The resilience of the local food scene is proving triumphant as four out of five of the UK’s best restaurants in 2021 are in the north of England.
The winners from this year’s National Restaurant Awards have been announced last night, and for the first time ever, there are more restaurants and eateries in northern England on the prestigious list than there are in London.
The region has 16 restaurants in the top 40, which is double the number in 2019 – the last time the poll was held.
Thom Hetherington, the chief executive of Northern Restaurant and Bar and a judge for the awards, said the north’s achievement in this year’s standings was “frankly astounding” in a scene that is traditionally so dominated by the capital, and even more so during a brutal year for the hospitality sector thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And if it wasn’t brilliant enough that the northern food scene is reigning supreme, the North West, and in particular Greater Manchester, has a lot to shout about too.
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Two restaurants in Ancoats made it into the top 50 of the UK’s 100 best restaurants.
Mana – the city’s first Michelin-starred restaurant, which is tipped to earn its second later this year – has made a huge climb from its previous position at 73 to take the 11th spot on the list, and fellow Ancoats neighbourhood restaurant Erst also celebrated a big win by taking 47th place – which it said on social media was “more than we could’ve ever imagined”.
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But which restaurant claimed the coveted top spot this year?
Again, it goes to a North West gem just over the border into Lancashire and about 45-minute drive from Manchester.
Double Michelin-starred restaurant Moor Hall Restaurant was named the best in the UK for the second year running.
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The revered restaurant in Aughton near Ormskirk is headed up by former L’Enclume executive chef Mark Birchall, who said of the eatery’s win on Twitter last night: “What an incredible achievement. Number 1 again in the National Restaurant Awards.
“Testament to every member of the team [and] I’m truly proud once again – the journey continues.”
— The National Restaurant Awards (@The_NRAs) August 16, 2021
Elsewhere in the top five list, second place went to country pub The Angel at Hetton – a little over an hour from Manchester near Skipton – which also scooped up ‘Gastropub of the Year’, and Cumbria’s L’Enclume made it to fifth place.
Other well-known northern restaurants on the top 100 list include The Cottage in the Woods in Windemere, The Parker’s Arms in Northcote, The White Swan at Fence, Freemasons at Wiswelland, and Lake Road Kitchen in Ambleside.
Sticky Walnut in Chester – which is the first restaurant in Gary Usher’s celebrated Elite Bistros group – placed 62nd.
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A special Outstanding Achievement Award was also presented to chef Tom Kerridge – who opened his first Manchester restaurant the Bull & Bear in 2019 – at the awards for his work during the pandemic, after he provided more than 100,000 meals to key workers and vulnerable people in the community.
You can check out the National Restaurant Awards top 100 list in full here.
Featured Image – Moor Hall
Food & Drink
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.
Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away FREE drinks tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s newest Instagrammable coffee shops is giving away free drinks tomorrow ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
With another long weekend right around the corner, and much of Greater Manchester and the UK fortunately looking set to bask in the springtime heat, popular coffee chain, Blank Street – which is one of Manchester city centre’s newest residents, with two sites in Piccadilly Gardens, and on the corner of King Street and Cross Street – has decided it wants to help the country “beat the 3pm slump”.
Ahead of the upcoming bank holiday weekend, the chain is inviting Mancs to “meet for matcha” tomorrow afternoon (Friday 3 May).
The exciting freebie offer is all said to be “inspired by data” that shows that almost half of office workers aren’t taking a break from their desks during the day, even despite research showing that this can boost productivity.
Hundreds of iced matcha lattes will be served up at Blank Street‘s Manchester branch on the corner of King Street and Cross Street between 3pm and 4pm tomorrow.
Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away free drinks tomorrow / Credit: Blank Street
For anyone “ice cold pick-me-up ahead of the long weekend”, but keen not to tip their employers off, the coffee shop chain has created an online tool to allow workers to discreetly add a matcha moment to their diary.
The brand-new online tool will apparently help to “distract calendar snoopers” by creating a cleverly-named meeting and adding it automatically to Outlook, Google, or Apple calendars – with potential meeting titles that include plenty of corporate jargon to “provide the perfect alibi”.
So, all matcha fans need to do tomorrow afternoon is show the Blank Street team at their chosen branch a meeting in their calendar, and in return, they’ll receive a free small iced matcha latte of their choice from the chain’s delicious spring menu.
Blank Street’s popular matcha offering includes the Classic Matcha, the viral Blueberry Matcha, the silky-smooth White Chocolate Matcha, and the brand-new sumptuous Golden Matcha, so there’s something to “inspire every matcha lover to take a little time out”.
As matcha allows a slow release of caffeine, Blank Street says it’s the “perfect drink” to keep energy levels up throughout the afternoon when you’re stuck at your desk on a Friday.