Evelyn's Cafe Bar is a modern european restaurant in Northern Quarter, Manchester.
All-day kitchen on Tib Street with a global menu and a plant-leaning bias. Brunch through dinner, Middle Eastern and pan-Asian small plates from afternoon.
Signature dishes: Vegetable plates, Pan-Asian and Mediterranean
Must order: Confit chickpeas on toast with whipped feta; the saffron and turmeric chicken.
Tip: Brunch crowds 10:00 to 13:00; the late-afternoon shift is the best time for a quiet table.
Address: Smithfield Building, 44 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1NB
Simon Martin opened Mana in Ancoats in 2018. Manchester's first Michelin star in over forty years when it landed in 2019. Open-kitchen tasting room.
Signature: Tasting menu, British seafood
Order: The full tasting menu; British produce-led, often built around coastal seafood and seasonal vegetables.
Tip: Reserve six weeks ahead for Friday and Saturday; weekday lunch slots open the same season.
Tom Barnes, formerly executive chef at Simon Rogan's L'Enclume, opened Skof on Federation Street in May 2024. Michelin star inside ten months.
Signature: Tasting menu, Cumbrian produce
Order: The set tasting menu, Cumbrian and Northern produce cooked with L'Enclume precision.
Tip: Only 36 covers; book six to eight weeks ahead for weekend service.
Adam Reid runs the Belle Epoque dining room of the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Listed in the Michelin Guide; the historic 1903 room is the booking here.
Signature: Tasting menu, Northern British produce
Order: The ten-course tasting menu, Northern produce reframed.
Tip: Dinner only, Wednesday to Saturday from 18:00. The Midland's lobby bar handles aperitif.
Started as a 2020 pop-up; now Manchester's flagship Bib Gourmand on Faulkner House. Produce comes from the team's own Cheshire market garden.
Signature: Hand-rolled pasta, Seafood cooked over coal
Order: The set sharing menu at lunch, fifteen pounds cheaper and fast-paced; pasta and grilled seafood lead.
Tip: The team also runs Flawd wine bar and Bar Shrimp; the trio works as a city-centre crawl.
Kasia Hitchcock and Franco Concli run a Bib Gourmand kitchen under a Manchester railway arch. Tyrolean spaetzle, Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni.
Signature: Pierogi, Spaetzle, Pelmeni
Order: Pierogi of the day and the goulash; finish with poppy-seed dumplings.
Tip: Bookings open one month ahead; weekday lunch is the calm shift.
Bib Gourmand on Murray Street since 2019. Short menu of seasonal plates, twenty natural reds and the same in whites, most bottles under fifty pounds.
Signature: Seasonal small plates, Natural wine
Order: Whatever the kitchen lists on the chalkboard; the wine list rewards exploration.
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday only, kitchen closed 15:00 to 16:30 for the gap shift.
