There’s no denying that ‘at home’ kits have really taken off this year, and of course, there’s no denying why that is the case either.
They are the revolutionary new wave dining experiences born out of lockdown.
‘At home’ / D.I.Y kits allow you to become the chef of your favourite restaurant from the comfort of your own home, with the ingredients for delicacies you know and love delivered right to your front door.
And just as England gears up to exit out of its second national lockdown, and Greater Manchester prepares to enter back into Tier 3 restrictions from the start of next month, the good news is that ‘at home’ / D.I.Y kits will be sticking around for a little bit longer.
There’s plenty to get yourself stuck into, so we’ve rounded up 12 of the best on the market.
From the creators of Six by Nico – with a popular Manchester city centre home on Spring Gardens – Home by Nico menus will deliver a restaurant experience that “gives you a taste of culinary delights from around the world in the comfort of your own home”.
Now delivering right across the UK, Home by Nico will explore 12 new cities with 12 exciting menus, so you can expect your home dining experience to be “rich in culture and filled with explosive flavours”.
Up until 31st December 2020, you can experience the Taste of Bangkok for just £60 (x2 people).
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You can find more information and grab your Home by Nico – Taste of Bangkok experience via the Six by Nico website here.
— NORTHERN SOUL GRILLED CHEESE ? (@NorthernSoulMcr) November 10, 2020
Northern Soul is “grilled cheese done right”.
And with the help of the the home-cooked ingredients G.I.Y (Grill It Yourself) kits, isolating Mancs can whip up sandwiches in their own homes and it’s already proved to be a dizzying success – even scooping the award for ‘Best DIY Home Kit’ at the 2020 Manchester Food & Drink Awards.
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Christmas is on the horizon too, so Northern Soul has tweaked the kits to give them some fresh, festive flavour.
As well as the star-of-the-show Crimbo Dinner Pack, there are four other fantastic-sounding festive options, including the Signature Soul Secret Santa, the Classic Flava kit (including roast ham & pickle; caramelised red onion chutney; and ‘Mac Attack’ w/ Jalapenos), the Get Your Goat (with goat’s cheese and chutney), and The New Yorker (with pastrami, pickles and pretzels).
You can find more information and grab your G.I.Y Kits via the Northern Soul website here.
Wood at Home’s Five Course Tasting Menu is your chance to treat yourself, your family, or a loved one to indulgent night and have a bit of fun plating these beautiful, tasty and carefully-created tasting dishes.
A part of the Autumn offering, the Five Course Tasting Menu for Two – Standard, Vegetarian or Vegan – boxes comprise all the pre-prepared ingredients needed and full cooking and plating instructions, and wines recommended by Wood’s sommelier can also be ordered, as can the hugely-popular cheese board.
Everything you need for a very special ‘night out’ meal at home from £95.
Menus must be ordered for delivery on Friday or Saturday.
Collection is available from the Manchester city centre restaurant on Saturdays only between 9 – 11am.
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You can find more information and grab your Five Course Tasting Menu experience via the Wood Restaurants website here.
Rudy’s Bake at Home pizzas have been hugely popular during lockdown.
Believing Neapolitan pizza to be the best in the world, Rudy’s dough is made fresh daily using Caputo 00 flour – which has been left to ferment for at least 24 hours – alongside the best quality ingredients imported twice a week from Naples, including San Marzano tomatoes grown on fields next to Mount Vesuvius, and Fior di Latte mozzarella.
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So of course, the Bake at Home pizzas are hand-made by pizzaiolos using those same fresh ingredients as the award-winning restaurant uses in the pizzeria itself.
The Bake at Home range is available at all Rudy’s restaurants for nationwide delivery, or click and collect.
Grandad’s Sausages’ DIY Boxes are currently available for delivery all around Manchester.
As well as the Classic Edition – which features everything you could wish for from a hot dog box – the real stand-out is the Breakfast Burger Boxes, made up of brioche buns, Olde English sausage meat, Bury black pudding, eggs, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and streaky bacon.
