Manchester

Boutique
18-22 Lloyd Street
Lap dancing bar

A swanky new lap dancing bar in an underground venue off Deansgate, and close to Albert Square. Pretty high end inside, the club is decked out tastefully and entrance is pretty well controlled so there's no idiots. Clearly the nicest in Manchester, but we've got a long way to go before our venues are comparable to London.

Label
78 Deansgate
Modern bar

Label was the cooler younger brother of the Living Room - in fact it's situated right next door (the two are actually owned by different people, but appear somewhat similar). Whereas the Living Room caters for those who prefer a sophisticated drink, Label is much more in your face with a dance floor and the necessary DJs to go with it. Designed in a sensitive fashion it's an uber chic hangout that's aimed at the 'up for it' crowd: pumpin house music, groovy disco - it all goes on down here. Label's location at the base of Deansgate, close to Prohibition, The Cocoa Rooms and Club V, has set this area alight. It's the trendy place to come out and party, and a few more steps in either direction will take you to the Circle Club (lovely), Panacea (good, but troublesome) and a whole load of traditional pubs.

Sugar Lounge
Deansgate Locks
Style Conscious bar

The Sugar Lounge has had an interesting history, but there's no doubting that the tiny venue at the end of Deansgate Locks is an equally interesting place to hang out. Attractive, and with attentive service, there's a bling bling vibe in this bar and a 'take it or leave it' attitude. If that's your cup of tea then get your glad rags on and prepare to brave the oft-strict door staff. As the saying goes, if you deserve to be in this bar then they'll let you in.

ARQ
Arch 9, Deansgate Locks
Cheap and Cheerful bar

Firstly this venue has had a somewhat chequered past. Three years ago it opened as Prada Society Cafe, which was obviously not well received by the fashion giant Prada. Thus a quick name change was in order, and it became The Lock. Whilst this venue never really took off in terms of getting the numbers in, the crowd and service at this place were second to none, and we were sad to see it go. We were even sadder when we found out that the two archways were being taken over by Luminar Leisure, who are more used to the managing venues like The Ritz and some sort of mock-Chicago cafe bar effort. 'The' bar was born early in 2003, then at some point it changed to Arch 9 and now ARQ. We kinda lost interest at this point.

Baa Bar Deansgate Locks
Deansgate Locks
Modern bar

Baa Bar has been around since the conception of Deansgate Locks (a strip of bars and clubs built into railway arches and sat alongside a canal) and its still one of the busiest venues on that block despite the size. Combining cheap drinks and shooters will always mean a messy affair, but after a recent refit they're removed the giant mirror balls and side mirrors so ultimately reducing the chances of vomiting. Their speciality is definitely shooters, of which there are far too many varieties to mention. They're lethal but a lot of fun and ultra cheap. On weekends the bar can get far too busy, resulting in long waits at the bar and very little room to move. Good thing that there are more bars and clubs nearby as you can wander down the Locks and grab a drink somewhere else.

Bar Est
7-11 Lower Mosley Street
Indie and Underground bar

Situated underneath the Premier Travel Inn on Mosley street this little bar-cum-casual-restaurant isn't necessarily bad, it's just not very exciting. If you're after a quietish drink then this will be able to satisfy your needs. If, however, you crave social interaction with Manchester's high fliers then you'll be disappointed! Drinks prices are at the upper end of average, and it's really just a place to grab a pint if you're staying at the hotel above.

Comedy Store
Deansgate Locks
Modern bar

The hard working Comedy store on Deansgate Locks provides a full packed line-up of comedic events, featuring local and national figures as well as great shows. Inside the venue is well designed, with a couple of bars, the main theatre and some adaptable club space which they use for a disco on weekends (if your into that kind of thing!). Well worth a visit, with the midweek events cheaper than the weekends.

Fat Cat Cafe
Deansgate Locks
Indie and Underground bar

Ithaca
36 John Dalton Street
Style Conscious bar

A four storey venue that - by it's own admission - is more of a restaurant than a bar. The ambitious members club at the top, and the bar area, suggest that this could well be winning awards for it's drinkgin as well as dining. Dress up and act the part, as this £3million dream girl won't be letting just anyone inside.

Living Room
80 Deansgate
Members Bar bar

Three storey complex that has become the blueprint for many top-end city centre bars in Manchester (and beyond). Upstairs is a small, but sumptious, members only bar that harks back to colonial India. The restaurant on the middle floor offers mid-market modern English, and the bar downstairs - complete with a small number of pavement tables - is still popular with the 25+ group.

Loaf
Arches 3a - 5, Deansgate Locks
Modern bar

Loaf is very much like one of the Hollyoaks starlets that pass through its doors on a Friday or Saturday night ? overrated and easily forgettable. Going back seven years, Manchester was still in the grip of post-bomb construction, with a lot of fantastic plans but nothing to show for it yet. Some bright spark had the idea of turning a number of disused railway arches at the bottom of Deansgate into a series of bars (plus a bathroom and flower shop that, quite rightly, died). Little did they know exactly how much Deansgate Locks would affect Manchester nightlife, both in a positive and negative fashion, and the expansive Loaf was built at the far left of the strip. Occupying huge arches, this venue was initially loved the uber-glam Cheshire brigade (its proximity to Deansgate station, and their inability to walk for more than five minutes really helped this Loaf) but that was back in 2000 and that's a lifetime ago in the life of a bar. The venue itself isn't all that bad ? upstairs houses a bar area that holds approximately three hundred, and a restaurant that can seat a touch over one hundred. Downstairs is a bar-cum-vip area that is normally rather busy, and a ?proper? club space (as well as the toilets and cloakroom). The decor was pretty fresh for Manchester until everyone else copied it, but its still more than passable in terms of looks, for the time being at least. Over the years the crowd has changed, and now it's a bit more ?down to earth? (a.k.a. rougher) at weekends at least. Its saving grace is the events it puts on during the week ? the infamous Hideous Kinky has moved here on Thursdays and Eye Candy was the place to be on a Monday, giving this venue a new lease of life ? the crowds on these nights are much more like they used to be. Overall you may feel we're being a bit harsh on Loaf, after all this was initially built as a test project by one of the big breweries, but its hard watching a venue like this go downhill at weekends. A rebranding is definitely needed soon, and no doubt they will polish this huge bar/club/restaurant into something special, but for the time being I can't honestly say that this place is somewhere I want to visit for that long.

Mojo
19 Back Bridge Street
Indie and Underground bar

"Music for the people" is Mojo's mantra, with the music policy strictly 'non-house' - expect old skool and new skool rock and roll. Despite this rough and ready image, the bar is an awesome pre-club hangout, or somewhere to chill out on and sink into the sofas. Check out their excellent website.

Moon under Water
68-74 Deansgate
Modern bar

The Moon under Water could once claim to be the largest pub in Europe, and it's still a mammoth drinking hole that's now owned by Wetherspoons. Inside it's all about cheap food and drink - if you're after a light bite for under £5 then this is the place for you, and despite being surrounded by trendy bars the Moon under Water is a popular place.