Manchester, England — Food and Dining
Restaurants in Manchester, England
Restaurants
Expensive
Café Istanbul
This is a classy family-run restaurant which has a great atmosphere and a reasonably priced menu. The cuisine is classic Turkish, with wonderful lamb, delicious mixed chargrill dishes, and marvelous meze. There’s also a robust wine list.
79/81 Bridge Street
Tel: (0161) 833 9942.
Website: www.cafeistanbul.co.uk
Gaucho Grill
Gaucho Grill is a wow-factor Argentinian eatery housed in a former Methodist hall. It’s an opulent restaurant with two mezzanine areas and a bar decorated in dramatic black and white, featuring chandeliers and ponyskin on the walls. It specializes in melt-in-the-mouth succulent Argentinian beef.
2a St Mary's Street
Tel: (0161) 833 4333.
Website: www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk
Moderate
Akbars
For a curry with class, Akbars is the place, with its interior lit in bright colors and contemporary furniture setting it apart from the Curry Mile (a long strip of Indian restaurants) before you even taste the delicious food.
73-83 Liverpool Road
Tel: (0161) 834 8444.
Website: www.akbars.co.uk
Market Restaurant
In the hip Northern Quarter, this is a cosy, intimate restaurant, with paintings dotting the walls. Produce is local and seasonal, with excellent cuts of meat, and the cooking is modern British, with dishes such as fillet of beef with Bearnaise sauce.
104 High Street
Tel: (0161) 834 3743.
Website: www.market-restaurant.com
The Modern
On the fifth and sixth floors of the architecturally stunning Urbis building, this top-notch bar-restaurant serves up exceptional food with stunning views over Manchester's urban landscape. The exquisite contemporary cuisine is based around classic British cooking, and uses the freshest seasonal ingredients. There’s a cheaper bar menu too.
Urbis, Corporation Street
Cathedral Gardens
Tel: (0161) 605 8282.
Website: www.themodernmcr.co.uk
Cheap
Cornerhouse Café
A short walk west of Piccadilly Gardens at the Cornerhouse Cinema, this café serves a good range of snacks and meals at reasonable prices.
70 Oxford Road
Tel: (0161) 236 6184.
Website: www.cornerhouse.org
Nightlife
Manchester has long been famed for its nightlife. The Northern Quarter is a hip area, attracting alternative, creative types. Deansgate is a lively shopping district and has a more mainstream vibe. To the west, Castlefield is a great spot for canal-side drinking. Centerd around Canal Street, Manchester’s renowned Gay Village is also popular.
Bars
Bar Centro
This unpretentious yet bohemian bar, in the Northern Quarter, has a small upstairs section and a larger basement space. It features DJ and occasional live bands.
72 Tib Street
Tel: (0161) 835 2863.
Dry Bar
Also in the Northern Quarter is the legendary Dry Bar where Shaun Ryder, Tony Wilson, et al used to hang out. It now plays mainly indie and underground music.
Oldham Street
Tel: (0161) 236 9840.
The Modern
A superb cocktail bar on the top floor of the landmark Urbris building, ensuring you can drink in stunning city views as you down one of the tempting selections from the bar's seasonally changing cocktail menu that pays homage to mixers from the prohibition period to the present day.
Urbris, Cathdral Gardens
Tel: (161) 605 8282.
Website: www.urbis.org.uk/cafe
Clubs
Music Box
A popular venue in Manchester, with monthly nights such as Mr Scruff's Keep it Unreal, Platoon and Back BY Dope Demand, while mid-week, dancers can expect live music.
65 Oxford Street
Website: www.musicboxmanchester.com
Pure
This recently refurbished superclub, with capacity for a whopping 2,600 people, offers dance music in one room, 70s ,80s and 90s music in another, as well as a VIP room.
Printworks
Tel: (0161) 819 7770.
Sankeys
One of Manchester's clubbing institutions, Sankeys, features techno and progressive house in the Ancoats part of the city.
Radium Street
Tel: (0161) 236 5444.
Website: http://sankeys.info
Live Music
Apollo
A well-established live music venue in Manchester.
Ardwick Green
Website: www.carling.com
Manchester Academy
Larger acts perform at the Manchester Academy, which is based on the Manchester University campus.
Oxford Road University
Tel: (0161) 275 2930.
Website: www.manchesteracademy.net
MEN Arena
Claiming to be the largest indoor arena in Europe, the MEN Arena has staged a number of big bands, from U2, Rolling Stones to Madonna and Take That.
Victoria Station
Tel: 0844 847 8000.
Website: www.men-arena.com
