Restaurant in Manchester, United Kingdom
Punchy small plates, serious natural wine list.
Erst is a natural wine bar and small-plates restaurant in Ancoats, Manchester, holding a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 and consecutive Opinionated About Dining recognition. Chef Patrick Withington's menu runs from beef-fat flatbreads to ras el hanout lamb skewers, with a natural wine list that the team knows thoroughly. At £££, it is the strongest informal special-occasion choice in the neighbourhood. Book two to three weeks ahead for weekend evenings.
Erst is worth booking. It delivers technically assured small-plates cooking at a price point that makes most comparable Manchester venues look either overpriced or underambitious. For a special occasion dinner in Ancoats, it is the strongest option at the £££ tier, and it has the award record to back that claim: a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, plus consecutive Opinionated About Dining recognition across three years. If you are deciding between Erst and somewhere more formal, book Erst unless a tasting-menu format is specifically what you want.
Erst reopened in January 2025 after a seasonal refit that extended the kitchen and overhauled the bar area. That milestone matters for two reasons: it signals continued investment from chef Patrick Withington and his team, and it means the room you walk into now is sharper than the one that earned the original press attention. The industrial-chic interior — exposed materials, open kitchen, a counter that lets you watch the cooks at work — fits the regenerated Ancoats streetscape without trying too hard to belong to it. What you see when you arrive is a working room: cooks visible, the bar stocked with natural wines organised by producer rather than grape, and a floor team that moves with purpose rather than performance.
The cooking is small-plates in format, but the sharing approach here earns its keep rather than simply following category convention. Withington's menu is built on precise sourcing and confident seasoning. The flatbread , beef-fat lubricated, scattered with dried Turkish urfa chilli flakes , has acquired a reputation that precedes it, and it delivers on that reputation. Castelfranco leaves paired with Corra Linn, a hard sheep's cheese from Lanarkshire, with pear and walnuts is the kind of salad that makes you reconsider ordering salad elsewhere. Skewered lamb coated in ras el hanout butter is a consistent favourite for good reason. An olive-oil cake with ricotta ice cream and candied citron rounds out a meal that is coherent from the first plate to the last, even if not every dish lands at the same level.
The natural wine list is the other reason to be here. It is not decorative. The team has genuine knowledge and is willing to guide you through it. The house aperitif , a combination involving celery liqueur, apple shrub, gin, and house vermouth , is worth ordering before you commit to a bottle. If natural wine is new territory for you, ask your server for a pairing suggestion rather than navigating the list alone; the guidance is a feature of the experience, not a sales exercise.
This is where Erst separates itself from most comparable venues. The kitchen is open Tuesday to Saturday from 1 pm, and the lunch sitting operates at the same quality level as the evening with the same menu. That is not always true at this tier. At dinner, the room fills, the energy sharpens, and the occasion feels more deliberate , which makes it the better call for a celebration or a date. But if your priority is the food and you want a quieter, more conversational setting, the early afternoon sitting on a Tuesday or Wednesday gives you the full experience with significantly less competition for the room. Booking difficulty is moderate, but evening tables on a Friday or Saturday require more lead time than a midweek lunch slot. If you are planning a special occasion at Erst, dinner is the right choice. If you are a solo diner or a pair who wants to take their time with the wine list, lunch is the smarter booking.
The hours also mean Erst is closed Monday and Sunday, which is worth noting if you are planning around a weekend trip to Manchester. It is not a Sunday-lunch destination. Saturday dinner is the peak slot and the one most likely to require planning ahead.
The OAD ranking is a useful signal here. A move from Highly Recommended to a ranked position, then to #316 and now #357, reflects a venue that has maintained consistent quality over three years rather than spiking on opening buzz. The Michelin Plate in consecutive years confirms the kitchen's consistency. For context, the venues that sit near Erst in the OAD Casual Europe list occupy a tier of serious independent cooking that does not depend on tasting-menu format or high-end pricing to justify the attention.
Booking difficulty is moderate. You can likely secure a midweek lunch slot with a week's notice, but Friday and Saturday evening tables at Erst will require two to three weeks of lead time, particularly since the January 2025 refit raised the venue's profile further. The address is 9 Murray St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6HS. The room is faux-industrial in design, which means smart-casual dress is appropriate , there is no formal dress code, but the space and the cooking reward a degree of intention. Erst is not a large restaurant; the open-kitchen format and the sharing-plates menu make it well-suited to groups of two to four. Larger parties should book in advance and confirm the table configuration.
