2023 in Manchester looks set to be another great year for openings, with some hugely ambitious projects (as well as some normal-sized ones) set to throw open their doors. There are huge hotels, funky ramen spots and smart, upscale grills soon to appear on a high street near you, all offering something new and exciting.
But, of course, there are also a whole host of great places we've uncovered over the last year too, so if you've not ventured to some of those, perhaps now is the time.
Higher Ground
The team behind Flawd on Islington Marina will be getting their own shiny new restaurant space in February/March, which will find them resurrecting their pop-up Higher Ground and giving it a permanent home. This is exciting for a number of reasons, but largely because chef Joe Otway, with co-founders Richard Cossins and Daniel Craig Martin, have been performing culinary miracles at Flawd using just a pressure cooker and a sandwich press. What they will do with an actual kitchen will likely be astounding.
Instagram.com/highergroundmcr/
The Stock Market Grill
With the departure of Tom Kerridge from Gary Neville’s Stock Exchange Hotel after three years at the helm of the Bull & Bear, it’s all set to become The Stock Market Grill, with brothers Joe and Dan Schofield making their first foray into the restaurant-running business. The brothers already run the hotel’s bar, Sterling, and if the expertise is anything like that seen in their other ventures, The Stock Market Grill should be a hit. With former Where The Light Gets In and Mana chef Joshua Redd-Cooper at the stove, it’s due to open in February.
Treehouse
Arguably the most hotly anticipated opening of 2023, the new Treehouse hotel at the top end of Deansgate is well on its way to flinging open its doors. As well as having a rooftop bar, it will also have some of the most exciting chefs in town sorting out the food, including Mary-Ellen McTague, of The Creameries and Great British Menu fame, and Sam Grainger from Madre and Belzan in Liverpool. Throw in some vibes from Unabombers Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey, and Treehouse will be the hottest ticket in town once it opens in the spring.
https://www.treehousehotels.com/manchester
House of Fu
Super stylish ramen emporium House of Fu has been an absolute hit in Leeds, thanks to its sensational noodles and rice bowls, and now it’s heading to Manchester, setting up shop on Portland Street. Not only will it be turning out some of the best gyozas in town, there will also be late night karaoke and a 2.30am licence to drag in the night owls. It’s due to open in February.
https://www.hellohouseoffu.com/
The Jane Eyre Chorlton
The Jane Eyre’s second site in Manchester has already got its feet very much under the table on Chorlton’s Beech Road. After starting out as a neighbourhood bar for the folks of Ancoats, the cocktail spot soon garnered a name for itself with its excellent Sunday roasts. Now its new Chorlton branch - on the former site of The Parlour - is aiming to do the same, with a smart and stylish fit out, redesigned bar and the terrace out front for when the sun comes back.
https://www.thejaneeyre.co.uk/
Climat
You’d struggle to find a restaurant with a better view in the whole of Manchester right now, though that’s not the only reason to head to Climat. Run by the team behind Covino in Chester, this assured spot is smart, slick and while a little on the expensive side, absolutely worth it for an occasion. Oh, and the food is excellent.
https://restaurantclimat.co.uk/
Exhibition
Breathing life into the building that once housed Manchester’s Natural History Museum, Exhibition is a smaller take on the foodhall concept than seen at the likes of Society or even New Century. Ramsbottom’s Baratxuri, Brazilian chef Caroline Martins and the folk from Osma in Prestwich are behind the concessions, each serving something particularly special, whether it’s a huge slab of Galician dairy cow to share, whole baked lobster, or irresistible Brazilian beef croquettes.
https://www.exhibitionmcr.co.uk/
The Sparrows
Where the city’s chefs go for dinner, The Sparrows - hidden under an archway on the way to Cheetham Hill - is one of the most unusual restaurants in Manchester. Basing its menu where German spaztle meets Italian gnocchi, with some Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni and Japanese sake thrown in, there’s simply nowhere else like it. Possibly anywhere. It shouldn’t work. But it really, really does.
Fat Pat’s
Located in one the less salubrious alleyways of central Manchester (in this case tucked behind Chinatown), Fat Pat’s makes the best sandwiches in the city. Bar none. Slung at you from a hatch in the wall between Portland Street and Faulkner Street, their hefty US-style subs are a revelation, notably the Philly Cheesesteak, which is truly spectacular.