Each box contains enough for two ‘big boy’ burgers or four singles, and they are now available to order directly for home delivery on Fridays and Saturdays.
You can find more information and grab your DIY Boxes here.
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Blue Caribou Poutine Kits
£11 – £15
? We’ve tweaked the look of our kits and our cooking instructions. We love them and hope you will too! ??? Grab any of our kits and other delicious Québecois treats from our web-shop today! Remember: Spend over £35 and your shipping is free. ????#quebecpic.twitter.com/SbwNYyiHY0
There’s also plenty of sides and extras available to order for delivery as well if you fancy taking your homemade poutine to the next level, and delivery is free if you spend over £35.
You can grab your Poutine Kits from the Blue Caribou website here.
Proove @Home kits have everything you need to recreate the restaurant’s signature pizzas yourself.
Each kit comes with a part-cooked Proove pizza dough (vegan and gluten-free options available), and a mix-and-match selection of any toppings from the menu – featuring the finest and freshest ingredients – all boxed up in a convenient little parcel ready to pop in the fridge and cook later.
They couldn’t be more perfect for cosy nights in, weekend treats, or pizza-making fun with the kids.
All you need to do is order online for home delivery, or pick up your Proove @Home pizza parcel from one of the restaurants local to you.
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You can grab yours via the Proove Pizza website here.
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KALA Bistro at Home
£95 – £368
Last orders for our Christmas Day at Home boxes is 6/12/2020 at 4.00pm, but we only have capacity for about 40 more orders, so which ever happens first really!https://t.co/zS3ODRRhHxpic.twitter.com/gik0IwTY1t
The new Elite at Home offering by Elite Bistros – home to Manchester’s KALA Bistro – gives you the chance to enjoy the fine dining experience without leaving the house.
All you’ll need to do is provide the atmosphere and charming conversation, and KALA will deliver the food – which will have been prepared for you to finish simply in your own kitchen – right to your front door. Drinks can also be arranged, and plus, they have made some recommendations for wines that work well with particular dishes too.
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You really won’t be spoilt for choice with this menu, and you can bag yourself free delivery on all orders over £80 too.
Find more information and order your Elite at Home Bistro dining experience here.
Hawksmoor has been working hard since lockdown began to bring its unique dining experience into homes nationwide with the Hawksmoor at Home series, offering easy-to-make meal kits and some of its most popular cocktails mixed by bartenders, along with special edition spirits and different products added regularly.
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The original Steak Fillet Box (£125) has proven so popular over the last few months that now, Hawksmoor has taken a Christmas twist.
The Festive Box is now available to order, and inside is everything you need for an easy-to-prepare steak night.
Pre-dinner cocktails are followed by smoked salmon and champagne, fillet steaks with sides, Hawksmoor beers and a bottle of Pulenta Malbec, and finished off with a huge sticky toffee pudding to share. It also comes with easy-to-follow instructions and a bar code to access videos by Matt Brown – Executive Group Chef at Hawksmoor – for anyone needing extra help with cooking.
The Hawksmoor at Home – The Festive Box starts at £105, and you can grab yours here.
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Pizza Punks
Bake at Home, PUNK DoughIY & Xmas Pizza Party in a Box
Creating your own sourdough pizza at home has never been easier with one of Pizza Punks’ home-cooking kits.
The Bake at Home and PUNK DoughIY kits includes two 48-hour proofed sourdough bases, San Marzano tomato, basil & garlic Sauce, and mozzarella, plus you can then choose four from the 25 toppings on offer, including some festive specials like pigs in candied blankets, garlic and sage turkey with Stuffing, and shredded sprouts with bacon.
There’s loads of other wacky toppings too, from onion bhajis to chocolate pulled beef.
The Xmas Party Starter kit also features some killer in-house cocktails, as well as Christmas playlist that can be downloaded straight from the pizza box to create the ultimate at home party.
You can grab yours for home delivery nationwide via the Pizza Punks website here.
Maray at Home allows you to experience authentic Middle Eastern-inspired food “from your gaff”.
