The best: Places to eat oysters in Manchester

A fishmonger by day, a casual-dining restaurant by night, serving what is, without a doubt, some of Manchester’s best and freshest seafood. With that being said, the oysters from The Easy Fish Co in Heaton Moor are unsurprisingly spectacular and are absolutely massive.

As the name suggests, Chorlton favourite The Oystercatcher should be high on the list of any oyster aficionado. A lovely, intimate neighbourhood restaurant in the suburbs, the ever-changing seasonal menu gives us a never-ending list of reasons to revisit — as if we’d need any convincing either way — and a big ol’ plate of oysters is always the perfect way to kick things off.

While Hawksmoor is probably better known for being the benchmark among steak connoisseurs, the restaurant’s seafood offering is equally as impressive. The Vietnamese oysters in particular are sublime, packing an incomprehensible amount of fragrant flavours into one single shell.

It’s always great to see a newcomer hit the ground running, and that’s exactly what Madre has done since opening its second location here in Manchester, adding to the team’s immensely popular Liverpool spot. Among all the mouthwatering Mexican goodness is an oyster and raw bar menu — here you can find molluscs with an extra kick, including the signature ‘Oysters Madre’, which come with lemongrass, lime and bird’s eye chilli.

For anyone looking to indulge on a budget, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal than 10TibLane’s Oyster Happy Hour. Between 4pm – 6pm, Tue – Sat, you can grab delicious Jersey oysters for just £1. The perfect accompaniment to the bar’s mightily impressive cocktail list, which can also be sampled from for just £8 during the Happy Hour.

Now a familiar name in the Michelin Guide, Erst has risen to become one of Manchester’s most renowned eateries. With a combination of fantastic natural wines and excellent seasonal small plates, the industrial Ancoats venue is a wonderful space for splitting a bottle and a dozen of its exquisite Carlingford oysters between friends.

Over in Marple Bridge, FOLD specialises in British seasonal sharing plates, and the native oysters, served with cucumber and yuzu, are addictively good, each slurp offering up a massive punch of fresh, briney goodness. On a sunny day, try and grab a seat out back on the canalside terrace, order yourself up a portion with a glass of fizz, and reach a level of content that’ll take some beating.

A fixture of Stockport’s Foodie Friday celebrations, which take over the town on the last Friday of every month, O’Brien’s incredible Irish Carlingford oysters are always a massive hit. Served from a stall in the historic market hall, it’s always wise to get down early if you want to indulge, as they usually fly out pretty swiftly.

As part of the new summer menu at Refuge, curated by Chefs Cameron Tetlow and Paul Beckley, guests can enjoy Colchester Oysters served with a gorgeous late-season rhubarb granita, mixing the familiar salty flavour with a little sweet zing to finish things off.