The 21 best restaurants in Manchester
Manchester's restaurant scene is thriving, with independent venues serving imaginative dishes and big-names pulling out all of the stops to impress. One of the joys of dining in this multicultural city is the range of dishes on offer, whether you fancy a spicy Indian breakfast, an ethically-sourced British pie or a high-end tasting menu with paired wine. And neighbourhoods have their own culinary characters, from trendy Ancoats where innovative independents are constantly springing up to the canal-side micro neighbourhood of Kampus, and the city's more relaxed suburbs. Manchester expert Cathy Toogood shares her favourite places to eat in Manchester.
Find out more below, or for more Manchester inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, bars and things to do.
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Best all-rounders
Higher Ground
The trio behind Manchester's popular Flawd wine bar - Joseph Otway, Richard Cossins and Daniel Craig Martin – opened Higher Ground on the edge of Chinatown in early 2023. Here, some of the best seasonal dishes in the city are made from local ingredients – many from their own farm Cinderwood Market Garden in Cheshire. Tasting menus are good value at £40 (lunch) and £60 (dinner) and you can watch chefs in the open kitchen preparing them while sipping a glass of natural wine. Interiors are modern and slick – think a mural of a bird on the exterior, floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed pipes on the ceiling above the kitchen and pops of colour from burnt orange bar stools. Pea fritters with British cheese are a must try.
Area: Piccadilly
Contact: highergroundmcr.co.uk
Prices: ££
Nearest Metrolink: Piccadilly Gardens
Reservations: Recommended
Pip
Highly acclaimed Manchester chef, Mary-Ellen McTague, is a trailblazer in sustainable restaurant practises. Her new restaurant Pip, on the ground floor of Treehouse Hotel Manchester, serves dishes made using local, seasonal produce with minimal waste. Drop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner and relax in a whimsical space with statement lights and greenery cascading from the ceiling, mismatched furniture and shelves of colourful glass bottles. A lamb Lancashire hotpot is a signature main – and, to reduce waste, it's served with oyster ketchup made from the leftover juice of the Carlingford oysters on its snacks menu. Desserts are superb, especially the treacle tart with Earl Grey and bergamot sorbet.
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The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘I'm closer to the end than the beginning': British soul legend Omar on EastEnders, Stevie Wonder and his industry battles
Omar's fans are united in believing that he's a genius that should have been a superstar. 'The undisputed architect of what we now know as neo-soul', goes one YouTube comment, acknowledging that the British musician's albums predate the genre's US benchmarks such as D'Angelo's Brown Sugar and Erykah Badu's Baduizm. Another: 'Really don't know why Omar didn't go on to be big worldwide.' And then: 'D'Angelo was the closest they [America] had to someone of Omar's calibre and even he pales in comparison from a wholly musical standpoint.' 'That's dangerous talk!', the musician laughs when I relay the last quote back to him. But 40 years into his career, he's proud of his musical legacy. 'When I started out at 14, I said I wanted to make music that, as soon as you hear the first four bars, you know it's me,' he says. 'I think I've achieved that.' His other goal? 'To make pure bangers.' Born Omar Lyefook, the 56-year-old is an MBE-decorated multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and sublime singer, who has scored a musical and acted in EastEnders. Stevie Wonder wanted to write a No 1 for him, and he's worked with the neo-soul era's US greats, including Badu, Common, Jill Scott and the late Angie Stone. While he may not have their profile, he's put out music since the mid-80s and his importance is acknowledged not just by YouTube commenters but by successive generations of tastemakers and artists, from livestreaming sensation DJ AG – who recently did a pop-up gig with Omar outside a London McDonald's – to Children of Zeus. As Konny Kon of that Manchester neo-soul duo puts it: 'Omar is a national treasure who laid the foundations. His production should be recognised just as much as his vocals.' I meet Lyefook at the Canary Wharf outpost of plush restaurant chain Boisdale, where he's playing with supergroup the British Collective. Their website's no-messing mission statement: 'to put the soul back into British R&B and keep it there.' 'I live in a world where Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston are still alive,' says Lyefook, and he's not just feeling nostalgic because of music. 'There's certain things about this era where I'm like, can we rewind? All this madness with Trump, the wars …' He pauses. 'It's a lot to get into. I'm just a vibes man.' That's modest. Lyefook longs for unity on his optimistic ninth studio album Brighter the Days, a self-described magnum opus over 18 tracks, originally born of lockdown frustration. 'I'm closer to the end than I am the beginning, and I refuse to be negative about stuff,' he says. 