Simple, Manchester

Fairly bland cafe-bar on the edge of Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter. My first stop on a mini-crawl, it has no ale and insists on table service, which I find quite inconvenient and means I get my pint about ten minutes after I've ordered it, which isn't really what I look for in a pub. Staropramen (�3.70) was my choice. Not offensive, by any means, but not memorable and I pushed off fairly swiftly. Alongside nearby Apotheca is a venue for the upcoming Manchester Comedy Festival.

13 Oct 2010 15:52

Odd Bar, Manchester

Odd Bar is part of a small Manchester grouping (alongside Odder, on Oxford Road, and Oddest, in Chorlton). I've been to Odder, and against my better judgement always thought it was quite reasonable, stocking a couple of decent ales. There was just one in Odd on my visit - Abbeydale Aledritch (�2.95) which was in fair nick. Odd is in much the same vein as its little sister, with bright colours, funky lighting and a vaguely scruffy film-poster decor. Its not bad, and probably one of the better ones in this part of Manchester city centre, but I think I prefer Odder, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.

13 Oct 2010 15:50

The English Lounge, Manchester

A shame, this, as I clearly just wandered in at the wrong time (early evening on a Monday). There are six handpumps but every single one was off, as the barman told me with a shrug "well, we ran out at the weekend". Fair enough, obviously a popular place, but lots of pubs do a brisk trade over the weekend and manage to replenish their stocks fairly quickly. So my rating could have been higher - as it is, its quite a nice place to sit, with dark wood, bookshelves, attractive little booths and leather sofas. Appears to have a good reputation for its food as well; Only disappointing my craving for a decent pint went unsatisfied.

13 Oct 2010 15:46