Pistachio is having a bit of a *moment* right now – if it’s not green and nutty, Manchester doesn’t want to know.
This delicious ingredient, commonplace in Italian and Middle Eastern desserts for generations, has become the dessert It Girl of the 2020s.
Moving on from baklavas and gelatos, you’ll now find pistachio infiltrating lattes, cookies, cheesecakes, chocolate bars, pancake stacks and loads more.
Whether you like yours to still come in the shape of a nut, or are happy for it to be whizzed up into that ubiquitous pistachio creme, we’ve found 10 of the best places to get your pistachio fix in Manchester.
Half Dozen Other, Oxford Road and Red Bank
Pistachio cookie at Half Dozen Other, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Half Dozen Other comes from the team behind Pot Kettle Black, with a huge bakery site over in the Green Quarter and now a cafe on Oxford Road too.
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It’s at that latter site where you’ll get one of the best pistachio desserts in Manchester – a luminous green cookie, stuffed to bursting with dark and white chocolate chips and pistachios too.
It’s proven so popular, and so delicious, it’s now part of their core bakes range.
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The Half Dozen Other team dream up brand-new bakes every single week to go alongside their staple croissants, and they’re all amazing.
Black Milk, Oldham Road
The full pistachio range at Black Milk ManchesterA pistachio milkshake with pistachio cake on top at Black Milk
Oh hi there, is that you, looking for the best desserts in Manchester? You’ve come to the right place.
These guys are the OG (and best) creators of pistachio creme, sold in jars online, in store, in Co-op and in Selfridges (ooh fancy). They also make their own granola, including a pistachio and white chocolate flavour.
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Black Milk has been a firm Manc favourite for years now, thanks to its outrageous cereal bowls (the bowl is chocolate), milkshakes topped with a slice of cake, cheesecakes constructed in a chocolate bowl, and giant pancake stacks.
You can get all of those with lashings of that iconic pistachio creme too – it’s a must-visit.
Sipp, Great Ancoats Street and Deansgate Square
Sipp has teamed up with Black Milk for pistachio matchas. Credit: The Manc Group
Matcha girlies, assemble! Sipp is a coffee shop that’s doing some of the best iced drinks in town.
Based in the General Stores in Ancoats and Deansgate Square – and with their own coffee shop soon to open in Chorlton – these guys don’t mess around when it comes to delicious flavoured matchas.
They’ve got one on the menu that’s made with Black Milk’s pistachio creme – a green dream – or you can order their best-seller, a refreshing coconut and raspberry concoction.
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Cocoa Cabana, Cutting Room Square
Cocoa Cabana in Manchester sells the viral Dubai pistachio chocolate. Credit: The Manc Group
If you haven’t yet come across the Dubai pistachio chocolate bars, you simply aren’t spending enough time online.
These enormous bars are stuffed with pistachio sauce and knafeh, a crunchy, traditional Arabic pastry that is sort of reminiscent of when you use to make Easter nests with a Shredded Wheat in primary school.
Cocoa Cabana finishes theirs in a shimmering coat of edible gold (because why not).
This brilliant chocolate cafe also has smores platters, fondue, afternoon teas and loads more – see more about Cocoa Cabana here.
Alex’s Bakery, Deansgate
You can get pistachio tres leche cake at Alex’s BakeryPistachio French toast at Alex’s Bakery
Tucked in amongst all the brilliant local names lining the side of Deansgate and Great Northern is Alex’s Bakery, which shot to fame for its cupcakes and brownies but actually nails every dessert you can think of.
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Come for the cakes but stay for the brunches, which include pancake stacks and huge wedges of French toast generously drizzled in pistachio creme and white chocolate.
Oh god and PLEASE don’t skip out on their tres leches cakes – soft sponge cakes beloved in South America, which come in loads of flavours here. The tiramisu and pistachio ones top our list.
If you can’t make it into town, Alex’s Bakery also has a big online shop you can order from.
The Flat Baker, Ancoats
Pistachio soft serve in a croissant from Flat BakerFlat Baker is the home of the pistachio croissant
It would be remiss of me to not include the Flat Baker in any round-up of pistachio flavoured things.
This Ancoats bakery goes viral all the time for its pistachio-stuffed croissants, with steady queues at their little hatch on Radium Street and queues at the Christmas Markets that were so long they actually left the markets altogether.
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Known for blending traditional baking with Brazilian influences, here you’ll find crispy pastries baked fresh daily – and it’s the home of the pistachio croissant.
In summer, they even serve pistachio soft serve in a croissant cone.
DGHNT, Mackie Mayor
DGHNT’s pistachio tiramisu doughnut in Mackie Mayor, Manchester
The biggest and best doughnuts in town are being served in Mackie Mayor, by the legendary DGHNT.
