Acclaimed Stockport restaurant Where The Light Gets In has just announced details of an exciting five month-long residency in Manchester city centre.
The Green Michelin Star restaurant, famed for its seasonal tasting menus and natural wines, will be opening a temporary concept restaurant and a series of events right across town.
Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City will take over two venues (as well as the city streets) – The Bungalow at Kampus and community space Altogether Otherwise in NOMA.
It’s a bit of an unusual concept but just bear with us here.
Although billed as a ‘four-act programme’ that has been presented like a play (complete with scenes), this incredible project from Where The Light Gets In (WTLGI) is really a series of pop-up events, from workshops to dining experiences, across Manchester.
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The events will include a free night of natural wine and food, a conceptual pop-up fast-food diner, film screenings, walking tours, a pop-up restaurant, panel talks, and a full-blown banquet.
You’ll even be able to go litter-picking and trade in your bag of rubbish for a glass of wine.
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Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City will run between 21 November and 30 March, kicking off for the first month with ‘A Man Eating A Leg Of Chicken’.
This will be a free-entry, no-reservations pop-up where you can drink natural wines and ‘gorge on shellfish and animals roasted over wood’.
There’ll also be weekend takeovers from WTLGI’s favourite labels and record shops at Altogether Otherwise.
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Altogether Otherwise in NOMA will be used as a venue for the Where The Light Gets In Manchester residency. Credit: Supplied
From early January until 2 February, Where The Light Gets In will turn The Bungalow at Kampus into a conceptual fast-food restaurant The Land of Cockaigne, from wood-fired burgers to ice cream floats to spritzy grape juice.
It’ll involve self-serve counters, name tags and sauce udders, with the option to order a takeaway with an automated phone service.
In February, it’ll be Une semaine de bonté (A WEEK OF KINDNESS) at The Bungalow, with a restaurant ‘dressed with the beginning of spring’ serving simple dishes celebrating the arrival of a new season and delicious wines.
And finally in March, there’ll be the Luncheon of the Boating Party banquets, where guests sit at one long table and eat family-style platters with plenty of wine.
Sam Buckley from Where The Light Gets In. Credit: Supplied
Alongside those four main events will be masses of foraging and gardening workshops, walking tours, Q&As and loads more.
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The intention of the concept restaurant and residency is to bring Where The Light Gets In’s passion for sustainability and great food right into the bustling city centre for five months that combine food, art, and urban living.
The restaurant team has asked: “Are we heading to a cataclysmic dystopia or can we rewrite the future?
“Set against the backdrop of the city of Manchester, this programme explores the tension between city life and rural tradition, asking critical questions about food systems, and our own identity within nature, the city, and the arts.”
Where The Lights Gets In in Stockport is headed up by acclaimed chef Sam Buckley and is easily one of Greater Manchester’s best and most exciting restaurants.
Tickets are available from midday on Tuesday 15 October.
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Full programme for Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City Manchester residency
ACT 1: “A MAN EATING A LEG OF CHICKEN”
SCENE: A bustling Metropolis. When: Thursday to Saturday, 21 November to 21 December 2024, 5pm-11pm Where: Altogether Otherwise, NOMA, 6-10 Hanover St, Manchester M4 4BB What: We raid the cellars of WTLGI to bring you our favourite natural wines from the continent. Gorge on shellfish and whole animals roasted over wood. Weekender takeovers from our favourite labels and record shops. Welcome to your now. Welcome to the city. How: Free entry, no reservations
ACT 1 events highlights (running alongside): Opening night party: Living Room Dance Club 21st November 2024, 5pm-midnight Honest shop: Thursday, Friday & Saturday 12pm-4pm
ACT 2: THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE
SCENE: A fast food restaurant. When: Monday to Sunday, 10 January – 2 February 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: A conceptual fast-food diner. Churning out wood-fired burgers, ice cream floats and spritzy grape juice. It’s self-service counters, name tags and sauce udders. Eat in or take away using our automated telephone service. Grab a tray and find a seat, welcome to the future of convenient feeding: fast-paced and unlimited choice. How: Head HERE to reserve your seat, or order a takeaway for collection on our phone line. Open for walk-ins also.
