A gentle buzz as you enter with the ground floor acting as a very obvious bar area.  We were led upstairs to the dining space where the décor is slightly edgy and purposefully unfinished in places, in keeping with Manchester's industrial vibe.  The table which we ended up in was well lit, comfy to enjoy for almost 3 leisurely hours, and generally we greatly enjoyed the venue and its overall ambiance. The 2nd floor was understandably closed as there wasnt enough reservations to warrant manning the space, but that's 100% the most boujee spot in the whole venue.

The table which we initially sat at, on the first floor away from the windows, felt like a bar as per the ground tier.  Lighting was dark as per the first few shots in this blurb, and the table would have been too small to accommodate our excessive order.  Fortunately, the guys moved us to a more food friendly table.

The menu isn’t cheap, but then that doesn’t mean that it's not good value, and for the most part it 100% is.  Small plates/starters float around the £10 mark, and the bigger plates come in suitably more expensive, depending upon the protein.  It's all very normal and acceptable these days. 

Bill for 3 hungry diners along with a couple of bottles of wine, a couple of cocktails and a selection of beers and softs, including 10% service came to pretty much £400.  It’s the norm on this level, especially since we didn't hold back on the ordering, but you could spend much less and still be satisfied.

The cocktails deserve special note in the value stakes too.  Similar quality elsewhere in the city will set you back another couple of quid per tipple!

That 10% service charge which is pre added.  We don’t like it in 2026, we'd have added it anyway, but it is what it is.

We were taken care of by top pros for the entire evening and service was perfectly pitched and measured well for the duration of our dine, right up until the very end of service.  I also appreciated the straight face from our server during the cocktail ordering, when we asked for a 'Toucan 13'.  13 was the price, not part of the name, which is utterly obvious in hindsight. 

'It happens all the time', I was empathically assured. I'm sure that it doesn’t to be fair, but I still appreciated the ego massage whilst my less empathic colleagues openly and rightfully took the mickey.

An offer of a pre-dinner drink when we first landed would have been a nice touch, especially since we arrived 20 minutes early.  A couple of little delays on nitpicky things like handing over the wine list. 

And maybe match group sizes to table size a bit better.  We saw plenty of groups of 3 sat at the larger 4 person tables, whilst our booked-in group of 4 initially struggled at a smaller 4 person table.

As always, the section which matters more than any other!  So, small and larger plates are the thing here.  We scanned the menu and struggled not to order literally everything, but here goes.

We got the evening rolling with a quad of great quality oysters, which had all been released from their shells; an often-overlooked necessity.  A naked one (£3) for the non spicy fan in the group, and then 3 which were jazzed up with fermented jalapeño and smoked crème fraiche (£4).   A single bite which always whets the appetite.

Holy Grain Sourdough Welsh seaweed butter (£6) felt like something that we should skip based on the other small plates being a bit bread heavy, but we powered on regardless and were happy with that choice.  Locally made bread of great quality, with a Welsh seaweed butter which sung loudly.

The first proper dish was a stack of Burford cheese beignets (£8), and they were exceptional, coming in a generous portion of 5.  Deep fried nuggets of joy finished with a Microplane of even more cheese and some chopped chive to break up the beige tones.  Delicious and in keeping with the Alpine-esque climate outside.

Whipped Cod's Roe (£11) was super smooth and loaded with flavour, with a pretty piping sat atop a hefty slice of grilled break, aka toast.  Garnish was a sliver of pickled radish and some dill which was largely for aesthetics as much as dill and fish are besties (£11).

Cured Monkfish (£13) was yet another well delivered plate.  Strips of meaty fish dressed confidently with what Chef's call a fine brunoise of celeriac and apple, along with some apple puree topped with chervil.  It was a lovely plate which added some lightness to our earlier choices.

Beef Tartare (£15) was lovely quality beef, chopped precisely with clear love, presented creatively on top of a couple of triangles of good old fashioned fried bread, tempered with spiced tomato, cured yolk, and some pickled mushrooms to freshen up the dish's general richness.

And finally, Grilled Leeks (£12) were cooked wonderfully, with an almond and burnt lemon dressing.  It reminded me of a classic Catalonian dish, Calcots with Romesco, and would have acted just as happily as a side plate as it did a veg based starter.

Onto the mains, and things started at pace with the Pork Collar (£30), served with burnt apple, a slice of fennel and bathed in a brown butter & cider sauce. Whenever you as a reader come across statements in the food media along the lines of 'The best I've had ever, this year, this month, etc', it's usually a giveaway sign of the writer's lack of experience rather than being a valid complement/reflection of how good something actually was.

Not here though. It's the best piece of pork that I've eaten since a visit to the Chefs table at Restaurant Pine last autumn; a venue which for those in the know is surely destined to gain 2 Stars eventually. Even by direct comparison, 10 Tib Lane's pork was just a superb menagerie of great produce that's been cooked and sauced properly with no ego, just the rare talent of letting things shine naturally.

