Mana: Manchester's first Michelin star, still untouchable

Mana isn't just the best restaurant in Manchester. It's the restaurant that proved Manchester could have a best restaurant in the first place. When Simon Martin opened it in 2018 and won the city's first Michelin star a year later, he didn't just put a flag in the ground. He changed what was possible here.

The Room

Mana sits on Blossom Street in Ancoats, in a converted industrial space that has been stripped back to its bones and rebuilt around the kitchen. The dining room is small (around 30 covers) and arranged so that every table has a clear view of the open pass, where Simon Martin and his team work in calm, choreographed silence. The aesthetic is contemporary Scandinavian by way of Manchester: pale wood, exposed brick, soft lighting, ceramics from independent makers, and almost nothing on the walls. The volume is low. The conversation is murmured. You can hear the kitchen working, which is part of the point.

It is not a stiff room. Diners arrive in everything from suits to trainers, and the staff treat all of them the same way. The mood is closer to a serious wine bar than a starched fine dining room, which is a deliberate choice. Mana wants you to focus on the food, not the theatre.

The Food

The format is a tasting menu only, currently around 14 courses for the full dinner experience at £175, with a shorter "early bird" option from earlier in the evening at £95. The menu is built around British seasonal produce (Martin grows some of it himself, in a market garden the kitchen runs in collaboration with local farmers) and uses an extraordinary in-house fermentation programme to add depth: housemade misos, garums, lacto-ferments, kombuchas, and vinegars that show up across the menu in ways that elevate even the simplest ingredients.

Standout courses on a recent visit included a tartlet of roasted hogget (older lamb, more flavour) with a white miso sabayon; a single perfect Cornish scallop served just-warm with a sauce built from its own roe and an aged pear vinegar; and a cabbage course (yes, cabbage) that was charred over embers, glazed with house garum, and served with a butter sauce so good you wanted to drink it. The bread course alone (warm, with cultured butter and a salt that has been smoked over local hay) is better than entire menus at lesser places. Pre-desserts and desserts are properly considered, and the petits fours at the end show the same precision as the savoury courses.

The wine pairing (around £140 on top) is worth the upgrade if you can afford it. The list leans towards low-intervention European and English producers, and the sommelier team know the menu inside out. There is a thoughtful non-alcoholic pairing for drivers and non-drinkers that uses some of the same ferments as the kitchen, which is a step ahead of nearly everywhere else.

The Practicalities

Booking is essential and you need to plan ahead: tables are released around two months in advance and the popular dates (Friday and Saturday evenings) go in hours. Tuesday to Thursday lunch and early sittings are easier. The full experience takes around three hours, so don't book anything else for after. Service is card only. Tip is at your discretion. Allergies and dietary restrictions are handled brilliantly with advance notice. The walk to the restaurant from Piccadilly Gardens is about 10 minutes through the Northern Quarter, which is a pleasant prelude to the meal. Wear what you want. Just go.