Dipping your toes into the world of veganism? Concerned about where your meat comes from? We’re more environmentally-conscious than ever before and there’s no time like the present to start thinking about your foodie footprint. Whether you’re after locally-sourced ingredients or a totally plant-based menu, here’s our guide to 9 of the best sustainable restaurants in Manchester.
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The Supper Club: Our Place
Thanks to a penchant for ingredients with the fewest miles, Our Place Locally-Sourced Supper Clubs get their produce from growers, farmers, and community gardens across Greater Manchester. Four courses here set you back just £35, while a fiver of that will be a charitable donation to Only A Pavement Away.
This one is saving your wallet and the planet.
The Meaty One: Hawksmoor
A popular dining destination up and down the country, Hawksmoor is dedicated to procuring high welfare meat and sustainable seafood. Not only does this Deansgate favourite hold a 3-star rating from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (the highest level possible), but it's also got quality in mind. Enjoy the finest steaks, oysters and more here.
Interiors that look just as enticing as the food on the menu.
The Veggie One: Bundobust
This Indian and vegetarian option isn't only cutting down on its carbon footprint because of plant power, but Bundobust also exclusively uses recycled cutlery and plates. The Oxford Road venue brews its own beer too, so you know that every pint washing down your aromatic street food meal hasn't done many miles either.
Craft pints and a green meal? Check.
The Garden-Inspired One: The Allotment Vegan Eatery
Making use of the very best of the season's harvest, alongside green local growers, The Allotment Vegan Eatery is a great sustainable restaurant in Manchester. Find these sumptuous plant-based spreads at Cathedral Gates, bringing you tacos, chestnut bourguignon, huge sharing platters with a smothering of gravy and more.
Sustainable Manchester restaurants are topped off by this vegan beauty.
The Michelin-Approved One: Where The Light Gets In
Make your way out of town and to Stockport, where you'll find this diamond of sustainability. With a Michelin green star, Where The Light Gets In have really put themselves on the map for seasonal cooking. Working directly alongside producers and fisherman across the British Isles, as well as using ingredients from their own farm, these guys really know their stuff.
Where The Light Gets In is widely recognised as one of the finest sustainable restaurants in Manchester, UK.
The Underground One: Walled Gardens
Plant-based chef Eddie Shepherd is the mastermind behind Walled Gardens, an underground restaurant in Manchester. Serving a modern, vegan tasting menu consisting of 12 courses, this place is not only a unique fine dining experience, but ingredients are grown mere metres away. There's space for only eight diners each night too, with everything prepared and served by the man himself.
There's no better place for a sustainable tasting menu in Manchester.
The Spicy One: Zouk
Thanks to a commitment to the Carbon-Free Dining movement - an environment initiative from The Green Earth Appeal - Zouk has planted over 15,000 fruit trees to offset their own footprint. Venture over to the gorgeous spot to get your dose of Indian and Pakistani-inspired roasts, alongside traditional treats ranging from biriyani to Goan fish curry.
Gorgeous foliage-laden spaces add to the offering here.
The Not-For-Profit One: Open Kitchen MCR
Combatting food waste and spearheading social enterprise? Open Kitchen restaurant Manchester is all about transforming excess produce into beautiful dishes. Whether it’s a pop-up event or surplus night at Beer Nouveau, where you'll can soak up craft beers and tasty scran, you can help to save the planet one mouthwatering dish at a time.
This sustainable Manchester food kitchen is top-notch.
The Vegan One: Wholesome Junkies
The home of award-winning vegan junk food, Wholesome Junkies is making sure you can get your fix of environmentally-friendly fare without breaking the bank. Find these meat-free goodies at Arndale market, where the archway restaurant is slinging out everything from KFC (Kentucky-fried cauliflower) to 'beef' burgers and oyster mushroom 'wings'.
The best restaurants in Manchester for sustainable food? No list is complete without Wholesome Junkies.
Continue to get your foodie fix with these guides to vegan and vegetarian restaurants, or by signing up to our weekly Manchester newsletter.
