Eight of Manchester’s best-known halal restaurants hold a top food hygiene rating of 5, checked today on the Food Standards Agency register. This guide gives those ratings, and is straight about the thing most halal lists blur: which of these are halal kitchens, and which merely serve halal meat alongside pork and alcohol.
Manchester has become one of the UK’s genuinely strong halal food cities — Turkish steakhouses in the city centre, Lebanese kitchens, Punjabi dining rooms and a Curry Mile that runs long after everywhere else has shut.
Last updated: 26 October 2026. Hygiene ratings retrieved from the FSA on this date.
One thing to know before the list: Dishoom is not a halal restaurant. Halal guides report its chicken and lamb as halal, but bacon is on the breakfast menu, alcohol is served, and it is not HMC-certified. It stays on this list because halal chicken and lamb is exactly what many diners want — but that is a different proposition from the alcohol-free halal kitchens further down, and you should hear it here rather than at the table.
The short version
- Verified hygiene 5: 8 of 10 venues
- Halal steak: Etci Mehmet — rated 5, alcohol-free
- Middle Eastern: Jood — rated 5
- Late and reliable: Al Jazeera, Curry Mile — rated 5
- Not a halal kitchen: Dishoom — pork and alcohol on site
- No rating yet: Toro’s — awaiting inspection
- Remember: a hygiene 5 says nothing about halal
What this article covers
Halal Status and Hygiene, Side by Side
These are two separate questions and most guides run them together. The Food Standards Agency rates food safety; it says nothing whatever about religious compliance. A restaurant can hold a 5 and serve pork.
| Restaurant | Where | Halal position | Hygiene |
|---|---|---|---|
| Etci Mehmet | The Quadrangle, M1 5QS | Halal kitchen, alcohol-free. Turkish grills and steaks | 5 |
| Jood Restaurant | City centre, M2 6DN | Halal kitchen. Lebanese and Middle Eastern | 5 |
| Al Jazeera | Curry Mile, M14 5TQ | Halal kitchen. Charcoal grills, late opening | 5 |
| MyLahore | Wilmslow Road, M14 5TQ | Halal kitchen. British Asian, family-oriented | 5 |
| Zouk Tea Bar & Grill | The Quadrangle, M1 5QS | Halal kitchen. Pakistani and Indian, halal Sunday roasts | 5 |
| Burgerism | Baring Street, M1 2PZ | Halal kitchen. Smash burgers, heavy on delivery | 5 |
| Ribeye Steakhouse | M15 4RP | Halal kitchen. Dry-aged steaks | 5 |
| Dishoom | Bridge Street, M3 3BW | NOT a halal restaurant. Halal chicken and lamb reported, but bacon is on the breakfast menu and alcohol is served. Not HMC-certified | 5 |
| EastZeast | Near the city centre | Punjabi and North Indian. We could not match it on the FSA register | Not published |
| Toro’s Steakhouse | Cheetham Hill and Rusholme | Halal steakhouse | Awaiting inspection — no rating yet |
Food Standards Agency register, retrieved 26 October 2026, matched on name and postcode. No formal halal certification is claimed for any venue here — halal positions are as reported and should be confirmed with the restaurant.
The Verified Ratings
Food Standards Agency register, retrieved 26 October 2026. Dishoom M3 3BW (13 Sep 2024), My Lahore M14 5TQ (14 Nov 2022), Etci Mehmet M1 5QS (9 Feb 2024), Jood M2 6DN (6 Mar 2025), Al Jazeera M14 5TQ (31 Jan 2026), Zouk M1 5QS (28 Jul 2026), Burgerism M1 2PZ (16 Mar 2024), Ribeye M15 4RP (28 Aug 2024).
Check the inspection date as well as the number. MyLahore’s 5 dates from November 2022 and Zouk’s from July 2026 — both are top marks, but they describe kitchens nearly four years apart. Displaying the sticker is voluntary in England, so a window with nothing in it tells you nothing.
What the Register Could and Could Not Confirm
Food Standards Agency register, searched 26 October 2026. “No register match” does not mean closed — only that we could not confirm an entry under that name.
- Eight rated 5, matched on name and postcode.
- Toro’s Steakhouse has no rating at all — both its sites are recorded as awaiting inspection. That is a register status, not a bad score, but it is worth knowing given this page previously described its steaks as halal-certified without mentioning it.
- EastZeast returned no match under that name. That does not mean it is closed or that anything is wrong with it — only that we could not verify an entry, and we will not publish a rating we cannot confirm belongs to the right business.
- Match on the full address, never the name alone. On a previous guide a name-only search for a well-known restaurant returned a supermarket petrol station.
- The register is free and takes seconds. If a venue matters to you, check it yourself rather than trusting any list, including this one.
