Somewhat hidden down one of the Exchange Flags alleyways, The Juicery is a good spot if you need to…read morestock up on vitamins! Specialising in a range of smoothies and juices, they've fully taken on the trend for blending. It's small inside with an open 'kitchen' and menus on the walls. Take your time choosing! They really don't mind if you're indecisive (like me) and will happily change anything for you. The menu is split into different sections with similar bases i.e. earth juices predominantly feature ingredients like carrot. I went for a juice with strawberry, blueberry, apple and orange. It was very refreshing and hit the spot, though I wasn't a fan of the pulp that was prominent about halfway through drinking. Service is fully with a smile and our juices were prepared in a flash. They have a very handy lid creator which you then pop your straw through, so no potential spills - which is especially good if you're in the car. If you're in the area and fancy a juice boost, I'd recommend heading to The Juicery.

I'm always a bit wary of fruit smoothies. Unless it's fruit juice, I like to keep my fruit intake…read moreand drink intake separately, rather than combining the two together. I'm also not very keen on the consistency of smoothies generally, never has something been less appropriately named (a bit of hyperbole perhaps, but the name doesn't really describe it properly though, does it?) It was with some trepidation then that I visited Mojoes one afternoon whilst walking back to Blundellsands train station and was pleasantly surprised when trying their smoothies. Inside, the shop is a little on the small side but makes good use of its space, offering a pleasant, comfortable environment for you to relax and enjoy a drink or some food. As well as offering a range of delicious smoothies, I was pleased to see they offered alternatives to these, such as fruit juices, milkshakes and hot drinks, in addition to a range of sweet and savoury crepes (not quite as healthy as the smoothies, but a necessary evil in my opinion). Both the drinks and food are reasonably priced considering they use fresh ingredients, meaning a visit to Mojoes leaves you feeling refreshed and (fairly) healthy, depending on your order of course.

All I think I really need to say is Spag Bol Crepe ... This…read moreplace is really wonderful and its a shame there isnt on in the city centre, it is always well staffed,has big relaxing sofas in,new magazines and great surfer themed interior.

Hands down the best smoothie bar in Manchester. Everything down to the beer they sell are fresh and…read moreorganically sourced. The owner is very passionate on healthy food the fruits and vegetables are always fresh and it resonates to the delicious smoothies they provide. While many other chain of healthy food places are suspect, this is one of the genuine in Manchester City Centre.

A great smoothie/ juice bar, very friendly staff and remember you. No extra charge for extra fruit…read moreand have a loyalty scheme. It isn't cheap but worth every penny, good service great product nothing like a good smoothie to set you up for the day ahead.

I love this place. You could walk right past it every day and never know it existed, but I think…read moreit's fab. There's nothing particularly outstanding about Ginger, although the food is pretty damn good, but its your general run-of-the-mill cafe. There are a whole load of smoothies and fresh juices to choose from, and although the menu isn't extensive, what you do get is fab. It's in quite a good location too: right next to the 80, 75 and 86 bus stop, a short walk from the pubs on Smithdown and all the student housing, and not that far from Sefton Park. Ginger is one of those places you'll accidentally drop in to one day and then end up going every week. I really hope this place isn't affected by the credit crunch, as it truly is a hidden gem.

Ginger Up is situated right next to a bus stop I regualrly use so one hot summers day I decided to…read morestep into the shade and get myself a refreshing drink. Ginger Up is well decorated, spacious and comfortable. The staff are friendly, greeting you as soon as you walk in and offering their help. They are happy to suggest a smoothie to try, or just let you ponder your decision for a long as possible. The smoothies here are freshly made and are delicious. The range available is not massive but there are still a good few options to choose from. The coffee is freshly brewed and delicious. Again there is not a huge range of hot drinks available but the ones that are sound very tasty. The food and drinks are reasonably priced and come in good portions and sizes. This is a good place for a quiet drink and a chat with a friend. Look out for this place and give it a try.

Well I guess I could have given it a better review, had I found it! After roaming around the area…read moreand different shopping centers only to find out that it closed....was a bit frustrated! Funny thing is no one knew for sure....but it wasn't where it was supposed to be!

When I arrived at this lovely little sunny spot in Lancaster (sunny in disposition, sunny side of…read morethe street), I knew I was in for a treat. It looked quirky, independent, homegrown, interesting, fresh, colourful... Wait a blimmin' minute. How exactly do you pronounce the name? Joo-saffay? J...Oh goodness - well as it happened, when I arrived here to wait for my lovely friend and went up to order the smoothie, I had a lovely chat with the fellow working there. He was in the arduous process of renewing his domain name online and as he read the address out to me, I learned it was indeed... Joooo-kafé. It isn't exclusively for... It's for anyone and everyone, and in the times I've been there thus far, I've seen kids as young as 7 months and folks as old as 70, alongside disgruntled teenagers, all slurping up their smoothies. Ah, Lancaster. The price is right here, and I've enjoyed all my visits. The other half even spotted their quality when he realised they had one of the most expensive kinds of blender you can buy... in duplicate. Perhaps even triplicate. This place is as family friendly as it gets, from the big squishy beanbags in the corner to the chalkboard kids can draw on, to free WiFi and even a laptop to play on if you haven't your own, to a funky soundtrack, colourful environment and massive variety of beverages. You can get everything here - healthy smoothies, indulgent milkshakes and everything in between. I had a fruity pulpy beverage thickened with fat-free froyo upon my first visit, and Alexa had tea and toast, proving they cater to any mood. Yup, there's food here too. Another time I brought the Betrothed, and he had a Crunchy Nut milkshake. Nope, not a Crunchie milkshake. A Crunchy Nut Cornflake milkshake. I can only liken it to what I'd imagine Momofoku Milk Bar's cereal milk to taste like, but it was as close to a breakfast shake as you could imagine. Drinks you can chew. Now if Lancaster gets itself a Bubble Tea joint, my world will be complete!

