19 Best Restaurants in Manchester, Liverpool, and the Peak District, England

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).

Those who like good food at great prices head to Bakchich, a Lebanese and Moroccan street-food joint featuring a large communal table with smaller tables dotted around it for convivial or more intimate dining. On offer are delicious hot and cold meze, meshawi charcoal grills (chicken, lamb, and seafood), wraps, salads, and a small but tasty kids' menu. The nonalcoholic drink list includes fresh lemonade and smoothies.

Tasty Gujarat-inspired vegetarian street food lures the budget-conscious to this colorful, vivacious canteen-style restaurant tucked in a basement on Piccadilly Gardens. Order from the bar, and watch chefs in a semi-open kitchen get busy on Indian dishes both classic and modern. There's a second Manchester branch (and a Bundobost brewery) on Oxford Street, plus a branch in Liverpool.

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.

An 18th-century warehouse on the edge of the Liverpool One shopping district houses this impressive Catalan fusion restaurant and deli, where you can feast on classic and creative tapas dishes. An extensive breakfast menu makes this a great place to start your day, while the children's menu tempts those with junior foodies. There's a second venue, Lunyalita, overlooking the Albert Dock, with a sun terrace.

Indian street food and home-cooking are the draws at this fun and colorful spot that has lights upcycled from old birdcages and a bar created from former railway sleepers. Many of the vibrant dishes, such as the hugely popular yogurt chat bombs (crispy, filled bread puffs), are served in tiffin boxes (traditional Indian lunch containers) to charming effect. There are also great vegan, gluten-free, and kids’ menus. There's a second Liverpool branch at Water Street and branches in Manchester and around the country; founder Nisha Katona has now been awarded an MBE both for her services to the food industry and to charity (her Mowgli Trust donates more than £300,000 to local and world causes every year).

Nestled among trees beside Edale Station, this charming spot has outdoor seating and cozy interiors warmed by a log-burner in chillier months. Walker-, cyclist-, and dog-friendly, it serves everything from panini and fresh soups to homemade cakes and scones amid images of local spots accompanied by poems.

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).

This charming restaurant with its riverside terrace serves top-notch Modern British food. The tasting menus (with or without a paired wine flight) take regional flavors and infuse them with contemporary flair.

Financed by onetime Barcelona soccer legend and Manchester City FC manager Pep Guardiola, this Catalonian restaurant pulls no punches when it comes to contemporary cooking, with dishes courtesy of two Michelin-star chef Paco Pérez. The unifying overall concept is "tastets"—small tastes of food with greater complexity than tapas, some cooked in a charcoal oven, including butifarra, a Catalan Duroc pork sausage. Highly theatrical, TAST is an ideal choice for very special occasions.

Much-loved by food critics, this groundbreaking "New Northern" restaurant in a former coffee warehouse offers a no-choice tasting menu (£125) that depends on “the day’s catch, harvest, and slaughter.” Regular ingredients include Macclesfield trout, cured Middle White pork, and salt-baked beets in delicious combinations. Much of the produce comes from the restaurant's own farm.

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.

Located in a 19th-century market building, this food court brings together several casual dining experiences under one stunningly restored roof. Choose from sourdough pizza, ramen and bao, rare cuts of beef, tortillas, tacos, margaritas, and more—all to enjoy at long shared tables. There’s a similar venue, Market House, in the market town of Altrincham 8 miles southwest of Manchester city center, and another sister venue, Picturedrome, in Macclesfield just outside Greater Manchester in Cheshire.

Tapping into Liverpool’s love affair with the sharing experience, this tiny bistro serves eclectic and inventive dishes with mainly Middle Eastern inspiration. The place—all bare bricks, upcycled furniture, and edgy artwork—takes its name from the Marais district of Paris, though it’s actually inspired more by the falafel joints of the French capital's less scenic Bastille district. There are two outposts at the Albert Dock and in the suburb of Allerton, plus a Maray in Manchester.

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.)

For some, the waterfront and city views through the floor-to-ceiling windows of this 34th-floor restaurant might outdo the fine dining itself, but there's no denying the ambition and love that's gone into the Modern European set menus. You can also just come here to soak up that vista over afternoon tea or a cocktail. 

The queues can attest to the quality of the Neapolitan pizza at this laid-back pizzeria at the top of Bold Street. Although part of a national chain (that began in neighboring Manchester), the restaurant has a vibrant, indie feel to it that appeals for just about any occasion. The light, fluffy bases come adorned with a variety of traditional toppings refined with quality ingredients.

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.