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Detail Pages
The City Arms, Manchester
Manchester
M2 4BQ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Rob Hunter left this review about The City Arms
Revisited on a Saturday evening back in May, to find the City Arms as reliable as ever. Unchanged for many years and a traditional interior, already well described, with an interesting selection of real ales available covering a decent range of styles.
Of course, the above makes the City Arms is popular, but if there is no seating left in the cosy back room, there is plenty of standing space in the front room.
Can't fault the place.
On 21st August 2023
- rating: 9
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The City Arms
Visited this 2022 Good Beer Guide pub on 11.8.22 and found a fantastic choice of cask ales. There were a few from Neptune brewery, and we chose Neptune Sea of Dreams and Wander Beyond Wolfsbane, both well kept. Certainly one to have on your to do list when visiting the city.
On 21st August 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The City Arms
Old skool and fairly unspoilt boozer (CAMRA Inventory listed). Enter to a small dimly-lit main bar with minimal seating (just some burgundy banquettes and a couple of posing tables) though the old lead-light windows to street make it worth a pause (unlike the unusable dart board). Luckily there’s a larger and brighter oblong room round the side with a nice traditional feel - bottle green banquettes, yellow walls, dark varnish wood trim, B&W prints of old local scenes (many featuring trams) and racing green ceiling. Also nice green Majolica wall tiling en route to gents. A nice muted soundtrack of 60’s hits on the go complemented it all rather nicely. Eight handpumps with seven cask on, a good mix of styles represented. My Brightside Odin was very good (NBSS 4) so I jokered and stayed for another, Wander Beyond Shadow Puppets (3.5). I really liked this one though it’s best visited at quieter times. GBG ’22 listed. 8.5
On 16th May 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The City Arms
A corridor runs from the entrance past a serving hatch on the right to a room at the rear. This room has banquette seating around the walls with tables and stools. Up on the wall is a chalkboard that lists seven cask ales and two craft keg. These are available from the bar located up a couple of steps towards the front of the pub. An eighth hand pump was unused and there were some premium keg products available. I went for the Jaipur that was on good form.
There is a small TV in each of the rooms, but these were off in favour of some background music from the likes of The Doors and The Beatles. There were only two other customers, which I found surprising as this pub is vastly better than the busier Spoons next door.
On 15th February 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5243 recommendations about 5211 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The City Arms
Good Beer Guide, side-street pub that I have somehow happened to miss previously... Anyway, nothing fancy has been done to the compact, slightly split-level, two-room layout so this retains plenty of straightforward character. The real ale offer is very good too, ranging from some light real ales - through things like the RedWillow Feckless (£4.30) - to Titanic Plum Porter and Thornbridge Jaipur.
On 17th September 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about The City Arms
First visit since the world went mad. I figured there was little point in trying to visit somewhere so small when restrictions were in place as it would just be too full unless you got there for opening! The City Arms offered the biggest feeling of normality of the evening - no one way system, no masks, no table service - just go to the bar, order your drink and go plonk yourself down somewhere. Six of the eight hand pulls were available. I shall look forward to paying a return visit.
On 14th September 2021
- rating: 9
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The City Arms
Covid update - reopened post lockdown, for takeaway or for drinking in the tiny courtyard at the back. Not much room for swinging a cat but the intimacy made for a proper pub experience. Lively banter and 4 excellent ales on, this was everything I have missed about pubs, you’ll have to get in early to secure a seat though.
—
as good as a pub gets really. friendly, totally traditional inside, a bit worn around the edges, two Titanic ales on the bar, beer blackboard completely out of date. loved it...
On 19th April 2021
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The City Arms
Nicely tucked away down an unassuming back street, just a short hop from Albert Square, this is a quality two room traditional pub of the sort that Manchester seems to do very well. You enter into a small front bar with the servery along the left hand wall. The whole room has been done out in dark wood, including the bar counter, flooring and wood panelled walls, but it thankfully manages to feel quite cosy and warm rather than dark and gloomy. The servery has a nice mirrored bar back lined with numerous pump clips and the rest of the room offers some limited seating around the perimeter plus a good deal of standing room in the centre, which is probably very much needed at peak hours. Two steps at the end of the bar, take you down into the lower rear room, set up as a well appointed lounge. Fixed bench seating runs around three sides of the room, with a fine looking fireplace dominating the fourth. There is some dark wood in evidence here too, but the uppers of the walls have been painted in a brighter shade, making the room feel lighter and more spacious than the front bar. There are some nice stained glass windows along the back wall with a lot of books stacked along their sills, whilst a TV screen at one end of the room was showing Home Alone on mute with some music piped through in the background. Some nice old photos of the city line the walls and the corridor leading to the toilets boasts some great glazed tiling that wouldn’t have looked amiss through the rest of the pub.
The pub has a reputation for offering a good selection of well kept ales and this was very much in evidence when I was confronted by handpulls dispensing Green Mill Cat’s Whiskers, Titanic Plum Porter, Empire Moonrakers Mild, Framework Jackpin, Navigation Rebel, Nightjar Lost in IKEA and Bank Top Flat Cap. The bar staff were friendly and efficient and served me a really good pint of the Moonrakers Mild.
This is a cracking pub that does keeps things pretty basic, but does all those basic things extremely well. I really enjoyed sitting down in the lounge with a great pint of beer in hand and could easily have spend much longer working my way through their full range. Well worth including on any city centre crawl and an absolute must for fans of unpretentious, traditional boozers.
On 5th February 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The City Arms
This relatively small two room pub was packed on our visit as Aqualung mentions, and yet again Bucking Farstard makes it easy for me by being studious in noting the beer line up, despite the crowds I enjoyed the short stay here, opting for Bristol Beer Co Unplanned nights, a nice drop.
A top little pub.
On 24th October 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The City Arms
As noted below this is a small example of a classic Northern pub with a corridor and two rooms. Sadly, visiting it on a Friday afternoon is not the best idea as it was packed. By the time I left there were also hordes of people drinking outside on both sides of the street.
I couldn't get to see what was on the eight hand pumps but spotted and went for the Titanic Plum Porter (£4.00) which was in good nick but expensive. It seems this place is a victim of its own success and my score is based on what it's like on a late Friday afternoon. I'd quite like to see it at a quieter time when I've no doubt the score would increase. It's GBG 2019 listed and I was surprised to see on What Pub that it's owned by Greene King.
On 22nd October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]