Littlewoods Ex Dairy beef is now all but expected on every mid ranger menu in Manchester, and it's a fabulous product. In this case 500g of ribeye (£56), seasoned expertly and cooked wonderfully, with a textbook rocher of malted anchovy butter. Simple, clean and great quality across the board.

And of course, I have to mention the side dishes.  Mashed potatoes, with whipped Brie and truffle (£9).  But the star of the sides was 10 Tib Lane's heritage carrots (£8), which were cooked superbly well, glazed with maple and topped with some lovely textured pine nut crumb.

We were by this stage, more than full.  But quite often when penning reviews we feel a duty to order dessert regardless of whether we 'need' one or not.  That was unquestionably the situ here, so our group of 4 shared two puds. 

Firstly it was the Rhubarb with Mascarpone mousse (£10), topped with a lovely ginger biscuit to add that all important textural component.  Classic flavours, prepped and plated with the restrained confidence which had summed up our whole meal.

Secondly, Levander custard tart (£12) was topped with a white peach jelly, which has clearly been given a hit of red colouring on top of the gelatine sheet.  A lovely burnt honey ganache accompanied and rounded off a pleasant final dish.

And with that, our total of 12 plates were done!  We definitely needed our bigger table!

But; the tartare's toast could have benefited from being thinner as to highlight the protein more.  The cod roe's sourdough toasting was decidedly overtoasted, albeit masked well in our pic with some week angled shooting. 

And the side options were crying out for some form of more textured potato.  Chips, fries, wedges, but probably even crushed potato etc, aside from the still excellent mash.  We are up north after all!

Immediately after this visit our Editor posted a selection of photos and a little snapshot of the visit on her non-work related Instagram, ahead of this full fat review being dropped.  In it she bemoaned Michelin's continual refusal to acknowledge 10 Tib Lane's good work, stating that they should 100% be awarded a Michelin Assiette, aka an entry level listing which they openly declare as being 'restaurants without distinction'.  Funnily enough, they still happily charge venues £250 should they want a shiny red plaque to hang outside and celebrate the generous nod. 

Anyway.  On any respectable yardstick, it's hard to argue against 10 Tib Lane being good enough to deserve the accolade really, which to be fair does hold plenty of distinction overwise it wouldn't exist.  Several of Manchester's top Chefs, including ones who are in the Michelin Guide, agreed in the comments to said Instagram post.

Now in the RoM office we don’t begrudge anybody who has an Assiette or indeed any kind of award, because they've no doubt worked hard to obtain the praise and didn’t award it to themselves, so I won't name any venue/s in Manchester or beyond as examples of Michelin's inconsistency. 

But there's a lot of them, and what Michelin are essentially saying in their actions is that in their view, every single restaurant in the world which has an Assiette is better than 10 Tib Lane and indeed every other restaurant which also doesn't hold an Assiette.  Putting it in those terms clarifies ironic the lack of standards and accuracy in Michelin's decisions.

10 Tib Lane is without question in the city's top 10 best restaurants, which speaks volumes when you consider the pace of improvement across Manchester over the last 5 years in particular, especially when the city centre's top three spots are all 1 Star level.  Only two of them have a Star though with one being continually and conspicuously snubbed.  Sounds familiar?

Fortunately at this stage of my life and career, I no longer visit places to 'collect' Stars and definitely not Assiettes or Bibs, so to a degree I don’t care who has one and who doesn't.  I eat at the places which interest me for reasons which matter; the quality of experience, and if that also happens to be a place on Michelin's own lists then so be it. 

But after countless unannounced visits to 10 Tib Lane, since that's how we prefer it to be when in work mode or not, I've never left feeling anything other than positive about the experience.  And that's why I'll keep returning regardless of what Michelin think.

It's also why you should visit as quickly as you can and give them your money in exchange for a reliably great experience of your own.

The property has always been lovely. We recall it from back in the super-old Lounge 10 days and it’s constantly been a great space regardless of the iteration ever since.

The dining and drinking areas are set over 3 floors, each of which feels more and more appetising as you ascend. Psychological perhaps, but the top floor corner/window seat which we were put in for the evening was a lovely spot.

All in all it’s a great little place; super intimate, and just a lovely base in which to let a few hours fly by.

Be prepared to climb those stairs, which may not suit everyone.  Nothing notable really comes to mind in all honesty, as much as the score reflects a mid-range venue doing a great job, rather than being a premium dining space.

The bill for 4 people was an admirable £210.  The cocktails were comped because there was apparently a delay in them being served?  But our pro radars detected no delay, so we suspect that the team spotted our work email address on the reservation and were just being discreet about giving us something extra.  Regardless, we prefer to be honest about freebies as to remain impartial and transparent, in a food Ad/PR world that’s sadly dominated by unacknowledged media comping.  So the bill for 4 should have been about £255, which is still perfectly fair.

