Manchester’s on top of its game
It may be home to two of our top football teams but there’s plenty more to keep visitors united in this vibrant city, says
SURE, the fans are there on match days, hanging out in one of the city’s numerous bars, but Manchester has a distinctively creative edge generated by a population that clearly don’t want to live anywhere else.
Even on Saturday mornings, men in immaculate jeans and ironed shirts stroll hand in hand with their ladies who sport perfect blow outs and immaculate make-up. Proud Mancunians. There’s nothing quite like them. Manchester is a city of contrasts. The old boozers remain but contemporary, cutting-edge eateries are springing up on every corner.
Its name may be a giveaway but Micro Bar (standing room only) in the Arndale Food Market has cider lovers flocking here for the enormous variety which line walls from floor to ceiling.
It’s the Northern Quarter where creativity really runs wild. Tiny boutiques such as Fig + Sparrow (figandsparrow.co.uk) on Oldham Street offer quirky local gifts while doubling up as a miniature café serving cakes and superb coffee. TAKK’s (takkmcr.com) stark space on Tariff Street features bare bulbs and brick walls adorned with modern artwork for sale. It’s super hip.
Have lunch at the lively and super-colourful Lunya (lunya.co.uk) Spanish ‘emporium’ in Barton Arcade on Deansgate. A superb deli with piles of colourful Spanish pottery, beautiful olives and meats and chillies hanging from the ceiling, it makes you feel you’re in downtown Madrid. Pull up a stool and order plates of extraordinary tapas on the ground floor, or take it a step up in the restaurant on the first floor.
Manchester loves cocktails. Experiment at Mr Cooper’s (mrcoopershouseandgarden. co.uk) in the vast Midland Hotel. It is named after the Cooper family who were the city’s top coach makers and whose garden was once on the site. Interiors of this grand space are a nod to their roots (pardon the pun). A large ‘indoor’ tree, surrounded by garden furniture is the place to sample creations by acclaimed chef, Simon Rogan, (halibut baked in cabbage, £18.50; oxtail & smoked marrow croquettes, £4.50).
Start in the adjoining bar with an aperitif, whose names are so bizarre (Tiny Grass Is Dreaming, Me And My Parrots): it’s churlish not to imbibe.
Infinitely more intimate is the bar at the King Street Townhouse (0161 667 0707/ eclectichotels.co.uk). Tucked