Food and Drink in the North

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

It’s springtime in the North, and the birds and bees are cross-pollinating. To match the season, we have a host of new openings, from music-led bars to innovative Thai cuisine from one of Manchester’s top chefs.

Get out and enjoy the weather, grab a seat by the window and kick back with some of the best food and drink available anywhere in the UK.

Need to wind down? We’ve put together a guide to some of the very best spa experiences in the North West. Just want to eat and drink? Don’t click away, here’s this month’s food and drink guide to Manchester and the North.

Our top picks

New Century Kitchen

New Century Kitchen, Mayes Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M60 4ES - Visit now

Wilson’s is the latest excellent indie food trader to join the high-level team at the New Century Kitchen food hall.

Renae

Renae, 45-47 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA - Visit now

Renae is a ‘music-led bar’, designed to get you dancing. The space is simple but with a really open, breezy feel that you could place anywhere in mainland Europe.

Medlock Canteen

Medlock Canteen, New Jackson, 5 Owen Street, Deansgate, Manchester , M15 4YB - Visit now

Medlock Canteen is one year old. The ideal time to pay a visit and celebrate.

Medlock Canteen

The Vines at Carden Park

The Vines at Carden Park, Broxton Rd, Chester, CH3 9DQ - Visit now

Out in the Cheshire countryside, The Vines at Carden Park feels like a retreat into culinary excellence. The food is some of the finest in the North, thanks to a menu that’s both inventive and rooted in modern British dining traditions.

The Little Sri Lankan

The Little Sri Lankan, Miru Mills, Stockport (monthly), Manchester, M19 - Visit now

The Little Sri Lankan have a bunch of must-visit supper clubs throughout May, including: Thursday 15th The Goods in, Prestwich (four courses for £45); and Thursday 29th at Miru Mill, Stockport (four courses for £45 including welcome cocktail).

San Carlo Fumo

San Carlo Fumo, 1 St Peter's Square, Oxford Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 5AN - Visit now

Fumo, or in English, smoke, is the crux of San Carlo’s most recent development. Their menu remains passionately traditional, but this time with an emphasis on their Robata charcoal grill.

Bangkok Diners Club

Bangkok Diners Club, Henry St &, Blossom St, Manchester, M4 5AW - Visit now

Bangkok Diners Club is exactly what Manchester’s food scene needs right now. It takes a certain madcap brain to come up with these dishes – you won’t find many rhubarb curries in Thailand – and it’s a true joy to see them executed so well.

Pip at Treehouse Manchester

Pip at Treehouse Manchester, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, M3 2EQ - Visit now

Pip and the Treehouse hotel might have been a long time coming, but some things are worth the wait. Especially when they involve dishes as memorable as these.

Soap Street Pizza

Soap Street Pizza, 1044 Stockport Rd, Manchester, M19 3WX - Visit now

Soap Street Pizza at Nordie has an outrageously good offer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays: eat in and get a pizza for a time-travelling £7. Choose from The Marinara, The Margherita or The Ploughman’s and relive your youth, when eating out was cheap and you could smash umpteen beers on a schoolnight, easy.

Spas in the North West

From tension-releasing full body massages to sauna sessions and hydrotherapy hot tubs, however you like to relax – you’ll find your perfect retreat here.

The Spa at Carden Garden
Ian Jones

Tender

Tender, 4 Norfolk St, Manchester, M2 1DW - Visit now

Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel has some serious heft behind it, backed by former United player and current gobby pundit Gary Neville. That requires a restaurant full of serious talent, and with two-time Michelin-starred chef Niall Keating, it looks like they’ve finally found their man.

Hawksmoor

Hawksmoor, 184-186 Deansgate, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 3WB

To celebrate Hawksmoor Manchester’s 10 year anniversary, we took a trip over to try the new daytime menu. It’s on until July and showcases some of the most popular and storied dishes from over the years.

Gaucho Manchester

Gaucho Manchester, 2a St Mary’s Street, Manchester, M3 2LB - Visit now

Gaucho’s pre-theatre set menu comes in at a mere £22.50 for two courses, or £26 for three. Weigh up quality, surroundings and price, and that has to be one of the best dine-out deals in the city. ¡Hasta pronto, Gaucho!

San Carlo Fumo

San Carlo Fumo, 1 St Peter's Square, Oxford Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 5AN - Visit now

Fumo isn’t reinventing the wheel here. They’re doing what the Italians do best, and fiercely protecting tradition. The food is great, the portions are even better, and the service is unmatched. Remember to bring your appetite.

Treehouse Manchester

Treehouse Manchester, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, M3 2EQ - Visit now

Treehouse Manchester has 216 rooms, a rooftop bar with city views, and a jam-packed events calendar. Coming up: botanical-inspired pottery (Sat 12 Apr), soulful R&B yoga sessions (Wed 23 & 30 Apr), a family-friendly birdbox painting workshop (Fri 18 Apr), and an Earth Day retreat with yoga, meditation, and mindful art (Sat 19 Apr). Sundays mean seasonal roasts at Pip, curated by Mary-Ellen McTague.

More food and drink events

Craft Beer Tour Around Manchester
Until
ActivityManchester
Craft Beer Tour Manchester

Join Craft Beer Tour Manchester for a journey through some of the cities best local breweries and artisanal beer serving bars. Discover the personality of Manchester’s beer through a diverse range of pints.

from £35
Walking Tour Stock imagery
Until
ActivityCity Centre
The Manchester Music Walkabout

Manchester’s famous musical legacy comes to life in this walking tour around the city, which will take you from the 1960s to the present day.

from £25.00
Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Spotlight on

Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.

Take me there

Food and Drink in the North

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

A table with a view of Liverpool at the fine dining restaurant Panoramic 34
Liverpool
Restaurant
Panoramic 34

Panoramic 34 boasts ceiling to floor windows with a breathtaking 360 degree aspect, but there’s plenty more to get giddy about than just the views.

Vegan burger from Frost Burgers
City Centre
Restaurant
Frost Burgers

Our favourite is The Scorpion, two beef-free patties with melted spicy pepper ‘cheese’, yellow mustard, jalapenos, sriracha mayo, spicy chipotle paste, red onion, ketchup, tomato and lettuce, packed in a vegan burger bun.

Yard Bar at District
Baltic Triangle
Event venue
District Liverpool

District Liverpool is a multi-purpose venue in the Baltic Quarter, hosting gigs, club nights, films, cabaret, festivals and much more.

Culture Guides

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

A woman sits in a car with hands holding the steering wheel.
Cinema in the North

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.