Levenshulme has long been described as an up-and-coming destination for restaurants, but with its typical South Manchester frontage of innumerable pound shops, bookies, and fried chicken takeaways, at first glance, you might be forgiven for wondering why.
This is no quiet, polite Ancoats, with its tiny pedigree dogs trotting around happily after their owners, or a newly sterilised Sale with its identikit shop fronts.
This is a foodie suburb with a loud personality, where gentrification is still being somewhat held at bay as the old and the new continue to sit side by side.
Over the past decade, the Levenshulme neighbourhood has attracted a roster of trendy new bars, taprooms, restaurants and bakeries, with most of their kitchens favouring hipster-friendly seasonal small plates, not to mention low-intervention wines and craft beers.
Most of these new independent businesses run the gauntlet of the seemingly always-congested Stockport Road, tucked in amongst dusty old shopfronts and busy shisha shops.
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It feels a bit of a neighbourhood in flux, where you can sit in the sun and sip on some of the best natural wines going as, directly behind you, commuters pump out loud bhangra bangers from their cars and shout angrily at one another from their windows.
No word of a lie, on a recent visit for this piece I actually witnessed a lorry driver pull onto a side street and chase down a car that had cut him off after shouting from his window that he would ‘fight him’. But then, that’s just classic South Manchester for you – and I don’t think I’d have it any other way.
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If you ask me – it’s just the kind of foodie suburb we all need more of, with longstanding favourites like Leve Bakery Shawarma continuing to thrive alongside the trendy new guard.
Yes, we have lost a few good places here in recent years – notably Aunty Ji’s and The Gherkin – but overall, it’s still very much worth a visit. Please, God, let’s all go and spend some money there before another one shuts.
So, on that note, let’s dig into where it is that you should be booking.
This cool neighbourhood bar and restaurant might be serving up some delicious, fancy small plates and cocktails, but it’s also the sort of place you can bring the whole family on a day out to Levenshulme.
There’s something for everyone on the menu, ranging from perfectly crispy pork belly with pickled spinach and home-fermented hot sauce, to squishy hush puppies showered with parmesan, and one of the best house burgers we’ve had in some time.
Nordie’s spicy mango margaritas, made fiery with a splash of ancho reyes chile liqueur, deserve a special shout-out, as do some of its local producers – especially Stockport butchery Littlewoods, who provide the meat for that much-thought-about burger of theirs.
This women-owned and run natural wine bar and shop sits on a busy high street and looks somewhat unassuming from the front, but dive inside and you’re guaranteed to sample some of the tastiest morsels going in Levenshulme right now.
Opened by Caroline Dubois (former sommelier at Where The Light Gets In) and Isobel Jenkins (Seasons Eatings supper club), the focus here is on sustainable practices and producers, with plenty of tasty bakes, small plates, and the occasional pop-up supper club.
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Caroline is more than happy to chew your ear off about her passion for wine, which seems, frankly, infinite, so don’t be afraid to ask for a recommendation – she puts a lot of work into sourcing each bottle, often visiting the producers before buying a new case.
This independent tap house and bottle shop is much bigger than it looks from the front, with three rooms stretching right to the back and plenty of seating for drinkers.
Home to modern small batch brewery Ventile Brew Co, find a mixture of Ventile beers and others from breweries local to Greater Manchester – spanning sherberty lemon sours, chocolatey stouts, and hop-forward pale ales.
Bright and colourful inside, its team, as you might expect, is incredibly knowledgeable on the beer front. In the back, you’ll also find shelves upon shelves of boardgames, perfect for wiling away the sort of wet and windy summer afternoons we’ve been having here lately.
Located in an old sweet shop on a suburban back street, this adorable little neighbourhood bakery comes from former Pollen patissiers Jenny and Bethan.
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Serving up the likes of beautifully laminated croissants, dill pickled Danish, scrumptious homemade pop tarts, and plenty more, the women-owned and women-run bakery is open Wednesday to Saturday starting early in the morning until 3pm.
Up on a shelf behind the counter, they still have a few big jars of old-school boiled sweets in a nod to its days a corner shop – but we’re not entirely sure if they are for sale, or just there for the nostalgia.
You can also pick up bags of coffee here, and whilst doing your shopping peer into the open kitchen in the back to see exactly what it is they’re going to be putting out on the counter next.
