The Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards have named the best restaurants, bars, individuals and more in our city, in a glittering ceremony at New Century.
The MFDF Awards took place on Monday evening, championing the best of the city’s hospitality industry across 18 categories.
From the highly sought-after Restaurant of the Year award, to Chef of the Year and the new Takeaway of the Year award, more than 350 people piled into New Century for the celebrations.
Each category was packed with brilliant food and drink businesses from across Greater Manchester, with several awards dedicated to the people who keep the industry ticking.
The Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards shortlist was compiled by the MFDF judging panel, made up of food and drink critics and writers (hello, including us here at The Manc…)
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Then the public had their chance to vote for their hospitality heroes, with some category scores being combined with the results of secret shopping visits from the judging panel.
Highlights include Higher Ground scooping Newcomer of the Year (on the same day they received a Bib Gourmand from Michelin), Fat Pat’s nabbing Food Trader of the Year, and Erst taking home the coveted Restaurant of the Year Award.
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Alexa Stratton-Powell, Festival Director of Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards commented: “We’re delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 MFDF Awards. Times are more challenging than ever for the hospitality industry, which has made it all the more important to champion our fantastic nominees and winners tonight.
“Shining a light on the city’s incredible independent restaurants, bars, cafes and everything in between is what the awards are all about and we’ve loved bringing everyone together to celebrate.
“We’d like to thank the MFDF judges and presenters, the sponsors of the awards, everyone who voted and New Century for hosting a night to remember.”
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All the winners of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards
Plant Based Offering of the Year
Winner – Bundobust, Oxford Street
Bundobust took home Plant Based Offering of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards. Credit; The Manc Group
Shortlist – Lily’s Indian Vegetarian Cuisine, Bahn Vi, The Walled Gardens, Maray, Speak in Code, Flawd, The Mekong Cat
Takeaway of the Year
Winner – Burgerism, Salford
Shortlist – Fat Pat’s, Ad Maoira, Unagi Street Food & Sushi, Ciaooo Garlic Bread, Wright’s Fish and Chips, Maida Grill House, Al Madina
Independent Drinks Producer of the Year
Winner – Track Brewing Co, Manchester
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Shortlist – Sureshot Brewing, Stockport Gin, Cloudwater Brew Co., Tarsier Spirit, Pod Pea Vodka, Manchester Union Brewery, Squawk Brewing Co
Independent Food Producer of the Year sponsored by Capital & Centric
Winner – Pollen Bakery, Ancoats and Kampus
Pollen Bakery at Kampus. Credit: The Manc GroupPollen Bakery at Kampus. Credit: The Manc Group
Shortlist – Great North Pie Co, La Chouquette, Gooey, Yellowhammer, The Manchester Smoke House, The Flat Baker, Companio Bakery
Foodie Neighbourhood of the Year sponsored by Manchester’s Finest
Winner – Stockport
Shortlist – Levenshulme, Altrincham, Urmston, Prestwich, Monton, Sale, Stretford
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Coffee Shop of the Year
Winner – Grapefruit Coffee, Sale
Shortlist – Cafe Sanjuan, Another Heart to Feed, Idle Hands Coffee, Bold Street Coffee, Smoak, Ancoats Coffee Co, Siop Shop
Food Trader of the Year
Winner – Fat Pat’s, Portland Street
Shortlist – Baratxuri, Chaat Cart, Triple B, Tawny Stores, Little Sri Lankan, Pico’s Tacos, Oh Mei Dumplings
Affordable Eats Venue of the Year
Winner – Ornella’s Kitchen, Denton
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Ornella’s Kitchen won Afford Eats Venue at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards
Shortlist – Nila’s Burmese Kitchen, Great North Pie Co, Cafe Sanjuan, Noodle Alley, Tokyo Ramen, Lily’s Deli, House of Habesha
Food and Drink Retailer of the Year
Winner – Cork of the North, Stockport
Shortlist – Ad Hoc Wines, Out of the Blue Fishmongers, Littlewoods Butcher, Wandering Palate, New Market Dairy, Petit Paris Deli, La Chouquette
Pop-up or Project of the Yer
Winner – Platt Fields Market Garden, Fallowfield
Shortlisted venues – Our Place, Tawny Stores, SAMPA, Little Sri Lankan, Suppher, Fare Share, Micky’s
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Pub or Beer Bar of the Year sponsored by Sagres
Winner – The Marble Arch
Shortlisted – Track Brewery Taproom, The City Arms, Runaway Brewery Taproom, Fox & Pine, Reddish Ale, Station Hop, Heaton Hops
Bar of the Year
Winner – Schofield’s Bar
Shortlist – The Jane Eyre, Blinker, Red Light, Sterling Bar, Hawksmoor, 10 Tib Lane, Flawd Wine
Neighbourhood Venue of the Year
Winner – Stretford Canteen
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Shortlist – Restaurant Örme, OSMA, Ornella’s Kitchen, The Oystercatcher, Yellowhammer, Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop, The Jane Eyre
Great Service Award, sponsored by Boutinot
Winner – Hawksmoor, Deansgate
Hawksmoor won a Great Service Award at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards
Shortlist – Higher Ground, Schofield’s Bar, Where The Light Gets In, Climat, Wood Manchester, Sterling Bar, Tast Catala
Newcomer of the Year, sponsored by Bruntwood
Winner – Higher Ground, New York Street
Shortlist – Climat, Restaurant Örme, Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop, The Jane Eyre, Madre, New Century Kitchen, Stretford Canteen
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Chef of the Year, sponsored by the Manchester Evening News
Shortlist – Joseph Otway (Higher Ground), Danielle Heron (OSMA), Luke Richardson (Climat), Julian Pizer (Another hand), Patrick Withington (Erst), Seri Nam (Flawd Wine), Mike Shaw (MUSU)
Restaurant of the Year, sponsored by Stephenson’s
Winner – Erst, Ancoats
Shortlist – Higher Ground, Climat, Another Hand, 10 Tib Lane, OSMA, The Sparrows, Mana
The Howard and Ruth Award for Outstanding Achievement
Recognising people who have contributed something outstanding to the hospitality industry in Greater Manchester.
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James Campbell, owner of Sureshot Brewery, and one of Manchester’s leading craft beer specialists.
James has over two decades of experience in the industry, beginning his journey in Manchester with pioneers of the scene Marble, where he was head brewer for eight years. Then as co-founder and head brewer, he launched the high profile Cloudwater, before constructing brewhouses for the likes of Verdant, Deya, and Bundobust. Now, post-pandemic, he is owner of the acclaimed brewery, Sureshot.
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?
Daisy Jackson -
29th January 2024 