What to Ask Before You Book
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Who certifies the meat? | If they can name HMC, HFA or another certifier, you have an answer. If they cannot name one, they are not certified — which does not automatically mean the meat is not halal, only that nobody audits it |
| Is pork served anywhere on the premises? | This is the question that separates a halal restaurant from a halal-friendly one. Dishoom, for instance, serves bacon at breakfast |
| Is alcohol served or used in cooking? | Many diners accept an alcohol-free kitchen but not an alcohol-free menu, or the reverse. Ask about cooking wine as well as the bar |
| How is the meat handled? | Separate utensils, boards and fryers where pork is also on site. Some diners regard shared equipment as decisive |
| What is the hygiene rating? | Free to check on the FSA register. Match on the full address, not the name — names repeat across towns |
| During Ramadan | Book well ahead for iftar, and check opening hours — many places change them for the month, and some open late only |
Certification bodies are the Halal Monitoring Committee and the Halal Food Authority.
The Restaurants in More Detail
Etci Mehmet turned halal steak into theatre — giant cuts carried through the room, fire displays, phones out. Underneath the spectacle it is a serious Turkish grill, and the alcohol-free room is a large part of why families choose it over conventional steakhouses. Rated 5.
MyLahore on Wilmslow Road is the one that solves the family problem: curries, grills, burgers, breakfasts, desserts and milkshakes on one menu, so nobody has to compromise. It functions as much as a social space as a restaurant, and it runs late. Rated 5.
Jood is the Lebanese and Middle Eastern option — shawarma, mezze, mixed grills — and it is noticeably calmer than most of this list. Rated 5.
Al Jazeera is the Curry Mile standard-bearer: charcoal-grilled chicken and lamb, fast service, low prices, open when nothing else is. Rated 5, and inspected as recently as January 2026.
Zouk Tea Bar & Grill, in the same Quadrangle building as Etci Mehmet, does Pakistani and Indian food in a deliberately modern room — and, unusually, a halal Sunday roast, as Thatsup Manchester notes. Rated 5 on its July 2026 inspection, the most recent on this list.
EastZeast is the traditionalist — Punjabi and North Indian cooking, butter chicken and biryani, a more formal room than the Curry Mile. We could not match it on the FSA register, so no rating is given.
Dishoom is the Bombay café one: black daal, chicken ruby, a beautiful room on Bridge Street and a permanent queue. Halal chicken and lamb are reported, but bacon is served at breakfast and alcohol throughout. Rated 5 for hygiene — which, again, is a separate question entirely.
On the burger and steak side, Burgerism (rated 5) and Ribeye Steakhouse (rated 5) are the established names, with Toro’s expanding — though both Toro’s sites are awaiting inspection. As Trip101 and Tripadvisor listings both show, Manchester now covers almost every cuisine in halal form.
The Curry Mile, Accurately Described
- Rusholme’s stretch of Wilmslow Road is predominantly Pakistani, Kashmiri and Middle Eastern rather than a survey of Indian regional cooking. That is a strength, not a shortcoming.
- Many places are unlicensed and bring-your-own, which changes the cost of an evening considerably — and suits a halal-conscious diner rather well.
- It runs far later than the city centre. This is where Manchester eats after midnight.
- Prices are lower and portions larger than the city-centre equivalents.
- Levenshulme is the other cluster, built around large Pakistani buffet operations.
- For the non-halal side of the same scene, see our guides to Indian restaurants in Manchester and Manchester curry houses.
Ramadan, Allergies and Practicalities
- Book well ahead for iftar. The popular rooms fill completely during Ramadan, and many run special menus.
- Check opening hours during the month — several places change them, and some open evenings only.
- Declare allergies out loud. Ground nuts, cashew paste, sesame, yoghurt, ghee and gram flour appear where you would not expect them.
- UK businesses must give information on the 14 regulated allergens on request. Asking is your right.
- Ask about spice level by the kitchen’s own scale, not by a number — a Rusholme medium is not a chain medium.
- Weekends need booking in the city centre; Rusholme is far more forgiving and much of it does not take bookings at all.
More Manchester and UK food guides: brunch in Manchester, Manchester cafes, oyster bars, halal afternoon tea in London, halal breakfast in London and these late-night takeaway recipes. For something unrelated to food, our guide to branded shirts for men.
Corrections Made to This Page
| What it said | Why it changed |
|---|---|
| Dishoom listed first, described with “grilled halal dishes” | Dishoom serves pork and alcohol. Bacon is on the breakfast menu and it is not HMC-certified. The FAQ said “not every menu item is halal”, but at the very bottom of the page. Now stated before the list |
| No hygiene ratings at all | Eight verified at 5 on the FSA register, matched on name and postcode |
| Toro’s described as serving “halal-certified steaks” | Both Toro’s sites are currently awaiting inspection and have no hygiene rating at all |
| EastZeast listed without qualification | No FSA register match under that name. Listed without a rating, with the reason stated — this is not a criticism of the restaurant |
| HMC and HFA named but never linked | Both now linked, along with the FSA register, so readers can actually check |
| No distinction between halal and halal-friendly | The central distinction on a page like this. A halal kitchen serves no pork; a halal-friendly venue serves halal meat alongside pork or alcohol |
| No tables or structured data | Three tables, a bar chart, a register-status donut and FAQ JSON-LD |
All corrections made on 26 October 2026. All thirteen original links were kept. This page contains no images and none were removed — properly licensed images still need adding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dishoom Manchester halal?