As much as ours were free, cocktails were amazingly well priced, coming in at £10 almost across the board.  For the quality of both the drinks themselves, but also of the general package, I can’t think of a cocktail offering that’s better value in the entire city centre.

Some dishes felt a touch overpriced in all honesty.

Service charge is added, which we don’t like even though we’d have added it anyway. Perhaps I just need to stop mentioning that though, since it’s now pretty much the norm on anything more upmarket than Nando’s.

Holy Grain Sourdough (£5) with herb butter is an obligatory kick-off. Well baked proper sourdough and whipped green herb laden butter. Lovely, and Im not sure if it was accidental or not, but 4 slices for 4 people was appreciated. Nocellara Olives (£5) were also included as our pre-dinner appetite whetters.

Beignets with Alpencheddar (£7) were a cheesy delight; crispy and textural on the bite, but soft, pillowy and delivered a huge cheesy hit within. Lovely.

Steak Tartare (£12) was great quality bovine, topped with fried capers for that all important acidity burst which underpins any good tartare, along with some crisps to act as both a scoop and also to inject a bit of texture and salt into the dish. Very decent.

Cured Mackerel (£12) was probably the table’s least favourite dish. Undoubted high-quality produce, BBQed to add a subtle smoky note to the oily richness of the fish. The side garnish of apple and cucumber was well needed to bring some balance.

Grilled Peach (£11) with goat’s cheese, hazelnut, and mint, was a standout plate, and had the taste buds popping all over the place. Creamy, smoky, fresh, vibrant. Really nice.

Pea and Tarragon Porridge (£18) with okra and marigold was our first proper course. We’d been told to order this ahead of arrival by an associate, and the advice was justified. No sign of soggy okra here, just tons of oozy rich deliciousness.

Our pork schnitzel (£28) was the outstanding plate of the evening. Rather than being a schnitzel, strictly at least, it was more a great quality bone in chop that had been suitably coated and seasoned. In short it has been ‘schitzeled’, a word which was invented on the evening, adding suitable recognition to the dish. A fine duck egg added some extra indulgence to the plate.

Ex-dairy sirloin (£32) was a quality yet simple affair. Blushing steak, doused in pan sauce, with a healthy blob of sharply fresh chimichurri sat on the side. A crowd pleaser.

Crushed Potatoes (£8.50) with whipped smoked butter and Canarian-style Mojo Rojo sauce was a stellar side plate. Great potatoes, and pretty much anything covered in that crimson sauce makes me happy.

Cavolo Nero (£6) was as the menu says. Chopped, cooked, seasoned, on a plate. Sans garnish, as is.

Baba au Rhum (£8), one of my favourite puds on earth, looked pretty upon being served, with a piped band of well sweetened cream generously filling the baba itself.

Chocolate Mousse (£7) with EV rapeseed oil was light, fluffy, and reminded me of a dish served at Erst a while ago. Simple but delicious enough.

The mackerel’s uber-fishy aroma made it a tough eat to be honest. It sounds odd, but fish should never smell ‘fishy’.  This did.  Very. Since Im allowed to have a subjective moan in these pieces; I’m becoming bored of seeing ex dairy cow on Manchester menus, which I suspect is largely because Littlewood’s in Stockport sell it and every mid-ranger in Mcr now shops there, which again is also becoming samey as good as they are.  The recently closed Levanter in Ramsbottom brought the Galician OG version to the region over a decade ago via the amazing Basco Fine Foods in Yorkshire.  Then, it was exciting.  But now UK sourced ex-dairy is suddenly everywhere in Mcr, as if it’s still something new and hasn’t been a staple across Spain for decades, which of course it has.

Lastly, the rum baba was a sad misfire.  Well overbaked and under-soaked; it was crispy and lacked boozy syrup so just the opposite of the dish’s intended delivery. The mousse was also a little uninspiring and felt lazy. as much as it was delicious.

Generally, a delight.  Warm, chatty, friendly, no real service delays, and good wine knowledge to boot.  From the moment we were greeted the team felt like a safe pair of hands and we sensed that we’d be well looked after.  And we were.

Our bread’s butter was cleared down before it was finished. I was still chewing my bread whilst it disappeared too.  Always upsetting.

There’s no question that 10 Tib Lane is in the conversation of being one of the city centre’s top 10 dining experiences.  The venue is lovely, service is strong, and the food offering is broadly exciting and of a solid standard, plus it has real personality in a world whereby many mid rangers are near facsimiles of the last one.  As a whole package, it’s one to put on your radar, 100%.

But; puddings were flat and felt like a tick box driven afterthought, rather than being a highlight which forms a lasting impression as the final thing which you eat during an experience.  If you’re going to plate with such simplicity, then it needs to be perfect on delivery.