New opening Portfolio delivers some of the most memorable drinks and intricate eats you’re going to find in Manchester for a long time. An absolute must-visit for fizz-loving food adventurers.

Exciting times for The Cottage in the Wood, a mere hour or two from Manchester in Keswick. It lands at number 62 in the National Restaurant Awards 2026, collects the Liberty Wines Service Award, and Restaurant Manager Joel Pennington has been recognised with a prestigious Acorn Award. Oh, and earned a new entry in the Opinionated About Dining Top European Restaurants list, all within the space of a week.

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 or corporate overlords reining her in, but lots and lots of dazzling ideas.

Cheshire’s The Vines is a clear highlight of the North West food scene and if you’re looking for some old-school glamour and grand cuisine, shunt it right up to the top of your To Eat list.

Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In has ditched the extensive tasting menus, in favour of a 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.

Skof has been winning national awards left, right and centre of late. And rightly so. It’s the first restaurant from Cumbrian-born Tom Barnes and with impeccable timing, we visited during the final service before they earned their first Michelin star.

Lennox is a smart high-end idea from Nico Simeone of Six By Nico fame, with bags of potential. The staff are as upbeat and helpful as ever, and, free of the “six” constraints, the kitchen team are free to come up with intriguing dishes of all sizes and costs.

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.

Slightly outside of Manchester, Liverpool’s lovely Vetch features in the SquareMeal top 100 list for the second consecutive year, ranked at No. 36 and the highest spot of any venue in the city. We loved it and you will too.

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.

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

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.

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).