Vine Inn, Manchester

The Vine is a split level pub with a bar and seating at street level and a large seating area upstairs with a dartboard in the corner. Sport is advertised, but an Ed Sheeran concert was playing on the televisions upstairs and down. To be honest the only other customers were a couple who weren’t interested in the football, but United were playing. An A-board out the front advertises a function room for hire, which may be the upstairs area. I noted the presence of a jukebox. The bar supports a standard and premium keg range and the two handpumps were drawing GK Old Speckled Hen and TT Landlord. I preferred the pub next door so can’t see myself returning here anytime soon.

This is a fairly simple, split level pub, tucked away down a fairly quiet city centre backstreet. You enter to the lower level which forms the main bar area. This is a bare boarded space with an L-shaped servery down the right hand side, broken along its length by large pillars. The bar has a nice dark wood counter with brass hand and foot rails and a fairly by-the-number bar back of no great note. For some reason, the area opposite the bar has been left empty – perhaps a good deal of standing room is required during peak hours, but on a quiet evening, it made the place feel a little sad and empty, with just a single L-shaped banquette around the front corner offering the lone seating option. The Spartan nature of the room lends it the feel of a traditional public bar and the presence of a dartboard and jukebox only enhanced this feeling. Stairs to the right of the entrance lead you up to a lounge area which is divided into two roughly equal sized sections by a partitioning wall. The first part is a fairly bland, part-carpeted, part-bare boarded space with comfy banquettes to the front and a mix of high stools and chunky chairs through the rest of the area. A kitchen is visible to the rear and there was a TV screen showing muted news coverage, whilst the walls were decorated with a few whiskey mirrors and not much else. Moving through to the second section of the room, you find more seating arranged under bookcases, various bits of breweriana including a nice old wooden beer sign and some random pictures. Stairs lead down to a cellar bar which I didn’t explore as it appeared to be shut and there was a decent soul and Motown soundtrack playing in the background. Just the two ales available at the bar and these were Taylor Landlord and Robinsons Dizzy Blonde on this occasion. The barmaid gave me a very friendly welcome and poured a pretty good pint of the Dizzy Blonde before calling time at the bar on this quiet, New Years Eve early evening. This is a pretty basic feeling pub with some comfortable seating in the lounge but very little in the way of character or ambiance. I found the staff very welcoming and the beer in good shape but can’t imagine wanting to settle down here for much of a session and would probably only return if tied in with a visit to the superior City Arms next door.

Not been in here for a few years but passed by on Saturday night. The main bar only ever used to have a couple of safe national ales on but when the Malt & Cask cellar bar opened it made this pub worth a visit. I found there were usually a couple of safe options on downstairs but the rest were more interesting. As you can guess from the name of the downstairs bar, there is also a fairly extensive whisky menu. It is strange how it feels completely separate to the rest of the pub; it really is a separate place with separate bar, toilets etc. Peeking through the window into the cellar bar last Saturday we noticed Dizzy Blonde, a few unclipped and only one that had a pump clip we didn't recognise. Only had time for a swift one before my train home so decided to skip it this time in favour of the City Arms next door. I am sure I will be back at some point though.

Slightly strange pub, apparently knocked through between buildings which produces a peculiar layout. It has all the essentials, somehow it doesn't quite feel right, possibly perhaps because it was fairly quiet and the downstairs bar where most of the ale is kept was closed. The Landlord was drinkable enough (Cask Marque listed) but wouldn't rush to return.