Four restaurants in Greater Manchester have made it onto a top 10 list of the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
A city centre favourite managed to nab joint second place, while the suburbs were represented from Sale to Stalybridge.
Hawksmoor, Greens, Maray and Gladstone Bistro all managed to make it onto this year’s Rate Good Roasts list and have been crowned among the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
The Rate Good Roasts panel sampled more than 200 Sunday dinners across the country, assessing them on everything from meat to venue to value for money.
While the top spot was snagged by The Abbey Inn in North Yorkshire, Greater Manchester absolutely dominated the rest of the list.
Hawksmoor snuck into joint second place, retaining its local title (awarded by us…) as the king of the Sunday roast.
The Deansgate steak restaurant is famed for its perfectly-cooked roast beef rump, served alongside beef-dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, roasted carrots, buttered greens, roasted garlic, and bone marrow gravy.
Hawksmoor Manchester’s Sunday roast ranked joint second on the Rate Good Roasts list for 2024. Credit: The Manc GroupMaray’s Sunday roast was also named one of the best by Rate Good Roasts for Greater Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
In joint fifth was Stalybridge’s Gladstone Barber & Bistro, which is, as the name suggests, part barbershop and part restaurant.
They said they were ‘over the moon’ with placing fifth on the Rate Good Roasts list for this year.
They wrote: “You all know how much we love our roast, and how much this means to us as a team… A massive thank you to the guys at @rategoodroasts and to all of you for your continued support.”
Then in sixth place was Simon Rimmer’s Greens restaurant in Sale, with the list being announced just hours before he announced the closure of its sister site in Didsbury.
The vegetarian restaurant wrote: “Well we are absolutely buzzing to be listed as number 6 by @rategoodroasts for our roasts in the UK!! Especially when we were against some great non-veggie roasts. Thanks guys!!”
And finally representing Greater Manchester’s Sunday roast scene was Maray in Manchester, ranking in 10th place.
The Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant on Lincoln Square serves twists on classics, like roast beef picanha; lemon, za’tar and saffron-roasted chicken; or a spiced chickpea nut roast, all served with crispy fenugreek potatoes, roast carrots, parsnips, butternut squash tershi, Yorkshire puds and thick delicious gravy.
Rate Good Roasts’ Chief Eating officer, Tom Casson commented: “There’s something romantic about a Sunday Roast. It’s an event.
“Whether its an opportunity to see old friends or a family celebration of some kind. You don’t want to be let down. As an adult it almost feels like you are going out, out on a Sunday.
“You want a stand out dish on the specials board (a lamb or a porchetta and a creative main option for our veggie or vegans friends). Personally I want the Yorkshire Puddings big enough to act as a vessel for the gravy. Potatoes need to be in that sweet Venn diagram spot of fluffy and crispy.”
Manchester favourite Nell’s to open new site for New York-style pizza, karaoke and shuffleboard
Daisy Jackson
Much-loved New York-style pizza joint Nell’s has announced big plans for a brand new location – they’re heading to MediaCity.
Nell’s are stepping things up a notch with the move, adding in private karaoke booths, shuffleboard tables, and a huge outdoor terrace in their new site.
Nell’s MediaCity is set to open this autumn, promising 22-inch New York-style pizza (also served in gigantic slices), frozen margs, and ice cream sandwiches.
There are already several spots around Manchester where you can get a slice of Nell’s, including their restaurants at Kampus and in Altrincham, the OG Northern Quarter site in Common, and at The Beagle in Chorlton.
And now it’s Salford’s turn, with plans unveiled for the team to expand over to MediaCity’s quayside Orange Building.
Nell’s co-founder Jonny Heyes said: “We’ve been thinking about MediaCity for a long time, it’s such a great area and we’ve seen what brilliant operators like Kargo have achieved so when this space came up, we jumped on it!
“The venue is huge which has given us the chance to really play with the experience.
“This idea of karaoke and shuffleboard accompanying our made-for-sharing pizzas and great cocktails feels like a natural next step for us as a brand.”
Nell’s have also partnered with Deliveroo and Slerp to send 14-inch and 22-inch pizzas far and wide.
The new opening is expected to create more than 35 new jobs, and as Common & Co has twice been named in the Times 100 Best Places To Work list, you might want to check those out HERE.
These viral sensations are a plush toy created by Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-raised designer Kasing Lung, who drew inspiration from his love of fairytales to create a character with bunny-like ears, large eyes and big smiles.
They’re swinging off handbags all over the UK at the minute and people are queueing for hours for the latest Labubu drops.
At Sweet Dreams, they’re making edible chocolate Labubus using a special mould flown in from Japan.
Each one has a pistachio kunafa filling and is painstakingly painted by hand.
And that brings us neatly to the next viral craze at play here – Dubai pistachio chocolate.
An army of pistachio chocolate LabubuInside a chocolate pistachio Labubu
Kunafa is a staple in Middle Eastern bakes and pastries but hit the global mainstream last year when thick chocolate pistachio bars stuffed with it went viral online, spawning countless dupes and inspired specials.
And finally, chocolate covered strawberries – hardly a new invention, but this simple dessert has rocketed in popularity especially in food hotspots like Borough Market in London.
Head into Sweet Dreams and you can build your treat from the base up – choose white or milk melted chocolate for your strawberries, layer on pistachio kunafa, then top with either a milk or white chocolate Labubu.
A slightly daft novelty? Yes. But that doesn’t stop them being delicious.
This is the only place in the UK currently selling Dubai pistachio chocolate Labubus.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd January 2024 
