Hidden away just off Princess Street, Charlies is fairly non discript from the outside and is…read moreeasily missed unless you're looking. Whether its postioning was tactical or not I've idea but what I can tell you is that this little gem has a fantastically fun and friendly atmospere that is helped hugely by the fact that it's not somewhere idiots stumble into accidently on a ramdom crawl. Offering entertainment throughout the week including Karaoke and a 70's, 80's & 90's chart club night, Charlies plays host to the hugely popular 'Heart of Soul' club night on Saturdays, playing R'n'B, funk and Sweet Soul music. Everybody there is a have-a-go hero, X Factor it isn't but Y-not Factor it certainly is! Get your tonsils warmed up and get down there.

Charlies is a guaranteed goodnight. Bit of a mixed crowd , dodgy bar and no card machine at the bar…read moreis only negatives. Good song range, great atmosphere but have a few somewhere else before to get you on your merry singing way. I hate singing but i love it at charlies and even i sing every now n then!!

It's always nice to find a city centre pub that feels like an old man pub, but has a certain…read moresomething. I guess, as James points out, that Churchills' something is the eclectic group of customers who drink harmoniously alongside each other. Yes, as an ex-student and generally quite bourgeoise fool, the sight of a scally strikes the fear o' gawd into me. But it really needn't. At Churchills, everyone is friendly and nice, or they keep to themselves. Though it's a couple of minutes off the main thoroughfare of Canal Street, it still gets sufficiently busy, and never feels empty. That's probably down to the staff as much as the punters, as they are always friendly, and will have a bit of banter with pretty much anyone. As Alexandra says, it's always nice to find £3 doubles in the city centre, and even nicer when they're done well. I had a cracking G&T here a few weeks back, and will certainly be returning for moe. Though perhaps not on a Sunday. Once you've seen a 6'5" drag queen do Back to Black, your karaeoke mojo somewhat shrivels...

To be honest, I'm not really sure if this is a really good pub or a really good novelty…read morekind-of-straight-Canal-St pub. It doesn't really matter, because when I see skinheads and scallies enjoying a pint next to drag queens and leather wearing elderly chaps (no pun intended) it always brings a tear to my eye. What a progressed and civilized gang of drunks we are. Karaoke, cask ale, pub food, pub decor- ohhhh yes. Word of advice- do not approach the DJ, I'm sure he bites.

I used to love coming here, my group of friends and I went on the 23/4/23 guy with a black cap on…read morebackwards was running the karaoke, he only put our group on once, despite us booking individual songs, he then proceeds to put the same group of people up 2 times in a row and other people. We waited two hours to go up on stage, ended up leaving because he refused to put our group up. There was legit like 8 people in there, which is quiet compared to other days. As long as the guy in the black cap is running it, I wouldn't recommend going

Its certainly not the best karaoke in town but it ain't half fun in Vina some nights. Its open late…read more- until half two every day except Fridays and Saturdays when you won't be chucked out until half three in the mornings. Very cheap drinks as standard in places like this - but if you're skint, you're skint. You should still be able to have fun (!). I'd definitely recommend this place for a great late night out, if you want somewhere a bit different. They have karaoke in both English and Chinese which is ve-ery entertaining - come with a group and you won't stop laughing. Plus its absolutely free to sing. Their DJ plays the standard: RnB and Funky House to get people dancing. Not for everyone i.e. not for pretentious posers who care more about what they/ other people/ the bar looks like than having a laugh..

Well I love trying to sing and even more I love inflicting it on others :-P So karaoke is my idea…read moreof a good time! I normally go to Lucky Voice in Tiger Tiger, purely because I didn't know of any other places and it's cheap and cheerful. Waayheeeey! So I went to K2 after someone else suggested we pay it a visit. First impressions were a bit serious due to the Russian gangster type door man who gave us the 3rd degree before we entered with questions like "who are you with?", "what are you here for?", "how long will you be?" "have you booked?" "where is your id?" ?"have you been before?" "do you know anyone inside?" and so on and so on. My boyfriend was getting annoyed and grumpy but he did let us in because we had booked a booth, and after we had our finger prints scanned (yep! We had to scan our finger prints Matrix stylee) we were in!! Once in my magpie syndrome went into overdrive with all the shiny lights, and sparkling decor. I remember saying "oooh" a lot! The night club wasn't very busy and the people that were in there, were interesting types... The booths were pretty cool looking but the touch screen malarky didn't work properly and everything was complicated. We had to change it to English, then we had to try and turn up the volume, then we had try and find the songs we wanted. We did manage to sing one or two songs. They weren't the ones we would have liked but by this time we lost all patience and picked any old song. So we got drinks and they took FOREVER or what felt like, as we had finished our songs by the time the drinks arrived. Then staff were constantly peering in through the glass window in the door or coming to check up on us. Booooo...to that. It spoiled it for us, as i'm not the bravest with karaoke so like a bit of privacy. Would I go back here. nope. I'll stick to Luck Voice in the mean time.

This was not Karaoke night but Arden college second year students Cabernet review night. It's dark…read moreand uninviting to the non initiated and as a private members club is like an immigration border to get into. It tried to turn its hand to the large number of families and friends attending the show but failed pretty miserably. No bar was open when people arrived and was then panically filled with staff with no bar experience. It's probably great for its intended role (booth rooms for private parties) but a let down for this larger challenge. Show was great though.

