There are a lot of good places to eat around the North West. Some are even great. But very few are exceptional – and only one can claim to be the best not just in our region, but in the entire country.
The restaurant in question is Moor Hall.
This two Michelin-star spot, just outside Greater Manchester in Lancashire, opened back in 2017. It achieved its first Michelin star at break-neck speed, proudly mounting a red plaque within six months of opening. A year later, it got its second. It’s been named the Best Restaurant in England two years in a row at the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards. And that’s just the tip of the glittering iceberg.
All this might seem quick, but I doubt anyone has walked through these doors without emphatically agreeing that Moor Hall deserves every accolade on its shelves. If I had the power, I’d give it another star on the spot.
The experience begins before you’ve even got through the door.
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You’ll drive through the stone gates and down the winding driveway, passing a lake, a group of geese pottering about on the lawn, and around the back of the beautiful former mansion house.
You could have arrived on the set of Bridgerton (if the Bridgertons happened to have a wine list so comprehensive that the table shakes under the weight of the menu).
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As each guest is given a staggered arrival time, they know who you are the second you walk through the door. Being greeted by name takes us both aback – is this how the Beckhams feel all the time? Fetch me my Birkin! Where’s my security?!
Anyway. The initial grandeur of Moor Hall carries through for the first part of your meal – drinks and snacks in the bar area, where the walls are covered in dark wood and cosy bay windows look out onto the lake.
The main dining room at Moor HallMoor Hall’s Provenance menu The experience includes a walk through the kitchens
Here, you begin to see the many, many cogs that go into making a restaurant like this function. Someone is in charge of water. Someone else is carefully slicing charcuterie into slices so thin it dissolves on your tongue like butter.
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Tiny black pudding bites pack a rich, meaty punch that immediately makes me wish we were staying overnight and could eat breakfast here too (there are 14 guest bedrooms at Moor Hall plus new garden rooms being constructed in the grounds).
The next miniature mouthful bursts open with flavours of barbecued asparagus and smoky chorizo, then a dinky English muffin topped with buttered lobster turns me misty-eyed.
A pair of pretty leaf-shaped crackers, each one embossed with herbs, arrives next, alongside a tin of cod roe and caviar, like a classic pate but 1000 times richer and more interesting.
Crackers with cod roe and caviarAn English muffin with poached lobster
At this point, you’re whisked off your feet by another Moor Hall staff member, who promptly escorts you out the door. Have we done something wrong? Nope – it’s time to see the kitchen gardens.
He expertly points out all the herbs, fruits and vegetables that are grown on-site in the beautiful walled gardens, tended to by a small team of gardeners.
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The tour then spits you out into the kitchen, where each of the many, many chefs whipping up your dinner will greet you with a friendly smile, and chef-patron Mark Birchall offers a warm handshake and yet another snack (this one resembles a small bird’s nest, filled with smoked eel and potato).
While the bar is dark and stately, the dining room is a modern, simple space flooded with sunlight and views of the lake.
The dishes at this stage of the Provenance menu become instantly more theatrical.
‘Royal Oak Rainbow’ – baked carrots with doddington cheese ‘snow’Rudy red Devon beef with beetroot and mustardGuinea hen with morel mushoomsGrilled cornish turbot with mussel and roe sauce
Suddenly we have people spooning brilliant white crumbles onto plates of carrots, herb-infused stocks being poured onto plates and quenelles of butter being rolled out of wooden dishes.
Some dishes are simpler, like a loaf of the best sourdough we’ve ever had, but most are unimaginably intricate, like 80-day aged beef served with beetroot and mustard, and rich guinea hen complimented by even richer morel mushrooms.
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Whatever the dish (and we get through a LOT), it’s the sort of food that makes you stop in your tracks. It triggers involuntary reactions – I keep catching us smiling, or closing our eyes, or gleefully pointing out goosebumps on our arms. I actually well up at one point. I didn’t know ice cream could move me to tears, but laced with spicy stem ginger – a staple on Moor Hall’s menu from day one – apparently it can.
And throughout, Moor Hall will go to great lengths to show you where each dish has come from (because let’s be honest, fine dining sometimes gets so complicated it stops resembling food at all), whether that’s showing the huge joint of meat your dish has been carved from or handing you a tiny card telling the story of Ormskirk gingerbread.
Three of four sweet courses on Moor Hall’s Provenance menu
If you add a cheese course, you’re even escorted into the cheese room (is this… heaven?) to build your own cheese board from the huge selection of British creations inside.
There’s a refreshing level of transparency throughout and although we’re surprised plenty of times, it doesn’t feel like trickery.
It’s hard not to appreciate the meal you’re eating because you’ve seen every painstaking step and every ingredient being used before you’ve even sat down, from the gardener pruning the rosemary shrub to the sous chef placing micro herbs on bright green butter with a pair of tweezers.
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It’s elaborate but intimate, complex but never intimidating.
The cheese room, where you can build your own cheese course
You might wonder how a £235 tasting menu could ever NOT be intimidating to the average person, and that really comes down to the team who work at Moor Hall.
They’re so warm and inviting, it’s like dining with friends. They could switch it up from explaining one of the most intricate menus in the world to joining in with our debate about whether it’s weird for adults to have a favourite colour.
