The best Turkish, Middle Eastern and Levantine restaurants in Manchester

Located inside Salford Quay’s Kargo MKT, Baity Kitchen is the new guise of Baity, a much-missed Palestinian restaurant which used to be in Didsbury Village. Here, they keep it simple, with a select few traditional recipes, but the whole place has a distinctly contemporary look. You can’t go much wrong with their pulled lamb and feta sandwich, served in a fresh flatbread. If there’s two of you, or you are particularly hungry, there’s an extravagant, technicolour sharing platter loaded up with shawarma, lamb, rice, dips and zingy salads. Plus, there’s loads of tasty brunch dishes like shakshouka and labneh-topped bagels. Just one of the many reasons Salford Quays is becoming a bona fide food destination.

Manchester’s longest-running Turkish restaurant, you can find Cafe Istanbul on Bridge Street, which makes it a really handy spot for a good value, great quality lunch in the city centre. Think mezze sharing platters, pides and lahmacuns, oven-baked mousakkas and warming stews, as well as perfectly-grilled tender kebabs. Even after 40 years of doing what they do so consistently, there are still people who don’t know about this low-key gem, so next time you’re around Deansgate, and you’re thinking ‘meal deal’, think again.

Not a restaurant, but easily one of the best ways to spend less than a fiver on lunch. At the back of the Chorlton Food Store you’ll find not only some of the absolute best flatbreads in Manchester, but one of the best value snacks imaginable. Baker Rabea makes up to 400 of these puffy, light-as-a-feather flatbreads on his busiest days, with customers travelling from all over Greater Manchester to pick up a stack of them (at a ridiculous £1 for three plain, or 2 for £1.20 with sesame seeds). He uses the same dough to make lahmacun, pressing and stretching spiced minced lamb into the bread, until it’s paper thin and then adding cheese, and, if you like, mushrooms and onions too, before it heads into the revolving oven. Then all you need to find is a perfect park bench to enjoy it on.

A Palestinian restaurant on Wilmslow Road, in the heart of the Curry Mile, Jaffa is a spot to head whether you want comforting favourites or to head on a bit of an exploration of lesser-spotted dishes. Of course there are the likes of baba ganoush, tabbouleh and falafel, but you might also the mosakhan – an aromatic roasted chicken, or kahrouf mahshi, a roast lamb dish stuffed with nuts and rice. Savoury pastry fans are well-catered for: there’s a thyme and sesame-topped manakeesh and a lahem b’agine, topped with minced meat and veg. If you want to keep it simple – grilled meats with a stack of fresh chips – order from the mashawai grill section, and enjoy.

The stretch of Stockport Road that runs through Levenshulme is not short of great, low-key restaurants serving Levantine cuisine – you’ve got your Sips & Dips, you’ve got the mighty Levenshulme Bakery. Don’t skip Jandol though, it’s a Lebanese restaurant and bakery. There are koftas and chops aplenty, as well as vibrant zingy salads and fresh-as-anything shawarma. Bakery-wise, expect sweet and savoury favourites, with more varieties of baklava than you’ve conceivably seen in one place before.

This Lebanese spot on Barlow Moor Road is a long-standing favourite among those who enjoy all things babaganoush, mouhamara, falafel and shish kebab. The sort of place you want to go if you’re having a big get together where you all order a few bits for the table, then pile your plate high. It’s not quantity over quality though – everything is a superior version of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean favourites. If the menu is overwhelming, you can’t possibly go wrong with scorched meats drenched in lemon juice, silky hummus and fluffy pitta breads of dreams. Be sure to book, this place is understandably popular.

Many people who like to think themselves authorities on these things say that Levenshulme Bakery is the best shawarma you can get in this city. It’s certainly up there. Whether you’re a denizen of the A6 or not, you can’t deny the appeal of their mixed samoon (freshly baked in-house, as per the name), and their falafel and fatayer are exceptional also, all at inflation-busting prices. Don’t write this off as a late-night spot, Levy B is worthy of a dedicated, sober, outing.