'I need to find the good in everybody.' In person, he's exceptionally down-to-earth but on record, he has a supernatural gift for blending genres like funk, jazz, samba, hip-hop and salsa, and on Brighter the Days, he turbo-charges this with lush strings. There's plenty of transatlantic guests, too, plus others closer to home in Brighton – namely his teenage twin daughters. 'I had to pay them proper rates. £200!' Lyefook grew up in a musical family in Kent: those Latin influences could have subconsciously come from his Cuba-born grandmother, his Chinese-Jamaican father is a reggae drummer who put out his son's first singles on his label, and his siblings are all musicians. He was classically trained at Guildhall School of Music and Chetham's, and his first professional gig was playing percussion with Paul Weller's Style Council in Japan in 1989. Weller offered his studio for Brighter the Days and played on the track On My Own. 'That dude had [about] five albums out in one year' recently, Lyefook jokes. 'It took me seven to get one out.' His breakout moment was in 1990 with There's Nothing Like This – and at the time, there really wasn't. Riffing on Ohio Players' Heaven Must Be Like This, the gently sinewy soul-jazz ballad detailed a romantic night in, over a seriously memorable groove. 'I just pictured a fireplace, a rug … Fuck knows what 'champagne wine' is,' he hoots. The song and album of the same name each went Top 20 when they were rereleased on Norman Jay and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label a year later. Lyefook fondly recalls that time: the acid-jazz explosion, driving his Saab convertible around London clubs and getting his trademark eyebrow piercing. But while he earned the respect of critics, execs at the major label that owned Talkin' Loud offered less support. 'Norman and Gilles being DJs, they're into the music. The higher ups, they're not,' he explains 'They'd say, 'there's no budget for videos', but then they're giving budgets to all the rock acts.' Those execs asked for his string sections to be played on synths, 'so we don't have to pay the musicians. Then Jason Donovan had a song out on the same label and he's got the exact same string section I was using.' His subsequent albums didn't break him in the US, despite cameos such as Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard who was enlisted on 1997 track Say Nothin' for '10 grand, two hookers and a bottle of Baileys,' laughs Lyefook. 'I had nothing to do with it!' Meanwhile, in the UK, 'it was one in, one out'. An A&R told his manager: ''We don't need Omar, we've got Craig David.' It doesn't matter where I go, there's something stopping me from getting that attention.' But he doesn't like to dwell on it. 'If I wasted time thinking about that then it might affect my creativity.' Lyefook has released plenty of albums in the following years, and his track It's So, a euphoric Afrobeat-style shuffle, has endured in DJ sets since it first lit up dancefloors in 2004. He's rarely stopped gigging, yet he hasn't put out an LP since 2017. Instead, there have been forays into acting: in 2022, he was on Albert Square for a two-week stint playing Avery Baker, estranged brother of Mitch Baker. 'When they showed me the part, it's a dude who wears a three-piece suit, smoking a cigar, driving a Bentley and playing the piano in the pub.' So not that far from real life? 'Exactly. I was like, 'This is me'.' Brighter the Days took a while on several fronts: finishing songs, finding a label and finalising paperwork with collaborators (he also underwent brachytherapy in 2024 for early-stage prostate cancer). Lyefook wanted Common, who he'd worked with on the rapper's seminal 2002 album Electric Circus, but it wasn't to be. 'I'm a big believer in timing. First time I was meant to work with Stevie, it took eight years. Don't set your watch by him, put it that way.' In 1992, he was in LA, and his manager also had Wonder as a client. 'He played my album to him. Stevie wants to write my first No 1. Fantastic! Midnight, I got the call: come down to the studio. Finally, he's ready. We're talking. And then …' He snores. 'So that was the end of that session. I waited all day for him to fall asleep.' 'Then seven or eight years later, I got a phone call out of the blue when I'm in London: 'Yo, man, it's your boy'. Who's that? 'Steve!' Steve who? 'Stevie Wonder!' Yeah, bollocks – sing me something. And he did.' For the next two weeks, 'I was like his ambassador. I had to take him to restaurants, clubs, hotels. We finally went to the studio, but the song we started with, it's alright but it's not blowing my skirt up. And then I had an idea to take him to my friend's studio where they were jamming' (the result was the 2006 track, Feeling You). Another session involved the late beatmaker J Dilla who Lyefook had met through Common in Detroit around 2000. 'We went to a strip club, J Dilla paid for a stripper, and then we went to the studio. It seemed to be a normal Tuesday for him!' A beat that Dilla made with Omar in mind was recently rediscovered by Lyefook's brother, the producer Scratch Professer, but 'it wasn't ready for this album, probably the next one'. Among the guests that did make it on to Brighter the Days is UK rapper Giggs. 'I wasn't that aware of him before,' says Lyefook – Giggs wrote 'Yo, uncs!' as he reached out via Instagram. 