‘Sustainability has never tasted so good’
Three Greater Manchester restaurants have been named by a worldwide publication as being some of the best in the UK(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Three Greater Manchester restaurants have been named as some of the best restaurants in the country by a renowned worldwide publication.
Earlier this week, Time Out unveiled its list of 20 restaurants which it hailed as being the greatest in the UK. Top of the list went to Osip in Somerset, which was lovingly described as ‘folksy without being arcane’ and ‘basically the culinary equivalent of The Wicker Man’.
The top three was rounded up by Bokman, in Bristol, and Edinburgh’s Lyla. But it didn’t take too long for Manchester to get its first nod on the list, with fourth place going to Skof, on Federation Street in the NOMA district.
Led by Tom Barnes, the restaurant only opened its doors for the first time in May last year and has already been wowed with a number of plaudits. It earned a Michelin star within months of its debut, and was also recently recognised at the AA Hospitality Awards 2025 as the Restaurant of the Year for England.
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Skof has won a number of awards since opening, including a Michelin Star
The first solo venue for chef Tom, who has previously worked at the likes of L’Enclume and Rogan & Co, Skof serves up dishes with a focus on simplicity and modern British cooking by using quality and seasonal ingredients. Its menu features the likes of Confit Sladesdown Duck and steamed west coast cod.
Time Out praised the restaurant, which is tucked inside an old textile building, for its ‘unflappable, genuinely friendly staff’ with food writer Kelly Bishop also cheering on its ‘impeccably sourced produce’.
A little further down the list, in eighth position, is Erst, based on Murray Street in Ancoats. The natural wine bar and dining spot first opened six years ago, and has won praise from the likes of food critics Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles ever since.
Erst in Ancoats has also previously been praised by top food critics Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles(Image: Manchester Evening News)
With a menu curated by head chef Patrick Withington, Time Out’s Lucas Oakeley singled out Erst’s ‘excellently sourced and devilishly salty’ Cantabrian anchovies as one particular highlight, alongside other ‘ever-changing inventive plates’. The restaurant was hailed as ‘undoubtedly the urtext’ of ‘uber-cool restaurants’, which is certainly not bad praise whatsoever.
Just narrowly missing out on a top ten position but coming in at a very respectable 11th place on Time Out’s list was Stockport favourites Where The Light Gets In which is led by chef and owner Sam Buckley.
The venue was praised for being ‘all about openness’, with its open-plan kitchen and dining space set-up. Hailed for its showcase of ‘the best ingredients’, with a current sample menu teasing the likes of sorrel soup with a cultured potato dumpling, and a burnt honey tart. The publication added that ‘sustainability has never tasted so good’.
Sam Buckley is the chef and founder of Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Outside of its spot in Stockport’s Rostron Brow, Where The Light Gets In also made an appearance in the city centre earlier this year with a series of pop-up concepts spanning across five months, featuring its own fast food diner and a bombastic’ bistro.
Elsewhere, the likes of Somerset’s Three Horseshoes and Mýse, in Hovingham, Yorkshire, also made the list, alongside Birmingham’s Grace and Savour, and the stunning 16th-century Gravetye Manor in Sussex.
You can find the full list from Time Out here.
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