Eats

The best restaurants in Manchester named at prestigious National Restaurant Awards

The North West did pretty well last night...

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 11th June 2024

The best restaurants in the UK have been named at the National Restaurant Awards – and Manchester has done pretty well for itself.

The prestigious awards took place last night, listing the top 100 places to eat in the entire UK.

Three restaurants within Manchester itself managed to make it into the top 50 of the country’s best restaurants.

And there was a glowing endorsement for a brand new spot that’s only been open for a couple of weeks.

Skof is a beautiful new spot by celebrated chef Tom Barnes, who has worked at L’Enclume, the three-Michelin star Lake District restaurant widely considered one of the best in the world.

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His first restaurant, located in the NOMA neighbourhood, has been named the ‘One to Watch’ at the National Restaurant Awards.

Judges said that Skof is set to make ‘a big impact in a city that has a pumping restaurant scene but is in general unmoved by fancy restaurants’.

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Food at Skof in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Food at Skof in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Food at Skof in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Food at Skof in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

The highest-ranking restaurant in the Top 100 list for Greater Manchester is Michelin starred Mana, which came in 14th place.

The fine dining establishment in the heart of Ancoats got its Michelin star just a year after opening and National Restaurant Award judges praised it for being ‘understated and confident’ with ‘highly technical and precise’ cooking.

Mana has been chased pretty closely by Higher Ground in 16th place, a relative newcomer that’s already jumped up from last year’s 51st spot, been named one of Rick Stein’s favourite places to eat, and scooped a prestigious Bib Gourmand.

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Higher Ground is operated by a powerful trio – one of the UK’s brightest young chefs Joseph Otway, front-of-house man Richard Cossins, and wine expert Daniel Craig Martin – and made the list thanks in part to its focus on regenerative farming and local produce.

Higher Ground in Manchester won big at the National Restaurant Awards
Higher Ground in Manchester has been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand
Erst in Manchester has been named as one of the best restaurants in the UK at the National Restaurant Awards
Erst in Ancoats is Michelin-recommended restaurant
Higher Ground and Erst in Manchester have both been named among the UK’s best restaurants. Credit: The Manc Group

Completing the Manchester portion of the best restaurants in the UK list is Erst, which has swooped in at number 50.

The beautiful Ancoats restaurant was named as ‘the perfect neighbourhood spot’, with its ever-changing menu of small plates and natural wines hailed as being ‘an antidote to the glitzier ‘going out out’ restaurant scene for which Manchester is traditionally known’.

All eyes have been on Erst in recent weeks after Trove – the bakery which is a sister site to the restaurant – suddenly shut down.

There was a lot of success for the North West in general too at the National Restaurant Awards.

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Two Michelin-star Moor Hall, just up the road from Manchester in Lancashire, placed third overall in the UK but lost its crown as the best restaurant in England.

L’Enclume in the Lake District sits in 20th place, The Parkers Arms pub in Lancashire made 51st, and Forest Side in Ambleside came 75th.

You can see the full top 100 list from the National Restaurant Awards here.

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Featured image: Supplied

Eats

That’s Thai – the unassuming but brilliant Thai cafe attached to a garage near Strangeways

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson That's Thai cafe in Manchester

As you’re wandering around Strangeways with a prison on your right and a load of warehouses on your left, you’d never imagine that you’re in striking distance of some of Manchester’s best Thai food.

But I promise you, you are.

That’s Thai is a tiny little spot tacked onto the side of a garage, with space for only about six diners inside and a couple more on the pavement outside.

Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt has brightened up the cafe, formerly a greasy spoon, with posters of Bangkok street markets and shelves of ornaments, but she’s really the most dazzling thing in here.

The approach to the restaurant through this gritty corner of Manchester (and we don’t mean gritty in the same way that people sometimes describe the Northern Quarter) might be a little intimidating – like are we really going for lunch down this dead-end back street? – but it all melts away once you open the door.

You’re immediately smacked with the smell of punchy Thai food being flipped around in a wok, and given a beaming welcome from Wan.

She knows her regulars well, greeting almost everyone by name and often predicting their order before they’ve uttered more than a ‘hello’.

In the half-hour we sit inside, there’s a steady stream of customers popping in and out for lunch, most of them strolling across from the huge building site next door.

That’s Thai cafe in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt
Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt
Inside That's Thai in Cheetham Hill, which used to be a greasy spoon
Inside That’s Thai in Cheetham Hill, which used to be a greasy spoon

For such a small kitchen (there are only two of them cooking around a few woks, gliding around the small kitchen in a well-rehearsed dance) they manage to whip up a pretty comprehensive menu of Thai food.

On the street food-inspired menu you’ll find 21 mains, from fan favourites like Pad Thai and green curry to authentic takes on khao khai chiao (a Thai omelette) and laab moo (a spicy pork salad), plus starters like tempura prawns (quite possibly the best I’ve ever had) and spring rolls.

The portions are generous and the prices low – you won’t be spending more than a tenner here to get so full you struggle to walk back to work.

