Wolf At The Door

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor
Wolf At The Door
Ian Jones

If you’re looking for your next investment, plough it all into Wolf At The Door. This Northern Quarter restaurant is a surefire hit, for many, many reasons. The location is ideal, in a prime NQ spot – a stone’s throw from Trof, and neatly helping to raise the tone from the Magaluf-lite likes of Walrus, towards what the Northern Quarter was intended to be – a stylish, forward-thinking area of the city, with a great soundtrack. If I had a farm, I’d bet it on Wolf At The Door becoming one of the city’s leading lights in a matter of months.

Previous ventures in this space didn’t last the course – pour one out for the sad loss of NQ OG Odd Bar, and a smaller one for short-lived vegan cafe, Folk & Soul – but the Wolf At The Door team have an impressive pedigree, with Cottonopolis, Trof and Junkyard Golf just some of the successes from the crack-team of bar-restaurant gurus behind the venue – not to mention the Wilderness record store and bar in Withington from which they’ve taken the name.

A kind of mini-Mana, if you will

It’s a three-storey bar and restaurant, though the lower floor is more of a special-invite-only space for chef’s table-style experiences, rather than a free-for-all. The food on offer is all small plates (where isn’t?) but this isn’t a half-hearted rush job, all the dishes are packed with ideas, and a real sense of a kitchen team trying to make something exciting and memorable. In short, it’s the restaurant-cum-bar the Northern Quarter has been waiting for. A kind of mini-Mana, if you will.

For the press event, we tried half a dozen or so of these dishes, and while some were better than the others, it’s worth noting that there was healthy disagreement about which were best. In advance of a full review, here’s a photo essay showing some of the dainty and not-so-dainty dishes on offer. Grab a napkin, you’re drooling.

BBQ lamb skewers, miso glaze, lamb fat yeast flakes
Pressed potato, smoked egg, brown crab, dill pollen
Heritage tomato tartare, elderflower, pickled green strawberry
Short rib, bone marrow IPA onions, nasturtium
Woodland mushroom, sourdough, Jerusalem artichoke, birch sap
Roast cauliflower, pumpkin seed butter, puffed buckwheat
Pressed potato, caramelised onion
Grilled peach, almond, lovage, granita
30-32, Thomas StManchesterM4 1ER View map
Telephone: 01616607177 Visit Now

Opening Hours

  • Monday11:30am - 12:00am
  • Tuesday11:30am - 12:00am
  • Wednesday11:30am - 12:00am
  • Thursday11:30am - 1:00am
  • Friday11:30am - 2:00am
  • Saturday11:30am - 2:00am
  • Sunday11:30am - 12:00am

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

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