Peace Garden
The Peace Garden, nestled in Universityland, is very much the real deal. Offering up Chinese cuisine from across the vast expanse of the country, it encompasses dishes you may think you know - from Peking Duck to salt and pepper ribs - but executed so well as to be almost unrecognisable. The crispy fish in sweet and sour sauce is almost a work of art.
https://www.peacegarden-restaurant.com/
Emoji
Cooking your own food at a restaurant might seem to some like it’s rather defeating the object of going out in the first place, but Emoji is great fun. Pay one price and head up to the groaning fridges filled with chicken, lamb, beef, fresh vegetables and tofu, and then back to the blazing barbecue at your table and get cracking. Eat as much as you like, cook as much as you like, then roll home. Easy.
https://www.emojirestaurant.co.uk/
Samir’s
This family-run restaurant in Urmston nourishes the soul as well as the body. Samir and his family arrived in the UK from Syria, and set up this place in order to give something back to the community which has welcomed them so warmly - in this case, the food that’s so important to them and reminds them of home. The marrow stuffed with minced lamb is a revelation, but the entire menu is full of great dishes.
80 Flixton Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 5AD
Metro Cafe
A greasy spoon cafe opposite a tram stop is not the first place you’d expect to find spectacularly good Persian food. But the Metro Cafe in Chorlton manages just this. Ancient dishes using only the finest Iranian saffron as well as slow-cooked stews feature on the menu daily. Worth a special journey whichever corner of the city you happen to live in.
Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0UA
Stretford Canteen
A superbly good neighbourhood restaurant clinging to the edge of the soon-to-be transformed Stretford Mall. With roots in classic French and British cuisine, the simple produce here sings, while the restrained touch of both chef Deb Burton and owners Josephine Sandwith and Dean Taylor makes for a relaxed and convivial atmosphere while the traffic bustles along Chester Road.
https://www.stretfordcanteen.com/
Chips @ No. 8
It might seem like a neighbourhood chippy, but owner Dan Edwards has elevated the craft to something like an artform. This Prestwich takeaway has recently been named one of the best in the country by the National Federation of Fish Fryers, and it’s easy to see why. Beef dripping chips as standard (you can request otherwise, of course) and fish delicately fried to utter perfection, but it’s the extras, like proper fried chicken, proper sausages and proper pasties and pies that set this place apart.
https://www.instagram.com/chipsno8
Liv’s Takeaway
Married couple Michael and Cefona Dias make traditional Goan food - a fusion of Portuguese and South Indian influences - from their home in Blackley, and it’s spectacular. There are recognisable dishes - from biryanis to butter chicken to a vindaloo - but with unusual twists making Liv’s really rather unique. A must-try.
https://www.livstakeaway.co.uk/
Ornella’s Kitchen
Chef Ornella Cancila - formerly a baker at Pollen - had always wanted to create something like her father’s family restaurant she grew up in in her native Sicily. And so we now have Ornella’s Kitchen in Denton, which is serving some of the most authentic, heart-warming pasta dishes in the whole city, from filled lobster ravioli to a lamb shoulder ragu, all at ludicrously reasonable prices. There are small plates and magnificent brunches too.
https://www.ornellaskitchen.com/
Mekong Cat
This Cambodian gem in the centre of Stockport delivers some of the most authentic South East Asian flavours in the whole of Greater Manchester, without need for fanfare. Whether you’re hankering after a steaming bowl of pho, some fresh summer rolls or comforting pad thai, Mekong Cat has it all. If you haven’t tried it, you must. If you have, try it again. Just to make sure.
Society
Thanks to its secluded position, down the wonky steps just by the Bridgewater Hall, the Society food and beer hall feels like it's one of the city's best-kept secrets. So if you've not taken it in, now's the time to do so. The bar is curated by the magnificent Vocation brewery from Hebden Bridge, and is heaving with first rate ales, while food vendors like Yoki Social Table deal in some of the very best Korean fried chicken you're likely to see anywhere in Manchester.
Die Cast
Now we don't know all that much about Die Cast just yet. What we do know is that it's being built at the moment in the shell of an old foundry at the back of Piccadilly, and it's from the same team behind the unstoppable Ramona and The Firehouse. So perhaps imagine that on a larger, more industrial scale, with a night market, a food market and beer hall. Another hot ticket for the city, certainly.
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