'That's what they call me now. Well, it's better than grandpa.' British rap, he says, can be 'gritty, and you got to be hardcore' – very different to the 'good times, barbecues, chilling out' vibes of soul (though the pair find mutual ground on We Can Go Anywhere, where Giggs invites you to help yourself to his party buffet). Lyefook appreciates grime, he says, but 'it's so not my world. I mean, Stormzy's album cover [2017's Gang Signs and Prayer] was how many men in balaclavas? Great artist, but they didn't have that in Canterbury.' Lyefook once protested the Mobos for not having a soul category. His peers, including Bluey from Incognito, unrolled posters on the red carpet reading Mobos: Where's Your Soul? 'And so they relented and made it R&B/soul – but those are two different animals,' Lyefook laments. 'One year I got nominated and Adele's in the same category. It's not just a black and white thing, it's generational. I'm just filler.' The musician is content these days, however, with his elder statesman role. 'It used to be, 'my sister likes your music'. Then 'my mum likes your music'. Now it's 'my nan likes your music',' he quips. 'I've been lucky – they passed it down through the generations.' While other musicians are part-time, he continues, 'I've managed to make a career that can pay the bills. It's not ostentatious. I would love it to be. But the love that I've been getting has been enough.' Brighter the Days is out now on Impressive Collective and BBE Music
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Jess and Norma: Grandmother who had millions of fans on TikTok dies aged 91
A grandmother who found fame on TikTok for posting funny videos with her granddaughter has died aged 91. Norma died on 5 June, her family announced on social media on Monday. Her endearing and comedic videos with 32-year-old Jess went viral, with the duo attracting 2.7 million followers on TikTok. In one viral clip, which was viewed by more than 28 million people, Norma says "we're related" in a series of funny voices - mimicking a cow and a vampire - with both collapsing into fits of giggles. Another, viewed more than 15 million times, involves Jess playing a prank on her grandmother. In the video, Jess says she has the opportunity to win £10,000 - and all she has to do is say on video why she should win it. Jess proceeds to tell viewers a made-up tale about their family life, with Norma doubling over in laughter over the stories she came up with. Norma's family said they had lost "our rock" as they told followers about her death. "We are all truly devastated and our lives will never be the same," the family said. "We want you all to know that Nan fell to sleep peacefully, surrounded by all her family, she was full of love and had the most beautiful care." The family said the community Norma and Jess created online made the nonagenarian's "last years so incredibly special". "Her cup was full and in her own words she 'lived such a wonderful life'," they added.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Former CBBC star welcomes first baby after premature birth as she shares an adorable snap with her newborn following secret pregnancy
A former CBBC actress has given birth to her first child following a secret pregnancy as she shared her happy news with fans. Klariza Clayton, 36, stunned her followers as she revealed she had become a mum following the early arrival of her bundle of joy. Taking to Instagram, Klariza announced the news by sharing an adorable picture of her holding her little one. She said: '4 weeks early, 3 weeks postpartum, 2 weeks since being discharged from the hospital and 1 week until the original due date. It's been a wild 21 days. 'Welcome to the world little one, we are so in love with you.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Klariza shot to fame when she starred in hit CBBC series Dani's House alongside Tracey Beaker star Dani Harmer. The new mum was flooded with well wishes from fans and celeb pals, with her former co-star Dani being one of the first to congratulate her. She said: 'Aw huge congratulations lovely!!!! Much love to you both.' A fan gushed: 'Congratulations, may your both lives being filled with lots of colours and beautiful memories.' While another follower commented: 'Congratulations. From the bottom of my heart, wishing all the best to you and the baby.' Klariza starred in all five series of Dani's House before later landing a role in the popular drama Skins. She appeared in the third and fourth series of the Channel 4 hit, playing Karen McClair. In 2016, the actress starred in Netflix comedy-drama Lovesick and most recently played a leading role in Paramount+ series The Flatshare. Klariza's other acting credits over the years include EastEnders, The Bill and Bulletproof. Meanwhile, her former co-star Dani Harmer recently shared a heartbreaking update on her Perimenopause diagnosis. Opening up on the effects its had on her, Dani told This Morning's Ben Shephard and Cat Deely: 'I was literally like a different person. To be honest it wasn't not long after I'd had my son. 'I wasn't really sure if it was a case of the baby blues, and hormones for sure. I was like a different person. 'It was almost like I was watching myself in a weird way. I'd always suffered with depression and anxiety, but this was on a different level. 'The mood swings were out of control.' Dani added that her sleep was 'all over the place' and she encountered brain fog, which she said affected her in her role as an actor. Perimenopause, which usually starts in women's 40s, is when the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen.
