Coffee has understandably been a crutch for many people over the past few months.
Latte, cappuccino, americano, flat white, espresso, mocha, iced, seasonal specials and more – however you take it, those freshly brewed beans are always there to provide a pick-me-up when we need it most, and as we head into our final weekend of England’s national lockdown, there’s plenty of independent cafes and coffee houses in Manchester city centre that are #StillServingMCR.
Our trusty favourites are always here to keep us caffeinated and refreshed at the toughest of times.
So if you find yourself in the city centre looking for that quick caffeine fix this weekend and are stuck for where to go, we’ve rounded up some of the best places that are still open for walk-ins to head on down to and grab yourself a takeaway coffee.
There’s never been a more crucial time to support local.
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Feel Good Club
Northern Quarter
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Mental health and wellbeing cafe Feel Good Club – Manchester’s new kid on the block in the Northern Quarter – has remained open throughout the second national lockdown for takeaway services to provide much-needed support for those who need it most.
And on top of that, the coffee is just pretty damn good.
26 – 28 Hilton Street, Manchester, M1 2EH
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Friday – Saturday: 9am – 9pm
Sunday: 10am – 4pm
You can find more information via the Feel Good Club website here.
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Federal
Northern Quarter & Deansgate
Serving up quality Antipodean-style coffee from two locations in the heart of Manchester city centre, the ever-popular and much-loved Federal Cafe & Bar is still open for walk-ins to grab yourself a wide range of takeaway beverages this weekend.
You can find more information via the Federal Cafe & Bar website here.
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Hampton & Vouis
Princess Street
Taking great pride its award-winning speciality coffee, Hampton & Vouis is still open this weekend in the heart of the city centre to grab yourself a freshly-brewed cup to go.
31 Princess Street, Manchester, M2 4EW
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Saturday: 10am – 3pm
Sunday: 10am – 3pm
You can find more information via the Hampton & Vouis website here.
Rather aptly admitting that “coffee is everything” and preparing each cup to perfection, Foundation Coffee House still has the doors to its Northern Quarter premises open this weekend, so you can pop in and grab yourself a takeout brew while you’re passing.
Sevendale House, Lever Street, Manchester M1 1JB
Saturday: 9am – 5pm
Sunday: 9am – 5pm
You can find more information via the Foundation Coffee House website here.
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Fress
Northern Quarter
There’s no doubt Fress is best-known for its mouth-watering comfort food, bottomless brunches, and indulgent sweet treats, but did you know you can also pop in to grab a takeaway coffee of your choice this weekend too?
Don’t count it out.
62 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LE
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Saturday: 11am – 6pm
Sunday: 11am – 4pm
You can find more information via the Fress website here.
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Just Between Friends
Northern Quarter & Ancoats
Freshly-brewing each cup of coffee with love, Just Between Friends is now open for takeout at both its Tib Street site in the heart of the Northern Quarter and its Ancoats site too, so you can grab a cup of your choice to-go this weekend.
You can find more information via the Just Between Friends website here.
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Siop Shop
Northern Quarter
By far one of the Northern Quarter’s most unique hangouts in all its brightly-coloured glory, you can pop by Siop Shop this weekend to get yourself that quick caffeine fix, and perhaps a sweet doughnut treat too if that takes your fancy.
53 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1LS
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Saturday: 10am – 3pm
Sunday: 10am – 3pm
You can find more information via the Siop Shop website here.
Proudly championing Antipodean coffee culture with a Northern accent, Pot Kettle Black is serving up some of the finest freshly-brewed cups of caffeine from its Barton Arcade takeout hatch in the heart of the city centre, so it couldn’t be easier to grab as you go.
Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BW
Saturday: 9:30am – 3pm
Sunday: 9:30am – 3pm
You can find more information via the PKB website here.
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Takk
Northern Quarter
Serving a range of single origin coffees that change on a weekly basis and dedicated to sourcing some of the best coffees available in Europe, Takk is freshly-brewing cups to go from its Tarrif Street site in the heart of the Northern Quarter only at weekends, so make sure to swing by if you’re passing.
6 Tariff Street, Manchester, M1 2FF
Saturday: 10am – 3pm
Sunday: 10am – 3pm
You can find more information via the Takk website here.
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Ezra & Gil
Northern Quarter
Beloved neighbourhood hangout Ezra & Gil has provided Manchester with an evolutionary concept in urban coffee and cafe culture since opening doors 2015, and is still serving freshly-brewed cups to go in the heart of the Northern Quarter this weekend.
20 Hilton Street, Manchester, M1 1FR
Saturday: 8:30am – 7pm
Sunday: 8:30am – 7pm
You can find more information via the Ezra & Gil website here.
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The Manc Group has partnered with Deliveroo to help local restaurants deliver during lockdown as part of our #StillServingMCR campaign.
Working alongside Deliveroo, The Manc will ensure all restaurants on the service will get the amplification they need across our social platforms. We’ll update our one million-strong audience on your latest updates and deals and we’ll create conversations with the masses about our favourite scran from your menus.
Basically, we will champion you, and we will go above and beyond to do it.
The 5 best places to go for a matcha in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Matcha fever has the nation gripped at the minute – it feels like half the country has turned its back on flat whites in favour of the popular green tea drink.
This pretty Japanese beverage might have been around for centuries, but it’s having a bit of a new moment here in Manchester and finding a whole new wave of fans.
With the global success of brands like Blank Street, you can barely walk down the street without passing someone sipping something green.
So we’ve decided to pull together five local spots in Manchester who are doing the very best matcha in town, from the very traditional to the very playful.
Know of somewhere we’ve missed? Drop us a DM on our The Manc Eats Instagram page HERE.
