Hawksmoor

Hawksmoor Manchester is the one that even Londoners admit might be the best in the chain. Set inside a Grade II listed Victorian courthouse on Deansgate, the building alone is worth the trip – vaulted ceilings, original woodwork, the kind of room that makes your steak taste even better. And the steak is already phenomenal. The bone-in short rib is the signature and it’s everything you want it to be: charred, tender, properly aged British beef cooked over charcoal.

Sunday roast here is a serious event. Get there early or book ahead because it fills up fast and for good reason. The sides are generous, the Yorkshire puddings are the size of your head, and the gravy is the stuff of dreams. Cocktails at the bar are excellent too – the bartenders know what they’re doing. It’s not cheap, but you’re paying for quality meat in a room that feels genuinely special. Hawksmoor delivers every single time and the Deansgate location is a Manchester icon at this point.