Hale Barns, Spanish Restaurant Guide

“You really do feel like you’re in Spain” at this “lovely little tapas bar”, a fixture on a Chorlton back street since 2010. “The first time I visited, I wasn’t convinced, the second time I totally was! Can’t wait to go back”.

This Manchester tapas pioneer of two decades’ standing is “still good after so many years” – with a “vibrant atmosphere” and “food and wine of a high quality”. “The Altrincham branch is sadly no more (having closed down at the end of 2023), but the Deansgate original still flies the flag”, along with branches in the Northern Quarter and Knutsford. The business developed out of an enoteca importing wine directly from family-run Spanish vineyards, so “the wine list is especially strong”. Top Menu Tip – “excellent paella”.

2022 Review: This celebration of Basque cuisine in a Lancashire former mill town is a sibling to Levanter a few doors away, and the two “brilliant” venues effectively operate as one, offering diners the option of Hispanic bar-hopping. The wood-fired Pereruela oven allows for larger dishes to be served, such as sirloin on the bone from 10-year-old Galician oxen, to go with the smaller pintxos and tapas.

2022 Review: Multi-Michelin-starred Barcelona chef Paco Pérez was the marquee signing for Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, the trio behind Manchester City’s success, when they launched their upscale Catalan restaurant three years ago. The cool interiors – industrial chic for communal eating on the ground floor, minimalist glamour upstairs – are designed to throw a focus on the food, served as ‘tastets’ (small plates with more complexity than tapas). The verdict? definitely Premier League (in both quality and prices), if not yet a Champions League winner.

“It’s impossible to have a bad meal” at Simon Shaw’s “vibrant” and “excellent tapas spot with a changing menu” in the city centre, with “welcoming staff” and a “great atmosphere” – it’s also “a great place to dine if you have any vegetarians or vegans in your party”.

“Busy and buzzy” as the Northern Quarter in which it sits (particularly if you sit at the “really cool” bar), this decade-old corner spot is, for one reporter, “as good a tapas bar as I can imagine”, offering premium Spanish draft beer to wash it all down. There are now a trio of links in the chain: a second Manchester branch in Deansgate, and one in Knutsford, 14 miles south-west of town (the Altrincham spin-off sadly having shuttered in late 2023).