Whilst city dwellers know and love Trove’s Ancoats bakery and restaurant, if you get the chance to come up to Levenshulme and visit its original spot it’s well worth doing so.
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The team here is serving up freshly baked sourdough, pastries, cakes, jams and chutneys, all made in-house, alongside stunning brunch dishes such as seasonal croissant loaf French toast, eggs Benedict and a vegan breakfast of aubergine, panisse, cannellini beans, mushroom, cavelo nero, seasonal chutney, tahini, and toast.
One of the charms of Trove being a bakery first is that the menu allows you to choose your own bread, kind of like a posh Subway but a million times better – with choices spanning white and wholemeal sourdough, white bloomer, and 100% rye fennel (the latter a personal favourite).
From the new to the old, so we have to talk about Leve Bakery Shawarma – something of an institution in this part of Manchester.
Admittedly, the pictures above are taken from a recent visit to their newly-opened Edgeley Road takeaway in Stockport – but on a recent visit to Levenshulme, I couldn’t fail to notice how many people were sitting outside enjoying lamb and chicken-stuffed samoans for their mid-week lunch.
The fact that the team here has just opened a second site is a testament to its success in a climate where 10% of all administrations are now attributed to hospitality closures, and it’s safe to say the food here is completely worth all the hype that it gets.
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Also worth trying here is the Lebanese Fatayer, a Middle Eastern folded pizza/pie hybrid baked with a variety of vegetables and meat, and the Lahmajun – a crispy Levantine flatbread topped with minced meat, vegetables, and herbs.
Where do you love to eat in Levenshulme? Let us know where else we should go by dropping us a message on Instagram @themanceats.
‘Rooted in India, made in Manchester’ – Punjabee Deli has big designs on the local food scene
Danny Jones
Launching a few months ago, this recently opened Indian deli, cafe, eatery and hangout concept is still in its infancy, but the brains behind this are not the new kids on the block here in Manchester: welcome to Punjabee.
Founded by Sapna Kumar, a familiar face on market stalls across Greater Manchester and across the North West, not to mention the owner of the well-known dessert brandVanilli’s, she’s one of the biggest characters you’ll ever meet.
And, you know what? Sometimes you have to be. This second-generation Indian-Mancunian is a would-be mother to many, as she considers lots of her loyal customers part of her extended family.
And now it’s time to put herself first for once. As she puts it, she’s no longer content just serving up everything for everyone else on a platter for free. Now she’s “ready to spice things up.”
No stranger to a soundbyte or a pithy tagline of her own – after all, she’s been working in this business for well over a decade now – the food speaks for itself, and as well for the vision of this place as she does.
Quite literally putting the bee in Punjabi (you’ve got to admire pun-game like that), this local-born mum of three and extremely dedicated indie trader is as much tied to her Manc soul as she is to herIndian heritage, and she’s all about bringing a ‘home to the plate’ approach.
Remember that scene in Ratatouille where the food critic eats that simple dish, and it takes him right back to his childhood and that feeling of being back in your kitchen/living room? That’s precisely the feeling she’s going for. In fact, we’d argue she’s already achieving it.
Many of her relatively small but equally hard-working crew are not only young people looking to get experience, but also existing hospitality staff who were left out of a job due to the ongoing cost of living crisis and obstacles facing the entirefood and drink sector.
But in the matter of just a few weeks, they’ve been trained up to help make authentic butter chicken, daals and pasandas that people take home for a truly hearty tea, samosas, pakoras, bhajis, Punjabi pasties, all of which are gradually drawing in more and more regulars each week, and so much more.
The mixed Indian snack selection alone is great value for money, and their stuffed lunch wrap for just a fiver is one of the best deals you’ll find anywhere in town on your dinner hour.
In fact, all the well-packed portions aren’t just well-presented in pristine air-tight packaging; they’re also super filling and satisfying, from the wide variety of homemade curries to the fruity lassis canned in-house. Everything is made in the prep kitchen around the corner, before being fridged next door.
You can tell how much experience this outfit has when it comes to catering and scaling up operations, as Sapna is also the baker behind Vanilli’s spin-off,Cake Bar Co., which she started during the pandemic on top of her other projects simply out of boredom.
The girl seemingly doesn’t sit still for even a second, at least not when she’s running these entrepreneurial arms, anyway.
