Oh salut! First time…read moreI walked past this a few weeks ago and saw the enomatic through the window I let out a an actual GASP of excitement. Was pretty excited on the night too, so excited I left my card in the wine machine which made me look like a total amateur. It's much more spacious inside than I had realised, and there are also seats and heaters outside with a great view of the nearby row of traditional pubs with the town hall in the background. I enjoyed trying the various wines (the smallest amount is often £2-3 so you can try a good four wines on a £10 card pre-payment) and could even tell that some of them tasted different, so am basically going to be earning my MW in no time. They also do a few little snacks - my fave baba ghanoush and some rather tasty crisps, although the brown olives tasted too sour for me. Tap water came chilled in a delightful glass bottle. Btw I am not sure there are actually other drinks options here, maybe check that before you go. The staff were efficient and welcoming and I am sure I will be back here. A great companion to hanging ditch and Bakerie in terms of our city's wine bar scene.

I love wine. Big fan. You know how it goes, you open a book one day and you bite the apple and…read morewoooosh, there's no way back. Although I now work for an independent wine merchant in Didsbury and am considered a bit of a fussy geek by my friends, I have longed for a good wine bar in Manchester pretty much since I arrived in town over 6 years ago, well before wine was a big thing for me. A few places have attempted it, half-heartedly for some, but none had so far succeeded. Then came Salut wines, first baby business of a lovely couple who like me love good wine and thought it deserved proper representation in the City Centre. An ambitious project that was, not without hurdles. But tenacity paid off and behold, a superb, clean, warm and welcoming wine bar where odd ins once was. Enomatic machines a-go-go, 32 wines are available by the glass at any point in (opening) time. That's 16 whites and rosés and 16 reds. Thanks to these machines you can enjoy a vast variety of wines, all of which are way above your house plonk from most pubs/bars/restaurant. And that's not all. 3 measures are available: 50ml, 125ml and 175 ml. The first one is my favourite. I can play to my heart's content and try a lot of wine before it's time to call it a day. Most wines are between £1.20 and £5 for a glass but you can also try some of the fancier stuff that would NEVER be available by the glass otherwise. Risk-free. Whilst they do not cater, a range of nibbles and tapas plates are available and it's perfectly suitable for a light lunch or diner. Cheese, cured meats and Mediterranean veggie plates, all made with very good ingredients. Music is top notch, not your average lounge "elevator" type nor your bass-boosted frenzy. Blues, jazz, pop, electro... To sum-up, great atmosphere, best wine selection in town, excellent service. The bottle prices to take away are on the steep side of I'm honest but I'll put that down as the location.

The Hanging Ditch is a lovely wine merchant / small wine bar situated at the Harvey Nichols end of…read moreDeansgate right next to Manchester Cathedral. I've been here a few times for drinks and Neil C. has always insisted we swing by on occasion to pick up a lovely bottle of tipple to drink at home. The staff here are always lovely and so knowledgeable! I couldn't recommend it highly enough!

Ok I love this place. I like to pick out a bottle of wine with a friend sit on the high stools in…read morethe summer. I always ask what new wines they have in and normally go home with a few treats. Now they do a few gin cocktails. The staff know what they are talking about and know nothing about red wine so I go here when I need to buy a bottle of red. They have a nice loo too.

The Cheshire Cheese Company has finally made it to City Centre! I've been a fan of their cheeses…read morefor quite some time, but always had to make the trek to the Trafford Centre to get a taste, or order online. Now they've got a setup smack dab in the middle of the Arndale, and I couldn't be happier - though I'm certain my midsection is going to get puffy fast. I can never resist buying in bulk to get a bit of a discount, and usually go for the spicier varieties. My favourites are: El Gringo Chili Lime & Tequila; Caramelised Rioja & Onion Cheddar; Jamaican Jerk Spicy Gourmet Cheddar; and the classic Black Bob Extra Mature Cheddar. Those are just the standards for me, but there's always something new to keep you coming back for more. They come out with new flavours on a monthly basis, and with about 12-18 cheeses available to taste test, you're bound to find something you love. They've also got a large selection of wines and chutneys to pair with the cheeses you get. I've had some tastings of the chutneys and they're quite flavourful, but the cheese is what keeps bringing me back for more. If you see me walking out of here with 5 wheels of cheese, just try not to judge me...and help me find some crackers.

