With Christmas just around the corner, we’ve rounded up some of the best festive food and drink offerings that Manchester has to offer. Whether you’re looking for a traditional sit down dinner or something a little more exotic, we’ve gathered an array of magical menus and Christmassy cocktails.
The Dishoom Manchester Christmas Feast brings large groups together over a first-class Christmas feast with a twist where groups can dine from Thaals laden with deliciousness. The feast is set to include a number of small plates, grills, biryanis, slow-cooked turkey raan, kachumber, and freshly baked naans, prepared to be shared by everyone at the table.
If you’re looking for some different Christmas dining in Manchester, The Dishoom Christmas Feast is available from the 18th November – 24th December from £37 per person.
The Honest Christmas Burger is a decadent stack of Honest’s rare-cooked beef, crispy, smoked bacon and, wait for it… deep-fried camembert, topped with cranberry sauce and rocket. As ever, the special edition Christmas burger is served with Honest’s moreish rosemary salted chips.
For casual Christmas dining in Manchester, The Honest Christmas Burger is available at Honest Manchester now for £12.50.
The Lowry Hotel is set to make Wednesdays a lot more delicious, indulging diners with a new bespoke Wellington dish every week. Throughout December, the five-star hotel will also be serving a very special Christmas Wellington, which is set to make diners get in the festive spirit.
Wellingtons on offer at The River Restaurant are set to include Venison Wellington, a 24 hours braised shoulder farce dish with caramelised red cabbage, juniper and orange sauce, as well as a Chicken Wellington, with wild mushroom, truffle duxelle, glazed chicken wings and bacon dauphinoise. The Christmas Wellington is available for couples at £50 per person.
The Lowry Hotel has also revealed its luxury Christmas afternoon tea offering, complete with chestnut macarons and a cranberry and clementine cupcake.
The festive sandwich offering includes roast turkey & apricot stuffing, smoked salmon & watercress, Burford Brown egg & cucumber and a Provolone with sweet vine tomato chutney.
For those with a sweet tooth, seasonal delights include a chestnut & chocolate macaron, snowman meringue, cranberry & clementine cupcake with pine frosting, and a spiced gingerbread cake with candied fruits. The menu is available daily and costs £24 per person for a traditional afternoon tea or £33 with champagne or gin & tonic.
If you’re in the mood for some fancy Christmas dining in Manchester, The River Restaurant recently finished its five-star renovation which saw an entire redesign of the hotel’s bar and restaurant.
Mr Cooper’s, The Midland Hotel’s modern British Brasserie, has created a special festive menu for the Christmas season. Starters include Mr Cooper’s Prawn and langoustines, served with a Bloody Mary cocktail, Heritage tomatoes and avocado. Mains feature the likes of Golden roast turkey breast with chestnut puree, glazed parsnips, dripping roast potatoes, apricot and sage stuffing, red current jus. Desserts offer showstoppers such as Mr Cooper’s winter garden, with white chocolate snow, mulled wine poached pear, ginger biscuit.
With a menu using the best of British produce and its own in-house butchery, diners can get into the spirit of Christmas and enjoy two courses for £24 or three courses for £30 from Sunday to Thursday, with prices £26 and £32pp respectively on Fridays and Saturdays.
For traditional Christmas dining in Manchester this year, Mr Cooper’s Festive menu runs from 22nd November until 30th December.
Christmas at The Refuge will welcome a festive feasting menu to remember, with turkey porchetta or Christmas ‘Ve’llington to choose alongside cranberry-glazed pigs in blankets, goose fat roast potatoes, orange-glazed carrots, Vimto-braised red cabbage and cheese mash potato.
The Refuge Christmas menu is available from just £27.50 per person, for parties of six or more with dishes served sharing style.
For ultimate Christmas dining in Manchester, treat yourself to favourites with a twist and seasonal surprises make Dakota’s festive season menu simply irresistible. From goats cheese with pickled walnuts and fig and roast turkey dinners, to salmon fillet and chocolate and orange mousse, decadence and style are firmly on the menu.
The Dakota Festive Menu is available daily for from lunch 12pm – 2:30pm and for dinner from 5:30pm-10pm, at £40 for three courses.
