MANCHESTER has just been named the fastest improving foodie city by the prestigious Hardens guide, but it’s still not enough for any of the 66 venues listed to make their Best UK Restaurants 2018 list.
Congratulations, though, to Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In, which gets in at No.72, confirming the decision by Manchester Food and Drink Awards judges to name it 2017’s Best Newcomer. It’s a triumph for chef Sam Buckley (below), working out of a signless Rostron Brow warehouse loft.
Manchester has 66 entries in the latest edition, more than anywhere else outside London (which dominates with 1,400) and 14 more than for 2017. Eleven restaurants were rated ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ in their price bracket compared with five last time.
Top scorers were: Hawksmoor, Manchester House and Rabbit in The Moon in the £60 plus bracket; and under £60 Akbar’s, Indique (Didsbury), Rudy’s, Siam Smiles, Sugo, This And That, Umezushi, Yang Sing and Yuzu.
The guide’s editor and co-founder, Peter Harden, said: “Manchester is one of the fastest-growing cities and on the back of that is coming the services you expect to see in a thriving city. On the other hand it doesn’t have the champions to make the top 100. Famously, Manchester has not had a Michelin star since 1977 at the French at the Midland Hotel. It still lacks the type of restaurant you really have to tick off your list.”
Based on one of the country's most detailed surveys of regular restaurant-goers and priced at £15.99, Harden's 27th annual poll of diners, surveyed 8,500 participants who contributed 50,000 reviews. These nominations, curated by the guide's editors, form the basis for the inclusions and ratings in the guide, apps and hardens.com website.
The country’s best restaurant is the £385 a head Mayfair sushi bar, Araki, which recently won three Michelin stars.