Eats

Ornella’s – The tiny Denton restaurant vying to be named one of the best in Greater Manchester

A tiny space that's destined for big things.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 15th November 2024

Ornella’s is one of those brilliant Greater Manchester restaurants that’s doing a totally roaring trade without rabbiting on about it too much.

From its tiny spot in the middle of Denton, this cosy Italian has got its head down and focused on cooking, and cooking really, really well.

The results speak for themselves. You will quite literally wait months to get a table here.

In fact if you’re thinking of making a reservation, you pretty much have two options – wait until next June, or eat lunch (as we did) at 11.30am on a Wednesday. Did the early hour stop me drinking a large Aperol Spritz though? Of course not. 

Ornella’s will always be worth the patience it takes to get your bum on a seat.

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It all started as a lockdown project for Ornella Cancila, where customers would come and collect carefully-made Sicilian dishes from a bench outside her home.

And now it’s grown to be one of those local spots that Tameside residents are proud of, and everyone else in Greater Manchester is jealous of.

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Inside Ornella's Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella’s Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella's Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Ornella’s Italian restaurant in Denton. Credit: The Manc Group

I’ve encountered a lot of people who have been to Ornella’s, and haven’t yet heard a single bad word said about it.

It’s actually on this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival shortlist, after being named the best affordable venue in the region last year.

Inside, there are just a couple of rows of tables in front of a deli counter displaying top-quality meats and other deli items.

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Let’s get stuck into that main restaurant menu though, which is way more comprehensive than you’d expect for such a small space.

An arancini that looks exactly like Donald Trump. Credit: The Manc Group
An arancini that looks exactly like Donald Trump. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside another Ornella's arancini. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside another Ornella’s arancini. Credit: The Manc Group

There are a couple of different arancini on the menu, one of which looks exactly like Donald Trump – a rotund orange fried ball topped with a bright white wig of parmesan.

That one is stuffed with caramelised onion and saffron (unlike the real deal), while another comes with nduja and mozzarella with a hot honey drizzle.

A clear menu highlight is the pistachio carbonara with crispy guanciale pieces that burst in little salty mouthfuls against the rich and creamy pasta sauce.

There’s also a beef short rib that releases its grip on the bone with a gentle prod from a fork, falling into a pool of creamy parmesan gnocchi. It tastes exactly like how it feels to step into a warm house after being pelted by rain all day, or pulling on a pair of socks that have been warmed on a radiator. Pure comfort. 

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The pistachio carbonara from Ornella's Kitchen. Credit: The Manc Group
The pistachio carbonara from Ornella’s Kitchen. Credit: The Manc Group
Pistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Pistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group

Truffle fans can’t go wrong with Ornella’s creamy truffle mafalde, covered in generous shavings of truffle and pecorino.

Ornella is generous with all of her cheese portions, actually – the sourdough garlic bread also arrives blanketed in the stuff.

I kick my feet under the table and actually giggle after taking a bite of the oven-baked conchiglioni shells, which are filled with pumpkin cream, sharp cheddar, pork sausage and a sourdough crumb. It flits from sweet to salt with every chew.

And then for desserts, you’ll find proper Italian pistachio gelato, served in a soft Sicilian brioche bun, and a Biscoff and white chocolate cheesecake that had me and my mate jousting with our forks for the last bite like really sh*t knights.

Ornella’s might not be a big space, but it’s destined for big things. Just good luck getting that reservation…

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Acclaimed restaurant staffed by prison inmates announces sad closure

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing

The Clink, an acclaimed restaurant where the food is prepared and served by prison inmates, has announced its devastating closure.

The charity behind the restaurant, which is attached to HMP Styal, has confirmed that it will close for good on 31 July 2025.

The Clink is famed for the training and experience it provides inmates, helping them to get a head start into the hospitality industry when their sentence ends.

It’s also achieved plenty of acclaim as a restaurant in its own right, consistently being rated as the best restaurant in Wilmslow and voted Cheshire Restaurant of the Year in 2024.

Over the years, hundreds of students have earned qualifications including City & Guilds NVQs in Food and Beverage Service, Professional Cookery and Food Hygiene.