Ohayo Tea, Chinatown
Matcha bubble tea and soft serve at Ohayo Tea in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
This adorable bubble tea cafe in Chinatown has a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot, and you’ll find his face carved into the walls, waffles in the shape of his head, and a giant dog statue bursting out of the wall.
Ohayo Tea serve a complex take on a matcha drink that plays into their bubble tea expertise – expect your matcha to come layered with tapioca pearls, cheese foam, pistachio foam, and plenty more options too.
These drinks come with instructions – tilt your branded cup (the Shiba is back) it to at least 45 degrees to get every layer at once, or, if you insist, use a thick straw to mix it all together.
You can also get matcha soft serve here with shards of honeycomb stuck to it. Delightful.
Just Between Friends, Ancoats and Northern Quarter
Matcha drinks at Just Between Friends, Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re someone who actually likes matcha to taste of matcha, rather than of all sorts of syrups and other add-ons, turn to one of the city’s best coffee shops.
At Just Between Friends – which has locations tucked into an old mill in Ancoats as well as right on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter – matcha is whisked properly with a traditional bamboo whisk, before being added to steamed or chilled milk.
The result is either a warm, smooth drink served in an earthenware cup, or a refreshing iced matcha.
You can wedge yourself into a window seat or even sit on the cobbled archway outside and imagine you’ve transported yourself to a Tokyo backstreet.
We’d love to tell you the opening hours and location of this pop-up matcha hotspot, but it tends to shift around Manchester a bit.
It’s worth tracking down though – Matcha Kyoto is importing speciality ingredients all the way from Kyoto and doing everything as authentically as possible.
With matcha whipped cream, matcha lattes, matcha desserts and matcha toppings it’s a dream come true for matcha lovers… Is the word matcha starting to sound like gibberish to anyone else at this point?
Track their latest movements on their Instagram HERE.
Sipp, Ancoats and Deansgate Square
Sipp matcha in Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re new to matcha, or just know that you like yours with a little sweetness and fun, you must get a sip of Sipp’s.
These guys are based in General Stores around town, with their own coffee shop soon to open in Chorlton, and they have a whole list of ‘Matcha Cloud’ drinks.
Their best-seller is the raspberry and coconut, which tastes exactly like a lamington, or there are always specials cropping up (currently, it’s a mango and passionfruit).
This is gateway matcha – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Tsujiri, Chinatown
A selection of matcha items at Tsujuri in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Not satisfied with simply serving matcha you can drink, Tsujiri is a Japanese tea house using this powerful ingredient in cakes, ice creams, cheesecakes and more.
Tsujiri was founded all the way back in 1860, before bringing the finest matcha lattes and infused desserts to British shores.
In Manchester, you’ll find them in the heart of Chinatown, tucked up an anonymous flight of stairs, where there are cabinets full of green sweet treats like a matcha basque cheesecake, matcha sundaes, and classic iced lattes.
The two best bakeries in Greater Manchester, according to the Good Food Guide
Daisy Jackson
The Good Food Guide has released its list of the top bakeries across the UK – and two in Greater Manchester have made the cut.
The prestigious guide has been travelling across the nation testing out the joy of British bakeries, from pastries to loaves to biscuits.
50 bakeries around the UK have been selected, ‘from a makeshift industrial unit in Devon to a radically remote destination in the Scottish Highlands and a must-visit spot in Mid Wales’.
Greater Manchester, as we know, has no shortage of great bakeries, whether it’s queueing for ages for an artisan pastry at La Chouquette, the ever-changing specials at Half Dozen Other in the Green Quarter, or delicious bakes and breads at Companio.
The Good Food Guide has said that the nation is going through something of a ‘modern baking boom’ and selected two spots locally that are doing it better than anyone else.
The first is Pollen, a legendary bakery which started life under a railway arch near Manchester Piccadilly, where people would queue all morning for a cruffin (at the time, this was revolutionary).
The team have now gone on to open a sunny waterside cafe at Ancoats Marina, and another in the leafy Kampus neighbourhood.
Pollen in AncoatsPollen in AncoatsPollen at KampusPollen at KampusCredit: The Manc Group
The Good Food Guide praised Pollen for its ‘quality viennoiserie and sourdough loaves’.
The Good Food Guide says of Pollen: “Since the aroma of fresh croissants first wafted from the ovens of the original bakery in Ancoats, Pollen has established something of a cult status in Manchester for its quality viennoiserie and sourdough loaves.
“A second, larger outpost at the Kampus development in the Piccadilly area is a serene, putty-hued space looking onto a lush courtyard garden where you can linger over a lunch of BBQ mushrooms on toast with celeriac and salsa verde or Jerusalem artichoke soup with herb butter.
“The counter also advertises a handsome selection of sweet treats: our surprisingly delicate matcha cheesecake was a sure sign of the pastry team’s skills.”
Long Boi’s Bakehouse in Levenshulme. Credit: The Manc Group
The second of the bakeries in Greater Manchester to catch the eye of the Good Food Guide is the brilliant Long Bois over in Levenshulme, a sunny, colourful little bakery which first rocketed to fame for its homemade pop tarts.
The guide said: “A small team of all-female bakers turns out a satisfyingly creative selection of sweet and savoury bakes – perhaps a pandan lamington (a take on the coconut-drenched Aussie classic) or an ‘everything bagel’ croissant stuffed with dill, spring onion and cream cheese – while classic cakes and pastries are presented with equal doses of flavour and flourish.
“With a tiny production kitchen, bread comes from the also-excellent Holy Grain Sourdough in Manchester city centre. Like any self-respecting neighbourhood bakery, they sell out quickly – so get there early.”
Where’s your favourite bakery in Greater Manchester?
Emily Sergeant -
27th November 2020 