The Maray at Home Kits are suitable for carnivores, veggies and vegans and generously serve two people, and you can select either Lamb Kofta with Cherry Puree and Green Tahini. or Aubergine Shawarma with Tahini and Date Balsamic Glaze as the main component of your box.
All boxes come with pepper cashews, whipped goat’s cheese with pickled grapes & breadsticks (muhammara for vegan option), hummus and flatbreads, pickles, falafel sharer kit, and tabbouleh fattoush.
Finished off with a lemon & lime posset with candied pistachios (chocolate tart for vegan option).
The Burger & Lobster DIY Kits provide you with fresh restaurant produce delivered straight to your door, alongside all the trimmings to cook to perfection at home.
You can become “the master of your own kitchen” using the step-by-step video tutorials that will guide you through getting the best out of your kit, and to accompany these videos, Burger & Lobster has also put together a collection of cooking instruction cards, which you can download and print off to make life even easier.
Both Lobster Roll and Original Burger kits are available from £22 for nationwide home delivery.
Get your hands on them via the Burger & Lobster website here.
Eats
Legendary Borough Market doughnut bakery Bread Ahead is coming to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Bread Ahead – creators of the cult creme brulee doughnuts – is finally coming to Manchester (and soon).
The doughnut bakery is one of the most famous traders at Borough Market in London thanks to its artisan dough, classic fillings, and creative specials.
And to celebrate its arrival into the North, Bread Ahead will be giving away 1,000 free doughnuts across its first two days in Manchester.
The Borough Market bakery institution has announced a three-month stint inside Harvey Nichols, where Mancs will be able to pick up flavours including their world-famous creme brulee doughnut, a custard-filled beauty with a crunchy torched brown sugar top.
That particular flavour is so popular, they sell around 5,000 daily down in London.
Other Bread Ahead doughnuts include vanilla, jam, sea salted caramel, pistachio, and regional/seasonal specials like pumpkin creme brulee, smores, lemon curd, coconut, and blackcurrant cheesecake.
The giveaway of 1,000 free doughnuts will start at 10am on Monday 3 November, with 500 handed out while stocks last.
Bread Ahead is bringing its legendary doughnuts to Manchester for the first time
Then on Tuesday 4 November there’ll be another 500 up for grabs on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Founder Matthew Jones says: “We’ve long wanted to branch out regionally, and this felt like the perfect way to do it.
“Baking and education are so important to us, so we’re really excited to bring our doughnuts to the people of Manchester and thrilled to be working with Harvey Nichols.
“We hope this is just the first of many visits – there’s so much more to come!”
The creme brulee doughnuts from Bread Ahead are coming to Manchester. Credit: Supplied
Gavin Hudson, General Manager at Harvey Nichols Manchester said: “Bread Ahead is a true institution in Borough Market, so when Matthew and the team got in touch, we knew that their offer would definitely resonate with our customers.
“We’re excited to be bringing their full selection of doughnut flavours to the city and we are sure that their trademark Crème Brûlée doughnut will become a firm favourite here too.”
Bread Ahead will open at Harvey Nichols Manchester from Monday 3 November.
The best pasta places in and around Manchester
Danny Jones
Besides the all-season pizza, we would argue that pasta is arguably the pizza we will happily eat pretty much any time of you (god, the Italians really do have it cracked, don’t they?), so we thought it was about high time we put together a list of the best places to find it in and around Manchester.
That’s right, it’s time for another ‘listicle’, so buckle up and unbutton your pants.
Whether it be a city centre star or a beloved off-the-beaten-path favourite out in the boroughs, Greater Manchester as a whole really does do Italian restaurants well and pasta, specifically, if you ask.
From well-known names you’ve probably eaten at already yourselves, to hopefully a few hidden gems that have somehow flown under your radar, here is The Manc‘s round-up of the best pasta places the Manchester foodie scene has to offer.
The best places for pasta in the city centre
1. Lina Stores – St. John’s
Up first is one we’ve visited a fair few times since it landed here from London and really has taken to life up North rather well. Lina MCR, just opposite Spinningfields and just off Deansgate on Quay Street, is their first foray into our city and captures the same laid-back split between delicatessen and restaurant.
