But while Rusholme has its famous Curry Mile, that dog-eared main drag lined on both sides with a neon blast of eating places, Hale has its own corridor of cuisine - although an altogether more moneyed mile of restaurants.
These chrome/black establishments vie for supremacy with black/chrome multisex hair salons along Ashley Road and the number of restaurants here seems to be increasing all the time, with many a grill, a tapas or two, posh Asian places and a few big names.
But a few locals, while happy with the amount and general high standard of their restaurants, say to me that there is no one knockout place in Hale, nowhere that trumps the lot, not even Simon Rimmer's Earle.
Maybe the new fish restaurant, Samphire, which opened recently on Victoria Road might take the crown, but I was here to sample another relative newcomer, San Rocco, which filled the vacuum left a couple of months ago after Saffron Lounge imploded.
San Rocco is another addition to a small, family-run chain which includes a city centre restaurant of the same name that opened as Cesare in 1971, and five others in the north west.
I noticed its direct Hale rivals, Danilo's and Pizza Express, were filling up nicely on the high street, but I had to search for my meal and discovered San Rocco down a side street at the quieter edge of town.
There was no trouble finding somewhere to leave the wheels, the entrance to San Rocco is in the middle of a non-descript car park filled with those chariots of the devil which makes every eco-warrior wince, and its setting, along with the whitewashed curves of this "Osteria Italiana", gives it a rather Seventies motel look.
I always had an affection for Crossroads. But any hopes of shaky walls and flock wallpaper are soon dispelled when you step inside the stylish entrance with a shadowy, louche, bar to the right, were snacks were being served.
Seventies
On, up the winding stairway is the restaurant, which echoes that Seventies theme - but in a kind of warm, retro, inviting sort of way. The cream walls, chocolate booths and net-like curtains are kind of Robin's Nest but the blond wood rescues the place from memories of Chianti bottles swathed in dribbled wax.
The wine cellar, a glass Tardis of vino, hits you as you enter the dining room and 70 or so different wines are on a value-for-money list.
My dining companion - a professional Edwin Van der Sar look-alike and another Seventies throwback to the era of skinny footballers - thought Hale was a good place to squire a WAG during the night, but there were only a few, older, couples in the place. Well it was a Monday.
Attentive, professional waiters danced expertly about us, bringing my starter of asparagus topped with goat's cheese and parma ham crisps (£5.95) and Edwin's Carpaccio with parma shavings and Italian dressing (£5.75).
With asparagus in season, I was looking forward to the king of veg. The tips were sublime but became increasingly chewy, with the root ends stringy and hard to cut. Disappointing. But the cheese was light and full of flavour.
Edwin's Carpaccio was better handled. The slices of good beef fillet were transparent but sadly not shorn by the gorgeous, waist-high, red-and-white Berkell ham slicer at the entrance (it only comes out at weekends).
Pouilly Fume
To drink, out of the dozens of bottles on offer, we chose a fine, medium-bodied Pouilly Fume, Champs de Cris (£16.50)
My mains, a handsome hunk of tuna amid a warm salsa fresca (£13.95), was spot on, too. It came as I asked, medium, and was still moist throughout, despite it being wrist-thick.
Edwin spotted the specials board and a Fileto Spiedo (£16.75). There was a decent helping of fillet steak with thick, hammy bacon wrapped around it, but it was not quite hot enough for his asbestos-coated mouth.
Both mains came with a small bowl of veg - garlicky aubergine, crunchy broccoli, very rosemary potatoes - and we added a rucola salad, livened by my generous application of olive oil and balsamic.
Little did I know that balsamic would also figure in dessert. I'd never had Fragole Balsamico (£4.75) before and it was a revelation. Apparently, only the best balsamic will do and its vinegar spike wonderfully smoothes out the sweetness of the fruit. A blob of mascarpone with it would have been perfection.
Edwin's footballer's metabolism got to him and only a Torte di Cioccolato would do. Italian chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream (£4.75). Back of the net!
I do hope San Rocco survives the season. Those box-like grills which strain to be fashionable on the moneyed mile can get a little, well, boring - and, like Crossroads, San Rocco has its own character which you remember with affection.
San Rocco, Crown Passages, Ashley Road, Hale, WA15 9SP (0161 941 6171, sanrocco.co.uk ).
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