Authentic Thai restaurant run by a very friendly Thai lady. Service was attentive, polite and…read morefriendly. Typical selections of curry, fried rice, noodles, soups and salads. I went with the Thai Fried Rice and Tom Yum Gum Soup. Tasty and filling. They had the traditional Thai spices too which is always good.

I have been to this restaurant many times. I have been a Thai food fan for many years. I once…read moretravelled in Thailand for 2 months and was living on street food Pad Thai and red curry chicken everyday.The food in Siam Orchid was really authentic and it was never too busy to find seats without booking. The location is also good, right on Portland street, easy to find. I have tried many different dishes and I love that they have sticky rice. I often order king prawn coconut curry soup and sticky rice. It's cheap and tasty. I recently went there last week and had their special duck dish which was quite sweet. The crispy seabass was also really good. I will definitely go back again.

A decent bar with the necessary amount of tv channels. Found some drinks not available elsewhere.read more

Seeking an outdoor-beer-consumption-venue, my friend and I bypassed the slightly sleazy Canal…read moreStreet and headed to Joshua Brooks. Our slightly early start to 'evening drinks' on a Tuesday meant we were able to score a table on their small terrace area overlooking the river. It is a great place to sit - protected from the breeze and in direct line for the afternoon sunshine. It is small though so I'm sure in peak summer drinking season it will be hard to get a seat. There was a really good selection of beer on tap with plenty of local options. It looks like they do some good food too - I might need to come back for their pie and a pint deal. It was reasonably priced as well which is always a good thing. The only downside was the toilets - despite a low number of customers, the toilets were dirty, there was no soap and the hand dryer didn't work. Plus most of the cubicles didn't have functioning locks. In the scheme of things, this probably doesn't really matter (although soap is definitely a must) but a good toilet does make or break a place. If they work on their ablutions I might give them five stars next time.

A quirky establishment with an upstairs dining area and downstairs bar. The food is 90% vegan,…read morewhich was nice because they had creative options for everyone! We had the BBQ Jackfruit dog, which was a vegan sausage topped with BBQ pulled jackfruit, vegan chipotle mayo, and jalapeno's. It was absolutely delicious! The sausage was not dry, as sometimes happens with vegan sausages, and the combinations of flavors was great. We also got the vegan Mac n Cheese; it was listed under bigs, but the portion size was disappointingly very small. It also tasted a bit grainy, not the best potato cheese I've had. They are allergen friendly, but make sure you make all your allergens known! The mac n cheese does have coconut milk in it. They also have Ice Shack Vegan ice creams, which is a bonus!

It doesn't have the same history as The Roadhouse, Night & Day or Manchester Academy but The Deaf…read moreInstitute is probably my favourite venue in Manchester these days. They have great club nights and a truly eclectic range of gigs from emerging punk-funk and disco groups like Yacht and The XX to established underground pop bands like Broadcast. Even better, most of the gigs take place in an intimate room with high ceilings, cleverly stacked seating and standing room for about 300 people. I went to see Detroit protest singer Rodriguez on Monday evening and had a fantastic night. The atmosphere was great, the acoustics were fab and the drinks were mighty fine. Being a long-term country and Americana gal, I also fell in love with the Good Dolly and Bad Dolly wallpaper in the ladies toilets! The only disadvantage is, I'm still a little hungover!

If you love karaoke, this is as good as it gets!…read more A private little room for just you and your friends, all leather seats that you're allowed (and encouraged) to jump around on, a "thirsty button" in the room so you can order drinks to be brought right to you, 6000 songs, two microphones and a tambourine...amazing times. A bit on the pricey side but well worth it if you split the price between you and your friends, works out between £2.50 and £7.50 each per hour, depending on which night you go. The drinks button is good but being based inside a nightclub, the drinks are pretty expensive so I find it best to hit a couple of bars first to loosen up the vocal chords a bit!

I just don't get this. I mean, if you're paying for the privelege of singing to your hearts'…read morecontent in private, then why don't you all chip in and get yourself a karoake machine to make it a weekly event in your own home? Ok, the neighbours might have a few things to say about that, but much better than to be stung with a £45 drinks bill each for the pleasure of singing in a claustrophobic 'pod' in Tiger Tiger. This was my absolute worst nightmare.

Has anyone been to Detroit Bar in London's Seven Dials/Covent Garden? It bears some startling…read moresimilarities to Tribeca. In no particular order... - An apparent reference to a city/neighbourhood elsewhere around the world - A posh atmosphere (at least, at first glance) - Clientele attired in everything from streetwear to clubbing getup - A drink list that appears good on paper yet falls flat upon execution - A posh atmosphere that's trying too hard, relative to its clientele (at second glance) For an ostensibly gay bar, Tribeca gave me an overwhelming feeling of ennui. Little pockets of conversation were taking place. I didn't witness any mingling between groups. And noticeably absent were smiles, hugs, and boisterous laughter. These gays did -not- put the gay in 'gay'. Is this what happens when gay bars go to die?

I really like this bar…read more I've been about six or seven times now, I have a lot of gay friends and a lot of straight friends. This is a very good place to go to if you're out with a mix of the two. It's in the gay village but on the outskirts so it's kind of mutual territory. It's cheap, it's big, it has another bar below it (BED) and a huge island-type bar in the middle and they serve you at all sides so you never have to queue to long. And jugs of cocktail are buy-one-get-one-free. Messy times. It's a good place to start a night off, I wouldn't really stay here all night. Music is cheesy as you'd expect but it's a good laugh and the DJ is usually up for playing most requests.