Vegetarian café Cilantro does a roaring trade among the health conscious, veggie and vegan inhabitants of Chorlton.

Our review:
Combining Buddhism and baking doesn't, at first thought, sound like a great idea, but Earth Café really works. There are the kind of options you’d expect from a vegetarian café (smoothies, lentils, brown rice) but these are complimented by a great range of sandwiches, salads, main meals and some truly fantastic cakes, at prices that will leave you feeling benevolent towards everything. A great choice for an unpretentious, ethical lunch.

Our review:
By his own admission, Greens head chef Simon Rimmer couldn't even cook when he bought the restaurant. His background was in fashion design and he thought that if he owned a restaurant he could just swan around chatting up girls! When he realized he couldn't afford to pay a chef, he decided to learn to cook himself.

Admittedly it doesn't sound promising. But Greens has become one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Manchester. Awards it has won to date include:

City Life's Best Restaurant of the Year,

The Big Issue's Restaurant of the Year, Manchester Food and Drink Festival's Best Provision for Vegetarians (three times)

AA Rosette for quality of cooking.

The critics have been just as generous, with everyone from The Guardian to Didsbury Magazine singing the restaurant's praises.

Simon Rimmer has become something of a celebrity chef. He makes regular appearances on Saturday Kitchen on BBC1, UKTV Food and Richard and Judy and has also published two recipe books.

Despite all this, Greens remains a homely, unpretentious little restaurant. There aren't any fancy tricks on the menu, just imaginative veggie dishes featuring quality produce. The food is so good here that even people who love their meat will be surprised… and if you're veggie, you'll be in absolute heaven.