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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
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Detail Pages
Bar Fringe, Manchester
Manchester
M4 5JN
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Ian Mapp left this review about Bar Fringe
Think I need multiple visits to fully appreciate this. A well know new guide book on the Manchester drinking scene describes it as "Bar Fringe combines a touch of continental Belgium with some typical Manchester swagger"
Sums it up.
Very much a Belgian Beer Cafe experience.
I couldnt see a board or a menu and I probably missed some of the more exotic offering. They do have both red and blue deliriums red and blue on draught. Which they will serve in pints if you are rich or daft.
I am the latter.
A great bar, full of character and may well be my new "local"
On 20th November 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Old Boots left this review about Bar Fringe
Adquetely described so I won’t bother, visited on a very hot day in June and sadly the two cask beers tried were warm and flat, not off but pretty dire. The juke box remains as good as ever and the selection on Belgian and German beers as extensive as before. I might stick to foreign kegs next time I visit in summer.
On 11th June 2023
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3230 recommendations about 2939 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Bar Fringe
It's been over 10 years since I was last in what I have rated one of my favourite bars in Manchester.
Saturday afternoon's visit gave me no reason to change my judgment and rating of this unassuming place.
From the outside, you could easily pass by without realising it was even a bar. Inside is a thin and narrow room, with the bar on the left. Beyond that is an outdoor drinking area, which I noticed for the first time.
All seating was taken. There are few tables due to the limited size, but you can sit along the wall, assuming there is space. For us there wasn't. No matter, we propped up the bar!
Bar staff always seem to be friendly here. 5 real ales were on - Blackjack Newkit Brown & UUPA, Oakham Citra, Three Sods Vapour Trail Session Pale & Bank Top Palomino Rising. In addition, there were 4 strong real ciders - Broadoak Moonshine, Lilley's Gladiator & Crazy Goat & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask. My Gladiator was in good condition.
Still a very good bar.
On 6th October 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Bar Fringe
Called in here twice in the last month and sadly this place is on a steep downhill slope. The beer was average at best and I even left some and at rip off £4.50 per pint which is steep even for the city centre. Offhand and uninterested bar staff and I'm told that the Ladies were disgusting. Living on past glories, we won't be visiting here for a while.
02/08/2010
Great bar on the N4 crawl. We always call in for one or two when in the Northern Quarter, which is regularly. Eclectic mix of regulars (and staff), lots of tattoos/piercings/bright hair dyes in evidence. It's often busy in here. Has huge rats & bats adorning the walls along with cartoons, it also has a full sized motorbike above the front lounge area. Has a sign over the ladies saying "Caution Moose Crossing". You get the idea, it's a really unusual place. Has 5 handpumps but often there are only 3 or 4 beers on, one of them is usually a Bank Top beer. It's always a decent pint in here. Loads of Belgian drafts and real cider as well. Give it a try, you may well like it.
On 18th August 2019
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about Bar Fringe
I loved this quirky bar with its lively atmosphere and excellent jukebox. the beer almost doesn’t matter when the bar is as charming and affable as this but the Oakham Citra was good anyway. just go there, you cannot fail to have a good time!
On 6th January 2019
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Bar Fringe
An unassuming frontage gives way to quite quirky and interesting interior, It has a pubby feel and a good beer range as described by Bucking Fastard below. Well worthy of a visit.
On 21st October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Bar Fringe
Well worth a look in when visiting this part of Manchester. This is a traditional pub, full of curios and it would take a few visits to spot them all dotted around the place. The pub has a decent range of beers and a decent jukebox, which plays at a reasonable volume, so you can still engage in a good chat with your fellow drinkers. The barman was friendly and upbeat, even when faced with the thirsty bunch of PuG crawlers.
On 15th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Bar Fringe
This is as quirky as it gets.You enter into a vaulted ceiling,peer immediately above your head and you will see a motorbike attached high up to the outside of a gallery rail.There is a raised seating section below the front window,while on the high wall to the side different size model black rats are climbing.The rat motif carries on throughout the interior,small painted figures that apparently change position regularly.The bar runs on the left side of the interior ,there is a rear seating section whichs looks onto a wall with three moulded heads of folk in seeming agony.Sit here too long staring at these figurines and expect to get freaked out.
The juke box is meant to be the second best in Manchester,and fine sounds were playing.There is a modest selection of stools and a shelf opposite the bar which offers 6 real ales which on my trip were Green Duck Hoo Doo,Backyard The Hoard,Shiny Wrench,Bluestone Rocketeer,Steam Box Ghost Train and Oakham Deep Thought (too warm sadly).
The piano get played and although quiet on my Friday lunchtime crawl visit,I would expect the pub to fill with bohemian types later in the day.It's a fun place to visit with an ale house vibe,worth popping in on a crawl of the area.
On 13th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about Bar Fringe
A cracking venue, unassuming from the outside but full of character inside. Pretty busy on my most recent Saturday evening visit. There were a few cask ales on and went for the Uncle Monk's IPA, which was a bit of a let down, perfectly drinkable but lacking the punch I expected from an IPA. We were eyeing up the bottles in the fridge and spotted Leffe Rituel 9° and decided to splash out the £5-ish per bottle for this 9% beauty - no regrets! Absolutely lovely. It feels like a proper old pub, but in smaller premises. I have heard a vicious rumour that this area is due for redevelopment which may result in the loss of Bar Fringe. It would be a sad loss if that is indeed the case.
On 17th May 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Bar Fringe
What sounds like a distinctly unpromising place is actually a first rate pub. Inside is a long narrow room with the bar along one side, little in the way of regular seating, a long shelf and stools opposite the bar to maintain space plus a couple of proper tables to each of the front and rear, the front bit up a step with a guarding balustrade across. There is a gallery here, not accessible with a motorcycle and a cut out of Sid Vicious plus a couple of others who mean nothing to me at all.
All sorts of stuff on the walls, mostly humorous and with cartoons dominating, there is also a wall mounted guitar plus high shelves containing a range of bottles. At 2pm a cuckoo clock sounded, a new pub one for me.
Great range of beers, Fixed Wheel Suzies Rye Ipa, Great Heck Chopper, Ilkley Brewery Tribus, Cottage Rocket Ale, Rudgate Brew No 23, Battlefield Gold plus ciders from Barbourne, Cheddar Valley and Abrahall's Lily the Pink. There is a huge selection of Belgian beers. 20p CAMRA discount, freely offered by the livewire barman who joined in with the pub chat. An excellent spot, I perched on my stool and was immediately included in banter with a few blokes and the barman.
Nice toilets too, classic old style huge urinals.
On 17th November 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]