Whilst there are a million different places in Manchester to go for a traditional Christmas dinner, if you’re looking for something a little more alternative then we’re got you covered.
There are always some great festive specials on offer in the city, but – possibly thanks to last Christmas being cancelled – Manchester’s kitchens have truly outdone themselves this year, with one literally reinventing the cheese wheel in the process.
From festive fry-ups to a bottomless mulled wine brunch, Christmas tree donut boxes, Christmas kebabs, a mince-pie-Eccles-cake hybrid, pigs in blankets-topped parmos and loads more, keep reading to discover where to find the best alternative Christmas dinners in Manchester this year.
A Christmas sausage and stuffing camembert pie
Classic baked camembert, but make it proper Manc with the addition of a wrap-around sausage and sage and onion stuffing roll with added chilli cranberry sauce. That, in a nutshell, is exactly what Potter’s Pies have done with this latest creation.
Not for you? They’ve also updated their sausage roll-pie hybrid, making it extra festive with added turkey, roast potatoes, crunchy stuffing, cranberry and a pig in blanket sausage roll lid.
Idle Hands ‘world famous’ festive fry ups are now flying out of the kitchen and onto plywood tables right through the month.
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Loaded with such delights as pigs in blankets, sprouts, mushroom and chestnut stuffing, cranberry sauce and maple parsnips, plus all the usual fry up suspects, this is a cheeky twist on a roast if ever we saw one – and we’re absolutely here for it.
A bottomless mulled wine brunch with peanut butter and jelly French toast waffles
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
Where: Firefly
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Firefly has launched a Christmas bottomless brunch that comes with UNLIMITED mulled wine and special Christmas cocktails, prosecco, G&Ts and more.
As for your food, think peanut butter and jelly French toast waffles, a Firefly breakfast with all the trimmings or some gorgeous baked eggs with chorizo and feta.
Parmogeddon at Hatch has got some special festive breaded chicken parmos loaded with stuffing balls, bacon, pigs in blankets and oodles of cheesy bechamel sauce. You’ll even get a little pot of gravy to pour on top.
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On top of that, you’ll also find loaded Xmas fries topped with everything from pigs in blankets and deep-fried stuffing to bacon, brie and cranberry on the menu throughout December.
Christmas tree and candy cane snowflake donut boxes
Image: DGHNT
Image: DGHNT
Artisanal donut baker DGHNT has created a beautiful Christmas-themed box for the month of December, with four individually-flavoured creations inside.
Available from 10 – 22 December, flavours include a candy cane-topped white chocolate glazed donut with mascarpone whipped cream and a Christmas almond donut with edible holly.
Italian pigs in Italian blankets AND sage and onion mozzarella sticks
Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria is a solid favourite at any time of the year, but it’s safe to say that the team is pulling out all the stops for Christmas.
Think massive mozzarella sticks rolled in sage and onion stuffing mix and served with a tangy, spiced cranberry dip, and Littlewoods’ pork chipolatas roasted in Calabrian nduja, wrapped in smoked pancetta rashers and served with a cinnamon honey dip.
Christmas kebabs with ‘festive’ smileys from a Michelin star chef
Birmingham-based Michelin star chef Brad Carter opened his One Star Doner Bar at Escape to Freight Island earlier this year, selling some of the most indulgent kebabs in the city. Now he’s doing a Christmas version, and it sounds very special.
Think turkey and stuffing shawarma, topped with Paxo mayonnaise, cranberry hot sauce, shredded sprouts, onion and cabbage, plus festive smiley faces loaded with fried sprouts, lemon and pepper.
A Christmas cheese platter feat. a Christmas cracker garlic bread burrito
Image: American Pies
Where: American Pies
For the ultimate Christmas cheese platter, you’d do well to visit American Pies – who’ve created this stunner in the name of the sweet baby cheesus (we joke).
Think nduja-crumbed burrata in blankets with hot honey, deep-fried Goude filo lollipops, bacon, cranberry and brie cheesy garlic knots, turkey meatball sliders, festive tots with whiskey and orange sauce, a Christmas cracker garlic bread burrito and jalapeno and cheddar stuffed jumbo pigs in blankets.
A Christmas burger with beef-fat fried Christmas pudding
Image: Slap and Pickle
Where: Slap and Pickle
Called ‘All I Want for Christmas’, think two Swaledale beef smash patties, smoked bacon, cranberry Wensleydale, pickles, Paxo mayo, red cabbage, lettuce, and a fried slice of Christmas pudding. For veggies and vegans, there’s a plant-based version too – served in a bright green bun.
Elsewhere, you’ll find loaded ‘All The Trimmings’ fries, Biscoff cheesecake and plenty more.
A Christmas dinner cheese toastie with all the trimmings
Image: Northern Soul
Where: Northern Soul
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The Christmas dinner cheese toastie at Northern Soul is the stuff of legends. A special that people look forward to every year, it’s slathered in gravy and stuffed with sliced turkey, pink lady stuffing, cranberry sauce, cheese, and topped with a pork lollipop.