Let your imagination run into the sky this Christmas! With a range of food, beverage and entertainment options, 20 Stories can make sure your guests have a truly memorable Christmas this year. Chef Brian Hughson has created menus that showcase the best of the North West for this festive season, including a festive set lunch menu, festive set dinner menu, vegetarian and vegan options, bowl food and canapés. There’s even a children’s Christmas Day menu.
In beautiful settings, the 20 Stories Winter Garden Domes have arrived, providing the scenic backdrop that’s perfect for dining and parties alike.
Don’t miss out on Bill’s Pigs in Blankets Mac & Cheese, an ingenious combo of two indulgent favourites – cranberry topped mac & cheese with pigs and blankets served with green leaf salad and cranberry sauce.
For all the flavours of Christmas in a burger, go for the Beef, Bacon and Brie Burger with fig and cranberry sauce, baby gem lettuce, mayonnaise and fries… if you’ve got the appetite, upgrade to a double patty!
Christmas Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Orange Mousse and Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding all feature on the dessert menu, and of course, no Christmas meal would be the same without a Cheeseboard – a selection of three cheeses complimented with fig and cranberry chutney, oatcakes and walnuts.
Bill’s Christmas Menu is available for walk-ins priced at £24.95 for three-courses and served from 11.30am – from now until the end of December.
Mamucium Restaurant & Bar, located close to Victoria Station, has unveiled a Christmas dining feast that cheese lovers can only dream of, the show-stopping Mamucium 3kg Cheesemas Fest.
For the most indulgent and delicious cheese fest, feast on 3kg of baked French cheese, surrounded by a delightful array of freshly baked festive fruit and nut loaf, pigs in blankets tossed in honey and grain mustard, clementine spiced cranberry sauce, award-winning W H Frost crispy home cured pancetta, cox apples, rose grapes, Derby Hill Farm handmade artisan salted butter and candied pecans.
For a smaller but equally as delicious cheese treat, Mamucium will also serve Baked Camembert – suitable for a party of four, alongside freshly bake festive fruit and nut loaf, pigs in blankets tossed in honey and grain mustard, clementine spiced cranberry sauce, award-winning W H Frost crispy home cured pancetta, cox apples, rose grapes, Derby Hill Farm handmade artisan salted butter and candied pecans.
Both the Mamucium 3kg Cheesemas Fest and Baked Camembert are available exclusively at Mamucium from 25th November to 2nd January.
Offering the perfect place to escape this Christmas, The Ivy Spinningfields has transformed its Roof Garden’s North and South terraces into the North and South Pole for the festive season, complete with warming winter dishes and delicious cocktails.
The North Pole terrace offers a cosy winter woodland escape, whilst the South Pole terrace features nods to ice and Antarctica. The transformed terraces also feature dedicated, themed limited-edition cocktails created in collaboration with Veuve Clicquot, including a delicious ‘Winter Garden’ cocktail (£13.25) incorporating Witley Neil Rhubarb & Ginger, Luxardo Maraschino, liqueur, Monin sugar, lemon juice, apple juice, lavender bitters and Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
If you’re looking for some escapism in your Christmas dining in Manchester, a host of seasonal winter dishes have been added to the menu in The Ivy Brasserie and Ivy Roof Garden, as well as a limited-edition Christmas dessert, Snowball fight, a decadent combination of Brandy ice cream, white chocolate, gingerbread and cream sauce – available from 25th November to 24th December for £9.25.
For a festive night out that will bowl you over, try one of All Star Lanes’ Christmas package deals. Choose the Feast Package for a game of bowling, an American style meal, and half a bottle of wine per person. For a boozier evening, go for the Bar Package that includes a private booth for two hours, two drinks per person, nibbles and of course, a game of bowling. Prices vary depending on party size so enquire online to make sure you don’t miss out.
Almost Famous is serving Christmas cocktails with any burger and fries for £22.50 a head. If cocktails aren’t for you, you can order a beer or wine for no extra charge.
For a truly delicious Christmas dining experience in Manchester, the Slider Package allows groups of 20 or more exclusive use of the private bar, along with a cocktail, slider and bacon fries for just £9.50 per person.
For a cultured Christmas dining experience in Manchester, try Platzki’s traditional Polish festive dishes. Forget turkey with cranberry this year, but instead opt for their duck with redcurrant.
