Nights Out...

The Northern Quarter

Last weekend, my friend from university came up from Oxford for a couple of days. As well as showing her my local town, and going shopping in the city centre, I wanted to show her a part of Manchester not usually on the tourist list of places to visit.
The Northern Quarter is one of my favourite areas to go when I want a more classy night out that involves a few sociable drinks, rather than a heavy one on the tiles. Although it is probably more pricey than my student budget can afford, it is because the standard of drinks are higher (most places serve cocktails and European beers).
We started in Walrus, an eccentric Austin Powers style bar that has giant globe light fixtures, and a fish tank wall. Cocktails are all £6.50, and interestingly are described on the menu by taste and not what spirits are in them. I had a 'Walk The Plank' (rhubarb, grapefruit, agave) while my friend asked for her usual, a Caipirinha, which the waiter was more than happy to make despite it not being on the list. My drink was really nice and fruity; the agave, a sort of nectary substance, complimented the bitterness of the grapefruit well, although I must admit I couldn't taste much of the rhubarb flavour which was a shame. All the same, given that I was driving it was a nice change from my usual boring glass of wine!
We ran into the second bar, Apotheca, to shelter from the rain, but it was a good discovery! So called because of the Greek word to describe someone who prepares and sells medicinal drugs, there were antique pharmacy cabinets around the bar containing exclusive (and expensive) liquers from all over the world. It had atmospheric lighting, and maintained a luxurious feel throughout due to red velvet drapery and plush leather sofas.
I was on Coca Cola at this point, but my friend had a 'Black and Blue Caipiroska' which looked amazing garnished with fresh fruit, and tasted even better. Looking back at the cocktail list, I would be very easily tempted into returning, just to try the 'Rhubarb Crumble' (apple Schnapps, rhubarb and chocolate liqueurs shaken with a sweetened baton of rhubarb, layered beneath a floating band of milk and cream with crumbled biscuits in the bottom of the glass) see the full menu at http://www.apothecabar.co.uk/menus.asp for all the yummy descriptions! The bar also runs a cocktail school, and has lots of offers on that vary from day to day, so it is definately worth a peek if you are in the area.

The third and final bar we went to was another quick decision as the heavens opened again, but this one wasn't so successful. Barcelona bar was pleasant enough design wise; it had a glass bar displaying all the spirits and lots of metal and brickwork inside giving it an industrial feel. However, my friend ordered another Caipirinha, and this one just didn't hit the same standard as the previous cocktail we had ordered. It was far too sweet to begin with, and after asking for more lime to compensate, the bar tender added lime cordial, not exactly what was expected!

We complained to another waitress, who remade the cocktail without hesitation, but it still lacked the fresh limey taste that characterises the drink. We were actually told by another member of staff that they'd 'only just started doing cocktails, so it's still a bit up in the air'. In my opinion if you can't so something to the same level as those you're competing with, find your own niche. I did notice however that they were still serving coffee at 1am, which is a pleasant change to other bars who switch their machines off at 11pm. Maybe next time we'll stick with a cappuccino!