The City Arms, Manchester

Busy and lively on an early Wednesday evening, you enter to a small area with the bar to one side and a dartboard on another wall, down a step to a slightly larger rear room where most of the seating is situated, simple and traditional in style being button backed banquettes and small round tables facing each other across the room. Boarded floor, green painted ceiling, leaded windows with some stained glass, a fireplace on the end wall has a walnut surround and a large mirror above. B&W prints of old local scenes, many featuring trams. On the window shelf were a selection of traditional games, dominoes, chequers boards, cards plus a range of back issues of the GBG. A good range of beers on, no mainstreams, Slightly Foxed Howling Fox, Millstone Vale Mill, Mobberley Brewhouse Red Vienna, Moorhouse Pride of Pendle plus Premier Bitter, Titanic Plum Porter and the rather good Mobberley Fine Ales Maori. Stacks of pump clips over the bar show the rotation policy, deservedly popular, this is a fine pub indeed.

Excellent little boozer. Very good selection of beers though a dark beer would've been welcome on this visit. But 8 cask ales is not to be sniffed at.

Tetleys, Arundel Sussex Gold, Moorhouse's Witch Hunt, Tom Woods Shepherd's Delight, HH(gk)Olde Trip, Jennings Cumberland, York Mordic Fury, Thwaites Nutty Black. Nice old bar positioned to left of entrance in smallish front (‘upper') room, old lead-light windows to street, display barrels above bar, wood floored throughout, incorporating an old brass plaque near door pronouncing ‘Tetleys Festival Ale House'. Couple of tables with banquette seating, drinking shelf with high stools opp bar, small tv in corner showing skysports news, dartboard next to this. Walls carry small number of old manc photos & brewing diagrams such as cask taps. Down a couple of steps to larger seating area with leather banquette seating around 3 walls & fireplace at far end, wood tables & stools. After a few pints I found myself imagining a commons-style debate between punters facing each other along the opposite, longer sides of the room, hopefully on important subjects such as football, or beer. A blackboard down here reminds what beers (&abv) are on. Side entrance leads to a victorian tiled corridor, gents, and this lower bar. Good sountrack, Dylan playing as I left. Closed when I last tried coz Sun hrs are 12:00-20:00. Well worth a visit, even if £2.80 is slightly dear up here. 7 October 2008 Most disappointed to find this closed Sunday nt, as was the Vine next door. Recall enjoying a previous visit but review & rating will have to wait.

Best of the three pubs here, very much a traditional city centre watering hole unchanged in decades, with a small bar area plus a larger room down a few stairs. A friendly welcome, and a nice range of beers from Moorhouse and Timothy Taylor. Makes a handy escape from the nearby conference centre. GBG 2015 listed

Nice little pub with plenty of choce of hand pulled beer only thing that can spoil it is that people wont move from the bar for you but will call back