THE BEST OF 2019
THE list of places to eat in Manchester is being added to all the time. Just take a look at the restaurants and bars that opened in 2019. From celebrity chef Tom Kerridge’s first Manchester restaurant to London’s Bistrotheque venturing north, the city welcomed some well-known names this year.
There were plenty of smaller places that got people talking too – and not always for the right reasons.
Here are some of the restaurants and bars that made their mark on the city this year, and had the biggest reaction from our readers.
The Bull & Bear
After lying dormant for years, Manchester’s historic Stock Exchange reawakened this year as a luxury hotel owned by Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs.
Its former trading floor is now home to The Bull & Bear, a restaurant from celebrity chef Tom Kerridge.
While the TV screens dotted around the room have divided opinion, it’s undoubtedly one of the grandest dining rooms in Manchester with its spectacular domed ceiling and timeless fit-out.
Serving refined British comfort food, the menu includes dishes such as smoked chicken and ham hock terrine with piccalilli; crispy pig’s head with celeriac rémoulade and spiced date sauce; rotisserie celeriac with winter truffle; and the signature burger from Kerridge’s Michelin-starred Marlow pub The Coach, topped with smoked brisket and dill pickle.
Kala
Chef and restaurateur Gary Usher opened his Manchester city centre restaurant Kala back in April.
It was paid for in part by its own diners, who helped Gary to crowdfund a record-breaking £100,000 in 11 hours by paying for meal vouchers and other perks up front.
Based at the upper end of King Street, the former Whistles shop is now a smart bistro with a handsome wood-topped bar and pastry pass where guests can enjoy drinks and bar snacks, and a mezzanine dining area with an open kitchen.
The menu features plenty of favourites that have proved popular at his other north west restaurants including Hispi in Didsbury, including braised featherblade of beef with watercress, pickled walnut, truffle and parmesan chips, and parkin with stem ginger ice cream and butterscotch.
We loved it, praising its ‘understated brilliance’ in our review. The Observer critic Jay Rayner did too, applauding it as a place that ‘quietly feeds you well’ .
Bistrotheque
Established in London’s East End in 2004, Bistrotheque finally made the move up to Manchester this year to open its second site in an old railway warehouse shared by aparthotel Native.
The 80-seat restaurant forms part of Cultureplex, a ground-floor lobby which also includes a bar, coffee
Serving a six-course menu that changes every six weeks, all for £29, Six By Nico brought a refreshing take on fine dining to Manchester in July.
Launched by ScottishItalian chef Nico Simeone in the former Roc & Rye site on Spring Gardens, its themes have so far included a twist on the British chippy tea, a Mexican shop, co-working space and mini cinema.
We loved its ‘confident, selfassured’ cookery, including a ‘fat lump of rump steak, with a glossy, almost caramel exterior,’ and an ‘exceptional sticky toffee pudding... given an unexpected twist with the addition of a smoked butterscotch sauce and a few studs of sea salt.’
Reception elsewhere was mixed at first - The Guardian’s Grace Dent
influenced menu and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
“What you’ll get on a visit to Six by Nico is plenty of conversationstarting dishes and a leisurely, intriguing few hours,” was our verdict when we visited to review.
“It’s not heading in the direction of a Michelin star any time soon, but with prices like that, Six by Nico is revolutionary in its own way.” dismissed her meal there as ‘largely forgettable,’ but her Observer colleague Jay Rayner later countered her opinion with his own, that the restaurant ‘is proving to be a thoroughly reliable late-night dinner option.’
Wolf at the Door
The Northern Quarter’s short-lived vegan cafe Folk & Soul was replaced by a new three-floor bar and restaurant from the owners of some of the city’s most popular venues in August.
Wolf at the Door - originally named Wilderness Bar and Kitchen - was opened by Lyndon Higginson, the creative force behind the Liars Group (The Liars Club, Crazy Pedro’s, Cane & Grain and Science & Industry); his Junkyard Golf Club co-directors Bart Murphy and Mat Lake; and Dan Morris, former group manager of Trof and operations director for Cottonpolis.
The ground floor operates as an all-day kitchen and bar, serving a modern European menu of innovative seasonal dishes, while the first floor is an intimate cocktail bar. Downstairs, the team have turned the basement into an Innovation Room, where diners can eat from a table placed inside the kitchen.
Stockport Produce Hall
Few openings have managed to ruffle quite so many