Slug & Lettuce, Manchester

As Slug and Lettuce pubs go this one is more interesting than most due to a very bright and colourful interior. Most of the seating in this single room open plan bar are red and pink and it looked very welcoming with the front opened up and a brass band playing in the hall upstairs. Up top there is a balcony with seating that overlooks the jumbrella that covers most of the patio furniture on the path out front. The bar along the rear wall supports a standard and premium keg range and food is available, the bacon cheeseburger is £11. The service was polite, but there were no other customers on my Tuesday evening visit. The other local pubs were all quite busy, which says a lot I suppose.

Official site of Slug & Lettuce - www.slugandlettuce.co.uk

Official site of Slug & Lettuce - www.slugandlettuce.co.uk

A typical ripped out soulless barn of a Slug. It's quite smart in a corporate sort of way. A large group of Didsbury knobheads were sat at one end of the pub ffffing and blinding and saying OMG!!! Two handpumps on the bar, but only 1 beer on which was Dizzy Blonde which was served to me in a chipped glass and was averagely kept at best. This is not a pub for the more discerning amongst us.

One many within this franchise. A 2 floored affair with the main ground floor bar an open plan area. Bright lights make it a shiny place. Two cask ales on, Young's Bitter and Bombardier. Upstairs seems to be a ballroom like though this was closed off on my afternoon visit.

13/11/10 Saturday night 7.30 Pre-booked a table for 5. Very short staffed on this night which was apparent from first arrival. Eventually seated but the overall noise level was deafening. Firstly, the supposed background music was so loud the only way to communicate was to shout. So with the place only half full the noise level was high. Took ages for waiter to take drinks order and food took about 20 minutes to come through from order. Not too bad. The food for 4 out of the 5 was average (nothing to write home about) whilst the final meal was very disappointing. Meal choice was quite varied and the prices towards the high side of average. The deserts were very expensive at £4.95 each. There was a 2 for 1 offer on and the deserts at half price were good value but the final one at full price was not worth it. I am unsure as to where this establishment is trying to place itself in the market - as a wine bar it was passable, as a night-time hot spot it was poorly laid out and as a family restaurant it was far too noisy. Overall we were disappointed with our experience but maybe we expected too much!