This top Manchester tapas restaurant offers Michelin dining for less

The pandemic hit the hospitality industry hard with a 70% drop in sales. So, restaurants are keener than ever to get us back through their doors.

And let’s face it, who doesn’t want to head out for a nice meal and not have to cook for themselves and do the pots? Indulgent food has been the pleasure that’s kept us going over the past few years and since lockdown was finally lifted for good we’ve properly enjoyed eating out again.

But with the cost of luxury living soaring it’s harder to afford luxuries like eating out – especially at Michelin restaurants.

What if I told you could eat at a Michelin rated restaurant without the price tag?

After the past couple of years, I think we’ll all due some luxury for less…

Bib Gourmand restaurant in Manchester

Another award that’s not so well known is given to restaurants that are also highly rated by the Michelin inspectors but they don’t have a Michelin Star. Instead, they have what is called a Bib Gourmand.

Bib Gourmand, which translates literally as ‘gourmet bib’, is an award given to a restaurants that serve what Michelin inspectors regard as good quality and good value cooking. Which basically means, if a restaurant has a Bib Gourmand, it’s highly regarded as a Michelin dining experience at a reasonable price.

There are 126 restaurants in the UK with a Bib Gourmand and they all serve three courses for under £28 and they’re spread over the whole country so you’re bound to have one nearby.

El Gato Negro

King Street’s El Gato Negro made the made the Michelin Guide 2022 again this year and retained its Bib Gourmand for good quality, good value cooking.

Chef Simon Shaw’s “buzzy Black Cat”, as Michelin describes it, has retained its Bib Gourmand for providing “exceptionally good food at moderate prices.”

The ground floor houses a bar, the first floor “plays host to an industrial-style dining room” and the top floor is home to a private events space with a retractable roof.

“Appealing tapas dishes include meats from the Josper grill,” says Michelin.

Dishes are cooked when your order arrives in their kitchen. This means your food is served as soon as it’s ready, rather than in a fixed order.
As a guide they suggest ordering five or six dishes to share between two people and most combinations come under £28 per person.

£15 lunch deal at El Gato Negro

El Gato Negro also offer a set lunch menu (available Tuesday to Friday, 12 until 3pm), whereby you can choose any three selected dishes for just £15

Whether you’re looking for a quick working lunch, or as an introduction to some of their signature dishes – including potatas bravas and salt cod croquettes – the set lunch is ideal.