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FIND OUT MOREFood and drink
Mancunians love eating out and with the city's huge selection of restaurants, cafes and pubs, it's easy to see why.
But first, a few words about the local culinary tradition. Northern food is simple by any standards - the food of the working people. Dishes like Lancashire hot pot, a slow-cooked casserole of lamb chops, kidneys and potatoes, were cheap and filling solutions to people's diet. Other specialities, including black pudding (essentially congealed pig's blood with bits of fat in it) and tripe (the stomach lining of a cow, eaten cold) are not for the squeamish.
Although no longer common, ironically, some of the above can be found on gourmet menus. One of celebrity chef Andrew Nutter's signature dishes is Bury Black Pudding & Diver Caught Scallops. You can try more regional specialities at Nutters Restaurant in Rochdale and at the fabulous Opus One in the Radisson Edwardian Hotel on Peter Street.
The North boasts some of the finest cheeses in the country. The Lancashire (a crumbly and creamy cow's milk cheese with a tangy taste) and the Cheshire (a dense, crumbly cheese with a very sharp flavour) are two of the favourites.
And if you're looking for something to take back home, try the world-famous Uncle Joe's Mintballs - very special boiled sweets from Wigan, which are also sold at Dean & DeLuca in New York!
Popular local drinks include Vimto, (a sweet, fruity cordial, which has been a household name in Manchester since 1908), Red Rose Whisky from Wigan and a great variety of locally brewed beer.
By the way, just to avoid confusion, Mancunians call their evening meal "tea" and have their "dinner" at lunchtime. And what the rest of the country calls bread rolls, in Manchester they are barms or barm cakes and they are delicious filled with chips, bacon or sausage.
Restaurants
The city is home to an amazing range of restaurants, from traditional pubs serving fish-and-chips, pies and locally brewed ales, to grand gourmet restaurants and everything in between.
For traditional British food, try the hundred-year-old Mr Thomas's Chop House and its equally impressive brother, Sam's Chop House. Stock is recommended for classic Italian, while the Yang Sing is considered the best Chinese in town. If the above are a bit too pricey for you, don't worry, there are restaurants and cafes in Manchester to suit every pocket. All you have to do is look around.
Cafes
Cafe culture is a relatively new phenomenon in Manchester, with US and continental-style coffee shops springing up everywhere. There's Starbucks, of course, but there are also some local independent coffee shops like Java Bar and Love Saves the Day that serve good coffee and tasty snacks. The latter is also a deli with a daily specials menu. Meanwhile, Les Delices de Champagne offers the best selection of cakes and pastries to go with your coffee.
Fast Food
Fast food chains like McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC are everywhere in Manchester, but it would really be a shame to leave the city without going to a local chippy to try the traditional fish-and-chips - do yourself a favour and have it with mushy peas, salt and lots of vinegarÉyum!
Pubs
You should also sample the locally-brewed beer at the city's splendid pubs - a must, if you want a real taste of England. Try the 200-year-old Britons Protection, which serves more than 150 different whiskies and bourbons, or Mr Thomas's Chop House with its superb menu. For a more eccentric pub, head to the Church Inn, which has its own micro-brewery and on-site grave plots in case you never want to leave! These are just three of the many popular pubs in Manchester - look for one near you.
The Curry Mile (Rusholme)
A strip of neon lighting, colour and spice, The Curry Mile is the hottest gastronomic experience in Manchester.
Stretching along Wilmslow Road just outside the city centre, Rusholme is unique in Britain for its high concentration of eastern eateries. There are more than 50 Asian restaurants, kebab houses, takeaways and sweet-houses in Rusholme, offering Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi and Iranian delicacies. The serious competition for business keeps the prices low, so Rusholme is the place to visit for a cheap and cheerful curry that is guaranteed to satisfy.
Anglo-Indian fare like chicken tikka masala is on offer here but so is more or less every variety of curry known to man, so why not be adventurous? Try Chicken Dansak (spring chicken cooked with fresh pineapple and lentils, with a touch of fresh lemon and herbs) or one of the many delicious vegetarian dishes like Matter Paneer (goat's cheese and chickpeas in a luscious, spicy oil).
Although the food is the main attraction in Rusholme, its unique atmosphere is a definite plus. There is a thriving Asian community here, giving the area an exotic ambience that you cannot miss as you walk down the street, peering through windows piled with sticky sweets, marvelling at the lavish sari and golden jewellery shops, and taking in smells of tandoori ovens and roasting spices.
With most of its restaurants serving food until the early morning hours, the Curry Mile is hot around the clock. Don't miss it!
Chinatown
Centred around the ornate Ming Dynasty Imperial Arch, which stands proudly over Faulkner Street, Chinatown is another major cultural and culinary attraction in Manchester.
Although the first Chinese settlers arrived in Manchester in the early 20th century, the city's Chinatown as a concentrated quarter only started in the 1970s, when several restaurants gradually began to open in the old cotton warehouses around Nicholas Street, Faulkner Street and George Street. Soon, other businesses opened in the area to serve the growing restaurant sector and its customers.
Today, Chinatown is a vibrant community with its own church, Sunday schools, grocery shops, bakeries, medicine shops, health centres, media, financial and legal services.
The food is the obvious reason to visit Chinatown. There is an abundance of restaurants to choose from, both Cantonese and Pekingese, as well as other Oriental restaurants. Don?t miss the elegant Little Yang Sing (George St.), which offers an extensive and innovative menu of authentic Cantonese specialities. Other great restaurants include Yang Sing (Princess St.), Pacific (George St.) and Pan Asia (Faulkner St.).
However, Chinatown is particularly worth seeing on Sundays, when ethnic Chinese traders from all over the region gather here to buy food supplies, drop children in at the Sunday schools, promenade and chat. This is when the area really bustles with life.
And, of course, if you happen to be in the area during the Chinese New Year celebrations, then you are in for a real treat - from fireworks to dancing dragons, Chinatown is the biggest party in town.