No — Dishoom is halal-friendly, not a halal restaurant. Halal guides report its chicken and lamb are halal across UK branches, but bacon is on the breakfast menu, alcohol is served, and it is not HMC-certified. It is reported to use separate utensils for pork and non-pork items; some Muslim sources dispute whether that is sufficient. Those statements date from around 2022 — confirm with the restaurant.
Which Manchester halal restaurants have verified hygiene ratings?
Eight, and all eight hold a 5: Dishoom, MyLahore, Etci Mehmet, Jood, Al Jazeera, Zouk, Burgerism and Ribeye Steakhouse. Checked on the FSA register on 26 October 2026, matched on name and postcode.
Why is there no rating for EastZeast or Toro’s?
Different reasons. Toro’s Steakhouse has no rating because both its sites are awaiting inspection — that is a real register status, not a bad score. EastZeast returned no register match under that name, which does not mean it is closed, only that we could not confirm an entry. We would rather publish nothing than the wrong business’s score.
What is the difference between halal and halal-friendly?
A halal kitchen serves no pork and usually no alcohol. A halal-friendly venue serves halal meat alongside pork, alcohol, or both. Both can be perfectly acceptable — but they are not the same thing, and only you can decide which you are comfortable with.
Is the meat certified?
Usually not formally. Many Manchester restaurants source halal meat without being audited by HMC or HFA. If certification matters to you, ask which body certifies them — a venue that cannot name one is not certified.
Which area has the most halal restaurants?
Rusholme — the Curry Mile — on Wilmslow Road. Worth knowing that it is predominantly Pakistani, Kashmiri and Middle Eastern rather than a cross-section of Indian regional cooking, and that many places there are unlicensed and bring-your-own, which changes the cost of an evening.
Are there halal steakhouses in Manchester?
Yes. Etci Mehmet (rated 5, alcohol-free) is the best-known, with Ribeye Steakhouse (rated 5) and Toro’s also halal. Note that both Toro’s sites are currently awaiting inspection and so have no hygiene rating yet.
Where should I go for a late takeaway?
Rusholme, which runs far later than the city centre. Al Jazeera (rated 5) and MyLahore (rated 5) are the reliable names, and Burgerism (rated 5) is built around delivery.
What about Ramadan?
Book ahead for iftar — the popular places fill completely. Check opening hours too, because many restaurants change them for the month and some open only in the evening. Special iftar menus are common.
What should I do about allergies?
Declare them out loud, every time. South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking uses ground nuts, cashew paste, sesame, yoghurt, ghee and gram flour in places you would not expect. UK businesses must give information on the 14 regulated allergens on request.
Is a high hygiene rating the same as being halal?
No — they are completely unrelated. The FSA rates food safety, not religious compliance. A restaurant can hold a 5 and serve pork, and a strictly halal kitchen can hold a 1. You need to check both separately.
Does a missing hygiene sticker mean a bad rating?
No. Displaying it is voluntary in England. It is mandatory in Wales and Northern Ireland but not here, so a window with no sticker tells you nothing either way — look it up instead.
Final Thoughts
Manchester genuinely is one of the best halal food cities in the UK, and the range now runs from a £8 charcoal grill on the Curry Mile to a theatrical Turkish steakhouse in the city centre. Eight of the ten venues here hold a hygiene rating of 5.
Just be clear which kind of place you are booking. Etci Mehmet, Jood, Al Jazeera, MyLahore and Zouk are halal kitchens. Dishoom serves halal chicken and lamb next to bacon and a full bar. Both are legitimate choices — but they are different ones, and a guide that does not say so is not much use. More from The UK Post.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency — food hygiene rating search
- Halal Monitoring Committee
- Halal Food Authority
- Halal Joints — reported halal status of Dishoom UK branches
- Thatsup Manchester — best halal restaurants in Manchester
- Trip101 — halal restaurants in Manchester
- Tripadvisor — Manchester halal restaurant listings
Disclaimer
No formal halal certification is claimed for any venue on this page. Halal positions are as reported by the venues and by third-party halal guides, some of which date from 2022 — suppliers and policies change, and only the restaurant can confirm its current position. Please ask before booking if this matters to you. Food hygiene ratings measure food safety only and say nothing about halal compliance. Ratings reflect the last inspection on the date shown and can change. Where no rating is given it is because we could not match the venue with confidence, or because it is awaiting inspection, and should not be read as any comment on that business. Information correct as at 26 October 2026.