Two courses are just £22.50 a head, or upgrade to a three course feast for £28.
Stop by Thai Smiles and check out their Asian themed Christmas menu. Feast on a three course meal of traditional Thai dishes with a drink for £29 per head. With tasty Tom Yam soup and delicious curries, these spicy dishes are sure to warm you up this winter.
As party season is upon us, look no further than a night at Impossible. Cosy up in the Gin Nest for a winter warmer, or why not keep the fun going until the early hours at Carnival of Fools every Friday throughout December. For a Christmas Party to remember, hire the Impossible Theatre, a truly unique venue which can accommodate up to 500 guests.
Impossible can also be booked through the Viper Nights App.
With free entry and all the festive fun, GRUB are running a month of Christmas feasts, starting on Friday 29th November and running every weekend from then until Saturday 21st December. As Manchester’s biggest street food event, GRUB is also home to Europe’s first ever weekly vegan street food event on Plant Powered Sundays.
If you’re looking for rock ‘n’ roll this Christmas, Hard Rock Cafe Manchester brings not one, but two gifts, this holiday season with the launch of two Christmas menus: Festive and Mistletoe.
The Festive Menu: Get two courses for £22.95 or three courses for £25.95.
The Mistletoe menu: Two courses for £25.95 and three courses for £28.95.
For fun Christmas dining in Manchester this year, whether you’ve been naughty or nice, the whole family can enjoy face painting, a buffet-style breakfast and festive fun and games with the big man himself.
Another gem to add to Urmston’s growing food and drink scene is Astoria. Having opened just a couple of months ago, the bar and restaurant is already proving a hit with locals for everything from post work grub, a weekend cocktail or a casual date night. They even have live music performers every Thursday to Sunday to help ignite the party atmosphere. Specialising in hearty dishes such as burgers, tagliatelle and risottos and the venue is a real crowd pleaser.
Deals this month include:
Selected cocktails 2-4-1, Bottle of Prosecco £15, Pint of Amstel £3, Corona £2.50, Bottle of house wine £12.
There’s something for every ramen lover at Shoryu this December, where diners can expect a tasty alternative to traditional roast potatoes and yorkshires. Boasting a festive three course menu, guests can indulge in Christmas treats, with starters such as Shoryu’s well-loved BBQ Pork Bun with char siu pork belly and Japanese mayo, or Pumpkin Croquette (v) for the veggies, and mains such as the signature Ganso Tonkotsu Ramen, Spicy Vegetarian (s)(ve) with spicy miso sauce, tender broccoli and garlic mayo or the Miso Wafu Chicken served with kikurage mushrooms, nori seaweed, spring onion and ginger. For dessert, sask off the Christmas pud and instead enjoy a light mochi ice cream or matcha cheesecake.
With festive tipples added to the Christmas cuisine, the whole thing bundles in at £24 per head, and is available now and all through December.
Just last month, Manchester’s only residency restaurant announced its second dining concept as Peru Perdu. Specialising in South American cuisine, they’ve introduced an offer for diners to really get their teeth into.
Bottomless brunch every Saturday between 10am – 5pm. Choose one small plate and one large plate from the specially selected brunch menu and enjoy bottomless cocktails for £30. Choose from house pisco sour, garibaldi or chandon. £30 per person.
Advanced booking essential. Bottomless drink available for 1.5 hours from booking time.
After their pop-up at a residency restaurant in the city centre, El Camino are returning to their hometown in Urmston permanently with even more of the finest Mexican food Manchester has to offer, with a menu inspired by fresh, seasonal produce. The variety of tacos, burritos and quesadillas will suit the taste buds of all diners, from the loyal veggies to the die hard meat eaters. El Camino’s well-stocked bar serves to complement the authentic Mexican flavors on the menu. Who can resist a frozen margarita followed by tequila shot (or 3)?
Every week choose any of El Camino’s fresh tacos for just £2.50 each on Taco Tuesdays when pre-booking a table at the Urmston restaurant. From beer braised ox cheek, shrimp with avo hot sauce, or the jackfruit with pink onion and aioli, there’s something to suit everyone. At just £2.50 each every Tuesday you could probably just try them all!
(Not valid on 24th December).
