7 Best Restaurants in Manchester, Liverpool, and the Peak District, England

Those who like good food at great prices head to Bakchich, a Lebanese and Moroccan street-food joint featuring a large communal table with smaller tables dotted around it for convivial or more intimate dining. On offer are delicious hot and cold meze, meshawi charcoal grills (chicken, lamb, and seafood), wraps, salads, and a small but tasty kids' menu. The nonalcoholic drink list includes fresh lemonade and smoothies.

This stylish restaurant, charcuterie, and Campari bar—a lively take on the workingmen's canteens of backstreet Venice, known as bacaros—offers highly creative small plates. Options include croquettes, fried mixed fish, and pizzette (mini-pizzas).

Tasty Gujurat-inspired vegetarian street food lures the budget-conscious to this colorful and vivacious canteen-style restaurant tucked away in a basement on Piccadilly Gardens. Order from the bar, and watch chefs get busy in a semi-open kitchen on Indian dishes both classic and modern. There's a second Manchester branch (and a Bundobost brewery) on Oxford Street, plus a branch in Liverpool.

Located in a 19th-century market building, this food court brings together several casual dining experiences under one stunningly restored roof. Choose from sourdough pizza, ramen and bao, rare cuts of beef, tortillas, tacos and margaritas, and more, enjoyed at long shared tables. There’s a similar venue, Market House, in the market town of Altrincham eight miles southwest of Manchester city center, and another sister venue, Picturedrome, in Macclesfield just outside Greater Manchester in Cheshire.

Located in the heart of town and run by a family who fell in love with Spanish food after decades of visiting Spain, this restaurant, bar, shop, and deli offers mainly shared plates meant for a social meal. You might find deeply authentic dishes such as ensalada de Santiago with duck liver pâté and shavings of hard Mahon curado cheese or aubergine fritters with romesco sauce, honey, and fresh Valencian goats’ cheese.

Given the plethora of local rivals, it takes a bold establishment to claim its Bakewell puddings as "original," but those served here are among the best. The "pudding" in question is actually a dense, sugary pie with a jam and almond filling and a puff pastry crust, eaten cold or hot with custard or cream. A more common variant, the Bakewell tart, is made with shortcrust pastry, but aficionados consider the pudding to be more authentic. The cozy oak-beam dining room also turns out commendable brunch dishes, sandwiches, and main courses including a "blacksmiths' skillet" (local black pudding and farm bacon in a peppercorn sauce.)