ACT 2 event highlights: Film screenings. Altogether Otherwise DATE TBC Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint – Q&A with Douglas McMaster & Sam Buckley DATE TBC WTLGI X SILO MEAL Manchester Utopia – The Modernist walking tour
ACT 3: Une semaine de bonté (A WEEK OF KINDNESS)
SCENE: A pleasant garden; simple and sufficient When: Monday to Sunday, 3rd February – 2nd March 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: A clean and well-lit restaurant dressed with the beginnings of Spring. We offer a moderate choice of simple dishes carefully prepared with ingredients selected for their freshness and relevance to the time and place. A thoughtful selection of wines from small-scale producers. How: Head to HERE to reserve your seat. Open for walk-ins also.
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Act 3 event highlights: Panel discussion on the history of communal green spaces. Open Call for Manchester Chefs: Master Whole Animal Butchery with Samuel Buckley and Marcus of Littlewoods Butchers, followed by a meal for EatWell. TRIAGE: A Pickling walk-in centre. Drop in with your veg and we’ll help you to preserve it. 12-2 Friday. Film screening Altogether Otherwise Urban Foraging Walk & Litter Picking: A guided exploration of local green spaces, teaching participants to identify and gather wild edibles. Pick a bag of litter, get a glass of wine on us. Book tables with a stranger – In this act we encourage discussion and conversation around the dinner table. It is often the non-tangible delights that arouse pleasure and satisfaction.
ACT 4: LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY
SCENE: A long wooden table in the middle of a garden. ‘And if one day my wisdom should desert me – ah, it loves to fly away! – then may my pride too fly with my folly’ When: Monday to Sunday, 3 March – 30 March 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: Join us for a banquet to celebrate the finale of our residency in Manchester. Guests will sit at one long table and enjoy an array of dishes designed to eat family-style. Platters of vegetables, meats and fish will adorn the centre of the table. We will share, we will pour wine. How: Head HERE to reserve your seat at the table.
Act 4 events: Hand-drawn ‘fruit maps’ that plot the locations of fruit trees and foraging spots, growing on, or overhanging, public space in Manchester. Urban Gardening Workshop: Led by Manchester Urban Diggers, participants learn to cultivate their own urban gardens, regardless of space constraints.
Hideaway – Co-op Live unveils new late-night luxury members club by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer
Thomas Melia
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A newly designed members lounge is making its way to Co-op Live in Manchester, adding to the entertainment venue’s already impressive roster.
Joining the lineup of 32 other food and drink vendors, bars, restaurants and lounges, ‘Hideaway’ boasts a menu curated by chef and TV personality Simon Rimmer.
Known for fronting Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch with co-host Tim Lovejoy, and for being the man behind Manchester’s much-loved and now-lost Greens restaurants, Rimmer’s next venture takes his dishes away from the big screen and into the Co-op Live.
Guests will be presented with vibrant delights from a menu which is dedicated to Mediterranean-inspired foods, one of the celebrity chef’s favourite cuisines.
Replacing the former ‘Decibel Lounge’, the new luxury lounge ‘Hideaway’ boasts the same unforgettable view of the stage from section 103.
Food will also be served at the beginning and end of every event, and guests are in for a treat because after all that dancing, you’ll definitely be able to satisfy those post-concert foodie cravings.
From kebabs, small plates and quick bites, Simon Rimmer’s tailored menu is ideal for an entertainment venue such as Manchester’s Co-op Live, giving members everything they need to stay fuelled throughout the show.
Hideaway – Co-op Live’s newest exclusive luxury lounge.A proposed seating and dining area for Hideaway, Co-op LiveAn illustration of the plans commencing at Hideaway, Co-op LiveCredit: The Manc Group
Drinks are also a must, especially when they have been specially expertly crafted and paired with the food on your table, including Moët & Chandon champagne and Hennessy Cognac cocktails.
Now your music taste won’t be the only thing catered towards, your tastebuds can experience the same joy too.
This new experience really is exclusive with only 100 spaces available and if it receives as much interest as the other lounges at the venue it’s sure to sell out.
Sam Piccione III, OVG International President of Sales, said: “The redesign of Hideaway marks a significant moment in our continued journey to deliver unrivalled premium experiences at Co-op Live.
“With Simon Rimmer’s involvement, we are taking things to the next level – creating a destination designed for music lovers, combining great music with outstanding food, cocktails and Champagne, in a stylish party atmosphere that makes experiencing live music at Co-op Live unforgettable.”
Anyone thinking of living their life a little more lavishly can do so by enquiring through Co-op Live’s website here.
