Five of the best things to eat in Manchester right now

The city has made big strides in the culinary world of late

For a city so shot through with creativity, and one with so many good places to drink in, it's surprising that Manchester has struggled to create a food scene with any real pizzaz.

In recent years, its diners have had to watch Bristol and Leeds steal a culinary march on them.

But revitalised old restaurants and a bargeload of interesting new options mean this is changing, and not only within the red-brick confines of the miniature-Williamsburg Northern Quarter.

Even the hotel offerings are smartening up their act. The Store Street Exchange, an elegant New York-style brasserie at the Hilton Doubletree on Piccadilly, did a hungry and tired traveller an extremely plausible steak-n-martini dinner.

But for those who like their menus more adventurous, here are five of the best things to eat in Manchester right now.

Eel nigiri at Umezushi

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In a grimy arch behind Manchester Victoria railway station, over a long rainy Wednesday lunchtime, Umezushi serves food that belies its surroundings.

There might be sushi of a higher technical proficiency elsewhere, but you'll struggle to find better value.

Each course came lathered in attention to detail. Two cuts of tuna belly laid over crushed ice. Thin slices of amberjack ceviche lying submerged in their sauce. Pungent eel nigiri. (The Spanish head chef, Omar, explained that preparing their eels alone takes the best part of a day every week. You can tell.)

The menu is not entirely Japanese: one of their signatures is a dish of Taiwanese pork, caramelised to a chocolate brown, topped with a scattering of sesame seeds and spooned over rice.

Umezsushi is a haven of blonde wood and food made with love and its ten seats, fourteen if you count a few stools at the bar, should never be empty.

Bundo chaat at Bundobust

This Indian street food restaurant began in Leeds but has found its biggest expression here, off Piccadilly, in a large basement that used to be a Chinese restaurant, and still bears the dragon decoration of its former incarnation. Surely it won't be the last branch.

The food is so simple, flavourful and cheap that the average carnivore will be stuffed and grinning before he realises, with a shock that he has been eating vegetarian food.

There is plenty of good stuff here: paneer kebabs, crunchy-sweet bhaji buns, deep fried okra dusted in mango powder.

But the highlight is the bundo chaat, as good as a cold vegan dish could be: crisp-fried fragments of samosa, turmeric noodles, chickpeas and potatoes, all gathered up in a tamarind chutney.

Battered coley at Hip Hop Chip Shop

In 2017 it comes as no surprise that the best fish and chips in central Manchester comes out of a van shaped like a speaker to an accompaniment of Jay Z, Mos Def and the Pharcyde. It's the long result of a punning Facebook post by founder Jonathan Oswald.

Juicy chunks of fresh, sustainably sourced fish come fried in a beautifully light batter, served with chips or in a wrap.

Options are listed under hip hop-inspired names: Feastie Boys, Halloumi, Myself & I, Ms Fat Butty, but the fun doesn't distract from the main event.

The van moves around, and can be hired privately for events, but on lunchtimes Monday-Friday can be found outside Media City.

Char sui octopus at The Rabbit in the Moon

Firmly in the tradition of British eccentricity, The Rabbit in the Moon is the kind of madly ambitious project that could only come out of the mind of someone with confidence and a huge wad of cash.

Michael O'Hare, the flamboyant maestro behind the Michelin-starred The Man Behind the Curtain, in Leeds, has taken over the entire top two floors of the Urbis building, which also houses the Football Museum.

Here, head chef Luke Cockerill serves an Asian fusion tasting menu in a space-themed room. Every detail is thought through, down to asteroid-crater dishes.

It's probably not one for the great-aunt's 90th, and not all the dishes quite come off, but if you're in the mood to be entertained, there's plenty to enjoy, especially the octopus, a thick slice of tentacle, cooked to tenderness in a soy-chilli glaze, served with a dark, asteroid-like bun.

Squab pigeon at Manchester House

Manchester House was the subject of a documentary, about head chef Aiden Byrne's failed quest to win a Michelin star. But who cares? The Michelin guide, as demonstrated by its extraordinary poor UK Twitter account, has lost its way, and if anything Manchester House would benefit from kicking back, taking off its tie and relaxing a little.

The dishes do the work. Byrne has stepped back, promoting his deputy Nathaniel Tofan to head chef, but the cooking remains exemplary, with a fanatic attention to flavour.

The squab pigeon has been on the menu since the restaurant opened, and it's easy to see why. A beautiful dark pink breast comes with a cherry sorbet and a 'cherry' made from foie gras, a marvellous creation in the service of the flavours.

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