Where The Light Gets In: The best restaurant in Greater Manchester that isn't in Manchester
"The best restaurant in Greater Manchester that isn't in Manchester. Sam Buckley's hyper-seasonal tasting menus in a converted Stockport coffee warehouse. Genuinely world-class."
At a glance
- Address
- 7 Rostron Brow, Stockport, SK1 1JY
- Neighbourhood
- Stockport
- Website
- wtlgi.co
- Best for
- Special occasionsFoodiesTasting menusWorth the trip
The good
- +Some of the most interesting food in the country
- +Genuinely seasonal — menu changes weekly
- +Beautiful, light-filled converted warehouse space
- +Open kitchen lets you watch everything
- +Set lunch is more affordable than dinner and still extraordinary
- +Sister site Cantaloupe in Stockport (Bib Gourmand) is also brilliant
The caveats
- −It's in Stockport, so factor in travel
- −Books out very far ahead
- −The format won't suit anyone who wants to order what they want
On this page(3)
Where The Light Gets In is the best argument anyone has ever made for getting on the train to Stockport. Sam Buckley opened it in 2016 in a converted coffee warehouse above the Underbanks, and it has spent the last decade building one of the most fanatically loyal followings of any restaurant in the country.
The Room
Where The Light Gets In is housed above the Stockport Underbanks in a converted Victorian coffee warehouse, and the room itself is one of the best things about the restaurant. Tall industrial windows on two sides flood the space with light during day service. The kitchen is open and runs the length of one wall. Tables are spaced generously. The walls are mostly bare, with a few pieces of pottery and ceramic from the makers the kitchen works with. The aesthetic is clean and minimal in a way that matches the cooking.
The atmosphere is calm and conversational. The crowd skews towards people who have travelled for the meal: serious food obsessives from across the North, day-trippers from London, and locals who treat the place as a special occasion. Nobody is rushing. The whole experience is paced to last several hours.
The Food
Sam Buckley opened the restaurant in 2016 and has built it around the idea of working hyper-locally with named farmers and producers across the North of England. The menu changes weekly based on what arrives at the kitchen. The format is a tasting menu (a longer dinner version and a shorter set lunch) and the kitchen makes almost everything in-house, including bread, butter, vinegars, and cured meats.
A recent visit included a course of locally foraged sea aster with a buttermilk dressing; a single perfect raw Whitstable oyster served with a granita made from its own water; a slow-cooked piece of mutton from a named Lakeland farm with a sauce built from its own bones; charred sweetheart cabbage with a black garlic miso (a recurring theme across Manchester's best kitchens, and Buckley does it as well as anyone); and a dessert built around a single perfect Yorkshire rhubarb stalk in the spring. The bread course (different on every visit, often something unusual the kitchen has been experimenting with) is one of the best in the country.
The wine list is short but deep, with a strong focus on small natural producers and a knowledgeable team who can pair confidently. There is also a non-alcoholic pairing that uses some of the kitchen's house ferments and kombuchas. The set lunch menu (around £65) is more affordable than dinner and is some of the best value fine dining in the country. Worth the train to Stockport for that alone.
The Practicalities
Bookings open well in advance and tables go fast. Lunch is easier than dinner. The restaurant is a 5-minute walk from Stockport train station, which is around 10 minutes by direct train from Manchester Piccadilly. Card only. Service is calm, knowledgeable, and intentional. Allow at least three hours. The sister restaurant Cantaloupe (a few minutes' walk away in Stockport's old town) has a Michelin Bib Gourmand and is also brilliant if you can't get into WTLGI. Buckley's whole project is one of the most interesting things happening in British restaurant cooking. Make the trip.