Bringing a taste of the Middle East via Paris’ Le Marais district, Maray has quickly established itself as one of Manchester’s most exciting dining spots, not least because of its modern dining room and menu that seamlessly blends Middle Eastern spices with European influences. Small plates are at the heart of the experience, encouraging a relaxed and social approach to dining. Signature dishes like their now-famous disco cauliflower – an explosion of flavor topped with tahini, zhug, harissa, and almonds – sit alongside mezze, fresh seafood, and tender cuts of meat, all crafted with a careful balance of spice and texture. But seriously, that cauliflower…

How many restaurants can boast their own Sultan? Not many. Or perhaps any. Moorish, on Shaw Road in Heaton Moor, can however. And a big one too. Savas is a towering ex-soldier, who fought alongside the British Army in Iraq. A gentle giant, now he dons a traditional Sultan’s robe and hat and welcomes guests to his best friend’s Hamit’s restaurant, usually on the weekends. The restaurant features handmade fabrics, runners and soft furnishings, all imported from Turkey, as well as colourful glass lamps and other nicknacks to create an authentic ambience outside of what’s on the table. The lamb, chicken and halloumi sizzlers platters are a speciality of the house, as is the hummus, served hot with mozzarella, alongside the more recognisably Turkish stuffed aubergines, sujuk sausage, feta cheese filo rolls and fabulous cold dips for the hot lamb.

Pomegranate owners Sia and Parisa extend the warmest of welcomes at their terracotta-fronted spot on bustling Burton Road. Serving a contemporary take on Persian cuisine, there are all your classic mezze-style dishes like olives and hummus, kofteh meatballs and stuffed peppers. Aubergine features heavily, as does grilled meat, and of course the eponymous ruby ref fruit. Perfect for ordering a little bit of everything for the table. Seek them out – they’re difficult to miss.

This Lebanese cafe in Levenshulme does exactly what it says on the tin, and quite a lot more too. Head down to Sips & Dips for some of the most flavoursome and colourful brunch plates around – dishes like shakshuka, as well as their signature breakfast with spicy lamb sausages, crispy potatoes, mushrooms and a sumac-topped fried egg, all best enjoyed with a freshly pressed juice. Lunch-wise, you’ve got an array of wraps, salads and topped flatbreads, and hearty stew fans should make a bee line for the tender, spiced lamb shank served with a broth over rice. Can’t decide? Opt for a mixed platter of dips, and get stuck in.

Named after a palace-sized museum in Istanbul, which is home to a huge collection of cultural artefacts, Manchester’s Topkapi Palace is our own culinary treasure trove. Here you’ll find loads of mezze dishes with both European and Middle Eastern influences, as well as plenty of immaculately sizzled mixed grills. A family favourite, this Deansgate spot is great for a multi-generational get together, and it’s all halal too.

Known as the go-to for Persian cuisine in Rusholme, Walnut has been a Curry Mile staple for getting on for two decades. It’s a cosy, welcoming space, and you’d better come hungry. The menu is an abundant raft of kebabs, stews, grilled fish and vegetarian options. What you might not expect, their Sundays-only breakfast menu, featuring an omelette, the barley-based haleem stew, fresh veggies and flatbread, and the kaleh pache – a breakfast soup made of sheeps’ head and trotters. Not for the faint hearted, but obviously delicious.

This family-run Lebanese and Syrian restaurant have a few spots, and Altrincham’s is on Oxford Road. They serve vast plates of scorched meat and fish, as well as a plentiful selection of hot and cold mezze plates, dips and bread. A sure-fire winner for a big group gathering, made even more so by the BYOB policy. For tasty, sociable dining it’s a no-brainer, and has been a favourite in the town for decades.

This Chapel Street Persian cafe is far more than just a casual lunch spot, it’s a bit of a movement. In their words it’s a ‘a vibrant gathering spot where neighbours come together to connect, share stories, and forge lasting friendships’. In our words, it’s a picturesque meeting place serving traditional Persian breakfasts, lunches and desserts. It’s also a place where you can go to experience dance, poetry and other cultural events. Expect to leave emanating a warm fuzzy glow.

Serving food from all across the Levant, with a good dose of Turkish and Greek influence too – Zena is a cosy, wood panelled restaurant at the top of Burton Road. Inside, the decor is a cacophony of colours and textures, to match the pan-continental cuisine on offer. Serving heaps of mezze dishes, dips and flatbreads, savoury pastries and platter upon platter of scorched, tender meat, this is the sort of restaurant you head to with foodie mates, and get a bit of everything for the table. Take that approach, and it’s scientifically impossible to order wrong. It’s also BYOB, so the bill always feels like an absolute bargain.