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Quick reference: Erst, 9 Murray St, Ancoats, M4 6HS. Open Tue–Sat 1–10:30 pm. Closed Mon and Sun. Price range: £££. Booking difficulty: moderate.
Yes, with a caveat on format. The open kitchen and bar seating at Erst make it a reasonable solo option , you can observe the kitchen and engage with the team without the awkwardness of a solo table in a formal dining room. The sharing-plates format is less ideal if you want to try a wide range of the menu alone, but ordering three or four dishes is perfectly manageable. Midweek lunch is the most comfortable solo slot. For comparison, 10 Tib Lane in the city centre is a solid alternative for solo diners who prefer a more traditional counter setup.
Start with the flatbread. It is the dish most consistently cited in coverage of Erst, and it earns that attention , beef fat, urfa chilli, charred properly. Beyond that, the lamb skewers with ras el hanout butter are an established favourite, and the Castelfranco and Corra Linn salad is worth ordering if it is on the menu. For dessert, the olive-oil cake with ricotta ice cream is the safer bet over anything involving salty caramel. On drinks, ask your server for a pairing recommendation from the natural wine list rather than going in blind , the team knows the list well and the guidance is part of the experience. Chef Patrick Withington's approach consistently draws on bright, punchy flavours with precise sourcing, so dishes built around a single strong ingredient tend to be the most reliable choices.
For a weekday lunch, one to two weeks is usually sufficient. For Friday or Saturday dinner , the peak slots , book two to three weeks ahead. Since the January 2025 refit raised the venue's profile, demand for evening tables has increased. Erst's OAD ranking and consecutive Michelin Plates mean it draws diners from outside Manchester, which adds pressure on weekend slots. If your dates are fixed for a special occasion, book as early as possible rather than testing the moderate-difficulty booking window.
Higher Ground is the most direct comparable at the lower end of the price tier , modern British small plates, slightly more casual, and easier to book. If you want to spend more and go further, Skof and mana both operate at ££££ with tasting-menu formats; mana in particular is one of the most awarded restaurants in the UK and sits in a different category entirely. Adam Reid at the French is the right choice if you want a more formal Modern European dinner in the city. For a completely different register, MAYA at £££ offers modern Mexican at a comparable price with a livelier room. Erst beats all of them on natural wine depth and informal precision cooking.
Dinner is better for a special occasion , the room has more energy, the occasion feels more intentional, and the full natural wine list comes into its own over a longer evening. But lunch at Erst is genuinely good value for what you get: the same kitchen, the same menu, and a quieter room that suits a longer conversation. If you are visiting for the first time and want to take your time with the wine list and the food without the weekend pressure, a Tuesday or Wednesday lunch is a strong call. The identical menu across lunch and dinner is a feature, not a compromise , you are not getting a truncated daytime offering.
Yes, at the £££ tier it is the strongest option in Ancoats for a celebration or a date dinner. The open kitchen adds a visual engagement that formal dining rooms often lack, and the natural wine focus gives the evening a more exploratory feel than a conventional wine list. The sharing-plates format works well for a pair. For a larger group celebration, confirm the table configuration when booking. If your occasion demands a tasting-menu format and more service formality, Skof or mana are the right upgrades, but they come at ££££ and require more planning. Erst at £££ with a Michelin Plate is a strong celebration choice that does not require a major budget commitment.