Food at That's Thai
Kuai Tiew Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) with extra chilli and a fried egg
Food at That's Thai
Tempura king prawns
Food at That's Thai
Gai Pad cashew nut stir fry with jasmine rice
Food at That’s Thai

The regulars have their favourites, that much is clear, and the favourite is often salt and pepper chips.

Wan is visibly taken aback and delighted when she reels off an order to a familiar face and he tells her ‘actually, I’m going to try something new today’.

The massive redevelopment taking place on this side of Cheetham Hill is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s giving That’s Thai plenty of footfall, but as dilapidated warehouses are pushed aside for new hotels, colleges and residential developments, her tiny restaurant may eventually be forced elsewhere too.

But for now, there is arguably nowhere better in Manchester for your Thai food fix.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

The complete guide to all the food at Manchester’s Piccadilly Street Food Markets

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

When it comes to a lunch break in Manchester we really are spoilt for choice – but there’s a reason so many of us make the pilgrimage to the Piccadilly Street Food Markets every week.

This little huddle of colourful huts on the edge of Piccadilly Gardens is home to some of the best cheap eats in town.

The area has had a major upgrade in recent years from the days when it was just a couple of rows of gazebos, and now you’ll find the same familiar faces whipping up tasty lunches for queues of Mancs, five days a week.

Whether you’re after a healthy falafel wrap, an enormous Star Wars-inspired smash burger, or a proper Indian grill, the Piccadilly Street Food Markets have got your back.

Here’s a quick guide to all the traders currently operating here.

All the food at the Piccadilly Street Food Markets

Rita’s Reign

Rita's Reign in Manchester
Rita’s Reign in Manchester
Rita's Reign in Manchester
Rita’s Reign in Manchester

There’s a reason Rita’s Reign attracts the biggest queues at the Piccadilly Street Food Markets – this is some properly good food.

You can get gigantic boxes stuffed with jollof rice, boneless jerk chicken, curry goat, vegan curry, plantain and more, with prices starting from £7. Unbelievable value for money.

The Bearded Feeder

The Bearded Feeder's Wookiee burger at Piccadilly Gardens
The Bearded Feeder’s Wookiee burger at Piccadilly Gardens

A staple of the Piccadilly Street Food Markets, this stall is somewhere you can still get a filling lunch for a fiver – and you’ll get some pretty solid Star Wars puns on the side.

The Bearded Feeder serves the best smash burgers in the city from just £5, plus loaded fries, filthy hot dogs, tacos, and pulled pork.

Falafel King MCR

On the menu here you’ll find wraps stuffed with fillings that are great value for money.

Falafel wraps start from £5, but you can add in halloumi, aubergine, and fries, make it a meal deal, or order a falafel lunch box or salad instead.

Simply Delicious by Dine with Saira

Simply Delicious by Dine with Saira and Piccadilly Street Food Markets
Simply Delicious by Dine with Saira and Piccadilly Street Food Markets

Rice and three is a Manchester institution, but here lunch boxes include samosas, bhajis, seekh kebabs and loads more.

There’s a good choice of curries and grilled meats, plus samosas with the crispest pastry in Manchester.

Turkish Grill

‘Shawarma, doner, casserole!’ the team behind the counter at Turkish Grill holler out every lunchtime – a pretty effective marketing tactic, judging by the speed their meat dishes go flying out.

You can get a chicken shawarma wrap for £7, loaded with salad, meat, chips and homemade tzatziki.

Famous Philadelphia Cheesesteaks

It’s all about the meat here at Philadelphia Cheese Steak, served on chips, rice, or in huge sub rolls. 

There’s a Buffalo chicken cheese steak, or a classic Philly cheese steak, which are both well worth your attention. 

Nashville Chicken

The portions are as big as the flavours at Nashville Chicken, which serves a proper USA twist on all things chicken.

Expect chicken poutine, buffalo wings, Nashville chicken (obviously) and even a chicken cheese dog.

Piccadilly Bakes

You can’t walk past Piccadilly Bakes without their incredible cookies and cakes catching your eye.

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Here you’ll find chunky cookies with gooey middles stuffed with pistachio creme, kinder Bueno and more, plus old-school chocolate cake and custard and loads more.

The Dutch Fishmen

Have you ever seen a potato being sliced into a spiral, jammed onto a stick, battered, and fried before? Well you have now!

The Dutch Fishmen are another familiar face around Manchester and also serve seafood dishes like cod bites, fried prawns and fish burgers.

Piccadilly Thai

Sometimes nothing will hit the spot quite like a hefty box of Thai food – and this place is a real craving-buster.

Their crispy chilli beef, bright orange sweet chilli chicken, Thai holy basil stir fry and many more dishes are available in mix-and-match boxes.

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BangGaBangGa

This place used to operate under a different name and went insanely viral for its Korean corn dogs, which have molten mozzarella inside that will stretch for miles (okay not quite).

As well as these delicious snacks, they have authentic dishes like Tteokbokki, Korean rice cakes, served in a punchy and spicy sauce.

Chen’s Happy House

A hangover cure, boxed – each lunch at Chen’s Happy House is piled high with salt and pepper flavoured items, fried things, chips, rice, and noodles, with plenty of options.

Their Chinese curry sauce is elite, too.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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