To its credit, when it’s at its best, Manchester’s restaurant scene is hard to pin down. Menus move with such seasonal abandon that the skate wing or the courgette flower you saw on social media one week has been replaced with something entirely different the next. So is the responsiveness to local suppliers and producers further afield. That said, some crowdpleasers stick around. Here are five to try next time you’re in town.
5 to order: Manchester’s hottest dishes right now
Heading to Manchester, one of the UK’s most exciting food destinations? These are the dishes to fit in no matter what
21 Aug 2026
Cured hake at 10 Tib Lane
Beetroot, ajo blanco and green chilli at Erst
As Manchester’s restaurant scene has expanded and contracted post-pandemic to much fanfare, Erst’s confident, deceptively simple and balanced seasonal cooking has quietly earned it plaudits, including a Michelin Bib Gourmand this year. And it's all because of plates like this. Vibrantly purple, sweetly roasted chunks of beetroot replace the traditionally-used grapes or melon for an earthier, sticky contrast to a rich, savoury pool of garlic and chilli-flecked ajo blanco. Best paired with a glass of the restaurant’s sparkling vermouth, it’s a menu stalwart, along with their calling-card flatbreads, and a reminder that if you build a beautiful, thoughtfully balanced dish from day one, people will yearn for it for years to come.
Lightly set miso custard, hen of the woods and mushroom dashi at Skof
If you’re reading this, you must head over to the Skof website and book yourself in. If your preferred time isn’t on there, join the waiting list. The nationwide buzz surrounding Tom Barnes’ debut solo restaurant is in part due to his reputation as a young padawan to Simon Rogan’s Obi-Wan, but also the almost instant Michelin Star that arrived not long after opening. Traces of L’Enclume linger in the small, casual and welcoming space, as well as in the custard. Inspired by a classic steamed Japanese egg custard, and evolving from a chestnut iteration Barnes worked on for The Great British Menu, Skof’s lightly set miso version heightens the indulgence by adding cream and egg yolk. Hen of the woods mushroom brings treacly forest sweetness, whilst earthy umami is boosted by matchsticks of truffle and a mushroom dashi.
Photo credit: Cristian Barnett
Cured Hake at 10 Tib Lane
10 Tib Lane has a knack for presenting dishes so pretty it feels criminal to eat them. To sit and stare, however, is to miss out on thinly-sliced pieces of seasonally optimal Northeast Atlantic hake, carefully cured in a mixture of orange zest, sugar, salt, toasted pink peppercorns and celery seeds. Served among glossy crème fraîche and cold pickled celery, the dish is finished off with homemade tomato water (no part of the Isle of Wight tomato goes to waste at 10 Tib Lane), a drizzle of orange oil, a sprinkling of pickled guindilla chillies and a garnish of butterfly sorrel – the most evocatively named and acidic sorrel there is. All of which makes for a wonderfully fresh fish dish that lends itself to the occasional heatwave, but also adds to Tib’s reputation as a place to eat seafood in all its guises.
Cod, corn and girolles at Winsome
A lingering myth persists about Winsome through no fault of the restaurant. Due to its widely publicised pie prowess and original positioning as a British chop restaurant, it’s easy to view it from afar as solely meat-forward. This is absolutely not the case. Chef Shaun Moffat’s kitchen responds more like a Ready, Steady, Cook of everything ripe and seasonal, be that meat, fish or vegetables, with combinations harking back to the British flavour combinations of yore. This point is made firmly on the menu with Scottish day boat cod, filleted and cured in dulse seaweed until the flesh firms up. The fish is pan-roasted in foaming butter, with foraged Scottish golden girolles added to the pan at the end. Flaky cod and earthy mushrooms are then served atop a risotto-like mixture of sweetcorn butter, sweetcorn kernels and toasted Scottish pinhead oats, finished with fresh dill and cider vinegar.
Lamb flatbread at Kallos
Kallos fills its industrial interiors with the love and hospitality of a Greek taverna, the lamb flatbread channelling the Greek and Bulgarian heritage of owners Ivan and Ionna. Hundreds of red peppers are laboriously roasted daily to create the perfect sweetness in the thick, Bulgarian lutenitsa relish, whilst lamb shoulder is cooked for 12 hours, picked and roasted again, with the lamb subsequently folded through its own stock. The build sees flatbreads topped with lamb, whipped Greek myzithra cheese and lutenitsa before being cooked to perfection in a pizza oven. In the same year that Crete has been designated the European Region of Gastronomy for 2026 (Cretan influences litter the menu), it’s fitting that a small, modern Greek and Mediterranean restaurant, situated in what can only be described as a bunker at the foot of a Salford new-build, is the newest restaurant name on everyone’s lips.
Photo credit: Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar
About the author
Davey Brett is a Manchester-based culture journalist. He has written for various outlets including The Guardian, Esquire, The Face, Vice and The Fence. Before going freelance,...
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