The food here was delicious, the menu unique enough to be interesting, the decor beautiful, and the…read moreservice exceptionally friendly. I shared the chicken toastie and the steak and eggs with my husband and both were amazing.

Fress has been gorgeously redecorated with tiling on both the floors and walls - whatever they…read morespent on it was totally worth it, and the warm lighting illuminates it all perfectly. I started with a Bloody Mary which came with a teeny tiny bottle of Tabasco floating in it - I am def one of those girls who likes miniature stuff so was almost too excited to notice that in any case the spice level was perfectly balanced. We had padron peppers and octopus to start. The octopus was really excellent - tender with a beautiful flavourful sauce. The padron peppers came with some kind of sauce and no cracked sea salt, which was a shame because the traditional way to do padron peppers is wildly popular for a reason - I wouldn't get these again. For mains, bf loved the crispy pork belly with bacon (and refused to let me have any, so let's take his word for it). I had the half chicken which really is a lot of meat - I love the gravy and sugar snaps but the beetroot potato, while a great idea and having a nice flavour, was really too dominated by the beetroot. We had a penicillin cocktail to finish - it's a very tart whisky cocktail though so I wouldn't recommend it for dessert. Overall we really enjoyed our meal here and you should definitely give this attractive restaurant a try. NB while I initially put categories indicating this is more of a brunch/bar place, it is a proper evening restaurant and unless there's something downstairs, there's not much bar space.

Well, lo and behold, I'm having to bump the New Oxford up a star. I'll tell you why I'm remarking…read moreit. One drizzly Sunday afternoon, I accompanied Vickie S to watch a couple of football matches in the New Oxford, shortly to be joined by one of our friends. Having been told there was no food at the King's Arms, I assured my mates that the New Oxford doesn't serve grub on Sundays at all. It says so on the website, in reviews, everything. As we arrived a sign greeted us informing us of which days food was served. Monday to Saturday. Cue much lip trembling from the very hungry football fanatics. Even when inside they still tried their luck and asked the bartender if there was any food at all. When met with a negative, as well as a round of drinks we bought a round of crisps. Every Seabrooks flavour you could think of. And then later, while our friend was enjoying a cigarette outside, the very sweet bartender who'd been lovely to us throughout the ridiculous crisp mountain exchange dropped a packet of mini Cheddars and a packet of pork scratchings on our table. 'Here you go, on me,' he said with a smile. We looked at each other. She, aware of my Yelping duties, turned to me and said, 'I think you're gonna have to add another star.' 'I think so too,' I responded. The pair of us gushed about just how nice that was. Free snacks and very kind service is something so rare in cities, and in that little corner of Salford, on the very outskirts of Manchester city centre, we were privileged to receive such wonderful things. New Oxford, well done. I'll be in to try the food very soon, which I'm sure will be fantastic. I also tried a new fruit beer. Passionfruit, on tap. To quote Romeo Montague, 'Did my heart love til now?' Heaven in a glass, I assure you. Utter heaven. Is it bad that I'm craving this beverage on a Wednesday morning?

I can't write only quick review about this place. I was invited for pint in this pub before…read moremeetings friends. Inside very nice and friendly atmosphere. Lots to choice of bears and drinks. It is great place to go for a drink or meeting friends. If you don't know area it is not easy to fund but for that you have GPS lol.

