BlogxieLoxie's Guide to Manchester

Twas the night before Kobold, the Manchester LAN

and everyone asked Hoxie to suggest some good scran

so she sat at her PC and started to type

a list of restaurants and pubs that she deemed 'just right'

Hello and welcome to this casual blog post with some of mine (and my darling Rubini's) recommendations for if you are attending Manchester for the Kobold LAN! These are central locations and are mostly within walking distance of the North Quarter where the LAN is held at Pixel Bar.

Cafés and Breakfast

Nibble NQ - Both gluten free and vegan options, lovely options for breakfast and lunch. Walk ins only!
Moose (two locations) - Book ahead as it does get busy! Gluten free and vegan options, perfect breakfast/brunch place for a group.
Federal Cafe Bar - Busiest of them all unless you turn up first thing. Great breakfast and drinks!
Northern Pour - Our personal favourite café that does great matchas, I've only tried the food once and it was really good!
Gran T's - A decent option for drinks, but we've never had food there

Restaurants

Evuna NQ - Tapas and small plates, decent price and food is amazing! Gf/vegan options
(evuna has another location in Deansgate)
Double Zero Neapolitan Pizza - A bit out of the way but a really nice sit down pizza place. The limoncello mojito is STUNNING
Rudy's Pizza - Fuck this place for not doing gf, but everyone I know that has been always recommends it!
Butterbird - A rotisserie with some insane side options. A little spenny depending on how much you get but always really good
Birria Bros - We only recently tried this taco place and it is amazing, super nice and plenty of room inside for groups! Also serve food until 10pm at the weekend which is super handy
Sushi Doki - A small restaurant so we usually order to takeaway, but the sushi here is good for the price and the staff are really nice!
Pieminister NQ - do not laugh. They have a really good lunch deal and it's quick service and it's a pie and mash. What more could you want!

Pubs

The Wayfarer - The raspberry spritz has my heart <3 a really nice pub with a great cocktail menu and even better happy hour. A good mix of pub and nicer bar vibes with live music at the weekend
Crown & Kettle - A recent favourite with a massive outdoor seating area, and such a gorg building
Edinburgh Castle - a cozy chill vibe for day drinking
The Freemount - although this has fallen down our list (£14 for two singles what in the world.) it's still a great option for drinking in the day with plenty of room (it gets very very busy in the evening!)

Bars / Clubs

Cane & Grain
Renae NQ - If you can ever get into this place the vibes are really good, funky music and low lights!
NQ64 - fun themed cocktails, cool alt kind of vibe (lol) and arcade games!
The Daisy - for my romantic girlies this is below Evelyn's, I'd recommend booking ahead as it does fill up quick but this is a beautiful cocktail bar for laid back evenings!
Diecast - Beer hall, beer garden, insane pizzas, DJs, this place has it all! It's a little out the way compared to the other places though
SOUP - Basement bar and club, open late and showcases local DJs and music acts - think house/garage/afro/techhouse/latin every single genre you can imagine. They have a calendar online
Stage&Radio - similar to Soup but fills up quick and has more of a student vibe imo

NQ itself has loads and loads of stuff anyway, these are just our favourites. Pixel is right by the Arndale which has a food court and number of chain restaurants also. For those who want things to do there are art galleries, local exhibitions, some lovely green spaces and if you're willing to venture further out there's nice places in Altrincham and Didsbury!