please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Have been in here a few times and the beer is decent if Belgian beer is your particular interest. The ales are good when they are on (Invariably at least half of the five hand pumps are off) and the building itself is interesting. All I can assume is reviews saying "efficient" service are coming from regulars as the staff are at best aloof (in a provincial, pseudo-hipster kind of way). Went in here yesterday and the "large girl" behind the bar wearing a t-shirt with "69" on it had a face that wouldn't have been out of place on one of guards in an episode of prisoner Cell Block H. She managed to serve me without the slightest nod to service and had the worst manners I've encountered in some time. And as for the music there was a track from Dark Side of the Moon and another by Sting (if this is your idea of good music, you must be drunk). If you like a shot of rudeness with your pint this is the place for you, if not the Marble Arch is a three minute walk with great service, twice as many ales on and better food (that's where I went).
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Still the best place to drink in Manchester City Centre!
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Fantastic place, friendly bar staff and locals. Great ales and reasonably priced for the (outskirts of) city centre.
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Bar Fringe continues to serve a great selection of beers. 5 changing real ales on hand pump, multiple fonts selling Belgian lagers & fruit beers and a large selection of bottles from Belgium and beyond. Friendly and knowlegeable staff. Walls full of interesting items, bottles, rats, motorbike! etc. Belgian "Brown Bar" style boozer and a must if you're in the Northern Quarter.
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lovely charming bar on the outskirts of the 'Northern Quarter' aka Ancoats.
Nice Decorations and a wide selection of real ales & foreign bottled beer.
NO POOL TABLE THOUGH as stated in the brief
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still always efficient service in this pub and the juke box still has all me faves on it..only pub i can go into in manchester were the barman actually knows wat i drink...efficency is a standard i like to see..shows they take an interest
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Second visit last night, five ales (all new to me), the Elgoods was taken off (so many pubs will still squeeze out the last pint and hope you won't notice), with the York Centennial and Otley O-Garden particularly wonderful. Great music, great atmosphere. A great, great pub.
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Another pub on my must visit list when doing a Manchester crawl. Was pleasantly suprised on my first visit by the ale choice, and have never been disappointed.
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Possibly the best bar in city centre Manchester.
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excellent bar on swan street..bloody good ale and cheddar valley red cider...good range of belgian beers on draught and in bottles..still got the old cds on the juke box at a reasonable listening price too!!staff are friendly and dont keep ya waiting too long wen it gets very busy..always makes me feel like im in a continental bar abroad,excellent establishment.
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I didn't think I would like this place, as my crawl around Manchester was seeking out traditional pubs. But my friend persuaded me otherwise and he was right!. It's good fun, has a nice atmosphere and if you like real ales there is quite a choice here (and lagers too, whatever they are!!). Definitely to be include in a crawl around the Northern quarter.
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Fantastic pub, so regular visitor, alwsys a good range of handpulls that vary and plenty of lagers and continental brews available
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Feels like a dutch bar. Fantastic range of beers on tap and in bottles - many unusual and interesting
A nice mix of people with a 'rock' edge.
Interior is fun and cosy. Beer garden out back for the smokers
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Good choice of foreign beers and staff who usually know the beers. The real ale can be hit and miss.The scrumpy is always worth a go!
Opens late which is a bonus if gone to a concert or show.
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Very chilled continental-style bar with foreign lagers & 4 changing, unusual cask ales. Lots of fruity Belgian bottled beers to keep the ladies happy. Quirky, interesting wall & ceiling hangings & enormous antique urinals in the gents!
Welcoming & friendly bar staff & well-behaved jovial punters. Definately worth a visit if only to unwind.
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Based upon typical Amsterdam brown bar although the choice of European beers is not as big as you might initially think. There are perhaps 20 + bottles, 5 or 6 Europeans on tap and 3 or 4 British ales on the pumps. There is also Thatchers cider and other bottled bits and bobs. Jukebox is good as is the beer garden / smoking area out the back. The staff are very helpful with recommendations, tasting notes etc.
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Good pub with 3 handpumps, 2 were on with very tasty beers. Recommended!
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We have just been in this evening after quite a while of walking past to the SMITHFIELD. £2.60 for half of Frambozen is far to much. Will continue to walk past.
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This is the best bar in Manchester. Incredible selection of beers and ales. The best indie/punk/rock jukebox ever. The clientele range from Camra stalwarts to ageing Hells Angels with a few lost students in between.
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Dutch-style bar which also has three handpumps. Only had a half during a rather hectic crawl, but no issues with beer quality and I liked the laid-back atmosphere.
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Characterful pub with tasty range of mainland European draught beers and real ales from local microbrewers. A TV- and football-free zone. Keep up the good work!
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Nice relaxed atmosphere, great interior, superb jukebox, love the outside area (nick a bit of rosemary for cooking!), great bar staff. Everything. Apart from the beer, that is. They have something for most tastes but not mine, usually. Wish they'd put on a fall-back option such as Budvar/Krombacher for when I don't fancy the other options. Other than that it's great...
