Over eggs over easy? Adventure further afield than a full English with our top breakfasts
Breakfast is famously deemed the most important scran of the day, so settling for a bog-standard fry up or underwhelming eggs benny doesn’t always hit the spot. Thanks to all things matcha, muesli, and industrial lighting, the average Mancunian brekkie has definitely had a glow-up over the past few years, however; this list of innovative AM hangouts celebrates the spots that are taking it one step further with their naan bread bacon butties and breakfast bánh mì.
If avocado toast with an oat milk flat white and a side of hanging plants just isn’t cutting it for you anymore, these unique alternatives are the perfect way to spice up your life (or at least your morning commute).
Read on for 13 game-changing dishes and breakfast destinations that are bringing home more than just the bacon.
Where: Açai & The Tribe
What: Tribe açai bowl
If your breakfast isn’t worthy of a Balinese influencer’s Instagram grid, then it’s just not worth it, right? Right.
Without sounding too much like an Arndale-based cult, Açai & The Tribe is asking us to "join the tribe" and try its signature Tribe Açai bowl. With a base of organic acai, banana, and almond milk topped with vanilla granola, frozen raspberries, banana, and almond butter, Manchester’s first Açai bar is chucking in everything but the kitchen sink.
The option to customise your influencer-style grub with a combo of trendy extras like chia seeds, bee pollen, and the hair of a Hawaiian unicorn, also means that both your gut and the gram can appreciate this unique breakfast option at the same time.
Açai & The Tribe, Arndale Market, South Side, 49 High Street, Manchester, M4 3AH
Where: All The Shapes
What: Smoked haddock kedgeree
Promoted as a bar, café and gathering place all rolled into one, this Prestwich haunt serves brunch until 4pm every day – our Sunday morning hungover self is screaming. This spot’s all-day schedule isn’t the only thing to shout about either, as All The Shapes’ brunch menu features a smoked haddock kedgeree that’s sure to have you sweating out Saturday’s tequila shots and karaoke.
Consisting of naturally smoked haddock, fragrant curry sauce, wild rice, poached egg and chilli crisp, this unique breakfast option knocks spots off last night’s leftover doner. However, if smoked fish and wild rice are too much to stomach after a weekend bender, All The Shapes’ Boca sandwich with pulled chicken, lime crema and carb-loading ciabatta is arguably a more manageable morning-after option.
All The Shapes, 8 Warwick Street, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 3HN
Where: Another Heart to Feed
What: Spiced courgette fritters, red lentil dahl, whipped tofu raita & green sauce
Another Heart to Feed is an Aussie-inspired breakfast spot with a varied menu of broad beans, beetroot lattes and batch brew. Aside from its bibimbap with kimchi and gochujang bbq sauce (which is already pretty out there), another unique menu addition for this Northern Quarter spot is the spiced courgette fritters with red lentil dahl.
Accompanied by whipped tofu raita and a mystery green sauce, this dish definitely proves that bacon and eggs are so last year, dhaling. The speciality hot drinks and varied extras at this Melbourne to Manchester spot also allow you to modify your brunch with everything from merguez and feta to Vietnamese iced coffee – niche.
Another Heart to Feed, 10 Hilton Street, Manchester, M1 1JF
Where: California Coffee & Wine
What: The Don breakfast burrito
Providing you with the opportunity to "discover California in Altrincham" (big moves from CC&W), this Altrincham-based retreat has a brunch menu that boasts food-coma-inducing breakfast burritos and a signature biodynamic coffee blend.
Quite literally the don of this Altrincham-Angeles brainchild, The Don breakfast burrito features scrambled eggs, coriander, chilli jam, chorizo or sausage and crispy onions - the option to add smoked cheddar spinach instead of meat ensuring that your transition into a Cali-based vegan YouTuber is an effortless one. California Coffee & Wine also have other brekkie burrito options such as a cheesy steak bro-ito, good morning veggie and maxi-cali tofu.
California Coffee & Wine, 3 Oxford Road, Altrincham, Manchester, WA14 2DY
Where: Cedar Bakery
What: Batata harra
If your morning commute could do with a hint of Beirut, this Lebanese bakery and sweet shop serves up an exciting Arabic breakfast menu with the most expensive option coming in at just under six quid (bargain).
Cedar Bakery’s batata harra is made up of potato cubes cooked with fresh garlic, red pepper and coriander - the Lebanese spices and chilli adding some rapture to Rusholme’s brunch game. Keeping it hearty, this bakery’s breakfast options are all served with fresh bread and good vibes, and the range of baklava and Arabic coffee make for an authentically alternative brunch either on the go or inside the Walmer Street hangout.
Cedar Bakery, Unit 2, Walmer Street East, Rusholme, Manchester, M14 5SS
Where: Dishoom
What: Keema per eedu
Ordinary is the last word that comes to mind when I think of a Dishoom brekkie, and the option to start the day "from Bombay with love" is definitely more tempting than Quaker Oats and a 6am alarm.
Dishoom’s keema per eedu is described as "a Parsi power breakfast" consisting of spicy chicken keema studded with morsels of chicken liver and topped with two runny yolked fried eggs, all served with a side of home-made buns. The sali crisp-chips and "(S) for spicy" warning also make it easy to swap New Islington for New Dehli and Special K for this very special keema.
However, if your breakfast isn’t complete without a pork sausage or bacon rasher, Dishoom’s naan rolls are an alternative option with a little Indian jiggle. Graced with cream cheese, tomato-chilli jam and fresh coriander, your porker will be far from lonely wrapped in a freshly baked naan straight from the tandoor.
