7 Best Restaurants in Manchester, Manchester, Liverpool, and the Peak District

Tasty Gujarat-inspired vegetarian street food lures the budget-conscious to this colorful, vivacious canteen-style restaurant tucked in a basement on Piccadilly Gardens. Order from the bar, and watch chefs in a semi-open kitchen get busy on Indian dishes both classic and modern. There's a second Manchester branch (and a Bundobost brewery) on Oxford Street, plus a branch in Liverpool.

Part of a small group of famously crowd-funded restaurants (yup, people liked the owner-chef's concept so much they raised money so he could open a place in their 'hood) found across northwest England, this neighborhood bistro offers ambitious dining at remarkably fair prices. In pared-back surroundings, expect the likes of pastrami-style trout with sour cream, dill, and pickled green beans or braised featherblade of beef with wild mushroom ketchup, truffle and Parmesan chips, and red wine sauce, plus wonderful accompaniments including hard-to-find vegetables. Gary Usher has another crowd-funded venue in the city center, KALA Bistro.

This glamorous spot serves eclectic global food amidst the original features of a stunning Victorian Gothic building that's been given new life as the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. Expect dishes such as halibut ceviche with red onion, lemon crème fraïche, almond, and sumac or lamb shawarma with roasted garlic, toum, zhug, slaw, green chili, onions, and lahuhua. The bar is a beauty, too (the restaurateurs are former DJs, so think hip).

Financed by onetime Barcelona soccer legend and Manchester City FC manager Pep Guardiola, this Catalonian restaurant pulls no punches when it comes to contemporary cooking, with dishes courtesy of two Michelin-star chef Paco Pérez. The unifying overall concept is "tastets"—small tastes of food with greater complexity than tapas, some cooked in a charcoal oven, including butifarra, a Catalan Duroc pork sausage. Highly theatrical, TAST is an ideal choice for very special occasions.

Much-loved by food critics, this groundbreaking "New Northern" restaurant in a former coffee warehouse offers a no-choice tasting menu (£125) that depends on “the day’s catch, harvest, and slaughter.” Regular ingredients include Macclesfield trout, cured Middle White pork, and salt-baked beets in delicious combinations. Much of the produce comes from the restaurant's own farm.

Located in a 19th-century market building, this food court brings together several casual dining experiences under one stunningly restored roof. Choose from sourdough pizza, ramen and bao, rare cuts of beef, tortillas, tacos, margaritas, and more—all to enjoy at long shared tables. There’s a similar venue, Market House, in the market town of Altrincham 8 miles southwest of Manchester city center, and another sister venue, Picturedrome, in Macclesfield just outside Greater Manchester in Cheshire.