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awful ale, really after 3 different halfs none even average with JPH present then nothing but bad all round!
Should be avoided and instead visit the true ale fan's welcome at Crown and Kettle with non-rip off prices and higher standard.
almost got annoyed in here tonight!! twas that bad.
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Still as good as ever in here..I often call towards the end of a walkabout of the Northern Quarter, to drink the raspberry beer as a treat. Have met some characters in here at weekends such as "Hairy Mick" and "Boz" who frequent the place.
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WOW - Belgian and other continental beer heaven! Not everything comes in pints - authentic glasses for most of the drinks too which is a nice touch.
Weird interior, a bit run down but atmosphere seemed good. Filled mostly with middled aged blokes from what I remember. Seemed friendly enough - chatting whilst waiting to be served.
Beer "garden" out the back was a nice to get away from the noisey bar area - but nothing special to look at.
Toilets were disgusting - the smell was vomit inducing.
budda - 29 May 2006 12:36 |
Recently re-opened after being closed for renovation, but the only difference I could notice was that the old 'Heiniken recycling' sign has gone from the toilets.
Still has a good selection of beers and in particular continental beers.
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was the beer in here being above average just an accident tonight? hope not...however, the semi-friendly welcome didn't feel genuine whereas years ago when we used to visit weekly there was this really fit barmaid who was genuinely friendly, especially when you got back to her place... , very tasty , she did a TV ad for a well-known cosmetics co. and told the Fringe where to go. Or maybe the other story is her released fella told the Fringe where to go. Either way she is definately the one thing missing cause the place is so boring!
anonymous - 4 May 2006 00:46 |
Looking at the outside I’d walk past this place every day of the week without giving it a second glance, so I was grateful to the mate who suggested a visit. It’s not much to look at inside either but the real action is behind the bar. Although there were some interesting beers on, even the hardened real ale drinker that I was with eschewed these and opted for the Belgian experience. All the old favourites were available plus some I hadn’t seen this side of the channel.
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How come it only has 4.9 out of 10 ? This must be a testament
to the narrow-mindedness of some real ale types, who overlook
the superb range of Belgian beers. A unique establishment in my
top 10 out of the country!
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Add Pinball table to the features - that alone makes this a great bar.
Superb range of Belgian and other continental beers put this in my top 10 in Manchester. As others have noted the Real Ale can be variable.
Great jukebox - some times too loud - but the bar has a great atmosphere especially when busy and should be visited at least once to see if it is you glass of lambic.
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Erm, I didn't say the barmaid was rude, I was merely making an admittedly unfunny joke on a previous poster's comments referring to Camera (a piece of photographic equipment), rather than CAMRA, the real ale society. Bah.
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Good Jukey,not a bad mixture of customers-from lotsahair/leather to a normal drinking crowd....I tend to prefer the foreign brews...(Belgian raspberry & peach beers etc...although they aren`t cheap)...The real ales here probably need to be bought by the half to check they`re on form....but overall a very decent bar in the northern quarter.
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Hello Drinkers, I too am a CAMRA member and have drank here several times. I would say that the beer has been acceptable to good on most occasions although not consistant and unfortunately on one occassion when poor the barmaid hadn't a clue and was, as Big_Lad states, was quite rude when I complained, so I (and friends) don't go here anymore. However the last visit was 3 or 4 months ago and maybe I will give it another try. It would be interesting to here recent views from other CAMRA/beerintheevening members
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I am a CAMRA member and always call in the Fringe when in town because contrary to other comments,I think the beer is fine. If there was a problem, I would take it back anyway.
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No you can't trust that beer guide can you. Agree, beer's crap in here but also crap at Bar Centro who also in the kamra mag but not the guide, maybe, dunno do I? Never bean English Lounge? location?
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I thought the camera never lies?! Maybe you mean CAMRA?!
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This bar proves that you can't always trust Camera and the Good Beer guide. How they got listed is baffling but suspect it may have a connection with their full page adverts in Cameras' regional magazines?? I've visited many times over the years and it's almost the opposite to cameras' politics. Here we have poor to average ale at prices which would be considered rip-off in central London. The bottled beers may be alright and to be fair an effort is attempted but listed in the guide, no way!! Last visit, last week barmaid dull and rude hence quick exit.(where's Suzy?) Better pint and value at English Lounge or even Bar Centro just down the road.
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excellent pub - you get a real mix of people, young and old (although i wonder if some of the old men are having a post coital pint because of where the pub is located - its in sauna central!!), but no one seems to notice each other, probably because they are steaming from the excellent selection of belgian beers available. well worth a visit if you're bored of the same old cr*p.
tone - 3 Sep 2004 17:05 |
Interesting friendly bar with fruit flavoured beer on tap.
Sean - 31 Aug 2004 18:29 |
