Time for an update! Last night I experienced Soup Kitchen for the first time in two ways. I know…read moreyou know I've experienced it before, but a) it's been ages and b) I've never been to the gig bit downstairs or eaten meat here. 1) Gig. ACE. Just wonderful. Great atmosphere underneath, and I mean FAR underneath, as in you have to look high up to see peoples' feet going past the window. Crazy, non? Lots of places to sit, which is great for me as I'm way too old to stand up at gigs for extended periods of time and I hurt my foot this week. #passtheprunes Fab sound and a lovely way to see lesser known bands. Oh, and did I mention it was free? Yes, we like free. 2) Meat. ACE. So for a mere £6, I got a big ol' juicy cooked-pink-in-the-middle burger pile of brilliance in a giganto bun with gherkins, salad and all kinds of amazeballs sauce. The chips where somewhere between wedges and fries - long story short, they were MASSIVE. Ketchup was offered and we got a generous ramekin of the stuff, and it was served on a rustic wooden board. It ain't just about soup! My maid of honour had the same dish, while Fiancé and Jemma G both had a soup coronation chicken combo. Their sandwiches were lovely, soft, deliciously spiced and had proper hunks of chicken (I tried it of course), and the satay soup was peanutty, flavoursome and creamy (I tried that too). Top marks for both soup and chips being served in camping mugs. Me likey. AWESOME food, like, truly delicious, cheap, and it might be Northern Quarter-based, but it does not have the pretention. I didn't feel like it was remotely as Nathan Barley in here as it is in a lot of places. Lovely, lovely Soup Kitchen. Why did I leave it so long between visits?

This place is cool, albeit it's seriously trying to be…read more First point: do not ask for a cocktail in here. My friend wanted a whisky sour and got the response "we don't really do cocktails." Hm. They have a lot of liquor behind the bar for somewhere that doesn't do cocktails. I understand it's onerous to have all conceivable cocktail ingredients if you're really a beer specialist (and they do seem to have a great range of beer, btw) but I do think it would be nice if bars like this at least had 3-4 house cocktails for those of us they don't like beer or slightly dodgy house wine but wish to hang with our friends that do. Bartender also struggled with our request for tap water, which was less excusable. Meanwhile, the DJ was playing some awful music. "It's just noise, isn't it," pointed out one of the crowd, while apologising for being an Old Man. But it wasn't that we just didn't like the music or that it was too loud, is that the sound system couldn't take it and the sound quality/distortion was incredibly grating. Not relaxing. Shame really because I like the spacious layout, gig posters in the toilet, and the delicious bourbon Jonny Q kindly bestowed upon me. I'd go again if someone suggested it but given the amount of good bars in the NQ it's not top of my list for a repeat visit/recommendation in terms of drinking. HOWEVER the food might be a different story - the other reviews of meal-based visits have been great so I will try to return one lunchtime. UPDATE: went back for a Carefully Planned Festival - the music venue downstairs is one of the biggest/most attractive in the NQ although it smells SO WRONG and nobody could work out WHAT the smell was which was even more disturbing.

You can't go wrong with a quick, healthy lunch for £2. For that you get a piping hot bowl of soup…read moreand a roll of your choice (from a selection of around four or five), and if you're feeling slightly more peckish you can upgrade to a larger bowl for a mere 50p. Ah, how I love the Arndale Food Market. And it's just one guy! Richard Morphett to be precise. His stall is one of the smallest at the market, nestled next to the smoothie stop, and he always has around five varieties of soup to choose from. At the moment the flavours are particularly festive, with the options of turkey and a chestnut one which I plumped for. They're fresh-tasting, wholesome and delicious, and I was thoroughly chuffed with my choice. When I popped along there was only one meat option, which means plenty of pondering for veggies. Plus Richard's lovely. I sat at the table and chair near to his stall, people-watching (witnessing panic buying in the Arndale Centre is always a larf and a half) and it's nice to see that those who run the individual stalls are all friends with one another. Now this might be a pretty simple review, but it's a pretty simple service. Great soup, yummy rolls, friendly service and all cheap as chips. What more could you ask?

Great food, very fresh taste. Portions are generous, loads of both meat and garnish…read more The price isn't bad either - I paid £9 for a portion of stir-fried garlic beef and glass noodles. Quite good for the city centre! The service is very quick and the stuff are very helpful and polite. Can't wait to go back!

A lovely little eaterie in the heart of Chinatown. Very casual atmosphere with Great food. The…read morestaff were friendly and the service was fast. Just what is needed if you are shopping or on the go.

I wanted an English dining experience on my second night in Manchester, my first attempt went…read morewrong! My second dinner of the night was at Pieminster and YES! This place is amazing! I'm knocking off a star for being completely out of beer, both draught and bottles! Luckily they had some cider and my meal was complete. I had the chicken ranger with a padron chili stick. It was fantastic. They served it with a generous portion of tasty gravy. The pie was flavorful and filling. This chilli stick was super tasty but absolutely mild, no heat. It's a cool spot with limited cozy seating but worth a stop for sure! Check'em out!

Pies are amazing. Staffs are very friendly and polite. Very reasonable pricing considering it is…read morelocated in the heart of Manchester and next to all major pubs and bars. Lunch time deals are fab. Delicious. Nice music playing all day .