The very best and booziest bottomless brunches in Manchester city centre
Danny Jones
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If you’re looking to find the very best bottomless brunch places Manchester city centre has to offer, then look no further.
You’ll probably be struggling to see straight after you finish brunching anyway, but that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it?
In Manchester, we love a good brunch like the best of them.
Getting stuck into some free-flowing drinks with your friends around a table of food is a match made in heaven if you ask us.
To help you achieve your ultimate bottomless brunch goals, we’ve put together a list of some of our top spots in Manchester to help you find the right one for you.
One of Manchester’s most popular bars has recently relaunched its Hip Hop Orchestra Brunch, with live music, bottomless drinks and food.
At Blues Kitchen, you can tuck into soul food-inspired mains like fried chicken and gravy, taco bowls, shrimp sandwiches and beef dip melts, with 90 minutes of unlimited drinks for £35 per person.
And in true Blues Kitchen fashion, there’ll of course be live music aplenty, from live soul and R&B in the bar to the house band playing upstairs in the gig space.
There are loads of options and packages to check out – head HERE to make your booking.
Bordering two of Manchester city centre‘s coolest and best foodie neighbourhoods, the team who run the show over at Ramona and Firehouse during the day and well into the night have become famous around the UK for their Detroit-style pizza, loaded tater tots, margaritas and good vibes.
Better still, you can turn those Cali peps slices, helpings of fresh burrata, spicy margs, mimosa and more bottomless at just £38pp.
Between 12pm and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, you can get any slice of pizza plus frozen margs, selected spritzes, prosecco and Ramona pilsner.
3. New Century – NOMA
New Century in Manchester serves a great bottomless brunch. Credit: The Manc Group
All the traders from the New Century food hall band together at the weekends to serve up a bottomless brunch with more menu options than anywhere else in the city.
You can order a brunch item from any trader inside – and that includes egg banh mis from Banh Vi and chicken and waffles from Parmogeddon – then add on a bottomless drinks package for 90 minutes.
Options include bottomless lager, stout, IPA, cider, prosecco, and Aperol Spritzes for £30 (including one brunch item), or for an extra fiver you can also get Pornstar Martinis and Bloody Marys.
The Peaky Blinders bar on Peter Street grows more popular year after year, and not just because people enjoy dressing up in fancy old-world clobber and coming along to see the lookalikes – it’s the birdcage of tasty bites, ‘Cherry Ada’s and ‘Shel-bee’ whiskey-based specials that keep them coming back.
There are different bottomless brunch menus available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from classic brunch platters to steak and fries to bottomless roast dinners.
And they all come with endless cocktails, beers, spirits and more drinks, with bottomless packages between £37.50 and £40.
5. Sexy Fish – Spinningfields
One of the fanciest new openings in Manchester, Sexy Fish, serves one of the city’s swankiest bottomless brunches.
For £48 per person, you can indulge in a range of starters, unlimited sushi from the sushi buffet, a main course with a side, and desserts.
Or you can just have your fill at the sushi buffet for £28 per person.
Then you can add on free-flowing cocktails for £30 per person or indulge in limitless bubbles from £34 per person.
6. Diecast – Piccadilly East
Diecast in Manchester does a bottomless brunch with its frozen daiquiris.
90 minutes of pure drag entertainment is what’s on the menu at Diecast in Piccadilly East, as Dragstravaganza takes over for an interactive bottomless battle.
There are also more regular bottomless brunch offerings, where you can choose a pizza from the menu plus add on 90 minutes of frozen daiquiris.
The event schedule is a busy one so check HERE to book your bottomless at Diecast.
Another solid Manchester bottomless brunch spot is Banyan, offering two hours of the good stuff for £36.95 and free reign on their food menu – we’re talking breakfast hash, Korean fried chicken burgers, flat iron steak and curry.
You can go bottomless in the evenings too for £39.95.
And endless drinks include loads of their house cocktails, plus your usual suspects like prosecco, beer and spirits.
A Pan-Asian bottomless brunch with dishes like an Asian twist on a full English, a Rendang roti, a Bali brunch bowl and Bang Bang steak and eggs? Sign us up.
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Running seven (yep, seven!) days a week, the Tampopo bottomless (and they have two restaurants in Manchester) includes 90 minutes of free-flowing bubbles, lager, rum beach buckets and house cocktails, plus any brunch plate or vegetarian, chicken or pork large plate.
Not bad for £38 a head.