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A ‘White Christmas’ pizza with turkey dinosaurs, stuffing, and pigs in blankets
Where: Crazy Pedro’s
Crazy Pedro’s December special always comes with a festive twist – and this one is pretty solid. Featuring turkey dinosaurs, pigs in blankets, stuffing, gravy, cranberry and sage on a cheesy white pizza base, it’s available all month.
It doesn’t look much, but this buttery beauty is everything you want out of a festive pastry treat this Christmas. Created by small-batch bakery team Batard, it fuses the traditional Eccles cake with a mince pie filling for the ultimate naughty indulgence.
A ‘Boxing Day Burger’ with curry sauce, sprout bhajis and fried chicken
Image: The Manc Group
Where: Yard and Coop
Yard and Coop’s ‘Boxing Day Burger’ is absolutely massive, stacked with buttermilk fried chicken, butter chicken curry sauce, topped with sprout bhajis and curry-salted parsnip crisps. But that’s just the start of things.
There’s also the ‘Winner Winner Christmas Dinner’, which comes with fried chicken piled on top of cheesy mash, pulled chicken and sage stuffing, Yorkies and all the trimmings; plus gin and cranberry infused negroni wings, sticky marmalade chipolatas and loads more.
Yuletide Christmas pizzas including ‘Mistletoe and Swine’
Image: Nell’s
Where: Nell’s
Nell’s has created three festive pizas this year – one for meat-eaters, one for veggies, and one for vegans (full disclosure: the slices don’t actually come out shaped like Christmas trees, as far as we’re aware).
‘Mistletoe and Swine’ combines mozzarella with Sykes Fell cheese, guanciale, sausage, sage and onion crunch and chilli, whilst ‘Pigs in Blankets’ offers a veggie alternative with veggie bacon and Beyond Sausage. Vegan option ‘By the Baubles’, meanwhile, comes loaded with spinach, sprouts, facon, roquito peppers, leek and lemon.
Festive gourmet kebabs and giant stuffed Yorkshire puddings
Image: The Manc Group
Where: Bab
These beautiful-looking gourmet kebabs at Bab have been given the festive touch, loaded with the likes of roast turkey, pigs in blankets and sprouts, brie, cranberry and chilli sauce – or lamb chops with green peas and mint sauce.
There’s also an unsung hero on this festive menu, a giant Yorkshire pudding filled with roast beef, veggies and Bab gravy. If you’re not feeling a kebab, this is the one for you.
Peruvian eatery Peru Perdu has created a festive empanada for the season, combining the traditional Spanish turnover with the English mince pie.
Served with cream for dipping, inside the classic empanada casing you’ll find sweet mincemeat. According to the restaurant, it’s the UK’s first ever mince pie empanada.
News
10 major restaurants and bars that have closed in Manchester already this year
Daisy Jackson
We are barely a quarter of the way through the year, and already it feels like Manchester is having a brutal year of restaurant and bar closures.
Already this year we’ve bid farewell to restaurants that should, in any other economic climate, stood the test of time.
We’re talking long-standing neighbourhood favourites, restaurants that have caught the eye of the prestigious Michelin Guide, local institutions, and award-winning bars.
But, with the hospitality industry battling ever-increasing costs and a stark lack of support from the Government, we might be seeing a lot more of this to come, industry insiders have warned.
We’ve rounded up 10 restaurant and bar closures that have shocked Manchester already this year.
Climat
Climat has laid their finances bare in their closing statementMichelin-recommended rooftop restaurant Climat has closed its doors with immediate effect
A real wake-up call for everyone about the dire circumstances facing hospitality landed last month, when Climat closed its doors for good. Despite a Michelin Guide recommendation, rave reviews across the board, and an enviable location with views across Manchester, the finances for the restaurant just didn’t stack up. And they were brutally honest about those finances in their closing statement. Climat’s founder listed an annual energy bill of £112k a year, a 33% increase in staff wages, and a jump in business rates from £12,000 a year to £38,000 a year among the reasons for its closure.
One of the Northern Quarter’s longest-standing restaurants announced it would be closing its doors for good back in February. In a brutally honest statement TNQ said that it had become ‘no longer viable’ to run the restaurant, listing costs like an £8k a month energy bill. This independent business said it was focused on paying the staff ‘every penny they’re owed’ and finding them all new jobs in the industry.
KAJI
Glitzy Manchester restaurant KAJI has quietly shut downKAJI
KAJI opened on Bridge Street back in 2022, a big glitzy, futuristic restaurant space with a modern Japanese menu, which quickly drew in all sorts of glamorous customers (like when Ilkay Gundogan’s wife – who had famously described Manchester’s restaurant scene as ‘horrible’ – actually liked the food here).
But despite a rebrand from MUSU to KAJI and pulling in some impressive chefs, it appears that this glamorous spot has closed for good last month, with repossession notices now in the windows.
The restaurant remained silent on its closure, but it’s no longer possible to book a table here.
Restaurant Orme
Restaurant Orme in Urmston has announced its shock closure. Credit: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse
This is a bit of a weird one because it hasn’t actually closed yet – but Restaurant Orme in Urmston has notified followers that with ‘great sadness’ they are intending to sell the business.
In a statement, the Michelin-recommended restaurant acknowledged the ‘significant economic pressures’ facing the restaurant industry, writing: “We find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible.”