Modern light restaurant, great spot for sophisticated food. Very enjoyable experience, it was the…read morefirst time I tried famous French onion soup, couldn't be happier with a choice of starter. The main dish, ox cheeks was equally delicious. The portions were quite filling, so was too full to try desserts, but hopefully one day I'll be back. The restaurant is quite expensive, however, they took part in 50% off January promotions, hope they will continue this tradition next year;)

Came here for a nice Sunday roast. Cozy spot to settle into for a bit. Very very good! Nice variety…read moreof options but my beef was tasty. Great service too!

Though I'm not vegan, I keep unintentionally eating vegan food here in Manchester - it's much more…read moreavailable/prominent than back in the US. I got lost looking for the restaurant after my phone died but finally found my friend at the top of the steps leading down to Earth. Service is set up like a cafeteria, and for just £7 you can pick 4 items from the line (up to 2 "mains".) I think everything in the line and dessert counter is vegan - I was struggling to find dairy/egg items in the menu. I feel like it's more palatable for them to sell themselves as a vegetarian rather than vegan restaurant. I picked up a hearty bean chili atop quinoa, braised cabbage, and a beautiful mushroom pie, in addition to a lime/lemongrass bottled drink and coffee/walnut cake. Portion sizes were huge and you feel very healthy eating the food - the bean chili could have used more seasoning, but the savory mushroom pie was divine! Creamy, savory, and textural, I was surprised at how well they veganized this classic. The cabbage was like tame sauerkraut, which cut the richness of the pie well. The cake was mildly sweet but had a wonderful bitter aftertaste, the scent of ground coffee lingering in my palate long after I finished the last bite. I had a taste of my friend's raw blueberry cheesecake and we had quite a bit of fun trying to guess what they made it out of. It was alright - I would've wanted to try the raw tiramisu, if they had it.

It's safe to say that Manchester has become meat mad the past couple of years, you might even say…read morethere's a carnivore craze, you also could add that.... actually I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to say! But the thing is that it's all so super tempting - and from when I used to have a steady diet of variable fresh homemade soup I'm now starting to think a burger or maybe a hotdog is a suitable daytime bite. So now it's all about fighting that urge and finding out where the antidote is to make sure I get up to the 5-7 portions of fruit and vege I supposedly need each day! I've got to say that I've been walking past Earth for 7 years and never gone in. Which is kind of a bit strange as I've been going to the buddhist centre to meditate all that time too...and it really does feel like I've been missing out! Upon entering the smell of this vegetarian, mostly organic, all homemade onsite cafe is fantastic. There's variety on offer such as curry's, chilli's ( I had the mung bean one and it was fantastic) and Italian tray options. The main set up is that you can get a main and 4 sides (including salads) for £6 which is pretty good value for the amount of food you get. They also do snacky items like the £2.50 Jamaican patties, which seem very popular as a queue was forming for the next batch but that will be a different meal for a different day. Overall the cafe is a great place for lunch, tea, catching up with friends and just generally brining balance back to your diet and life. I felt really good after this meal, felt like I'd really treated myself and it may just help me get on the road to a healthier lunch time diet - now that is good news!

Never had a bad night in here..Seen some good bands,mainly people I know friends etc.Always a good…read moreatmosphere and never had or seen any trouble,and I've been going in on and of for the last 25 years....I feel old now!!!! The beer is decent and not overpriced from what I remember. Glad it's still open after the threat of being closed down. I would recommend this place to anyone.

Historic dive bar that's been around since the early 90s. The Arctic Monkeys played some of their…read morefirst gigs here. It's an iconic space for indie music. They host tons of shows with local bands as well as famous bands. The drinks are reasonably priced and the bar food is pretty good. I like that the kids don't mind when old geezers like us show up for a band. It's such an iconic place in the Northern Quarter. Be foolish not to check them out.

A great place for groups and celebration. The server are super nice even though every minutes that…read morethey are swamp. The food is very much liked by my western culture family. Especially the duck, every bits to the bone was all gone. Don't miss ordering that.

We went with the four of us to The Rice Bowl on a Wednesday night whilst visiting Manchester on a…read moreshort trip. Great decor, friendly service and an excellent menu of dim sum starters and more traditional, but perfectly executed, mains. A different concept than I am used to, but very much worth a return visit.

GEM, GEM, GEM !!!!!…read more The absolute most amazing casual joint concept I ever heard of; and I live in USA. It's absolutely and undoubtedly DELICIOUS!

We loved it here! Decor was really cool. They had some good music playing also. The guy who…read morewelcomed us in was AWESOME. Really chill bloke. He gave us some recommendations which we took and really enjoyed. We also chatted for a bit about why we're there and it really made the experience even better. Our actual waitress though, was really slow to check on us and see if we needed anything. Probably just busy. Anyway, food was delicious! Definitely needed more salt though.

The service was good. Nice selection of drinks and a variety of food. We sat near the open window…read moreto view the street. The bites we had were good. A clean place. We did not dive deep into the menu.

Really great spot that is easy to enjoy. Huge and beautiful space. Multiple bar areas to…read moreaccommodate huge crowds if needed. We simply ordered at the bar and found open seating in the bar area. The 12 hr munich pork sandwich was delicious. The cheese and mustard perfectly compliment the flavor and the pork shines. Served with house fries that were delicious also; crispy, salty and delicious. The bratwurst klassic was also great; exactly what you expect in a brat. Fantastic selection of German and Czech beers to choose from. Service was great, but, it was early on a Saturday and the crowd continued to build even as we were leaving. They had a drag MC that sang requested birthday songs and occasionally had something, ie one question trivia with winner getting a prosecco bottle, to break up between dj'ed songs. It made it entertaining without overwhelming you from enjoying food, beer and conversation. Absolutely fabulous!