How delighted I was to stumble across this little basement by accident, strolling down Half Moon…read moreStreet just because it had a nice name. And there, opposite the fire escapes, and between the back doors and wheely bins...is Corbieres...a welcoming little rectangle of light luring you in and down its steps. And I really do mean 'luring' - my beau and I had said just 5 minutes ago that we didn't fancy a beer, and yet we soon found ourselves at the bottom of those stairs investigating the various lagers on offer! There wasn't a great selection on tap, certainly no names that I recognised, and the barman didn't seem too enthused about what was on, but I got to try a new Czech lager that I was quite pleased with. And there was a good selection of bottled goodies behind the bar as well. The room is rather small, but the atmosphere of the place is just great: exciting yet understated, the kind of place I could imagine both hipsters and die hard football fans could rub shoulders and neither would snigger at the other. That's my kind of place. The jukebox is wonderful. During our brief visit we were serenaded by a mixture of Happy Mondays, Stone Roses (we are in Manchester after all) and some other classic delights. In fact, one of the quotes on the walls (see photo) claiming to be from Ian Brown himself, is that it "always was, still is, the best jukebox in Manchester." High praise indeed. To sum up, my beau and I both left already plotting our return, this time with friends in tow, to show off the cool bar that we found!

Alison's is a pretty good review of Corbieres, covering all the main points. It definitely…read moredeserves a visit. However, she writes that the bar has managed to keep a low profile and that if you get there early, its all yours. In recent months its popularity has absolutely boomed if that used to be the case, and on Friday and Saturday nights, you've often got little chance of getting in, let alone sitting down, or accessing the Juke Box. The Juke Box is an absolute joke, no doubt, as it claims, it's the best in Manchester. The place is in a cool wine cellar which gives in a unique feel and it has a lizard attached to the bar (great idea). There isn't a focus on wine despite being a wine bar and the clientele are indeed much better than your average Deansgate set. Its genuinely one of the coolest bars around and I think its one everyone should try, so I do advise going, just make it a week night...

This is such a lovely wine bar. When it comes to wine I don't pretend to know my stuff, I just…read moreopenly admit 'I know nothing about wine!' I do like wine, and it always has to be red, preferably a fruity one, but that's as far as it goes for me.. Names of wines? Nope. Flavours of wines? Nada. So I asked the bartender for a middle of the road, fruity, red. He recommended the Le Selezioni Cutaja, Nero d'Avola (confused face) and he looked like he knew his stuff, so with total faith in him that's what I went for. It was lovely. The bar itself is small but looks cosy. It wasn't particularly busy for a Tuesday evening but there was still a very pleasant atmosphere as I met some other Yelpers for pre-dinner drinks. As time goes on I can imagine this is the type of place I would like to sit for a few hours, order a meat and cheese board and try some different wines. This may have to involve building up my tolerance a little though, as usually 2 large glasses of red and I'm sloshed.

OH APERITIVI YOU SAY…read more Following my year in Bologna when I belatedly discovered Italian aperitivi culture (i.e. eating tiny free pieces of food along with your prosecco, negroni etc) I always get verrrry excited when I see it in the UK. Veeno apparently has a whole buffet on Wednesday, which I am excited to try. Meanwhile what we got was great - cheese and ham with excellent red wine (I got the "classic" which I really enjoyed). Will definitely be back here for drinks, it's a great stop off before, for example, Red's or Splendid Kitchen.

I would like to take this moment to record that I got seriously into vermouth and sherry 3 years…read moreago in Madrid, and I totally called this craze. OK fine, my 84 year old dad has been drinking martini rosso (with gin! and no mixer!) nightly since I was born. He is the original and best. So Flok has vermut on tap, which is the most exciting thing you could deliver to me in a bar really, although tbh I was surprised to see it as £4.50 for 50ml, when you can buy an entire bottle of sweet vermouth in ASDA (which yes, I have done). The bar looks nice, although they did that thing where they leave all the walls all unpainted and peeling (or maybe even deliberately create that look) which is somewhat wearing. The stools I due to my large butt and leather skirt found difficult to stay afloat on but generally this place has a good amount of seating, although it's a shame all the really comfortable seats are in giant booths a couple would feel awkward commandeering. They have various cask beers which was pleasantly surprising and means you could bring any combo of friends here and they would find something to drink, although it also means it doesn't have the chilled wine bar vibe as groups of loud men have a viable drinking session here. The sherry menu is pretty good and we found the oloroso very interesting, almost sake-like. The darkest sherry we tried basically tasted exactly like Sunmaid Raisins, but that one note happens to be pretty delicious! The main criticism I would have of this place is the dearth of drinks menus, which was totally bizarre. Mine was borrowed pretty quickly and that was basically a direct loss of revenue for the bar as we gave up trying to figure out what else was available. They also probably need to rethink the size of their serving area/staff as happily this place was busy and the queue shouldn't be 3 deep at somewhere not even making cocktails.