But they also detailed that a break in their lease has allowed them to ‘thoughtfully consider’ their circumstances and make the ‘right choice for our growing families’.
You’ve still got time to visit, but I wouldn’t delay.
Topkapi
Just this month, we’ve had to bid goodbye to a bit of a local institution.
Topkapi Palace has closed its doors on Deansgate after almost five decades in the city, making it the longest-running Turkish restaurant in Manchester.
This one triggered a wave of discussion, with one local operator warning: “If we keep letting places like this go, we lose more than food, we lose culture, history, identity.”
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders bar in Manchester has closed with immediate effect
This one maybe stuck around for a bit longer than anyone expected, if we’re being honest, but the enormous Peaky Blinders-inspired bar on Peter Street shut down back in March.
Peaky Blinders opened back in 2018 in the former Sakana site, with plenty of nods to the popular Netflix series – including oil paintings of the main characters on the wall.
Peaky Blinders said in a statement: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we unfortunately have to announce the closure of Peaky Blinders Manchester with immediate effect. We are devastated it has had to end this way, but grateful for the journey.”
It was known and loved for its epic happy hour deals and its bottomless brunches, but glitzy Spinningfields bar Banyan shut down right at the start of this year.
It’s part of the Arc Inspirations group that also operates Manahatta and Box, and still operates another Banyan across town at the Corn Exchange.
Their sign in the door read: “Thank you so much for your custom over the years, we’ve loved being part of this wonderful city and have made so many friends.
“Don’t be a stranger, we’d love to continue to welcome you to our Banyan bar in the Corn Exchange. Team Banyan.”
House of Fu
One of Manchester’s coolest ramen spots quietly closed its doors in March, saying the site just ‘doesn’t click’.
House of Fu opened just two and a half years ago on Portland Street, following major success across in Leeds.
They wrote: “It’s been a wild two and a half years. To say the economic landscape has been challenging would be a bit of an understatement, but sometimes a site just doesn’t click. You live and hopefully learn.”
Project Halcyon
Project Halcyon also made the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list. Credit: The Manc GroupProject Halcyon also made the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list. Credit: The Manc Group
Project Halcyon was formerly named one of the best cocktail bars in the UK, famed for its speakeasy-style setting that drew inspiration from Prohibition-era Chicago.
But it closed for good back in February, writing: “Project Halcyon has poured its last cocktail.
“It was with sincere regret that due to unexpected challenges at the ownership level we must close our doors for the foreseeable. Though we say goodbye, the memories live on.
“Thank you to everyone who shared in our craft, our community, and our story.”
Simmons
London-born bar brand Simmons closed their Manchester site just over a year after opening their first Northern location, right in the heart of one of town’s busiest nightlife strips.
An otherwise well-established and popular chain down south, Simmons had a total of 15 different bars in central London, but things clearly didn’t quite take off as planned here in Manchester.
They wrote: “It’s never easy to say goodbye. We’re incredibly proud of what the team built here and so grateful to them, as well as everyone who joined us over the past year.
“We’ve had some unforgettable nights. We love Manchester, and we hope to be back under the right conditions.”
Renting is now cheaper than buying across much of the UK – but not in one Greater Manchester area
Emily Sergeant
New statistics have revealed that renting a property is now cheaper than buying one across much of the UK.
But in one popular Greater Manchester area, it still remains the other way around.
According to leading property platform Rightmove, which has analysed the latest price data, the average monthly rent in Great Britain is now lower than a typical new mortgage payment – with the average advertised monthly rent nationwide being £1,547 and a new mortgage on a typical home currently costing around £1,670 a month.
This means that renters, for the first time since June 2025, are coming out £123 a month better off than buyers.
Rightmove says that, to arrive at that figure, it used the current average asking price of £373,971, paired with the average two-year fixed rate of 5.35% recorded so far in April, and with calculations assuming a 20% deposit and a 30-year term.
So, what has changed then? Well, the simple answer is that mortgage rates have gone up.
Renting a home is now cheaper than buying one across much of the UK / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
The average two-year fixed rate sat at 4.24% in February, but by April, it had climbed to 5.35%, and unfortunately, that increase is enough to push a new buyer’s monthly payment above what many people are currently paying in rent.
The national picture does not tell the whole story though, however, as there are real differences from one part of the country to another, largely driven by local property prices.
As mentioned earlier, there is one popular Greater Manchester residential area where buying is still cheaper than renting overall, according to the latest data – and that is Salford.
In Salford, the average asking price of a property is £245,478 with an average monthly mortgage repayment being £1,096, whereas the average monthly rent sits at £1,323, so this means that a +£277 difference.
Rightmove property experts say Salford is helped by ‘more affordable’ property prices keeping borrowing costs ‘in check’.
“Mortgage payments have risen quite sharply in a short space of time for new buyers,” commented Rightmove property expert, Colleen Babcock.
“It will be interesting to see whether more would-be buyers turn to renting temporarily while rates remain high, particularly when monthly costs can exceed average rents and the timing of rate cuts is still unclear.”
Georgina Pellant -
9th December 2021 
