Superb Spanish restaurants in Manchester

This wonderful Spanish restaurant, found in the heart of Manchester’s city centre, showcases a wide range of amazing Spanish dishes. La Bandera takes its inspiration from the Canary Islands, therefore offering a unique style of Spanish cuisine. It has a lovely red and yellow spacious interior, and serves tapas and paella. For the tapas, we recommend getting the tasting menu to enjoy eight courses, embarking on a journey through the tastes and colourfulness of the Canary Islands and the local cuisine there. Expect the traditional tapas dishes of patatas bravas, Spanish chicken wings and chorizo in red wine too to be on the menu. Our favourite paella dish is the Negra de Calamares y Gambas, a wonderful combination of king prawns, squid and squid ink in some fantastically created black paella. La Bandera has wonderful Spanish wines, cocktails and lots of sangria available to drink along with your food, too. 

Situated in the bustling and joyous Chorlton, Bar San Juan is one of the best Spanish restaurants in Manchester. When you visit this mini Spain in Manchester, be sure to try out the Spanish beers, wines and gins. Its tapas menu is split into four sections and it’s recommended that you take a few plates to share as a group. Firstly, in the bread, olives and potatoes section, we recommend trying some Spanish Manzanilla olives and the papas. Two other sections are the fish and meat tapas. From fried squid, mussels in tomato and sherry sauce, to Galician octopus, honey belly pork and the traditional Spanish lamb kebab, there are certainly many mouthwatering options to try. There are vegetarian tapas options available as well. The Manchego cheese with Spanish quince jelly (Membrillo) and sultanas along with the Seville style spinach with chickpeas and potatoes are two very good vegetarian dishes on this list. Bar San Juan combines lots of Spanish styles with a Mancunian twist in a gorgeous setting to provide amazing Spanish food.

Porta is a tapas bar just a little bit further north of Manchester’s city centre. It was created by brothers Ben and Joe Wright, who put passion and creativity at the forefront of their restaurants (there’s two other Portas in Chester and Altrincham). Their tapas reflects their influence from Spanish cuisine. The menu’s price range is £2.50 to £11.50 per dish, meaning that you can just get snacks or combine some of the more filling dishes with the smaller ones. From fried Andalucian squid to presa Iberica (seared pork with mojo verde) to patatas bravas, the influence of different regions of Spain is clear to see. The tomato salad with Colono goat’s cheese and capers is gorgeous and so are the queen scallops. The Tarta de Santiago is a lovely almond, orange and lemon tart, a brilliant dessert choice. Lastly, they have a wide range of drinks available and be sure to check what they recommend pairing up the wine with. Porta is a fantastic tapas bar that showcases beautiful Spanish food in a gorgeously designed bar.  

This Spanish restaurant, situated in Didsbury Village (otherwise known as East Didsbury) south of the city centre is a cosy, warm spot perfect for enjoying Spanish tapas and wine. Decorated with traditional red and yellow paint with wood furniture, the bar and seating area is designed just the way you would expect a small Spanish restaurant to look like. This independent restaurant makes sure all its food is served fresh and offers a wide range of drinks, including sangria. Its produce is mostly imported from Spain, such as Barcelona and Cordoba. Local businesses also provide them with fresh meat, fish and vegetables. The tapas menu is split into six sections, including fish and meat. The toasted bread with ham, tomato, Manchego cheese and quince paste is a lovely dish to go with a couple of larger ones. The ensalada de queso is a wonderful goat’s cheese salad with pine nuts and honey dressing. Other favourites of ours is the tortilla egg omelette, the fried broccoli, the grilled octopus and the chargrilled sirloin. This amazing independent Spanish restaurant makes a visit to Didsbury a must.

Evuna has two locations in Manchester – one in Deansgate and another in the Northern Quarter. As much as we love both, if pushed it’s the NQ spot that gets our vote simply because the area’s always buzzing with life. Evuna is a fine Spanish wine house, aiming to offer the best in Spanish food and drink. There’s a dedicated vegetarian menu (try the Evuna chips with mojo picon, a Canarian spicy roasted vegetable sauce, and alioli. There are also great seafood and meatier options, as well as paellas to share, including vegan (artichokes, chunky aubergine, peas), chicken and chorizo, and seafood.