Roots Restaurant & Bar

It might fly under the radar on the Manchester food circuit, but Gorton is something of a big deal when it comes to African food in the North. 

It’s a hub for Manchester’s African and Caribbean diaspora, leading to multiple well-stocked shops, community centres, plus a handful of restaurants specialising in sub-Sharan grub. Not least of which is the mighty Roots. Is it named after the hit song by popular Brazilian metal combo Sepultura? Probably not. 

Fittingly, Roots has a longstanding lineage in the area, opening back in 2012 and becoming ever more popular over the years, hosting live performers and DJs on special event nights, while also helping to promote local gigs. 

The frontage is arguably the most striking in all of East Manchester – a memorable blend of Studio 54 and 1980s rum branding – that pops out on this otherwise grey strip. More importantly, there’s good word of mouth, so we take a visit early Friday evening to see if the food lives up.

The volume of the music might be low, but the energy level is high, with every table packed out – a mix of dressed-up dining friends prepping for a big night out and family-style gatherings. 

The menu is largely made up of West African dishes, which means plenty of Nigerian classics such as jollof rice, egusi soup and the fascinatingly named dodo gizzard. Sadly, not offal from the dopey extinct bird, rather a combination of chicken stomachs tenderised by a potent marinade, and fried plantain (aka dodo), coated in a pepper-based sauce. Happily, it’s delicious – sweet, savoury and fiery, with a pleasing heft to each bite. 

As for the classics, Roots’ take on jerk wings is a joy. Hot but not outrageously so, with a more earthy, ginger-led kick. Similarly, the jollof rice is a warming one-pot delight, full of home-cooked flavours, nothing prefab about it. 

Highlights? The puff puffs are wonderful little pockets of sweet, airy dough, but the grilled tilapia is the standout dish from the Roots kitchen crew. The delicate white fish is expertly cooked, with a slight coal-grill aroma, and bedecked with colourful mini-cubes of chopped veg. 

The menu is full of exciting and uncompromising dishes like this – think tripe, catfish and bone-in peppered goat meat. It’s a good few steps ahead of the more corporate African-adjacent restaurants put there. 

Authenticity isn’t the be-all and end-all, but when it comes to Roots, these true-to-the-source recipes mean bolder flavours and dishes that expand your tastebuds in all the best ways.