and entire bank balance, checking them all out. If you baulk at spending hundreds of pounds on a single meal, then look away now. The rest of us, who realise life is made for living and debt disappears when you die, can start to plough through this master list of fancy-pants food destinations in the North.

Our top picks

Sampa

Sampa, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 - Visit now

Manchester’s most exciting chef is at it again. Born in Brazil and adopted by the UK, Caroline Martins is the very definition of independent. No shady hedge fund backers, no corporate overlords reining her in, just dazzling idea after dazzling idea.

Find out more

Heft

Heft, Heft Inn & Restaurant High Newton , Newton in Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, LA11 6JH - Visit now

Head out of town and head to Heft – a Michelin star restaurant and homely 17th century inn in the Lake District, with food provided by esteemed chef Kevin Tickle.

Find out more

Mana

Mana, 42 Blossom St, Manchester, M4 6BF - Visit now

Mana is proof that Manchester has matured into a world-class city. When Warrington-born, former-Noma chef Simon Martin opened this fine-dining restaurant in 2018, he caught the start of a wave that saw the city’s food and drink scene transformed from something decent into something remarkable. Mana is the crest of that wave.

Find out more

Skof by Tom Barnes

Skof by Tom Barnes, 3 Federation Street, Manchester, M4 4BF - Visit now

Skof was awarded a Michelin star in early 2025, joining Mana in Manchester’s elite of world-class fine-dining restaurants. It’s the first restaurant from Cumbrian-born Tom Barnes and with impeccable timing, we visited during the final service before the big announcement.

Find out more

Where The Light Gets In

Where The Light Gets In, 7 Rostron Brow, Stockport, SK1 1JY - Visit now

It’s all change at Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In. Out with the extensive tasting menus, replaced by a new streamlined menu – five courses, designed to share between two or more. What’s that? “Fewer courses bad, more courses good!” we hear you cry. Not in this case.

Find out more

KAJI

KAJI, 64 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BN - Visit now

KAJI is the pet project of respected chef Steven Smith, a towering figure in the Northern food scene. Best known for his 15 years heading up The Freemasons in Wiswell, he’s been lured away from Blackburn to showcase his skills on Bridge Street.

Find out more

Erst

Erst, 9 Murray St, Manchester, M4 5BN - Visit now

When it comes to small plates, these guys are operating on a different level. There’s Erst, then there’s everywhere else.

Find out more

Tsuchi at The Black Bull Inn

Tsuchi at The Black Bull Inn, 44 Main St, Sedbergh, Yorkshire Dales, LA10 5BL - Visit now

The Black Bull has levelled up since our last trip out to Sedbergh in late 2023. For starters, the fine dining side has its own entity, as well it should. Welcome to Tsuchi (‘soil’ in Japanese, wholesomely).

Find out more

Where to go in Manchester

Chorlton
Restaurant
Horse and Jockey Chorlton

Chorlton’s magnificent Horse and Jockey has had an almighty do-over, transforming it into one of South Manchester’s top must-visit drinking and dining destinations.

Tangerine
Chapel Street
Restaurant
Tangerine

Manchester’s latest must-visit multipurpose venue, offering top-level food, drinks and live shows.

Bar Posie
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Posie

A new cocktail bar from the crack team behind 10 Tib Lane and Henry C.

Manchester
Food hall
Kargo MKT

Mighty food hall in Salford Quays, with around twenty street food vendors, serving a huge range of cuisines.

Asap Coffee Interior/ Counter
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
ASAP Coffee

If you’re looking for quality coffee and a decadent brunch in a setting that nails the Northern Quarter brief, you’d struggle to do better than ASAP Coffee.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Pho Cue

Family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. Prepare to queue for Pho Cue.

Manchester
Restaurant
Salt & Pepper

Chinese inspired British food in the centre of Manchester, backed up by plenty of well-deserved local hype.

See all places

Manchester Visitor Guides

Manchester Restaurant Deals

Manchester's restaurants are bending over backwards to create deals that take the sting out of eating out. Here are the best of the bunch for January.

Bars & Pubs

Pint of mild, limited-run natural wine or cocktail drowning in dry ice? You'll find them all in Manchester. But maybe not together

Tasting Menus in The North

Looking for the finest luxury multi-course restaurants in Manchester? Look no further. We've picked out the very best tasting menus in the city.

Casual Dining in Manchester

Casual dining doesn't mean low effort. Manchester has a host of laid-back restaurants where you can drop in and kick back.

Vegan and Vegetarian Food

Whether you’re a proud vegan or merely curious, let us guide you towards the best vegan food in Manchester for Veganuary.

Sunday Roasts in Manchester

Looking for the finest roast dinners in Manchester? Look no further. We've picked out the very best Sunday dinners in the city.

Manchester District Guides

The front of Didsbury restaurant Volta.
Didsbury, Manchester

Didsbury has the perfect split between big brands and independent businesses, welcoming all from far and wide.
Ancoats, Manchester
Ancoats & New Islington

Ancoats, just off the Northern Quarter in Manchester, is one of the city’s most increasingly desirable neighbourhoods. Find out why.
People enjoying drinking in Altrincham
Things to Do in Altrincham

Plan a day out down Altrincham way, and you’ll soon find that one day isn’t nearly enough. Getting there is easy on the tram, or how about cycling along the…
Salford museum and art gallery exterior
Salford, Greater Manchester

Cross over the River Irwell, and you’ll find yourself in another city entirely – Salford, which is enjoying something of a regeneration.
chinatown, manchester in sun by ben williams
Chinatown, Manchester

Chinatown is a network of back streets dotted with Chinese restaurants – go to Ho’s Bakery for perfect honey buns, Hunan for spice and Middle Kingdom for a very affordable menu.
The Quays, Greater Manchester

The Quays is home to MediaCityUK (the largest media hub in Europe) and studios purpose-built for the BBC’s move up North in 2011.
Chorlton, Manchester

Chorlton is a left-leaning suburb a few miles south of Manchester’s city centre (and only 10-odd minutes away by tram). A sprawling hive of artisan coffee shops, boutique clothing stores,…
Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Spotlight on

Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.

Take me there

Destination Guides

Culture Guides

A doll with makeup peeks out of a hanging wall of butter yellow fabric. Red and black threads descend and cascade around the doll.
Exhibitions in the North

This season, exhibitions across the North West feel attuned to the world beneath the world – the forces and stories shaping how we see, feel and imagine.

Music in the North

Manchester’s starting the new year with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.

A performer in a bright red costume sits on a snowy stage set, holding a large snowball between their legs with a surprised expression. The colourful winter backdrop features snowflakes, hills, a snowman, and a traffic light with glowing lights.
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

Textured portrait image of Jarman
Theatre in the North

Theatre across the North West splits between festive escape and sharp, urgent work exploring politics, power and resistance.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

Food and Drink in the North

Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.