Juicafe have the most AMAZING drinks selection, it is taking me a while to get through them but I…read moream never let down !! Terry's Orange Hot Choc, Crunchie Milkshake, a Smooth Sweet Espresso Blend, Muffin Shakes & Awesome Smoothies. They have comfy seats and free wifi, and board games when i dont feel like working !! This place blows everything out of the water! Fantastic!

Following a filling meal nearby in the same food court, wanted to get a quick dessert at this spot…read more Sunday evening and no one else inside, was able to quickly order from the menu above. Options include both pre-made and customized shakes. Settled for the medium "Golden Balls" (£4.70) - a vanilla shake with Fererro Rocher, Nutella, and peanut crumbles. Initial taste is not bad, lots of hazelnut flavor and some peanut chunks. However, the ice cream itself is fairly thin, and as you drink most of it through the straw, what's remaining is 60% crushed peanuts. The peanut portion is too high and without a spoon, is not possible to eat. Service here was fine as they were winding down for the night. Ratios in the shake need to be done better.

Have you noticed milkshake places are cropping up all over the place recently? No? Well, just have…read morea look because they are; I promise. It's not a bad thing, I enjoy a milkshake, but I will admit my tastes are a little vanilla in that I only really like vanilla. In the interests of creamy discovery I decided to try and pick a different flavour, and here that took me a while. The choice of things that you can have blended into a milkshake is frankly staggering - toffee crisp, fondant fancies, jelly babies- although I find it difficult to see why anyone would choose to go for a parma violet milkshake. It is a little pricey as all of these places tend to be - I had a regular-sized 'galaxy caramel with flake topping' (one of the recommended flavours) and it cost almost £3 - but they are darn tasty. They also do a selection of wheat grass, goji berry 'body boosters' but if you're having a milkshake why would you taint it with something approaching a health food?

One of three branches in the Liverpool city centre, this Thorntons store is located on "South John…read moreStreet", on the lower level of the Liverpool One - to avoid confusion this is different to the branch inside St John's Shopping Centre. I called in here after picking up an offer on O2 Priority to pick up a free chocolate heart which is usually priced at £8, the in-store experience was quite good, I was in and out within minutes and offered the chance to personalise the heart free of charge in a colour of my choice. (Boy was I tempted to make a football reference, perhaps one about Raheem Sterling winning the double) The store also contained a Thorntons Cafe, which is quite rare to see in Thorntons stores, the only time I've ever seen it before was at a branch closer to me at Manchester Fort, I guess with it being a good, central location and not being their only branch in the city centre they thought it would be a good idea, but for me too much of the store is devoted to the cafe, causing slight confusion and it in a way ruins the overall experience for the cafe and the store, for example in the store the selection doesn't tend to be as good as other branches, such as Thorntons - Manchester Arndale, which is also a decent sized store but lacks the "Thorntons Cafe" feature. The staff around the store did seem friendly offering samples of their latest chocolate, one thing I liked about how they offered samples was the sign showing all allergens. Chocolate is naturally gluten-free but in high-end, speciality chocolate retailers like this sometimes they add things into it which may or may not contain gluten, I felt confident taking and going onto enjoying the sample because of this, avoiding wasting time and an awkward encounter with staff compared to if they didn't have it. Inside, the store was a typical Thorntons store which in a way gives an oldy-worldy vibe compared to a modern one. Prices for certain items such as the heart considering as I recall it was only 100g were high at £8 but typically for gifts and stores like this, it just seems to be the price they charge, and I would be surprised to pay a much lower price at the nearest similar retailer, Hotel Chocolat also inside the Liverpool One (coincidentally also with a cafe) A decent store with kind and helpful staff, albeit it does have multiple issues mentioned such as the overall selection, feel, cafe issues and pricing, it is pretty cool and one of my favourite and more welcoming Thorntons branches in Liverpool, especially in comparison to the Whitechapel branch so it does deserve a solid three-star rating here.

You can imagine the Thornton's people sat round in a board meeting - how can we maximise profits?…read moreSomeone suggests intravenous chocolate drips. Someone else suggests chocolate hats. Both good ideas but not exactly what they're after. "How about Starbucks?" someone says. "Coat Starbucks in a layer of Thornton's chocolate...that's a brilliant idea!" Eventually they settle for just selling coffee, tea and cake in Thornton's. I like Thornton's - I'm always the first at the Christmastime box of Continentals and constantly popping in for a bag of misshapes or a chocolate lolly shaped like a seasonal critter -and I like coffee and cake, a lot. The coffee was good (better than Costa, worse than Nero) and the cakes were alright (although oddly for the cafe of a company who specialise in chocolate, the chocolate cake was an un-chocolatey brown foam wedge) but Thornton's Cafe didn't really do it for me, and I'll tell you for why. It's the layout - sitting on one side of a huge plate glass frontage I felt exposed and even scrutinized as I slurped down my coffee and tucked into my cake. On the plus side The staff were friendly and kept shutting the door over when the draft came in (another of the problems here; the continuous stream of whipped-up wind blowing in from corridor of the indoors-outdoors Liverpool One) and they carry all the usual sweet treats and prezzies in a hurry on the left side of the store. If you're after a cafe though I suggest you try somewhere else.