If you’re looking for cheap eats in Manchester, you’ve come to the right place.
From sushi to shawarma, curries, sandwiches, jerk chicken, burgers, rice, noodles and more, if you’re dining out on a budget (and let’s be honest, who isn’t right now) then we’re here to help.
We’ve pulled a list of some of our favourite go-to spots for a solid scran that won’t break the bank. Keep reading to discover where to put on your list next.
This tiny bakery and shawarma shop in Rusholme is almost too easy to miss. Don’t pass it by, though. This might be one of the best bargains to be had in Manchester.
The freshly-made naans, filled with shavings of delicately spiced chicken or lamb, salad and sauce, make a great cheap eat – priced at just £2.50 each. Falafel sandwiches will set you back £2, or you can get 3 naan for just £1. Bargain.
Wasabi, Chinatown / Printworks
Credit: Wasabi Manchester
A little bit of Japan in Manchester, Wasabi is known for its sushi and tonkotsu ramen – cooked for a minimum of 18 hours.
With two sites in the city, one in Chinatown and another in the Printworks, it also has some great value sushi boxes. Even better, at lunch you can get sushi off the belt from just £1.20 a plate.
EatGoody, Universities
Cheap eats near the universities in Manchester at EatGoody. Credit: EatGoody
This popular Korean eatery by the unviersities sells boxes in two sizes. Choose from cubed potatoes, rice, spicy rice or noodles for your base, then opt for specials like chicken curry, tofu tempura bimbim, or veg dumpling curry, depending on the day.
Priced from £5.40 for a regular or £7.40 for a large, you get a lot for your money here either way – but can also opt for add-ons like kimchi salad, boiled and fried eggs.
Tzatziki’s, Fallowfield
Credit: Eat MCR
Credit: Tzatziki’s
This family-run business in the heart of student land is credited with getting more undergrads through their degrees than any other local eatery.
The gyros here are legendary, but there is loads more to discover too. Dishes are cooked by Greek chefs and draw mostly from Greece, with some wider Mediterranean inspiration. Prices start from just £4.30.
This & That, NQ
This & That is one of Manchester’s best cheap eats restaurants. Image: EATMCR
Probably the first place any self-respecting Manc will point you if you ask for a cheap eats recommendation, This & That’s rice and three cafe is fabled here in the city.
As the name suggests, you get three curries and rice for a fixed price – £4.50 for veg, £5 for two veg and one meat etc. – from a set list of curries that change on a daily basis. Tucked just off the beaten path, find it on Soap street by Trof.
Recently featured in The Guardian, this beloved Hulme Carribean institution is famous for its jerk chicken, veggie stew and lamb chops – and that’s just for starters.
Find stuffed cornmeal patties, blackened whole plantains, rice and peas, fried dumplings, fried squid, fried chicken and more with prices starting from just £1. Meals tend to sit around the £7.50 mark, whilst retro puddings like school dinner cake will cost you £2.50 a pop.
This legendary curry house on Manchester’s curry mile has seen more high-profile musicians walk through its door than most. A favourite of Hit&Run head honcho Rich Reason, for years it was a late-night favourite of clubbers – staying open until 5am.
Post-pandemic, that’s changed and you can only get a scran until 1am now. It’s still a top spot, though. The lamb karahi is the stuff dreams are made of, ditto the chargrilled lamb chops. Curries start from £6.50, burgers from £2.
Rack, Stockport
At Rack, it’s all about the sandwiches. All handmade to order, find ingredients stacked between sourdough or squashed into shiny, buttery brioche.
Grilled cheese is another speciality, the three-cheese classic served with red onion dipping gravy on the side. Breakfast boxes and salads are also available, with prices starting from £4.40.
Habesha, Gay Village
Image: Flickr
This Ethiopian restaurant, hidden above a takeaway in Manchester’s gay village, has been quietly ticking away for years.
Serving up richly-spiced traditional curries on soft, spongy sourdough-fermented injera bread, at this no-frills joint, it’s all about the food – not your social media pictures. Prices start from £9.
Offering a mix of traditional Tibetan dishes and those with Himalayan roots, Tibetan Kitchen has gained a cult following in South Manchester where it is based.
Influenced by the food of neighbouring India, China and Nepal, the ever-growing menu is great for vegetarian and vegans and offers many meat and fish options too. Prices start from £6.50.
Go Falafel, NQ / Deansgate
Our go-to in the city centre for fresh falafel, it’s not just the herby chickpea goodness that does it for us here – it’s all the salads, pickles and other ecoutrements too.
Falafel wraps are stuffed with your choice of pickled cabbage, potato, salad, tahini, chilli sauce and lashings of fresh hummus, plus extras like grilled aubergine. There’s salad boxes and freshly squeezed juices too. Prices start from £5.50.
