Date spot in Manchester
Hawksmoor Manchester
Book a steak dinner in the wood-panelled rooms of a Victorian courthouse on Deansgate.
Deansgate, by Spinningfields
Address: Hawksmoor, 184-186 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WB- Restaurant
- Rain-proof ☔
- A treat
- Foodie
- Big night
Why it's a good date: Grand but warm, with service that makes a birthday feel like one. Get there early for a cocktail in the bar, which is usually quieter than the dining room.
More from our Manchester guide
20 Stories
Hardman Square, Spinningfields
Address: 20 Stories, No 1 Spinningfields, 1 Hardman Square, Manchester M3 3EB- Restaurant
- A treat
- Romantic
- Big night
Have dinner twenty floors up with the whole city spread out below, then step out onto the terrace for a drink.
Why it's a good date: The view is the star: on a clear evening you can see across Manchester to the hills. Book a table for sunset and ask for one by the window.
Tender at the Stock Exchange Hotel
Norfolk Street, off King Street, city centre
Address: Stock Exchange Hotel, 4 Norfolk Street, Manchester M2 1DW- Restaurant
- Rain-proof ☔
- A treat
- Romantic
- Big night
Dress up for dinner under the glass dome of the old Manchester Stock Exchange, in the hotel restaurant run by chef Niall Keating.
Why it's a good date: The room is the reason to go: a grand Edwardian trading floor with the dome overhead. Have a drink in the hotel's old bank vault bar before you sit down.
John Rylands Library
Deansgate, city centre
Address: 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH- Culture
- Rain-proof ☔
- Free
Walk through the neo-Gothic library on Deansgate, opened in 1900, and up to its vaulted Historic Reading Room, lined with stained glass and statues.
Why it's a good date: It feels more like a cathedral than a library, and it costs nothing to get in. It isn't open every day, so check before you go, and expect a short queue at busy times.
Photo: Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
