The last few years have seen the concept of tasting menus become more commonplace across Manchester, with a handful of incredible eateries offering guests something extra special from their meal out.
From luxury sushi prepared by your own personal chef to more accessible forays into the immersive dining experience, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite tasting menus across the city.
With 4AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence among a sizable accolade list, Adam Reid at The French has long been the benchmark for excellence in dining in Manchester.
Set within the glorious walls of The Midland’s Grade II-listed dining room, the unparalleled opulence paired with the spectacular food that showcases the best of British cuisine is an all-around incredible experience.
Adam’s signature menu is priced at £145. Matching drinks start from an additional £70.
If you’ve even the vaguest interest in the Manchester food scene, you’ve probably heard about Where the Light Gets In, and it’s almost certainly all been good. A major driver in Stockport’s recent renaissance as a Northern food and drink hotspot, the team weave the stories of the farmers and fishermen they work with into the narrative of the evening’s meal that is prepared with unwavering precision and care.
It’s an incredibly intimate space, accommodating only 30 guests at a time, so you’ll need to book well in advance. The tasting menu rotates with the seasons, and you can expect to pay £125pp on weekdays, and £145pp for Friday and Saturday services.
This Japanese restaurant has a total of five tasting menus to choose from, ranging from £38 – £62, and is undoubtedly one of the most fun places to eat in town.
The quality is there to match to entertainment, too. If you opt for the top end, the ‘Emperor’ menu includes Miso Wakame Soup, Nigiri Sushi, Barbeque Ribs, Smoked Chicken Roll, Sea Bass (can be upgraded to half lobster), Beef Fillet, King Prawns and Chicken Fillet, all served with egg fried rice, stir-fried vegetables and Sapporo potatoes.
The brainchild of renowned chef Nico Simone, the very first Six by Nico restaurant was opened in Glasgow with a fairly simple premise: every six weeks, guests can enjoy a brand-new menu inspired by different delicacies from around the world.
Whether it’s pasta-focused dishes inspired by Rome, an entire evening dedicated to the chippy or Greek gyros, Nico and his team have cracked a concept that offers plenty of reasons to keep returning.
For £46 you can get six courses, and for an extra £30 you can enjoy a series of matching wines (£40 for matching cocktails), making Six By Nico the ideal introduction to tasting menus.
Manchester’s original Michelin Star eatery, you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere that tops Mana in terms of quality. Using only the best produce from the British Isles, Mana’s menu is a celebration of the natural resources on offer, striking a balance that sits somewhere between food, science and art.
Fermentation and fire are the pillars of the preparation at Mana, with a menu constantly shifting with the seasons.
The all-singing-all-dancing Complete Menu is priced at £175 per person, so definitely on the higher end of the cost spectrum, though a reduced lunch menu is available for £70, as well as a condensed dinner menu for £110.
Since Örme opened its doors in Urmston back in 2023, the team have proved a huge and almost immediate hit. The menu focuses on ‘enhancing humble British produce by preserving, pickling and fermenting’ and is available for £70, with the option of pairing drinks for £50. A dedicated veggie-friendly tasting menu is also available for £65.
The offering changes with the seasons, though to give you an idea, the menu at the time of writing includes things like Cumbrian pork with sweet & sour cherry, cured Scottish Mackerel with Isle of Wight tomato & smoked chilli and Yorkshire Rhubarb with rosemary & sheep’s yoghurt.
Long before it had even opened, the debut project from lauded chef Tom Barnes generated an insane amount of excitement, which was emphatically backed up when it was awarded the city’s second Michelin Star at the beginning of 2025.
The sourcing for restaurant’s menus reflects both Tom’s experience and background working with some of the best chefs in the world and the new path he has taken at Skof. This includes daily deliveries of produce grown specifically for him from Simon Rogan’s Our Farm in the Cartmel Valley, and small-scale suppliers like Cinderwood Market Garden in Nantwich and Lake District Farmers.
Skof’s four-course lunch menu will set you back £50, while 12-course and 15-course tasting menus come in at £120 and £165 respectively.
The latest project from the wonderful Caroline Martins has seen her set up an 8-seat chef’s table beneath Northern Quarter sports pub, Calcio.
Priced at £58, the 12-course tasting menu is a celebration of both British and Brazilian cuisine, served in an incredibly intimate, but wonderfully laid-back and warm environment by one of the friendliest teams in the city. Dishes range from barbecued mallard duck breast and Orkney scallop to a bizarre but brilliant coffee-prawn bisque pick-me-up.
Optional drinks pairings can be added for £35 (£25 for softs) with a la carte tipples also on offer.
- Words:
- Bradley Lengden
- Published on:
- Mon 7 Jul 2025
There was plenty of well-earned hype surrounding MUSU when it originally opened back in 2022. Fast-forward a couple of years, and the concept has now evolved into the ‘MUSU Collection’, which promises an expansion to the space with three distinct dining concepts with Chef Patron Steven Smith at the helm.
The first of those is KAJI. Open now, KAJI focuses on ‘advanced grilling techniques and bold approachable flavours’. The sample tasting menu, priced at £120, features Native Lobster Trail cooked in A5 wagyu beef fat, Kaji Fried Carlingford Oysters, Sea Bream Nigiri and Smoked Hamachi Sashimi, amongst others.