Actually, it’s even more than that; this place rolls cafe, bar and evening eatery all into one, serving up stunning pasta dishes, delectable desserts, a great wine selection and some seriously stunning starters, sides and small plates to boot – we’re thinking of the fried ricotta, specifically…
Onto number two, and not only one of the most popular Manchester pasta spots, but a place that has recently surpassed more than 10 years here in the city centre. To some of us, it seems like just yesterday that they first opened their doors, but they’ve been serving us for a good long while now.
The parents of nearby Noi Quattro, which sits just across the road in the Northern Quarter, Pasta Factory sits just on the corner around from Victoria, and their prawn-filled miso butter pasta with burrata is to die for. Better still, you can buy their various shapes, styles and sauces to take home on your way out.
3. Anatra – Exhibition
They say three is the magic number, so they must have been talking about Anatra, which is well and truly something special. Popping up in the increasingly enticing Exhibition food hall and bar over on Peter Street back in August 2025, they’ve made a great first impression.
Head chef Grant may be from Stoke, but he still knows all about serving up tasty and substantial food to Northerners fed up of getting home after a rainy day and warming up a ready meal. Think thick, handmade pasta with the perfect bite, with big flavours like saffron, burnt chilli and brown crab butter.
Credit: The Manc Group
4. Soots – Tib Street
For number four, we have nothing but praise for the purely plant-based excellence that is Soots Pasta, created by owners and co-founders Ellie Proudfoot and Ruth Duarte, who’ve quietly become not only one of the best pasta restaurants in town but one of the best vegan restaurants in Manchester, too.
Named after their dog and starting out life in Altrincham Market, they’ve become a real lovely hospitality story in what is an increasingly difficult sector. We can’t speak highly enough of how much we love these guys; in fact, so much so that you can read even more about this wonderful place down below.
Now, naturally, we couldn’t possibly right up a list of the best pasta places in Manchester city centre, the UK, or otherwise, without mentioning the social media sensation that is Onda, which on its day really does live up to the hype. At least it has every time we’ve managed to visit, anyway.
Starting out as an Ancoats pop-up over at New Cross, they quickly became famous for their viral ‘Tiramisu Drawer’, where they pull out giant scoops of the classic Italian dessert by the big spoonful. However, they are also known for VERY good pasta, such as their carbonara and vodka ‘nduja lamache.
From the new school to the old faithful, there aren’t many Italian restaurants that’ve been doing this in Manchester as long as Salvi’s has, and you could argue that they set many trends in motion decades before they ever took off. They’re part of the city’s dining heritage, as far as we’re concerned.
For instance, they’re still one of the places we remember doing a mozzarella bar, or offering customers the chance to buy authentic ingredients from ‘il Bel Paese‘, and if you’ve never sat down for a bowl of pasta in here, you haven’t lived basically. Hyperbole? Maybe, but the food is bloody good, that’s no lie.
Another new kid on the block that’s trying to carve out its own space in Manchester’s Italian food scene is one that we don’t just fully expect to do so, but would wager already has, even if it hasn’t only been in our neck of the woods for what feels like five minutes. Part of Big Mamma Group, Circolo is a juggernaut.
One of the most beautiful spaces we’ve ever stepped foot in – and no, that isn’t a slight exaggeration – the Italian restaurant sat at the foot of Gary Neville’s growing St. Michael’s skyscraper is a tribute to lemons and indulgence. It may have competition in Chotto Matte, but it’ll certainly handle itself.
From glitteringly gorgeous rooms to even more beautiful food, we’ve lost track of how many times someone has told us that their favourite restaurant in Manchester is The Sparrows Continental Pasta & Spätzle, to give them they’re rarely used full title.
And, to be honest, we wouldn’t disagree; even in all our years of eating incredible food in Manchester city centre and further afield, the Green Quarter spot offers some of the most unique takes on pasta noodles you’ll ever test, bringing in various global influences and some of the highest quality ingredients around.