Credit: The Manc Group
Her plans for thedeli and currently daytime-only eatery serve as yet more proof; the team are looking to deck out the space even further, with a bigger cabinet of wooden shelves to turn their already charming deli corner into an even fuller shop.
And then there’s a larger room downstairs of what used to be an old hairdresser’s: she’s keeping coy on that front for now, but let’s just say there’s a great bit of space to work with.
One thing we really appreciate is her acknowledging that going out for a meal, a drink, or even just a coffee is more expensive than ever.
With that in mind, she’s taken her mum’s sage advice and is keeping prices as low as possible, with the likes of the cheap bites at noon, chai for just £1 or totally FREE from 11:30am-2:30pm – an offer that is already starting to draw in steady crowds of meeting up even for a chinwag.
The stylish and colourful nook with bench-seating, cushions, coffee tables, decorated shelving and traditional jaali-style windows that simultaneously transports you elsewhere while making you feel like you’ve been invited into her front room for a brew and a bite to eat.
Let’s be honest, there are few better feelings than that kind of welcome.
Speaking to The Manc, she can never resist a good bit of wordplay, telling us: “We’re putting the chai [tea], back in community” – of which, like everything else, is all made completely in-house, by the way.
Whilst trying to restore that sense of kindness and compassion that she fears might be slowly slipping away, she also says she’s not scared of mixing up the market anymore, both literally and figuratively.
Once a mainstay of the Ancoats Makers’ Market among many others, not to mention the vendor we know to boast two stalls at Stockport’s monthlyFoodie Friday event, she started with a love for baking and made it into a successful passion project.
Now she’s turned making small little pots of curry for her peers on artisan stalls and farmers’ markets into her next venture, and she no longer feels like she’s here to compete: “I am the competition”, she says, “and I’m ready to stir the pot.”
You’d be forgiven for getting slight Heisenberg vibes for a second there, but trust, if you pop intoPunjabee and meet this vibrant, funny and extremely driven woman in person, you’ll see for yourself that she’s all about positivity, moving forward and maximising good vibes.
She’s even looking into karaoke and supper clubs, as well as extending the opening hours on Friday evenings, on top of already being open seven days a week.
Whether you’re stopping by for a cup of chai or taking out, you won’t be disappointed.
She still remembers playing ‘kerby’ out on the streets of Manchester and people gathering to eat their favourite scran, the sense of occasion people felt when paying a trip to the old Italian-style patisserie that they eventually took over.
Something that really stuck with us was this overarching idea that “through food we come together”, and she’s absolutely right.
We can’t wait to see how this place grows over the next year, and we sincerely recommend you come along to Radium Street and give it a try.
Lastly, we’ll sign off by telling you one final thing: translated into English, Sapna means ‘dream’, and this lady sure is thinking big.
The incredible Asian food market held every month at an 800-year-old church in Stockport
Daisy Jackson
One of Greater Manchester’s most unique food events is taking place monthly in and around the grounds of an 800-year-old church.
Held on the second Friday of every month at St Mary’s Church in Stockport, the Asian Food Market brings together some of the region’s best independent Asian street food traders under one historic roof.
Organised by Eat Good West, the event brings together 16 traders every month, serving up dishes from across Asia.
Visitors can tuck into everything from crispy Taiwanese fried chicken and Korean corn dogs to homemade strawberry mochi.
A real highlight is the Japanese yakitori skewers, grilled fresh to order on a traditional charcoal grill while you wait, served in a cloud of smoke and delicious charred edges.
The market originally launched in Edgeley, but after growing in popularity it moved to St Mary’s around a year ago, giving organisers more space to accommodate the increasing crowds.
For the team behind the event, it’s about more than just great food. They see the market as a way of bringing together Stockport’s diverse communities, creating a space where people can connect over shared meals and discover new cultures through food.
Strawberry mochiA round of drinks for £10Sticky fried chicken
There’s a lively atmosphere throughout the evening, with live music performances adding to the experience. And if Manchester’s unpredictable weather makes an appearance, there’s plenty of additional seating inside the church.
The bar also serves a selection of Asian beers and soft drinks at surprisingly affordable prices. We picked up an Asahi, a Singha and a plum beer for just £10 – one of the best-value rounds we’ve seen in a while.
If you’re looking for an excuse to spend your Friday evening eating your way across Asia without leaving Stockport, this is one event worth putting in the diary.
Georgina Pellant -
4th August 2023 
