![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3_AMR_MEN_211125_CB.jpg\")
Jeremy Clarkson visited Manchester restaurant Ciaooo last month(Image: Instagram: @ciaooopizzamcr)<\/p>\nIt’s a stark difference to comments the former Top Gear host made about the city-region only a few years agoJeremy Clarkson visited Manchester restaurant Ciaooo last month(Image: Instagram: @ciaooopizzamcr)<\/p>\n
Having spent the last few years visiting the city to film his TV<\/a> show, Jeremy Clarkson<\/a> has hailed a \u2018booming\u2019 Manchester for its top restaurants<\/a> and atmosphere just a few years after giving some choice words about the city-region.<\/p>\n The former Top Gear host, 65, said he has been travelling to Manchester for around eight years now as he films Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, which airs on ITV<\/a>. Admitting he was initially not impressed with the filming location outside of the capital, he said he has grown to love how the city differs from London.<\/p>\n Writing in his weekend column in The Times<\/a>, the host – who also has his own pub and farm shop<\/a> in Oxfordshire\u2019s Chipping Norton called Diddly Squat – declared that Manchester has \u2018\u2018been steadily growing on me\u2019, even boldly declaring that he now thinks \u2018it might be better than London\u2019. In the piece, the Clarkson\u2019s Farm host refers to a recent midweek visit to an Indian restaurant in the city centre which was \u2018rammed\u2019 during the week. He recalls: \u201cThere was one table with 30 people on it, and how is that even possible? Where does anyone find 30 friends who are up for a modern, zingy, expensively lit curry on a Tuesday?\u201d<\/p>\n He also heaped praise on a \u2018superb’ pizza spot and an Italian restaurant known for making their own pasta. Whilst he didn\u2019t name any venues directly, the presenter was recently seen visiting Neapolitan pizza restaurant Ciaooo, on Swan Street in the Northern Quarter<\/a>. Having first opened in 2018, the venue\u2019s owners Lory Grigori and head chef Stefano Mordecchi said they were \u2018honoured\u2019 to host the star<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in his verdict, Clarkson also welcomed Manchester\u2019s \u2018booming\u2019 skyline – mixed between former Victorian warehouses and \u2018glass and steel blocks\u2019 – as well as its expansion of new homes in the city. With current growth levels of 3.1 per cent, Greater Manchester is hoped to add a further \u00a338bn to the UK economy by 2035. Clarkson said he wanted his piece to make Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham<\/a> \u2018feel like he\u2019s getting somewhere\u2019 with his initiatives.<\/p>\n![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Clarksons-Farm-Photocall.jpg\")
Jeremy Clarkson has praised Manchester’s top restaurants scene and progress as a city(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n