Heading over to Ancoats, and it’s safe to say that the brilliant Bruco has some very big fans in the office over here, not to mention many more throughout the district and the Manc culinary community as a whole. This Italian spot still feels criminally unsung by the masses, but we’re big cheerleaders.
Striking that balance between bar and kitchen, they specialise in small plates and spritzes, but dishes like butternut squash gnocchi, minted lamb ragu pappardelle, fennel sausage orecchiette and slow-cooked short rib lasagne would stand out on the menu of any of the best pasta restaurants in Manchester.
Credit: The Manc
10. Italiana Fifty Five – Great Northern, Liverpool Road and Didsbury
And in a number 10, we have to give a special shout-out to one of the most reliable Italian restaurant groups in Manchester: Italiana Fifty Five, formerly known as Cibo, but still serving up solid pasta and more for some of the best prices you’ll find in the city centre.
They may have rebranded, but this small but accessible chain rarely disappoints, and it’s also worth noting that they regularly rotate deals and promotions to keep sitting down to eat good scran in town as affordably as possible. It’s important work, and we’re glad they take it seriously and are consistent, too.
Moving out of the city limits and towards the outskirts and various different areas that are each wrapped up in a scran-obsessed world of their own, we’re heading to the ever-charming Chorlton and that stretch of Barlow Moor Road that is long enough to offer up so many good places to eat and drink.
It’s possible that you know Lucky Mama’s best for their big pizzas, but of late, we’re becoming much more enamoured with their somewhat ridiculous but undeniably delicious pasta-filled pizza bowls. Yes, you heard us right, and yes, it is as fantastic and filling as it sounds. Here’s more carbs on carbs.
12. Ornella’s Kitchen – Denton (and MCR city centre)
Over to Tameside now and Ornella’s, which is also up there in the conversation for the most raved-about Italian restaurants and pasta spots in Greater Manchester; that’s not just our opinion, either, ask the hundreds of incredible five-star reviews they have online. And rightly so, we hasten to add.
Not too long ago, they opened up a second location in Freight Island, meaning we city folk don’t have to go too far to try their amazing food, but in all honesty, we’d travel miles and miles for this stuff. Take it from us, you simply cannot leave without trying the pistachio carbonara and the beef shin pappardelle.
Moving in the Bury direction now and over to the leafy suburb of Prestwich, how does eating some of the best Italian food you’ve probably ever had in this country in a rustic cafe, bar, pasticceria and restaurant in an unsuspecting old industrial estate? We’ll assume we have your attention…
It might sound rough and ready on the surface, but trust us, there’s no trade-off between style and substance; it’s one of the coolest places to eat in Greater Manchester and does some of the best pasta around, for our money. The amatriciana is unreal, and the fennel sausage one is also unbelievable.
Lupo Caffe Italiano is a taste of sunny Rome on a Prestwich industrial estate… and it MUST be one of Greater Manchester's most hidden gems in a very literal sense. 🍝😍
Our penultimate pick is another south Manchester outpost famous for fantastic restaurants, so it’s no surprise that they also have plenty of great Italians, too: Casa Italia being just one of them, but perhaps our favourite of the lot – at least in this Didsbury, anyway.
More of a chill deli with pretty stocks of produce lining the walls and a healthy counter packed full of goodies, both savoury and sweet, we’ve had many memorable meals in here, and it was actually one of the first places we tried a cannelloni. You always remember your first, and we always will.
Make sure to check out their digital store as well. (Credit: The Manc)
15. Little Scarfs – Stockport
Last but not least, please ignore the grammatical error: they don’t care about tense here, they’re just interested in serving you up really good plates of pasta, and they do; in fact, they might be some of the best you’ll find in Stockport, full stop.
A little birdie who recently moved to the town told us about this one, and all we’ll say is that there’s some just so wholesome about it from top to bottom. They also have one of the prettiest aesthetics we’ve come across of late – see for yourself, then go try the food and let us know how mint it was.
Emily Sergeant -
27th November 2020 