9. Italiana Fifty-Five – Great Northern Warehouse and Castlefield
Italiana Fifty-Five does bottomless Aperol brunch and a tower of treats at all three of its Manchester restaurants
Next up is one we’d consider an old faithful: Italiana Fifty-Five, formerly known as Cibo. With three sites in Manchester, now including one in Didsbury. We’ve had this particular bottomless brunch so many times now we’ve lost count but it never disappoints.
Available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with sittings between 12pm and 7.30pm, you’ll be presented with a tower of Italian treats and endless cocktails, including Aperol Spritzes.
Bottomless tapas and sangria at Canto puts a Portuguese twist on boozy brunch proceedings over in Ancoats. The sister site of AA Rosette restaurant, El Gato Negro, this is what they call ‘tipsy tapas’.
Priced at £40 a head, you get a choice of three plates each and 90 minutes of unlimited drinks with choices like sangria, fizz, bellinis, house wine and lager.
Tapas choices include options like jamón croquetas, salt cod fritters, patatas bravas, crispy squid and plenty more. Never fails.
One of the best bottomless brunches in Manchester? Don’t mind if we do. They keep it simple at Elnecot as you just opt for your unlimited drinks on top of the usual but you’ll hear no complaints from us whilst we’re sipping on house Cosmos, mimosas, Bloody Marys, boozy ice teas and lager.
Brunch dishes, meanwhile, feature the likes of crispy pork belly with rosti, fried eggs, savoy kimchi, Elnecot chilli jam and yoghurt; wild mushrooms on toast with goat’s curd and dukkah, as well as Elnecot’s full English and eggs on toast, just to name a few.
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Bottomless drinks are £26 per person, plus whatever brunch dish you want, for two hours of drinking time.
12. The Bay Horse Tavern – Northern Quarter
Credit: The Manc Eats
Affectionately known by locals as ‘Horse-moor’, the boozy brunch menu at upmarket NQ pub The Bay Horse Tavern is a pretty traditional affair dish-wise, although there is a funky peanut butter, bacon and fried banana croissant bad boy to be found here too.
Priced at £32.50 for a dish and unlimited drinks until 4pm every weekend, think egg, bacon and sausage butties; fry-ups; poached and scrambled eggs (they do eggs really well here) mushrooms, avo and smoked salmon on toast, as well as fizz, Irish coffee, beer, mimosas, bloody marys and house wine. Easy.
Maybe one of the more expensive on this list but worth every penny, Gaucho’s ‘Electro Brunch’ is one of the Manchester OGs and it also happens to be one of the best steaks in town. Setting you back £65, it’s all about the beef here which is wet-aged and can be cut with a butter knife it’s that soft.
The music-fuelled all-you-can-eat midday feast also features cocktails like pornstar martinis and Aperol spritz alongside glasses of Argentinian Domain Chandon and even includes a brunch dessert of smoked chocolate ganache. They have a maximum of eight drinks per person but, let’s be honest, that’s plenty.
Another more boujee, boozy brunch option is at Gordon Ramsay’s very own Lucky Cat.
For 90 minutes, you can enjoy endless prosecco alongside a two-course meal, with dishes like vegetable tempura, crispy beef rice bowls, and teriyaki salmon.
You can also add dessert platter for an extra tenner or upgrade from prosecco to champagne for £20. This is definitely a more classy excuse to get tipsy, whilst enjoying some proper high-quality food.
Fress is an award-winning white-subway tiled restaurant on Oldham Street that often has queues out the door for its bottomless boozy brunch. There’s a hearty menu featuring all the favourites, from a full English and beans on toast to mouth-watering waffles and pancakes, but it’s the sweet stuff we go for.
With a 1 hour 15 minute £37 per person sitting (that price includes a main from the menu) drinks choices include prosecco, mimosas, house wine and lager.
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16. Zouk Tea Bar and Grill – Quadrangle
Credit: The Manc
Just off Oxford Road Corridor, you’ll find one of the very best bottomless brunches in Manchester and it’s over at Zouk — also one of the best places for a curry in town that you can enjoy bottomless style, but that’s a separate matter. Two plates and as much booze as you can stomach. Glorious.
Either way, for £35 a pop from 11am to 4.30pm every Saturday, you can get an incredible South Indian and Pakistani-inspired menu featuring everything from masala omelettes to the ‘Bollywood Benedict’ and SO much more. Absolutely slaps every single time.
