I’ve seen Dakota Grill appear on a number of “Halal Restaurants in Manchester” lists and from the photos I’d seen online, their outdoor dining space looked lovely (and all-weather-proof!), so I booked myself and a friend in for lunch.
The restaurant is part of the Dakota Hotel, situated in Manchester city centre on Ducie Street, it’s not too far from Piccadilly train station / Northern Quarter. It’s a pretty swanky hotel and the dining spaces match that vibe.
So first question – what’s halal at Dakota? I emailed the restaurant after booking a table online to ask! I got a reply that same day responding “we provide a small selection of Halal options if we’re made aware in advance which you have done so I have made a note on your reservation”. From looking at the menu I guessed it would be the steak options, and I was right.
The outdoor terrace is situated on the ground floor and considering it’s an outdoor space, it was very well covered and heated. It has a retractable roof, which was closed on the rainy day we visited. There’s a mixture of high tables and standard height seating areas, we didn’t specify when we booked, but worth asking because I know high tables aren’t to everyone’s liking.
The server came to take our drinks orders and when we said we weren’t having alcoholic drinks, they offered to make up some mocktails / virgin cocktails for us. I have a virgin mojito and my friend ordered a virgin pornstar martini, which came complete with a non-alcoholic shot!
We decided to share a starter, the Signature Bread and Venetian Dip (£5), and both ordered the Steak Frites with Fries & Garlic Butter (£24) for our mains. We double-checked with the server when ordering to make sure we got a halal option. They do serve non-halal meat here so always worth checking.
The food was good! I’m no steak expert or anything, but it tasted great and overall we had a lovely chilled out dining experience. We skipped on dessert and ordered some tea to finish. Our bill came to just over £80 total including tip, so around £40 each.
After settling our bill, we asked if we could take a look at some of the other dining and drinking areas of the hotel, and the lovely Paolo gave us a mini-tour of the main restaurant, the bar area and the exclusive Cigar Terrace for cigar smokers only! I need to find some cigar-smoking friends so I can go and hang out with them there!!
Overall we really enjoyed our afternoon at Dakota. I’m planning to book in again, perhaps for Brunch, Afternoon Tea or their Sunday Roast. You can view the full range of menus for the Terrace at Dakota here.
Dakota Grill
Address: 29 Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2JL
Website: https://www.dakotahotels.co.uk/manchester/