FOLK Didsbury

Restaurant March 2025: FOLK has been a favourite around South Manchester for years now, not least for their whopping Sunday lunch (see below). Not satisfied with being a Burton Road hot spot for drinks, they’ve brought in one of the North’s most promising chefs, Harry Jones (no relation), formerly of CT-fave Another Hand, to level up the menu.

This is the ideal location for Harry’s style of unfussy, inspired cooking. It’s a casual drop-in destination, geared towards food-lovers who want quality ingredients and smart ideas, from morning to evening. The vibe is laidback but certainly not lazy.

Oh, and the sourcing is tip-top – for example, all the meat comes from Littlewoods Butchers in Heaton Chapel. The staff are fun, friendly and fearsomely clued-in, and seem as delighted to have Harry in charge of the kitchen as we are.

We take a post-work visit and steadily work through the small plates section, kicking things off with some mojo picon dip and charred flatbread. As you’d expect, it’s effortlessly brilliant. The roasted red pepper dip is smooth and delicious, while dots of parsley oil and chopped chives add a touch of contrasting colour and bright flavour.

You could drop a pin in the menu and find something that matches up. The cavolo nero is another winner, weaving in crispy shallots, celeriac puree and pecorino cheese to make the ultimate end-of-winter, hello-to-spring dish.

Let it be noted for the record: the backroom team do wonders with meat. The hot, golden chicken schnitzel connects beautifully with the delicate-but-tangy tarragon sauce (balanced with capers and lemon), while the flat iron steak is as good as anywhere in Manchester’s city centre.

What else needs to be said? Sit back and enjoy five ounces of salty, marbled meat in a creamy, potent peppercorn sauce, plus some barely-there angel fries.

It’s fair to say FOLK has reached its final form. Great kitchen, equally great front-of-house and one of the most welcoming atmospheres this side of Wilmslow Road.

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Sunday Roast: We’re here to sample Folk’s fabled Sunday roasts, famed across South Manchester for battling even the most fearsome hangover, and providing an entire day’s worth of calories on one delicious plate.

Served from 1pm til 8, the menu offers everything you want from a Sunday lunch. There’s roast beef, roast chicken, a mushroom or a cranberry and pistachio wellington. Fancy being fancy? Go for the pan-roast sea bass. Got an urchin or two? There’s a roast dinner for kids, featuring the same sides, but with chicken goujons as the main meat.

The quality is impressively high, across the board. The slices of beef are thick and cooked pink, as it should be. The chicken is tender white meat, soft and moreish, with a flavour-packed little ball of stuffing on the side. The vegetables are seasonal, so today we get carrots, cabbage, and some very welcome pureed parsnip.

Yorkshire puddings are where many roast dinners come unstuck, but not here. These have the golden ratio of gooey bottom to crispy sides and can hold at least 20ml of the superb gravy without dissolving.

But special mention should go to the roast potatoes. They’re easily the best I’ve tried, in over a year of digging deep into all the roast dinners available in and around Manchester and the North. The outer layer is tough and crispy, seasoned with magic, while the inside is piping hot and fluffy. Flawless.

Each roast is well enough for the hungriest diner, but it’s worth getting some of the cider and honey-glazed pigs in blankets. These sticky pork cylinders taste as good as they look, and they look dazzling – shiny and scattered with chopped chives. The wilted cavolo nero with confit garlic is a good addition too, though not strictly necessary.

Also unnecessary are the nduja croquettes but go on, live a little. They’re billed as coming with hot honey and they certainly deliver a kick, as does the accompanying chipotle mayo.

As a former resident of West Didsbury, I can confirm Folk Didsbury had a solid reputation way back in the 00s. They’ve simply built on that, with great food options, a superb-looking venue and some of the happiest, friendliest staff for miles around. When it comes to Sunday roasts in South Manchester, Folk has it nailed.