After hearing my Spanish teacher naming Tapeo as the most authentic Spanish restaurant in…read moreManchester, I couldn't not to check it out! It is not cheap, but the food has beaten all my expectations. Tapas are full of flavour, authentic and well-presented. Portions are of a decent size, so good for sharing. The service is exceptional: waiters are very friendly while food came quickly.

Six of us came here to eat all the tapas as we love sharing masses of dishes from a menu…read more The restaurant (which took over the unit ModelZone used to have on Deansgate) certainly has a handsome interior; a nice balance between simple and sophisticated décor, with some gorgeous mosaic tiles adorning the bar and walls. To me, it had the look and feel of a contemporary eatery in Spain. We were seated close to the specials board, so decided to order a couple of those dishes as well as what seemed like the majority of the standard menu (they recommend three per person and that proved to be spot on for us). Whereas pretty much all of the 18 small plates we ordered were absolutely delicious (we duplicated a couple of options) - the octopus salad, padron peppers, aubergine crisps, pork cheeks and ham croquettes were my highlights - some weren't that spectacular. The beef meatballs, Spanish omelette and lobster & prawn croquettes were a tad underwhelming unfortunately. The bottle of red we shared (Torre Solar at £18) was very nice indeed. You can order many of their varied wine selection by the glass. They'd be a solid five stars but for a small number of things - a lack of balsamic vinegar served with the bread, mainly disappointing desserts (I enjoyed my upside down cheesecake made with actual cheese, but others thought it was dreadful). Also the churros weren't doughy-delicious but brittle. Service was warm and friendly throughout but on a couple of occasions the server could have been a bit more sharp-eyed, especially when we were sat clearly waiting to pay. So, feast on the small plates and bypass the desserts here.

Food: 4.5 Service: 5…read moreAmbience: 5 Food was very good and staff were excellent. We tried the calamari, meatballs, scallops, chilli fillet and pork cheeks. Everything was well flavoured and perfectly cooked. The pork cheeks were stand out delicious. There is an extensive wine selection as well. Tried the chocolate cake and basque cheesecake for dessert. My friend enjoyed the chocolate cake. I found the cheesecake delicious but not like the typical Basque style, its was served cold and lacked the soft center that the Basque cheesecake normally has.

A few weeks ago I went to the Tapas/Spanish restaurant Evuna. Evuna have a few restaurants in…read moreManchester - we went to the one in the Northern Quarter. (They also have another one in city centre on Deansgate and also one in Altrincham and one in Knutsford. I like tapas generally. I like going in a group so you get to try a wide range of different things, and some things you may not have ordered yourself. We picked 3 things each from the menu and then all shared. One of my fav things was the Catalan (style) tomatoes with garlic bread. Not that dis-similar to tomato bruschetta you almost always get when you have tapas. Its basically fined chopped up tomatoes and is more of a sauce compared to bruschetta, and various herbs and garlic probably and some nice bread. Very simple but tasted really good. Other things we had was the pork belly, ham croquettes, a cured meat/cheese platter, patatas bravas, calamari and padron peppers. All overall tasted good. Lovely selection of the meats/cheese, croquettes were tasty, nice salty/juice peppers. Calamari actually was just OK if honest, had better. So overall good food and good service so will be going back again.