At £££, yes. The combination of consistent award recognition (Michelin Plate 2024–2025, OAD Casual Europe ranked three consecutive years), a natural wine list with genuine depth, and cooking that draws on precise sourcing and confident technique makes Erst good value at its price point. You are paying for a kitchen that takes its work seriously and a floor team that knows the menu. The flatbread alone is worth the visit, and the broader menu delivers enough hits to justify the spend. For comparison, Higher Ground at £££ offers similar ambition at a slightly lower price; Skof and mana cost more and deliver more, but require tasting-menu commitment. Erst sits correctly in the middle: ambitious enough to be worth booking, relaxed enough that you do not feel the bill.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erst | Wine Bar, British Contemporary | Erst is a natural wine bar and restaurant in the Ancoats, a historical and recently regenerated area of Manchester now filling up with independent businesses and trendy places to eat and drink. The in...; With its open kitchen, sharing plates, faux-industrial design and bounty of natural wines, there's something incredibly current about Erst. It's truly a restaurant for our times, but cooking like this would be a joy in any era. The underlying themes across the menu are great value and bright, punchy flavours; make sure you start with one of the freshly charred flatbreads, which might come topped with sweet Vesuvio tomatoes. The cuttlefish risotto is terrific too, offering impressive depth of flavour. The friendly team provide natural, attentive service.; Reopened in January 2025 after a seasonal refit that brought an extension to the kitchen and a revamped bar area, Erst retains its industrial-chic styling – and still fits seamlessly into the regenerated Ancoats district as a reliable and often inspiring local resource. Patrick Withington is a confirmed exponent of the small-plates approach, and much of what the kitchen turns out is surprising, ingeniously constructed and founded on excellent prime materials. Even the salads score highly for lively mixtures of flavour – witness castelfranco leaves offsetting the creaminess of Corra Linn (a hard sheep's cheese from Lanarkshire), with pear and walnuts in support. The flatbread that arrives well lubricated with beef fat and scattered with flakes of dried Turkish urfa chilli fully deserves the legendary status it has acquired. Tema artichoke with fermented celeriac in barigoule broth showed a delicate approach to winter warming at our visit, while the skewered lamb coated in ras el hanout butter (another established favourite) was as spicily and fragrantly satisfying as ever. By contrast, skate wing in sherry seemed a clash of mistimed elements, but a dessert of olive-oil cake with ricotta ice cream and candied citron is still a good bet for those who have wearied of salty caramel. Natural wines are the hot ticket among the drinks, and it's worth gleaning some advice from your server about what goes best with what. Before you get embroiled, though, consider the house aperitif, which might involve celery liqueur and apple shrub in a productive liaison with gin and house vermouth.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #357 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #316 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Highly Recommended (2023) | Moderate | — |
| mana | Progressive Cuisine, Creative British | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Skof | Creative | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Higher Ground | Modern British | Unknown | — | |
| MAYA | Mexican, Modern Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| Adam Reid at the French | Modern European | Unknown | — |
How Erst stacks up against the competition.
Yes. The counter seating and small-plates format at Erst suit solo diners well — you can graze across four or five dishes without the awkwardness of a tasting menu built for two. The natural wine list is short enough to navigate with a server recommendation, which makes the solo experience feel less transactional. It's a Michelin Plate venue, so the cooking holds up without a companion to share the experience.
The beef-fat flatbread with urfa chilli has earned a reputation that the kitchen clearly leans into — order it first. The lamb skewers with ras el hanout butter are a confirmed returning favourite. For dessert, the olive-oil cake with ricotta ice cream is the practical choice over anything involving salted caramel. Ask your server for a natural wine pairing rather than picking blind — the list rewards guidance.
A week's notice is usually enough for a midweek lunch, but Friday and Saturday evenings require more lead time — aim for two to three weeks out to be safe. Erst reopened in January 2025 with an extended kitchen, so capacity has increased slightly, but it remains a popular Ancoats venue. Book online or in person; no phone number is publicly listed.
Higher Ground is the closest comparison: similar natural wine focus, seasonal British cooking, and a comparable price point at £££. Skof offers more formal plating with greater technical ambition if you want a step up in occasion. Adam Reid at the French is the right call for a classic tasting-menu format rather than sharing plates. MAYA suits groups who want a drinks-led atmosphere over a food-first experience.
Lunch is the practical pick for value and availability — the kitchen opens at 1 pm Tuesday to Saturday and the room is easier to book midweek. Dinner on a Friday or Saturday evening carries more atmosphere but requires more planning. The menu format is the same at both sittings, so the food argument doesn't favour one over the other.
It works for a low-key celebration — intimate enough for a birthday or work milestone, but the sharing-plates format and industrial-chic room aren't built for formal occasions. If the event calls for a private dining room or a tasting menu with ceremony, Adam Reid at the French is a better fit. Erst is the right choice when the occasion is secondary to eating and drinking well.
At £££, Erst delivers Michelin Plate cooking and an OAD Casual Europe ranking (currently #357 for 2025, up from Highly Recommended in 2023) at a price point that undercuts most comparable Manchester venues. The small-plates format means the bill scales with appetite, so two people eating thoughtfully will pay materially less than at a fixed tasting menu. For natural wine and seasonal British cooking in Ancoats, the value case is strong.
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