The best bakeries in Manchester

Established all the way back in 1964, Barbakan Deli (or to give it its more distinguished adopted title, The Barbakan) is a continental delicatessen that really serves the community. As well as loads of interesting grocery supplies and cured meats, these guys bake up pan-European breads like German Norlander, French Campagrain, Italian Contadina, Polish Rye and Irish Soda. Through the night, they create beautiful treats too like cheesecakes and sweet patisserie. Plus there’s a covered front terrace where you can enjoy your newly-purchased spoils, plus some barbecue on the weekend. It’s no wonder this place is such a long-standing hit with locals and businesses alike.

Looking like a French patisserie conjured up in a pastel-coloured fever dream, Bisous Bisous are all about whimsical and over-the-top bakes. You can find their aesthetically-pleasing stores on Deansgate and on Chorlton’s Beech Road, as well as inside Selfridges at the Trafford Centre. There are colourful macarons and decadent eclairs aplenty, as well as signature creations like miniature gateaux and a ‘Ferrero mousse’. Got someone to impress? Create a bountiful gift box for serious friendship brownie (pastry?) points.

A solid addition to Altrincham’s already thriving bakery scene, The Bread Bin is a real contender, turning out proper croissants, serious sourdough, Swedish kanelbullar (that’s cinnamon buns to you and me) and homemade bakewell tarts. Serving from their sleek spot near the very top of Altrincham high street, which has an ideal-for-people-watching coffee bar too, it’s no wonder they’re usually packed, and regularly sell out too.

Starting out as a tiny Ancoats spot for grabbing bread, bakes, sandwiches and coffee, Companio quickly added a stylish Northern Quarter cafe to their arsenal too. Meaning ‘company’, this friendly lot specialise in sourdough loaves and ludicrously well-crafted Vienoisserie pastries, as well as sandwich classics like BLTs and Ruebens, served on the freshest of fresh ciabatta. As a grab-and-go lunch hour option, or a place to sit and enjoy bakes and brews, Companio are one of the very best around.

Serving from a hatch on the side of an old Ancoats industrial building (look out for the painted sunflower mural) these guys started out baking from their flat, making eye-catching creations like croissant cookies, tiramisu with croissant bites and pistachio bakes in every possible permutation imaginable. While this may all seem geared towards viral online stardom, these Flat Bakers deliver on substance as well as style, and the queues you’ll see snaking down Radium Street are testament to that.

The name Gooey is synonymous with outrageous bakes and brunches in Manchester. Expect a range of pastries, donuts by the box, glaze and filling-load, alongside a wealth of other baked goods such as their signature cookies which manage to be both chunky and, yes, gooey too. It’s not just about the sweet things either. Their sandwiches are the stuff of legend, notably perhaps the best Reuben in Manchester, an egg mayo to end all egg mayos and a tofu number that got none other than Lizzo fizzy. You can source the good stuff from their light and spacious High Street cafe or their kiosk in the atrium at Ducie Street Warehouse.

Part of the Red Bank neighbourhood that is also home to local vendors such as The Spärrows and Green Arches, Half Dozen Other are the pink warehouse turning out some of the most visually stunning pastries in the city, like croissants filled with pistachio and white chocolate, apricot danishes and cheese and onion twice-baked croissants. In terms of baked goods, these ones are worth waiting around in a car park for.

This small bakery on the thriving independent strip of Deansgate Mews specialises in naturally-leavened bread made for wholesale supply to Manchester’s overwhelmingly strong food and drinks industry. So, whether you knew it or not, if you’ve eaten out anywhere good in town recently, the loaves could well have come from here.

A French-style bakery with a bright blue frontage, La Chouquette is a well-loved mainstay of the Didsbury food and drink scene. So much so, it feels like it’s been there forever, despite it being an addition that appeared out of lockdown. A second Poynton location followed soon after. La Chouquette’s offering leans mostly traditional, with perfectly laminated croissants, glazed swirls, savoury tarts and cream buns topped with fruit, as well as baguettes, loaves and seasonal stuff too, like hot cross buns. Truly a little slice (or a big one) of Paris in the suburbs.

Their concept is simple and their execution is flamboyant. With bakeries in Salford and Oxford Street, as well as a concession in Selfridges, LOAF create simple rectangular cakes topped with nostalgic flavour combinations like jammie dodger, fondant fancy and Manchester tart. There are big ones for sharing, or small ones for individual treats. Plus, everything is pink. Very pink. If you’re looking for a high sugar, high energy pick-me-up, look no further.