The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing
The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing
The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing

But The Clink has now announced that it will be closing this summer due to ‘a number of factors’, including costs and participant numbers.

Donna-Marie Edmonds, Chief Executive of The Clink Charity, said: “The decision not to renew our contract at HMP Styal has been made with an incredibly heavy heart.

“The Clink Charity’s mission is to reduce re-offending and we have been doing this at Styal, producing outstanding results for over a decade.

“Although the restaurant will officially close this summer, our partnership at Styal will be remembered not only for its landmark training outcomes, but as a beacon of hope, where women have sought refuge and rehabilitation.”

As one of those students put it: “If it wasn’t for my journey at The Clink, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Deansgate’s new mini brunch triangle attracting big queues – and rightly so

Danny Jones Danny Jones New Manchester brunch spot triangle Deansgate

Manchester is absolutely bursting at the seams with brilliant brunch spots, and don’t even get just started on trying to pick from all 10 boroughs as a whole, it’s impossible.

However, over the past year or so, we suddenly realised that somewhat of a city centre trio of brunch spots serving unreal breakfasts, midday delights and early afternoon scran has emerged.

A new Manc brunch triangle, if you will.

While some have been there longer than others, all three of these places within aren’t just within spitting distance of each other but are enjoying a real wave of success at the moment – and it’s no surprise why: they’re all utterly incredible.

Three brilliant city centre brunch spots for you to try

1. Bruncho

First up on the list is the aptly named Bruncho, which opened just last summer, and despite announcing itself to the Manchester hospitality scene rather quietly at the time, it’s starting to pick up some serious pace now.

Specialising in unreal breakfasts and Mediterranean exports like menemen, Turkish eggs, their own spins of spicy favourite shakshuka, as well as plenty of dessert-forward plates with colour palettes as full as the plates themselves.

It goes without saying that you can obviously get a proper good ‘Bruncho Full English‘, but we’d encourage you to branch out and, who knows, maybe have a brekkie that features ice cream? In fact, it’s sentences like that which make it our Thomas’ favourite way to start the day – albeit ideally a lie-in.

2. Alex’s Bakery

Now, another very strong candidate which has been around on the Manc brunch scene much longer than the other two on this list is local success story, Alex’s Bakery, though we’ll admit we’d mainly visited this place for the unreal brownies, cupcakes and other assorted sweet treats until recently.

However, in addition to the popularity of their lunch deal (a panini, cupcake and drink), they’ve really stepped up their wider brunch offerings of late, going from what was once just a Manchester Artisan Market back in 2014 to branching out into everything good you can put on toast and tonnes more.

It may not garner the often ridiculously long queues of other places, but that’s because this place has a steady flow of regulars all week long who’ve steadily fallen in love with it over many years. They’re tres leches cakes alone are well worth the visit.

3. Acai And The Tribe

Last but not least, the acai craze is undoubtedly one of the biggest foodie trends around right now, as proven by the lines that gather outside this Great Northern venue at least once virtually every weekend – but Acai And The Tribe has actually been on the hype for ages.

That being said, after moving from Arndale Market to Deansgate Mews back in 2022 and now along the main strip in recent months, their popularity has skyrocketed. If you’re looking for a health brunch open packed with vibrance, vitamins and plenty of other very nice toppings, this is the one for you.

We’ll warn you, finding the right window to visit is essentially if you don’t want to wait around for ages these days, but both Clem and Daphne still greatly approve, so it’s it gets the seal of approval from us.

So, while we could recommend you a whole load of fantastic places in around Manchester city centre, we’ve been particularly charmed by this mini Manc brunch triangle around Deansgate.

Best of all, it’s just always great to see local businesses thriving, isn’t it? Especially when it comes to people lining the streets and sending it viral just for a chance to taste their offerings.

Modern breakfast and brunch are things that can be either perfect in their simplicity or surprising in their creativity; either way, we’re glad there are plenty of examples of that here in Manchester.

Trust us, we take this stuff very seriously…

The top 25 places for the best breakfast and brunch in Manchester

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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