It’s the final weeks of summer, and good old global warming has given us some wonderful warm, sunny days for eating and dining, with a side order of apocalyptic horror. Here’s to many more. Or maybe not.
Either way, before the end times come, why not splash your cash on some of Manchester and the North’s best drinking and dining experiences? Here are our hot tips for the next few weeks.
Alongside the many excellent traditional Sicilian dishes, here’s you’ll find a finely-honed vegan menu. It’s a true independent success story, putting their ethics where their mouths are. Word has spread, and the young and meat-free of Manchester have chosen this cosy backstreet restaurant as their new go-to.
Ever the enquiring mind, Sampa chief-chef Caroline Martins looks toward southern Spain, focusing on that most underrated of Andalusian vinos: sherry.
As with everything Caroline does, this isn’t an archaic take on fortified wine. No Withnail wisecracks, no nana’s sideboard. Instead, a finely tuned meal based around dishes that pair with the huge range of sherries available to modern wine lovers.
Freight Island Presents Oktoberfest runs across two weekends, Thursday 1st-Sunday 4th and Thursday 8th-Sunday 11th October, with free general admission and paid table tickets, featuring Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr beers alongside live music, comedy and drag from acts including Charlie Partridge, Acid Klauss and headliners Oh My God! It’s The Church.
Sundays offer a family-friendly version with children’s crafts and a Brothers Grimm-inspired trail.
Gaucho Manchester has reopened its Deansgate site with a refreshed interior and new menu, marking over 25 years in the city, with highlights including a Manchester-exclusive Whiskey Glaze Ribeye (available until 14 September) and a new Belvedere Martini Bar.
Guests dining between 14-31 August receive a complimentary Tiny Tini, while one table per day will have its entire bill covered until 31 August via the Gaucho Golden Ticket.
Aviva Studios is a venue that changes and adapts according to the artist, whether that’s My Bloody Valentine, Marina Abramović or David Hockney.
Accordingly, the food and drink side needs to be a cut above. And the dining options matched with current exhibition, Button Up! by Chinese dissident and acclaimed conceptual artist Ai Weiwei, are precisely that.
The Refuge at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is marking its 10th anniversary with a birthday party on Thursday 3 September from 6.30pm, kicking off a month of celebrations. The night includes DJs, canapés and drinks, all with a few nods back to the last ten years.
Gilpin Spice at Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, near Windermere, has launched a refreshed Pan-Asian menu under new Head Chef Ralph Rojas, formerly of Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay in Manchester. The menu draws on Thai, Japanese and Filipino influences alongside expanded sushi and sashimi, with dishes including a Filipino-style Kinilaw ceviche, Goan-style tiger king prawns, and 30-day aged British ribeye with Thai chimichurri. The relaunch coincides with the opening of the restaurant’s new Laurent-Perrier Terrace.
Zouk Tea Bar is launching a new run of regional Indian cooking classes this autumn, covering Mumbai (10 October), Old Delhi (28 November) and Lahore to Lucknow (12 December), each hands-on and covering street food, regional curries and kebabs. The December class carries a festive twist, teaching a raan-inspired roast chicken with spicy Indian gravy for Christmas. A press preview session, with two dishes from each class, runs Saturday 19 September, with limited spaces available.
Northcote in Langho has completed the first phase of a wider refurbishment, redesigning six of its 26 bedrooms with a Ribble Valley-inspired palette and interiors, with the remaining rooms to follow over the next 12-18 months. Alongside this, the Michelin-starred hotel has begun work on a new kitchen garden and Victorian-style greenhouse, aimed at growing more of its own herbs, vegetables and edible flowers for the restaurant.
YOTEL’s in-house bar Motley is marking Manchester Village Pride with a bottomless brunch offering an optional MAC makeover, priced at £40 per person for a 1.5-hour sitting from 12pm-4pm on Saturday 28 August, with makeovers available via voluntary donation to George House Trust.
The bar is also bringing back its Born This Way cocktail, made with Zubrowka Mango & Passionfruit, Blue Curacao and pineapple juice, available throughout Pride week.
