The Gas Lamp, Manchester

dank
   [dangk]
adjective, -er, -est.
unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and, often, chilly: a dank cellar.

dis�mal
   [diz-muhl]
adjective
1.
causing gloom or dejection; gloomy; dreary; cheerless; melancholy: dismal weather.
2.
characterized by ineptness or lack of skill, competence, effectiveness, imagination, or interest; pitiful: Our team played a dismal game.

Two words that don't apply (in any definition) to this pub that has a good vibe and warm atmosphere.

A relatively new bar downstairs in a former soup kitchen / mission (not a urinal), with individual styling incorporating lots of original features from it's previous life. The tiles are still the same as they were when people volunteered to feed the less fortunate, there's old photos from the building's past with snippets of information (such as the one where Rod Stewart and The Faces dished up warm food to street kids), alongside more up to date touches like the toilets which are so smart I thought they deserved a nod. Good lighting, comfortable seating and a cosy layout over two rooms.

The bar itself has a good selection of drinks with a non-mainstream variation of beers etc., and I'm pretty sure there's something to suit every palate. Good spirit selection that avoids the cheap brands that are all too common in most pubs. You can't accuse these folks of being boring with their menu.

I also have to bring up the service which is great, every single time I go in. Yesterday I'd been craving an Old Fashioned all day, and after being told they're still working on the cocktail menu, I was a little disheartened, and the girl serving me said "..and besides, we don't have a shaker yet". I replied that my choice wouldn't involve any shaking, and she immediately suggested an Old Fashioned. Either she read my mind or she could tell I wasn't the Vodka Martini type. With that she got her colleague over and asked if he could mix one, and five minutes later I was sat in an armchair with the best one of these I've had in Manchester.

Prices are reasonable for a City Center bar, all the pints I've tried are less than �4, the Old Fashioned I was charged �6 for, and I'd happily pay that again.

29 Sep 2011 23:14