Fancy restaurants in Manchester

How does dining in the stars sound? Well the next best thing may be sipping on a fancy cocktail, 23 stories in the air at Cloud 23 in Manchester’s Beetham Tower. The bar sits at the top of the Hilton Restaurant, where you get a very fancy lift to your destination and will instantly feel like a VIP, which you are! Marvel at the views across the city whilst tasting some of the city’s best cocktails and food to match. This really is a place to celebrate something special or just somewhere to visit for a fancier drink and you can also do a bit of celeb spotting too – bonus!

If you’re celebrating with a loved one, then sharing a few tapas plates might be more up your street, and where better to go than El Gato Negro Tapas on Manchester’s King Street? This award-winning Spanish restaurant not only has a menu with classic dishes such as spiced aubergine, Serrano Ham and Manchego with figs, but mixes in some contemporary ones including chargrilled octopus, pig cheeks and lamb skewers incredibly well. Chef, Simon Shaw, and his team create the most delightful dishes combining modern and traditional flavours in his cooking, with fresh, high quality ingredients that will please all palettes. Their extensive wine and cocktail menu is sure to tickle your fancy, and if you’re really in the mood, then why not pop a bottle of fizz? There is also an outstanding roof terrace to enjoy your drinks and meal which is bound to make your occasion all the more special.

If you’re into your French food, and seafood in particular, paired with an amazing selection of wine (where you can bring your own bottle on a Monday) then a visit to Randall and Aubin has got to be on the cards for you. The interiors of the restaurant are enough of a reason to visit in itself, but the food will transport you to a quaint French bistro on the streets of Paris. The marbled table-tops, amidst the shiny white subway tiles, are enough to get your taste buds tingling but the bar is a spectacle of its own. With every wine you could possibly think of, the pairing to your meal just got a whole lot easier as the staff are fully trained in what will compliment your taste. Enjoy dishes such as classic moules marinieres, deep fried Peterhead haddock and chips and seared Orkney scallops whilst admiring your surroundings, and you’re bound to want to visit again, special occasion or not. They have been around since 1996, opening their first restaurant on Brewer Street in Soho (which is still there today if you ever venture to that there London) and have been pleasing the general public, the occasional celebrity visitor and all the locals for over 20 years and you can book your table right here on Res Diary to make it all the more easier.