Starting on Thursday and running until 18 July, the Manchester international festival will see the city come alive with cultural activity. The central Festival Square will showcase good food too, from operators such as Neapolitan-style pizza perfectionists Honest Crust and high-quality chef and producer collective Eat Well MCR. But what of refuelling options across Manchester? Here are 10 standouts, from takeaways to ambitious restaurant dining.
Erst
Once a cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the Ancoats area has been regenerated and is now a hotbed of foodie activity covering all bases, from the high-wire thrills of Michelin-starred Mana to the tiny, tasty Venezuelan takeaway Hola Hola. At Erst, a spin-off of neighbouring bakery-cafe Trove, the stripped-back space blends post-industrial edges with modish Scandi design. Across plates of grilled pork collar with clams and brined kohlrabi tops, crispy potatoes with onion creme fraiche or a simple flatbread with whipped lardo, intense flavour is coaxed from a minimum of components. Some may find Erst painfully cool, but it is home to some of Manchester’s tightest cooking. The wine list is all natural, too.
• Outdoor seating available, plates £5-£14, erst-mcr.co.uk
Mackie Mayor
From the makers of Altrincham’s Market House food hall, this city-centre spin-off corrals a similarly stellar lineup of traders (burger and steak stars Tender Cow, Honest Crust, Pico’s Tacos, New Wave Ramen, Mumma’s Fried Chicken) into Mackie Mayor, in the Grade II-listed former Smithfield market. Look out for irregular special events, such as dinners on 1 and 8 July with hotly tipped Manc pop-up Higher Ground, creators of the already-legendary oxtail madras pasty.
• No bookings, outdoor seating available, app-ordering, currently card-only. Meals from about £8, on Instagram
Kala
Open and outspoken, chef-owner Gary Usher is a cult figure online, and his passionate following has helped crowdfund five of his six north-west restaurants. It is a remarkable story, one that rather overshadows Usher’s greater achievement: his ability to transpose the ethos of his original venue, Chester’s Sticky Walnut (pin-point contemporary cooking and genuinely friendly service), into multiple dispersed restaurants with equal success. Modish but populist, Kala is the relaxed, self-confident restaurant every city deserves. It is not trying to be cool or Instagram glam – the lure is food that for all its flourishes (leek ash; guinea fowl stuffed with dates, almonds and sobrasada; burrata with pickled kohlrabi and blackened spring onion dressing) makes irresistible sense on the plate. The braised featherblade with truffled parmesan chips is a classic.
• Two courses from £20, kalabistro.co.uk
Idle Hands
On Dale Street, on the edge of the bun fight that is the modern Northern Quarter, Idle Hands offers peace, quiet, a reliably brilliant flat white and some of Manchester’s best brunch dishes and baking (do not miss the pecan or salted caramel apple pies). Savoury options range from poached eggs with garlic yoghurt, chilli butter sauce and za’atar flatbreads to cowboy beans on sourdough from Pollen Bakery, which itself runs a well-regarded cafe further out into Ancoats.
• No bookings, outdoor seating and takeaway available, QR code ordering preferred (cash is accepted). Meals £4.50-£9.50, idlehandscoffee.com
Fat Hippo
Originating in Newcastle, Fat Hippo has not enjoyed the hype of some burger slingers, but it deserves its place in any UK pantheon of patties. Now operating an eat-in and takeaway concession within Lane7 bowling (you don’t have to play to eat), its menu is peppered with peanut butter, bacon jam, truffled mayo and other #trending toppings. But first try the American, two impressively beefy burgers in an impeccably fresh demi-brioche bun with cheese, pickles, mustard and ketchup. It is a classic combo executed with elan.
• Outdoor seating and takeaway available, card-only. Burger meals from £10.90, fathippo.co.uk
Escape To Freight Island
In the remains of Mayfield railway station, this huge indoor-outdoor complex – think mini-festival with food – offers not just dishes from several kitchens, including Belzan’s pastas and Mi & Pho’s Vietnamese menu, but DJs, music and dancers across its stages. If the party vibe of the Ticket Hall is not your thing, book a relatively chilled outdoor table or the excellent Baratxuri, a Basque-inspired restaurant within Freight, where, rather than navigating a pesky app to order, there is table service.
• Booking advised, outdoor seating available, card-only. Mains from about £9, escapetofreightisland.com
Go Falafel
Go Falafel’s large wrap is possibly the city’s best sub-£5 feed. Light, crisp, herb-flecked falafel are obviously key to the appeal of this £4.75 masterpiece, but all details impress at this vegan Piccadilly Gardens takeaway. Tightly wrapped in a proper flatbread with vibrant pickled red cabbage, sprightly salad, hummus, tahini and nuggets of spicy potato combine with freshly fried falafel to create a balanced, filling, multi-layered mouthful. Pro tip: hold the chilli sauce to let those flavours shine.
• Takeaway only. Wraps from £3.75, gofalafel.co.uk
Porta
This modern tapas bar is in neighbouring Salford, but if you find yourself on the west side of Manchester city centre (Castlefield, Spinningfields, Deansgate), it is well worth the 10-15 minute walk across the border and down Chapel Street to Porta’s, housed in a former bank. The rugged, flavour-packed Spanish dishes are underpinned by impeccable sourcing and quiet kitchen ingenuity. Picos de Europa blue cheese with caramelised walnuts and honey is revelatory, while regulars, such as seared, acorn-fed Iberico pork with mojo verde or broccoli with romesco, are reliable bangers. On sunny days, Porta’s Bexley Square tables are much sought after. Good Spanish wine list and local craft beers, too.
• No bookings, outdoor seating available. Plates £3.95-£9.50, portatapas.co.uk
Bundobust
Mayur Patel’s family has been cooking some of Britain’s best meat-free Gujarati food for several decades at Prashad restaurant in West Yorkshire. The Bundobust co-owner continues that work in this basement canteen on Piccadilly, where next-level chaat, chole saag, tarka dal, vada pav (the Indian veggie burger) and Bundo’s own bhaji butty are served in street food-style pots alongside A1 craft beers. Bundobust’s taps now feature hazy pale Peela and chai porter Chaitro – the first releases from its new brewery on Oxford Road, which should open to the public in late August.
• No-contact QR code ordering/payment and takeaway available, currently card-only. Dishes from £4.75, bundobust.com
GRUB
From the Arndale market (check Pancho’s Burritos and Viet Shack) to hip shipping container market HATCH, newcomer Society and this summer’s EATMCR-curated pop-ups at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, Manchester now has a varied circuit of street-food venues. GRUB, a beer garden and street-food canteen in an old light-industrial unit on the fringe of the city centre, has been essential in cultivating that appetite. Its traders change weekly and feature the cream of the northern street food scene (Yum Yum Manc, Archchi’s, Oh Mei Dumplings). It goes 100% vegan every “plant-powered” Sunday.
• Outdoor seating available, some stalls card-only. Meals from about £7, grubmcr.com
Manchester international festival is on until 18 July; the Festival Square is at Cathedral Gardens