Cuppello’s latest community-led coffee shop is far from hidden, but it is a proper gem
Danny Jones
Cuppello’s newest site in Stretford is not just the second in Greater Manchester, but their third in the North West as a whole, and it’s their journey from cult favourite Warrington hole-in-the-wall to now a much-loved local coffee house and growing outlet for residents that we love so much.
Having opened their latest location just around the corner from the tram stop only a couple of weeks ago, you’d be forgiven for thinking these lot would only just be finding their footing in a very old school borough – but they’re not. They’re already thriving.
Taking over the reins in the unit which used to house Gigi’s Coffee Shop, three could prove to be the magic number in this instance, as the new crowning point of the Cuppello‘s triumvirate has seriously impressed us on multiple levels.
And besides the food and drink, it all starts with one thing: community.
They’re open from 7am until 7pm. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
From that original village venue over Cheshire, to opening their first city centre site just down Oldham Road near Ancoats, to taking on the no-nonsense town of Stretford, it’s a journey we enjoyed hearing about from its early beginnings to now.
Don’t get us wrong, we love seeing a lineup of unique items in acafé menu – take, for instance, their Spanish lattes or a Mont Blanc – but they’ve done themselves a world of good by making this as much of an up-and-coming community cornerstone as it is another spot to grab a good brew.
Sure, they have fresh flat-pressed bagels by Barbakan Deli in Chorlton, pastries from Companio, as well as artisan bakes by owner Harry Sheridan’s mum, Carol (whose homemade sweet treat obsession started with local legend, The Vakery MCR), but there are so many other reasons to keep coming back…
And yes, that does mean they’re vegan-friendly, by the way.
Besides the obvious brunchy bits like those bagels, which they finish with their own special seasoning, the iced coffees, smoothies, meal deals and so on, more importantly, there’s a full weekly programme of interesting and varied events hosted here too.
From a regular run club and pancake days that you don’t have to wait a whole year until they come back around, to movie nights with smash-burgers from The Food Drip next door, evenings spent playing card games, they’re looking to become not just a place to eat, drink and gather but a veritable institution.
Harry told us about how a Lymm local painted their striking piece of lemon artwork that hangs on the wall as thanks for their work with a nearby old people’s home, one that fits perfectly with the yellow-accented aesthetic, but also goes to show their track record when it comes to serving communities.
Speaking of which, they’ve got plenty of style all their own – as you can see:
Honestly, from being one of the most welcoming stops on a dog walk to even offering £1 hot chocolate for little ones coming home from the neighbouring schools (a very nice touch indeed), we’ve been left very impressed by their debut in old Manc market town.
And if you are in the Stretford area or live centrally and are just on the lookout for a new go-to coffee spot that’s only a few tram stops away, it really is some pretty stunning stuff they put in that cup.
Cuppello’s are known for putting a lot of effort into their roasts, but we’d also like to give a special mention to the ‘Karlito’, named after Harry’s dad, which we believe could be the secret behind this very cool-looking family.
A recipe of his own making, which has kept him youthful and on them move all these years, it’s a rich chocolate poured over four, yes, FOUR shots of espresso. We won’t lie to you, it’s pure rocket fuel, but it’ll definitely set you up for a feverishly productive day.
You can see more of the stuff on their food and drink menu HERE, and in case you’re wondering where else they’ve popped up in and around central Manchester, read more down below.
The K’s kick off Manchester’s BRITs Week celebrations early with jam-packed intimate gig
The Manc
If you were ‘Hoping Maybe’ to see The K’s at some point this year, this is your sign do it, as the rising indie band did not let the occasion of playing an intimate BRITs-backed gig get to them – they were buoyed by it.
Beloved city centre venue Gorilla was overflowing for The K’s last night, hosting an unreal small-cap set as part of Brits Week ‘26 for a very important cause: War Child.
Perfectly teed up by fellow nearby band, Florentenes from Bolton, The K’s took to a familiar stage many years on from their debut, and instantly had the crowd ready and raring for an hour of pure tunes and some very, very sweaty brows.
Earlestown’s finest certainly carried that Northern charm and energy throughout the whole night; their indie and almost nostalgic lyrical storytelling has you moshing one minute, whilst grasping your mate and ascending into live music heaven the next. There really aren’t many feelings like it.
Sobbing and swaying in the vast ocean of shoulders whilst screaming the lyrics to ‘Helen. Oh I’, I questioned how any compliment will ever compare to launching “thousand ships every time” from a kiss.
The K’s were yearning before Wuthering Heights made it vogue (again).
Musically, the band were seamless and a well-oiled machine, and so were the audience as they wholeheartedly echoed every lyric back at the lads and bounced it off the walls.
The K’s have come a long way since their first visit to Gorilla (Credit: Lucy Wagstaffe)
Every primary school assembly proudly led us to this moment, and it did not disappoint, displaying their increasingly seasoned and successful career, which I can only imagine is going to go from strength to strength this year.
I don’t think we even one more fan could have squeezed one more passionate fan into Gorilla on the night; it was heaving with people and pride; the sweat dripping down the walls indicated things are big for these local lads, and we couldn’t be prouder.
They are another prime example of shining a deserving light on Northern artists! And having the 2026 BRIT Awards up here with us is a testament to that.
Daisy Jackson -
12th May 2024 
