The very best chips in Manchester

This Thomas Street stalwart might be best known as a watering-hole for the Northern Quarter’s residents and workers, but its food offering shouldn’t be overlooked either – it serves some of the best pub grub in the city centre. The pies are exceptional, as we’re always banging on about, and in sunnier seasons their Cesar salad is unmatched. The quiet support acts to both of these dishes though? The chips. With a choice of chunky or fry, they’re always fresh, crips and piping hot. Simply put, they’re exactly what you want with your pub lunch. Long live The Bay Horse.

Blacklock have made eating simple British food in a basement a fine art. There are grandma-style plates stacked high with cuts of assorted meat, proper gravy boats, and an addictive condiment called ‘chop sauce’. If there’s a bush, they aren’t beating around it. The same can be said of their chips, which are chunkily cut and fried in beef dripping. Our advice would be to order a few portions for the table, and keep that chop sauce flowing.

When Caravan –  the New Zealand-inspired brunch, lunch and dinner spot – came to Manchester last year they shouted about their coffee which is roasted on site, their globally-inspired small plates and their interesting cocktails. And all those things are very good, but what they didn’t shout about so much were their chips. They’re equally enjoyable nibbled alongside a half flat iron chicken or chargrilled lamb chop as they are as an accompaniment to a margarita-fuelled catch up. Is there anything those Antipodeans can’t do?

While this impossibly classy Ancoats pub has been helmed by numerous notable chefs, one thing has remained a constant. Chips. These are a proper oblong of a chip – they’ve got real dimension to them – and you can guarantee they’ve been triple-fried to perfection. However you enjoy them is a delight, whether it’s on their own or as part of fish and chips. Real connoisseurs will know The Edinburgh Castle’s chip butty is where the action’s really at. Designed as a bar snack, this brioche bun if delight will have you convinced that carbs are best enjoyed with yet more carbs. And pints.

The clue’s in the name really. Frite are the big yellow cabin serving up Amsterdam-style fries. The fries in question are freshly cut and fried to golden perfection right in front of you. So if you’re winding your way home after a few drinks at one of Deansgate’s pubs or party spots, you can stop off for a tray of the good stuff, which is really the sensible thing to do, if you think about it. They come topped off with the likes of truffle mayo and parmesan or Chinese salt ‘n’ pepper style, though we think they are best enjoyed as nature intended – with a huge dollop of full fat mayo. 

Given that Hawksmoor is best known for their unmatched steak offering, it’s no surprise that they also do an equally impressive chip, and there’s is the optimal amount of ‘posh’. And staying with the carnivorous theme, their triple-cooked chips and fries are done in beef dripping, and are the perfect, carby accompaniment to a top-shelf Chateaubriand doused in a bone marrow gravy. If chips were around in Henry VIII’s day, this is how he’d have them.

Fries, loaded up with duck satay? Yes. And yes again. Hello Oriental do a few very decent loaded chip situations – and while this is more a guide to the basics of the chip itself, we can’t ignore this.

Sometimes you want a straight-up, perfectly executed french fry, say with a good steak. But sometimes you need something with a bit more oomph. In which case, we’d direct you to the ‘deep fried wavy potato chips’ at Noodle Alley in Chinatown. These crisp, crinkle-cut blighters are caked in Szechuan spice and other intense savouriness from chef Wendy Chen’s secret recipe, numbing your mouth, making it a chip scoffing experience like no other.

Everything they do at The Pearl is inspired by in British classics, with just a bit of cheffy flourish. Their menu is full of dishes which blend the elevated with the incredibly down to earth. For example, bread with whey fat butter, or anchovies deep fried in a lager batter. Their chips are no exception: these oversized and incredibly flaky takes on the ubiquitous side are served with ox cheek, dill pickle, classic mustard and a generous sprinkling of sea salt. A fancy chip, for sure, but still incredibly satisfying.

Everything about Tartuffe is incredibly trendy, from the mid century decor to the retro, multi-purpose studio building they call home, to the Insta-worthy roast chickens and Cesar salads they serve up. But any self-respecting Cesar salad connoisseur knows that the parmesan-dusted dish has to come with an equally impressive side of fries. Luckily Tartuffe have this nailed as well. Neither definitively a chip or a fry, they are perfectly golden, a little rough around the edges and lightly salted. The perfect accompaniment to your sarnie, salad or spicy marg.