HEAD to Artisan with a tenner in your pocket on a weekday lunchtime and they'll serve you a meal you'd expect to pay £20-£25 for at any other time.

It's £9.95 for a starter, main and glass of wine, beer or soft drink. And this isn't a corner-cutting, pauper-portion deal where the reduction in price is reflected in sub-standard food.

A rump steak (plus a starter and a glass of wine) for under £10 – it's surely the lunch bargain of the year

Your options include 6oz rump steak and chips...half a herb-roasted chicken...pan-fried sea bream and summer greens. There's nothing cheap about these dishes.

Add one of their beautifully summery starters and a glass of wine, and you'll feel very spoilt indeed for £10. Have a look at the menu.

You can add a takeaway dessert and coffee to go (or enjoy it inside at your leisure, if you're at leisure to do so). This is an 'express menu' so if you're in a rush, you can order your starter to arrive at the same time as your main (they're all designed to work equally well as sides).

The menu changes monthly and it's building up a following of regulars with some folks eating there several times a week. We've been telling our friends about it and making plans for a repeat visit.

We tried everything on the five starter, five main menu and didn't find a dud dish amongst them. But if we had to pick our highlights, we'd go with these.

Starters

Tomato, mozzarella and rocket salad

Nothing says summer like ripe-to-bursting tomatoes, a scattering of basil, and ripped up mozzarella. A lively, light salad and with a little bit of zing from the spring onion and chilli.

Sumac spiced flatbread with smoked pepper, chilli humous and sesame

None of that chewy, rubbery, stomach-expanding stuff here. This flatbread is crispy, thin and bubbly – perfect for dipping in the delicate pink hummous. The earthy sumac spices and crunchy salt make it irresistible.

Patatas bravas with tomato sauce and smoked garlic aioli

Two summer holiday favourites in one mood-lifting dish. The potatoes are soft inside and crispy on the outside, the aioli has a lovely smoky tang. It's hot weather comfort food – just the thing for a rainy August day in Manchester.

Mains

Creamed leek, spinach and crusted baby potato hash with chive crème fraîche, soft poached egg and crispy onions

Possibly our favourite dish on the entire menu. (FAO Artisan: please keep this one on for few more months at least.) It's a hug in food form: soft, warming, homely, comforting. We want to bed down inside it and eat our way out with a spoon.

Chargrilled 6oz rump steak and chips

A rump steak (plus a starter and a glass of wine) for under £10 – it's surely the lunch bargain of the year. It's served with a mountain of french fries and watercress. Simple and classy like a Parisienne plat du jour.

Herb roasted chicken with spiced cous cous, pomegranate and yoghurt

It was huge but that's not why we loved it so much. The chicken was running with juices, the giant cous cous was set alight by pomegranate seeds, fresh herbs and chilli. We'd happily pay £10 for this dish alone.

Book a table here.