Bundobust and Federal are collaborating this summer, launching with a one-off brunch at Bundobust Piccadilly on Saturday 29 August, 9.30-11.30am, featuring an exclusive joint menu (Desi French Toast with cardamom and jaggery, Mango Lassi Bircher, Halloumi & Shroom Tikka, Hara Bara Corn Sliders, plus a limited-edition Iced Dirty Chai).
Following the launch, two collaborative specials run at each venue until Sunday 13 September – Halloumi & Shrooms Tikka and Hara Bhara Corn Sliders at Bundobust, Desi French Toast and Mango Lassi Bircher at Federal – across sites in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.
MediaCity’s free waterside Screen on the Docks runs through summer with family films including Wonka, F1: The Movie, Monsters Inc and Wicked: For Good, alongside street food and drinks from nearby GRUB On The Docks. Screenings continue into September, with dates running 26 August to 3 September.
Sexy Fish Manchester is running four days of Bank Holiday entertainment and dining, with its Limitless Lunch (£48pp) available Friday to Monday, 12-4pm, alongside a separate £29 free-flowing drinks add-on for the à la carte menu. Evenings bring a live line-up including DJ Tango, Millie Manning, Leah Drew and Kami Foxx, running Thursday through Sunday. Sunday also features Sexy Sunday Brunch (£48pp, 12-4.30pm) with limitless starters, main and dessert, plus optional bubbles at £10pp.
From September, Pigeon runs monthly Paint & Sip sessions with PaintVine, starting 13 September. The venue sits within Manchester’s “Beermuda Triangle” alongside Track, Cloudwater, Balance and Sureshot, and offers Nell’s Pizza via click and collect.
Erst in Ancoats welcomes Josh Swinney of London’s The Plimsoll for a one-day kitchen takeover on Sunday 23 August, part of its Sunday Series inviting chefs from favourite restaurants for one-off collaborations. The two teams will serve a seven-course sharing menu at £60pp, including baked scallop with fermented chilli butter, lamb tartare with parmesan, and prawn curry fried pizza.
Erst holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and placed 37th in this year’s National Restaurant Awards.
Munch your way through two cities for the price of one with the Taste of Two Cities tour from Flavours of Manchester.
From £49.00
Stagger across three hundred years of Manchester’s drinking history in one of the city’s most fun-loving walking tours.
From £25.00
Manchester’s famous musical legacy comes to life in this walking tour around the city, which will take you from the 1960s to the present day.
From £25.00
Join Craft Beer Tour Manchester for a journey through some of the cities best local breweries and artisanal beer serving bars. Discover the personality of Manchester’s beer through a diverse
From £45
Eat your way through the dairy based delights of Manchester, with the Manchester Cheese Crawl walking tour.
From £25
Take a journey through 300 years of pub and brewing history in Leeds, with a heritage Pub and brewery tour.
From £35.00
Step into the majestic Blackpool Tower Ballroom for an experience like no other. With stunning architecture, live music and treats galore, Afternoon Tea here is highly recommended.
From £60.00
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
Food Sorcery is a popular cookery school now opening in the centre of Manchester after years of success in East Didsbury.
A fine-dining restaurant combining Japanese influences, with seasonal British produce.
Brasa is the latest project from Caroline Martins, serving up an inspired take on Brazilian barbecue feasts at Manchester’s Freight Island.
Snazzy Manchester outpost of the globe-straddling Japanese-meets-Peruvian restaurant brand.
Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.
Longstanding Italian restaurant in the snazzy bit of Manchester.
Award-winning restaurant housed within Liverpool’s boutique Hope Street Hotel.
Summer isn’t usually a high point in the exhibitions calendar, but Greater Manchester’s small galleries seem to have made a pact to change that this year.
Aphex Twin-endorsed electronica, an eight-hour organ marathon and the most exciting band in Ireland's current folk revival all feature this month.
From intimate dramas to spectacular outdoor festivals, discover the North West performances worth adding to your diary.
Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.
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.
Step away from the usual. Tours and activities that spark curiosity, inspire creativity and offer something refreshingly different.
