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Dining options in Manchester and Liverpool vary from smart cafés offering Modern British, Continental, or global fare to world-class international restaurants for all budgets. Manchester has one of Britain's biggest Chinatowns, and locals also favor the 40-odd Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian restaurants along Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, a mile south of the city center, known as Curry Mile.
One local dish that has survived is Bakewell pudding (never called "tart" in these areas, as its imitations are elsewhere in England). Served with custard or cream, the pudding—a pastry covered with jam and a thin layer of almond-flavor filling—is a real joy of visiting Bakewell.
This stylish restaurant, charcuterie, and Campari bar—a lively take on the workingmen's canteens of backstreet Venice, known as bacaros—offers highly creative small plates. Options include croquettes, fried mixed fish, and pizzette (mini-pizzas).
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).
Part of the same crowd-funded group as Manchester’s Hispi Bistro and KALA Bistro, this hip spot serves up seriously good modern global cuisine from an open kitchen in a once derelict building in the Ropewalks district. As at its sister restaurants, it takes the use of excellent local products to the next level through pairings of unusual vegetables including heritage tomatoes and hispi cabbage. Breakfast is great, and Sunday lunch can be as traditional or as inventive as you like.
With so much competition, it takes a bold establishment to claim its Bakewell puddings as "original," but those served here are among the best. The "pudding" in question is actually a dense, sugary pie with a jam and almond filling and a puff pastry crust, eaten cold or hot with custard or cream (a more common variant, the Bakewell tart, is made with short-crust pastry, but aficionados consider the pudding to be more authentic). The cozy oak-beam dining room also turns out commendable brunch dishes, sandwiches, and main courses including a "blacksmiths' skillet" (local black pudding and farm bacon in a peppercorn sauce.)
Located in the heart of town and run by a family who fell in love with Spanish food after decades of visiting Spain, this restaurant, bar, shop, and deli offers mainly shared plates meant for a social meal. You might find deeply authentic dishes such as ensalada de Santiago with duck liver pâté and shavings of hard Mahon curado cheese or aubergine fritters with romesco sauce, honey, and fresh Valencian goats’ cheese.
