Christie’s Bistro
Susie StubbsThis wood-panelled former science library – part of a cluster of neo-Gothic buildings designed for the University of Manchester by Alfred Waterhouse (he of Manchester Town Hall and London’s Natural History Museum fame) – has a wonderfully bookish interior that turns lunch into something of an event. Inevitably popular with university staff, the bistro is nevertheless open to all comers. Its leather chairs, old bookcases and portraits of stern-looking Vice Chancellors all add to the atmosphere.