A favourite amongst the flag-waving bottomless brunch brigade, we can’t think of many places that come more immediately to mind than Manahatta on Deansgate. Two whole hours of non-stop booze and some Insta-worthy scran for £36.95 until 3pm and you can upgrade to any dish for an extra fiver.
Manahatta’s brunch menu features a wide range of spritzes, bloody marys or lager to enjoy alongside plates that range from Mexican wraps to breakfast hash, pancakes, steak frites and other NYC-inspired plates. You can also book big parties and the main menu for £41.95.
18. The Pen and Pencil – NQ
Another long-standing favourite over ours, you’ll find plenty of people heading to The Pen and Pencil when they’re round Northern Quarter way and after a solid bottomless brunch.
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Their bottomless brunch runs on the last Saturday of every month, costs £50 and will leave you full to bursting – and that’s just the booze part.
You’ve got all of the staple egg dishes, pancake stacks and more, as well as all your classic cocktails – and you can eat and drink as much as you like.
Very similar vibes here – no list of the best bottomless brunch places in Manchester is complete without BLVD, the Spinningfields venue without the vowels but all the flavour, putting their own unique spin on things with a selection of small plates like veg tempura to duck spring rolls to salt and pepper chicken wings.
You can choose two small plates, one side, and then dive in to different flavours of Bellinis, prosecco, rum punch, gin smash cocktails, vodka raspberry ripples, and bottled beers.
It costs £35 per person and is available every day that BLVD is open.
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20. Crazy Pedro’s – NQ and Deansgate
Yes, Crazy P’s does do bottomless brunch and yes it is mint. Enjoy unlimited slices from their ever-rotating daily menu of crazy pizza concoctions, as well as non-stop Hooch, beer, prosecco and their classic Frozen Margz for 90 minutes
It’s just £29.50pp for pure carbs and the fun-time juice when you book and it also happens to be ‘r Amy’s favourite pizza place and quite a few of us would probably agree with her.
21. Shack Bar and Grill
Shack’s brilliant disco brunch starts from £32.50 per person, with a few levels of drinks packages if you want to step things up a little bit.
Dishes include French toast, chorizo chilli eggs, breakfast buns, and absolutely massive pancake and waffle stacks, plus a full menu of grilled cheeses, wraps and burgers.
In our opinion, Ducie Street Warehouse quietly does some of the best bottomless brunch in Manchester, there just aren’t enough people that know about it, so we’re fixing that. Croque monsieurs, pancake stacks, breakfast baps and more. This menu is elite.
Changing themes each month, as well as wheeling out their ‘disco’ brunch every Saturday, their parties (and believe us, they are) will set you back £42.
Once again, no list of bottomless brunch hotspots in Manchester city centre would be complete without the Deansgate cornerstone that is Dirty Martini. Someone pass us a phone, we need another picture in front of them wings because the last 20 or so weren’t quite good enough.
Just as good during the day as it is for a night out, their bottomless brunch costs £37.50pp on Fridays and Saturdays but their Martini brunch from Sunday-Thursday is the cheaper option at just £30.
24. Almost Famous – Great Northern and NQ
We will take any excuse to head to one of the best burger joints in Manchester so, naturally, the fact Almost Famous also does bottomless brunch is ideal. Available Friday-Sunday from 12-3pm, you get the standard 90-minute sitting from £37.50pp.
Get ready for this: get absolutely ANY famous burger with winning or bacon bacon fries and chicken nuggets as well a free run at as much draught beer, cider, prosecco and cocktails as you fancy sinking. We call that heaven.
25. Foundry Project – NQ
Finally, the Foundry Project over on Thomas Street does a bang-up bottomless brunch with plenty of variety for just £36 per person.
Hash brown nachos, breakfast brioche, fry-ups, brunch burgers and more to go with prosecco, bellinis, mimosas, Aperol spritz or pints of Amstel. What more could you possibly want?
It goes without saying that there aren’t plenty more places we could have out on this list and we’re sure it’ll keep growing over time, but 25 should do you for now.
Manchester really does have some of the best bottomless brunch culture in the country and we’re saying that with our chests, so don’t even try and argue with us.
And if you’re just looking for really good morning/early afternoon scran that isn’t necessarily bottomless, you can also check out our list of the best breakfast and brunch places in Manchester city centre — and yes, there’s plenty of overlap.
Daisy Jackson -
15th October 2024 