These artisan brioche delights are baked fresh daily, with a constantly evolving cabinet full of specials.
One of the best – and thankfully most frequently-returning – is the pistachio tiramisu, where that pillowy brioche dough is stuffed with tiramisu filling before being coated in a pistachio cream glaze and candied pistachios. Yum.
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Nur Cafe, Deansgate
There’s an Arabian cafe on Deansgate that’s a nur brainer (sorry) for authentic Middle Eastern pastries and sweet treats – and yes, that means pistachio aplenty.
It can’t stop going viral online for its sweet treats, from tres leches cakes to pistachio lattes.
There’s also really, really good baklava on offer here, plus full Turkish breakfasts, French pastries, spiced Saudi coffees, and shakshuka.
Ornella’s Kitchen, Denton
The pistachio carbonara from Ornella’s Kitchen. Credit: The Manc GroupPistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Italian restaurants don’t get much more authentic (or popular) than Ornella’s Kitchen in Denton.
This tiny little restaurant and deli has you’ll find proper Italian pistachio gelato, served in a soft Sicilian brioche bun.
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And it makes its way onto the savoury menu too, in the form of a pistachio carbonara with crispy guanciale pieces that burst in little salty mouthfuls against the rich and creamy pasta sauce.
This place will have been all over your FYP page if you’ve ever expressed any interest in food.
Chai Cabin in Bolton is serving up the creamiest cheesecakes we’ve ever had (we know, bold statement), plus the viral sensation; Dubai pistachio chocolate-covered strawberry pots, with that delicious crunch from the knafeh pastry.
They also do milkshakes, waffles, tiramisu, doughnuts and more. Honestly, this is a dessert-lovers heaven.
Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
The legendary Hulme community pub The Old Abbey Taphouse has been reborn
Daisy Jackson
The closure of The Old Abbey Taphouse was a real blow for Hulme and the surrounding university district area; the community pub was a bit of a local institution thanks to its grassroots music and inclusive atmosphere.
But now it appears that the spirit of the venue lives on, under the new name of The Abbey.
Some of the city’s most experienced independent operators – who have been behind venues like YES and The Deaf Institute, and music promoters Now Wave – will be the new custodians of this beloved local landmark.
The pub, which closed early last year, has now been carefully and lovingly restored ahead of its big relaunch, which will start in true Manc vision with an exclusive opening night gig.
The Abbey is reborn. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The vision for its new chapter will be ‘Old Pub, New Music’, creating a new home for grassroots live music and emerging artists.
There’s also affordable, hearty pub grub, including Pieminister pies, and a huge range of beers from local breweries and beyond.
Bringing The Abbey back to life are a core team of four: Ruth Hemmingfield, Wesley Jones, Jonathan Wickstead and Gareth Butterworth.
Ruth, Jon and Wesley are co-owners of YES; Ruth previously launched and programmed landmark Manc venues including The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and Albert Hall; while Wesley and Jonathan, through Now Wave, promote hundreds of independent gigs and live events each year.
As for Gareth, he’s the founder of the multi-venue festival Manchester Psych Fest, meaning that all of them have plenty of hospitality, late-night, live music and events experience between them.
The team behind The Abbey pub. Credit: Piran Aston
The rear of the site of The Old Abbey Taphouse will be extended to create a new dedicated live music and events venue, while the cherished beer garden is given a facelift with new decking and its own bar.
The Abbey has stood in Hulme since the 1890s, playing an important role in the area’s heritage – this is where activist Len Johnson managed to overturn the shameful ‘colour bar’ policies of the 1940s.
Its restoration and relaunch are part of the flourishing Manchester Science Park development.
Matthew Pazos, Senior Retail Commercial Manager at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Ruth, Wesley and Jonathan are the perfect custodians to breathe new life into The Abbey.
“Their reputation for running independent spaces in Manchester, alongside their live music expertise, will ensure this much-valued pub once again becomes a beating heart for Hulme and the wider neighbourhood.
“The reopening of The Abbey will create an inclusive new hub that welcomes everyone – from the Hulme locals who have looked after the pub over the years, to the Manchester Science Park community, university students, and the many residents and workers across the Oxford Road Corridor.
“We are delighted that such a culturally significant and important pub is set to open its doors once again.”
Ruth from the new Abbey team commented: “We love a good pub. With The Abbey, we’re excited about bringing a brilliant old pub back to life, protecting what people loved about it, and creating something special: a great local, alongside a vital grassroots music venue for the area.
“We’re honouring the pub’s history while building its future.”
Daisy Jackson -
26th February 2025 
