Ruth Allan

Forget getting up half an hour earlier to make your own cheese and pickle sarnies. The best lunch spots in Manchester are on hand to make your midday repast all the easier - and perhaps even tastier. From award-winning street food to cult curry houses and charming cheap eats there’s plenty to enjoy, so grab a bargain lunch at the city’s best filling stations. 

When it comes to beer, Manchester pubs know what's what. And with the boom in craft beer, they've certainly got plenty of good drops from which to choose. We've rounded up ten of the leading micro-breweries, from the long established Marble Beer which has been in the game for nearly two decades to Shindigger which was set up by two former students in their flat, via a socially and environmentally conscious cider press which wins best name, with the pun-tastic Moss Cider. If you're feeling thirsty after you've read through, we've included venues for you to sup 'em. Cheers! 

What’s the vibe? This Northern Quarter institution is Manny’s top destination of choice for hangover-banishing breakfasts. This is no ordinary greasy spoon – its interior features vibrant street art (credit is due to Manchester-based artist Hammo) and spacious red booths. What should I order? A full English is an obvious choice (and this one includes spam, potato cake and black pudding, on the house). The shakshuka and smoked haddock rarebit are also reliably good, while tea, filter coffee and hot Vimto are joined by craft beers and Bloody Mary’s behind the bar.  This review was fact-checked and updated in 2024.  📍 Discover the best restaurants in Manchester

The team behind Liverpool’s Bold Street institution, Leaf, have opened a sister café bar on Portland Street. As well as craft beers and wines by the glass, the tea menu includes scented black teas and five takes on rooibos plus soups, cakes and main dishes such as jerk lamb rump with coconut rice. 

Several of Manchester’s finest Indian and Asian restaurants lie away from Rusholme, and newcomer, Indian Tiffin Room, is the biggest and best. The most obvious reference point is London’s Dishoom, only at ITR the menu focuses on food inspired by India’s famous highway dhabas or diners. ITR’s vegetarian (or non-veg) lunchtime platters are a step above other upmarket Asian food vendors like Zouk and Mughll while the evening menu includes perfectly balanced creations like the secret recipe ITR Chicken, unctuous Lamb Nalli Nihari and lightly spiced Manglorean fish stew. Cleverly matched beers are served alongside Manchester’s largest range of Indian wines and whiskys. Or accompany your meal with a salty yoghurt and coriander drink (chaas) or homemade almond milk called badom. Milk dumplings, saffron-infused semolin, and everyone’s favourite, kulfi, are perfect endings amid strings of coloured light bulbs and fake greenery. 

Recently shortlisted as Best Coffee Shop at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards, Tea Hive ticks all the boxes for a mid-morning coffee, hearty lunch or indulgent dose of tea and cake. Both Chorlton and Alexandra Park branches channel the comforting aura of bygone eras with vintage furniture and crockery. Customers include local families tucking into home made beans on toast, doorstop cheddar sandwiches and various takes on eggs; if its value you’re after, The Park menu is little cheaper, with veggie sausage toasties for £3.50. 

Many Brits grew up eating toasted cheese sandwiches in front of the TV – and Northern Soul make the city’s best. Choose from extras like beef patties, bacon and house pickles – or go back to basics with the three-cheese house blend. Lampshades made from cheese graters and wooden decking warm this semi-outdoor stall, just opposite the Arndale Food Market.

This elegant noodle bar is owned by the Japan Centre’s CEO Tak Tokumine, and Manchester secured the first branch outside London in late 2016. House special is tonkotsu; a  slow cooked pork broth with barbecue pork belly, egg, mushrooms, sesame, ginger and nori seaweed. Extras include fried shallots, caramelised black garlic, kimchi and seafood. The house gyoza and moreish wagyu steak buns are a must. 

Manchester's bohemian pleasure palace is a bar, bierkeller and entertainment venue co-owned by local success story, the Trof group. As Manchester’s only authentic ‘Tankova’, Albert’s serves up to 7,000 pints a week of pure, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell, shipped directly from the brewery near Prague. Throw in Alpine cocktails, homemade Schnapps and hearty bar meals (such as the giant sausage fest made by acclaimed local butchery, Frosts), plus showcases from the brilliant ‘Haus Band’ starring underground icons like Jenna G - and you’ve got what many consider to be the best bar in town. A destination in it’s own right, Albert’ Schloss is also the obvious start or end to your night at the Albert Hall music venue which is part of the same historic Methodist chapel complex on Peter Street. A word of warning: It’s pretty much impossible to leave, so plan your night accordingly

The small upstairs area above this popular Withington bar isn’t really big enough to house the parties and gigs that it does, but try telling that to the trendy students and graduates who’ve made it their local. As well as live music and poetry expect appearances from emerging talent in all manner of creative disciplines. There’s an excellent veggie menu and chilled atmosphere, day or night. 

Sandbar is the bar that keeps on giving. Just when you think you’ve found your preferred spot in the bar, next to the fire or next to the spacious smokers' terrace, you’ll turn a corner and find more pews and pals in another section of the bar. Locally roasted coffee is served with a Tunnock’s chocolate bar as a matter of course, while beers (Belgian and regional) and Scotch whiskies are a strength. Eat stone-baked pizza and get involved with one of the many friendly comedy, spoken word and improv nights at this bar with a heart. 

Every two years, Manchester International Festival presents a real spectacle. At venues across the city, many previously undiscovered or underused, Bjork, Damon Albarn, Kenneth Branagh and Adam Curtis, have all showcased cool new work with many returning time and again. Highlights of the 2015 programme include Jamie XX’s ballet 'Tree of Codes', Maxine Peake playing as a shapeshifter in Caryl Churchill’s seldom performed 'The Skriker' and Damon Albarn’s homage to Alice in his new musical, 'wonder.land'. However, there’s plenty going on as part of the Festival that’s not ticketed. Here’s our guide to three must-sees, the only difference from the main programme being that they are completely free. Ed Atkin’s 'Performance Capture' show at Manchester Art Gallery Manchester International Festival is known for live and performed art. In 2011, for example, '11 Rooms' at Manchester Art Gallery included live works by Tino Sehgal and John Baldessari while the Whitworth was entirely emptied of objects to make space for performance artists like Kira O’Reilly and Ivan Civic as part of the Marina Abramovic Presents group show. This year, however, live art moves into the digital realm with a new show curated by artist Ed Atkins. Entitled Performance Capture, the exhibition is set to explore motion capture, artistic production and the crossover between the digital realm and traditional, mark-making artistic practices. It will start with an ‘action’ room where festival actors and volunteers wi