Manchester’s Michelin tables, and the dish to book each one for

The cheapest seat on Manchester’s Michelin list is under a railway arch on Red Bank, where a bowl of spätzle with butter and sage costs £10.50. The dearest is the £175 Complete menu at mana in Ancoats. Between them sit the rest of the city’s 2026 stars and Bib Gourmands, and one hotel dining room that cooks the North West’s puddings as a tasting menu.

How we chose: every Manchester star and Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide 2026, one room the guide lists without a star, National Restaurant Awards 2026 positions, and prices from each restaurant’s own menu.

Skof

Tom Barnes ran the kitchen at L’Enclume before he opened Skof in May 2024, in a brick-and-girder textile warehouse on Federation Street, and the star arrived the following February. It is the most decorated table in town this year: Restaurant of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards in January, and 29th in the National Restaurant Awards top 100. The lunch is the way in, four courses for £55, and every menu finishes on Barney’s Tiramisu, which the guide’s write-up names.

Federation Street, NOMA · four-course lunch £55 · Wed–Sat only · book (tables are released monthly)

mana

Every table at mana looks into the kitchen, which is the point: Simon Martin, who cooked at Noma, runs British seafood and meat through Asian technique, and the dish the inspectors named is roasted hogget with white miso sabayon. The star has held since 2019. Take the Extracts menu at £110 if you want the cooking without the full evening; the Complete menu is £175, down from £195 in 2023.

Blossom Street, Ancoats · lunch menu £70 · Wed–Sat only · book

Higher Ground

If you book one of these, make it this. It started as a pop-up in 2020, holds a Bib Gourmand, sits 39th in that top 100 and was named in the World’s 50 Best Discovery list in July. The cheddar tart the guide wrote up is still on the card, now Isle of Mull Cheddar with yellow beans for £12.50, and the seasonal menu at the kitchen counter is £40 at lunch. The same three friends run Bar Shrimp next door.

Faulkner House, New York Street · seasonal lunch £40 · closed Sun–Tue · book; groups of six or more get the seasonal menu

Erst

Michelin gave Erst its Bib Gourmand in 2026 for, among other things, the charred flatbreads, and they lead the September menu: grilled flatbread with whipped beef fat and Urfa chilli, £8. Follow it with the grilled hogget chop and caponata (£35) and something from the natural wine list. It came 37th in the same national top 100 as Skof.

Murray Street, Ancoats · flatbread £8 · closed Sun–Mon · book (card held, £20 a head for no-shows)

El Gato Negro

Of the six starred and Bib tables, Simon Shaw’s tapas bar on King Street is the only one open seven days, which makes it the one for a Monday or a group of eight. The inspectors praised “great value across the wide selection of recognisable Spanish dishes”. Order the jamón ibérico croquetas (£6.50 for two) then the presa ibérica pork neck (£25); the menu itself suggests three or four dishes each.

King Street · croquetas £6.50 · open daily · book; walk-ins as space allows

The Spärrows

You ring a bell to get into The Spärrows, a dumpling and spätzle kitchen in the arches on Red Bank that has held its Bib Gourmand four years running and won the Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurant award for the North West in 2025. Order the Käse spätzle, Emmental and braised onion, at £13, or five pierogi for the same price.

Red Bank, Green Quarter · spätzle from £10.50 · closed Mon · book, dogs welcome

Adam Reid at The French

Adam Reid’s room in the Midland Hotel has no star, only a place in the guide, but it is the most Mancunian menu on this list. Eleven or so courses are named in single words, and the July card reads Pie, Pudding, Trifle, Stew, Roast. Staff explain each one at the table. It costs £145 Wednesday to Friday and £165 on Saturday.

Midland Hotel, Peter Street · signature menu £145 · Wed–Sat only · book

Checked October 2026.