Halloween in the City will return to Manchester with iconic inflatable monsters and loads more
Emily Sergeant
Halloween is soon set to return to the city, and dozens of huge inflatable monsters will be invading Manchester next month.
Yes, it’s that time of year yet again… the monsters are back.
After several years of looming over Manchester‘s most-notable rooftops and lurking around famous city centre sites, it’s been revealed that the iconic MCR Monsters will be returning for another year of spooky celebrations next month, along with loads of other terrifying tricks and treats – with something for the whole family to get involved with.
Organisers Manchester BID are set to turn the city centre into a ‘monstrous playground’ once the free two-day festival of frightful fun returns.
Halloween in the City will return to Manchester with iconic inflatable monsters and loads more / Credit: Manchester BID | CityCo
This year’s annual Halloween in the City celebrations will feature a week-long colourful invasion of the MCR Monsters, following the two-day family festival across the city’s popular shopping destinations.
For the first time ever, the epic MCR Monsters – which are created by talented local artists, Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas – will invade the city’s rooftops and buildings on the opening day of the Halloween in the City festival.
They’ll be taking over leading locations including Manchester Arndale, Selfridges, The Royal Exchange, KAMPUS, and AO Arena – with more terrifying takeovers yet to be announced.
A slimy creature will also be on the loose across the city centre, as ‘The Leech’ – a wriggling eight metre-long monster, created and produced by Walk the Plank – makes its anticipated return.
As for other spine-chilling activities over the weekend-long festival, you can expect family games, storytelling, and the bone-rattling Monster Party Procession, complete with giant puppet monsters, stilt walkers, and a live band.
Then as night falls, the city will glow ‘eerie green’ as iconic buildings light up in spooky style.
To finish things off, thousands of pumpkin lanterns will, once again, line the city’s shopping streets to add a ‘flicker of fun’ to the festival celebrations.
Halloween in the City festival will take over Manchester city centre on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October, and MCR Monsters will be in town from Saturday 25 – Friday 31 October.
The pumpkins may potentially appear even earlier, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
The Manchester public are being invited to consult on ‘landmark’ development plans for Red Bank
Danny Jones
Members of the Greater Manchester public are being invited to take part in the official consultation period ahead of the proposed plans for a big new development in Red Bank.
The central district, located right near Cheetham Hill and now considered a key part of the Northern Gateway regeneration area, is on the verge of a significant transformation in the shape of two huge new ‘landmark’ towers.
With more skyscrapers steadily popping up all over the city centre and neighbouring parts of Salford (at an increasingly quick rate, we’d hasten to add), local residents are rightly being encouraged to come and share their thoughts and feedback on the impending project.
CGIs of the two new towers from near and afar. (Credit: Supplied)
Pencilled in by LWP Redbank Limited, the public consultation is not just specifically related to 50–54 Red Bank, but the surrounding area too.
With two separate planning permission applications submitted to Manchester City Council – one regarding the apartment blocks themselves and another to the ‘public realm’, which includes the immediate vicinity and, most notably, potential “future access to the historic viaduct.”
The headline of the major update to the Red Bank neighbourhood is, of course, the two apartment buildings, which would create a total of 509 new homes and employment opportunities.
Made up of a mix of one, two and three-bedroom flats said to be suitable for both single occupants and families, the developers are also slated to create several shared amenities, landscaped outdoor areas, and sweeping city views.
Equally important is how it will integrate into the existing area at ground level, with new commercial units set to complement the thriving businesses under the recognisable Red Bank arches; more than 2,000 square metres of open space will link the towers to the viaduct.
Sustainability is said to be at the heart of the proposals too, with the scheme expected to be largely car-free, as well as improving travel links to public transport networks, cycle parking, energy-efficient features, “including air source heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies.”
At present, those for the construction argue that limited use is being made of the space.
Locals hoping for a positive dialogue during the consultation period will be pleased to hear that “native planting, trees, and rain gardens will create green and welcoming spaces, with active frontages and open sightlines improving safety and vibrancy” have all been promised.
Issuing a statement on behalf of the project team, a spokesperson said in a recent press release: “Red Bank is fast becoming a creative and vibrant part of Manchester, and our vision is to build on this character to create a distinctive new neighbourhood.
“These proposals bring forward much-needed homes, alongside new public space, and active ground-floor uses that will add to the life of the area. We look forward to hearing what local people think during our consultation, which is being held until Friday, 3 October.”
A consultation drop-in event will take place at GRUB MCR, 50 Red Bank, Cheetham Hill (M4 4HF) from 3-7pm on Wednesday, 17 September. Further feedback is also welcome either HERE, over the email at [email protected], or by freephone: 0800 689 1095 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5:30pm).
If all goes ahead as planned, you can expect work to start on this particular part of the ‘Victoria North Masterplan’ early next year, if not even sooner.
Georgina Pellant -
15th February 2022 