In an attractive green corner plot just behind Levenshulme’s main drag is Long Bois. On any given day you’ll find the counter is overflowing with lovingly created sweet and savoury bakes like babkas, danishes, tortes and some of the best croissants you’ll find this side of the Seine. They regularly change up their offering and collaborate with other Manchester foodie institutions of special creations. A perfect spot to swing by after an afternoon spent mooching in the suburbs.

Once named the best in Britain, Altrincham’s Lovingly Artisan are all about keeping things simple. With a focus on sourdough, their rustic loaves are some of the prettiest and tastiest around. And while loads of love goes into their offering, so does talent, expertise and patience. If you want a show-stopping loaf, get yourself down to Altrincham Market’s outside strip of traders before they sell out – loads of the city’s best restaurants and bars agree, sourcing the bread for their menus from Lovingly Artisan.

Starting life as a lockdown project, MOST Bakery has an attractive little spot on Altrincham high street where they produce an array of loaves and sweet bakes. It doubles as a cafe, and on a weekend morning you can find the space buzzing with people grabbing coffees, sourdough and pastries. Regularly they host supper clubs in the space too, so you can enjoy creative dishes in a cosy, relaxed environment – and you can be sure the baked elements are top notch. Extra points for their vegan pastries – their Oreo swirl is second to none.

Neighbourhood staples like the Old Trafford Bakery are, sadly, few and far between these days. Which is why this long-standing pillar of the OT community is such a treasure. It’s been running since the early 60s, when the newly arrived West Indian community flocked to this corner of South Manchester. It’s been producing the very best overnight-proved hard dough loaves, bulla cake and fruit buns ever since. But it’s the patties that fly off the shelves; flaky, spicy and perfect. Many say these are the best in Manchester, and people travel from all over just to get their fix.

One of the indisputably coolest kids on the Manchester bakery scene, Pollen have Scandi-inspired bakery cafes on Islington Marina and in KAMPUS too. Prepare for queues on a Saturday morning (and at plenty of other points in the week too) as Ancoats’ and the city centre’s trendiest residents get their fix of pretty Vienoisseire, hangover-busting breakfast rolls and sourdough-centric brunches. They serve a decent cup of coffee too, if you enjoy your baked goods while sipping a flat white and watching the world go by.

Opening up on the Northern Quarter’s Tib Street in 2016, Siop Shop (pronounced ‘Shop Shop’, from the Welsh) was founded by alumni of Common, which is just around the corner on Edge Street. First and foremost, they are a doughnut shop, creating perfectly formed doughy offerings which also have a surreal sense of humour – special seasonally-inspired bakes resemble madcap objects like bananas, Christmas wreaths and roast chickens. The cafe has a suitably outrageous interior too – all bold colours and wavy lines, but this doesn’t mean they don’t take what they do seriously. If you’re after a sweet treat, breakfast sandwich or even just a coffee, this is a one-stop Siop.

The longest-running kosher bakery in Manchester, State Fayre truly is an institution, producing proper bagels, challah, kichels and sufganiyah – Jewish doughnuts – the traditional way for more than 100 years. A bagel, boiled then baked and still warm from these ovens, is a magical thing indeed. They work through the night, so it might even be worth popping your head in on the way back from a night out to grab yourself a treat.

Right in the heart of Chinatown, Wong Wong bakery has been turning out crowd-pleasing bakes since 2003. In that time, they’ve become a go-to for occasion cakes and individual sweet treats. Everything they create is picture-perfect, like their Thai mango cake or the super-sweet pineapple bun with a crispy shell. They also create irresistible savoury bakes like the legendary char sui bun – a glistening pillow-like brioche-style roll filled with roasted pork. We can see why this place has become synonymous with some of the best Chinese bakes in Manchester.

From the same creative and culinary minds that brought you Stockport’s exceptional fine dining restaurant Where The Light Gets In, Yellowhammer is their more casual cousin. In the evening it’s all about natural wines and carefully sourced small plates, but in the day they serve some of the best bakes and coffees in the city. With a focus on old school favourites like Chelsea buns and bread & butter pudding, you’re sure to find something satisfying in this unfathomably cool spot on Lower Hillgate.