Dishoom, 32 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BT
Where: Evelyn’s Café & Bar
What: Gravadlax
Pineapple on pizza is the age-old divisive debate, but pineapple cured sea trout for breakfast? No brainer. Evelyn’s brunch menu, served til 5pm every day, has got everything from bircher to buttermilk pancakes, with some Taiwanese fried chicken thrown in there for good measure.
When it comes to truly showing muesli and mocha the middle finger, Evelyn’s take on a Norwegian gravadlax comes out on top with its pineapple-cured sea trout, dill, zesty labneh and focaccia - a far cry from a bowl of Frosties. The Tib Street joint also offers some fab unique veggie options consisting of za’atar mushrooms, chickpea puree, dukkah, poached egg and wholemeal spelt pitta.
Evelyn's Cafe & Bar, G18, Smithfield Building, Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1NB
Where: House of Habesha
What: Eritrean himbasha
Bringing a taste of East Africa to Central Manchester, House of Habesha is run by Samson and Samuel, a unique duo who have graced Blossom Street Social with authentic Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine since April this year.
Branching out into breakfasts in its own Eritrean way, House of Habesha’s AM menu is home to the signature Himbasha, a range of fillings from tuna, egg, kulwa, fritata and salmon whacked between two thick slices of this sweet celebration bread and sold by the slice – dreamy.
House of Habesha, 51 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF (Inside Blossom Street Social)
Where: Masons
What: Steak and eggs
Serving up top-tier brunch options from its ground-floor restaurant bar, Masons on Bridge Street agrees with Confidentials, and a dead American journalist, that "all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast".
Stealing the gold star for "most alternative breakfast option" on the Masons menu is steak and eggs, an option that’s slightly tamer than kedgeree and gravadlax, but definitely a step up from beans on toast. Masons version is made up of a 6oz minute steak with three free-range fried eggs, roasted vine tomatoes and truffle hollandaise, the option to add a bellini to your order sealing the deal for a bad n bougee brunch.
Masons, Ground Floor, Manchester Hall, 36 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BT
Where: NAM
What: Breakfast báhn mì
Priding themselves on "traditional techniques learnt from Mum, and a bit of TLC", the team at NAM are rustling up a breakfast báhn mì filled with pork belly, fried egg, black pudding croutons, pickled veg, herbs, and house sweet chilli sauce – fusion food at its finest.
Also providing a vegan option that swaps out the pork belly for tofu, this authentic Vietnamese hot spot doesn’t stop at báhn mì, their tapioca pudding and pandan waffle with yoghurt, mango and spiced syrup also bringing some Asian inspiration to the first meal of the day. For just an extra £20 per person, you can also make your brunch at NAM bottomless for a whole 90 minutes – that’s a lot of Tiger beer.
NAM, Unit 2, 33 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6AJ
Where: Pot Kettle Black
What: Ricotta toast
If the words "ricotta" and "toast" send your mind straight to honey, figs, peaches, maybe jam, then you’ve failed Pot Kettle Black’s word association game. Tipping that sweet/savoury contrast on its head with pickled courgettes, broad beans, dill oil and micro herbs, Pot Kettle Black’s ricotta toast is piled onto a thick slice of wholewheat sourdough with the option of adding smoked salmon on the side.
Almost like a glorified salmon and cream cheese bagel, this innovative breakfast dish is part of PKB’s "things on our bread" menu, the more traditional options including avocado, poached eggs, and Nana Mary’s eggy bread. If micro greenery and dill oil all seems a bit OTT, then a range of breakfast buns and smoothies will also greet you like a warm hug at this cosy Barton Arcade spot.
Pot Kettle Black, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BW
Where: The Smithfield Social
What: Truffle and pecorino hash browns
If you’ve ever eaten more than a handful of hash browns that weren’t from a plastic packet in the freezer, then you can definitely call yourself a self-proclaimed breakfast buff. However, a sure-fire way to attain this brekkie buff title is to try The Smithfield Social’s truffle and pecorino hash browns with poached eggs, grilled mushrooms and optional hollandaise.
Stepping it up from McCain multipacks, the golden goddess of breakfast potatoes matched with truffle and Italian cheese can also be added as an extra alongside other faves like shakshuka or a spinach and tenderstem broccoli frittata, a good dollop of bloody mary ketchup advised for dipping on the side.
The Smithfield Social, 53-55 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA
Where: Trove
What: Sausage ragu
Thanks to the minimalist food-envy Instagram and a seasonal brunch menu that Gordo deemed "well worth a schlep across town" back in 2018, Trove has achieved the perfect balance between creativity and comfort when it comes to brekkie options.
Having mastered the classic bacon sarnie and poached eggs on toast, Trove’s sausage ragu with poached egg, courgette, lovage and cultured cream (cream that’s been to Grayson Perry’s Art Club) is an innovative addition to their Ancoats-based brunch menu that proves variety is the spice of life. With not a pasta shape in sight, this meaty ragu is also served with a slab of homemade bread, with an optional side of bacon, black pudding or greens.
Trove’s kimchi bloody mary made with kimchi brine and trove spice mix is another unique menu addition that wouldn’t go a miss to help wash down the carbs and ragu goodness.
Trove, 5 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6HS
Read Next: Brunch bunch - An A-Z of bottomless brunch in Manchester
Read Again: 'Well worth a schlepp across town' - Gordo reviews Trove, Ancoats
Don't miss out
Get the latest food & drink news and exclusive offers by email.
