Sheffield declared 'one of the UK's coolest city breaks', with 'best ever' tapas and 'lip-smacking' cocktails

Sheffield's ongoing transformation has earned it yet another accolade, with a national paper calling it 'one of the UK's coolest city breaks'.

Writing for the Mirror, Fiona Whitty described how she had enjoyed exploring the city with her daughter Rosie, 17, and son Harvey, 22, and was impressed with what she called 'a very modern city wrapped up in heaps of heritage and charm'.

She wrote how the city had undergone a 'mammoth transformation', with the former 'industrial powerhouse' famed for cutlery now forging a new reputation for its 'craft breweries, distilleries and stylish places to eat, drink and shop'.

She and her family visited the tapas restaurant IberiCo, at Dyson Place in Sharrow Vale, where they reserved special praise for the 'superb' tuna belly tataki and 'melt in the mouth' iberico pork, along with fried potatoes which she said were 'the best we'd ever tasted'.

Peak District views, cocktails and all-day brunch

They stayed at the Leonardo Hotel in Sheffield city centre, where they enjoyed views from their seventh-floor superior room across the city to the Peak District.

Fiona and her family also visited Locksley Distillery, at the Grade II-listed former cutlery factory Portland Works, in Highfield, to try the gins which she said were 'tremendous'.

Their trip included a visit to the National Videogame Museum on Angel Street, where Fiona enjoyed the 'flashbacks to a misspent youth' as she played classic games including Space Invaders and Pac-Man.

And their immersion in Sheffield's thriving food and drink scene involved stop-offs at Manahatta, the New York-style cocktail bar off Barker's Pool, where they sampled the 'lip-smacking' Steel City Sling, made up of vodka, raspberry liqueur, citrus and spice, and at Tamper Coffee, on Arundel Street, where they tucked into items from the 'impressive' all-day brunch menu including the smoked chilli crab scrambled eggs.