Velvet - Manchester

My favourite village drinky place. Not too expensive, decent atmosphere and great service. For extra pointage, it sells white Rioja by the glass which is both unusual and a massive winner. Went today in the sun and well, the team were on form and made sure we were well watered. I didn't eat there but the look (and smell) of the roast dinner was almost tempting to ditch my plans and eat there. Best place in the village for all round gayness. Love it.

Velvet bar, restaurant and hotel has been an iconic place in MCR's gay village for a long time and I popped here yesterday for some drinks with friends. It's the same as I remember from a few years back, a great place to socialise and drink with friends. If not looking a little tired now, I think Velvet is in need of a little TLC but still there's a good day or night to be had here.

Visited here during December for a work Christmas lunch, chosen because the set menu seemed reasonably priced and had several choices to suit everyone. This was the first time I 'd eaten here and everything was ok, the key word being ok. My starter of smoked salmon and cream cheese parcel was tasty but the marinated ribbons of cucumber needed seasoning and the dish needed another texture. A few slices of melba toast would have been perfect. For main I 'd chosen steak which had been described as being served pink but yet somehow was still dry. Accompaniments of grilled tomatoes and roast potatoes were fine but chips seemed more of an obvious choice to go with steak and the roasties just weren 't crispy enough as a sub. Dessert was a delicious chocolate salted caramel tart which was luscious, rich and indulgent, just as it should have been and ended the meal on a high. We found service to be very hit and miss, with a non-apologetic waitress (bordering on surly) when my friend queried the gravy on her roast dinner that had been requested without, due to a gluten allergy. My friend was left sitting without any food for a good 10 mins whilst everyone else tucked in before it was plonked down in front of her. Not the way to treat your customers Velvet. All in all as I said at the start it was 'ok '. Luckily in Manchester we have loads of restaurants that are so much more than ok so I 'll probably visit them instead

I cannot really decide how I feel about this one.. Anyhoo, thanks to Rach who offered to treat me for a birthday meal, we ended up here. Walking in, I thought it looked very lavish, with nice swish tables and chairs, emcompassed by world chart motifs on the wall. It was a nice dark and intimiate looking place. Immediately we were greeted by a lovely waitress who allowed us to choose our table. We chose a table near the stairwell which turned out to be wobbly. This was spotted immediately by a passing waiter who fixed it with some card. After the wobble, we scoured the cocktail menu, these were priced I average at £7..which is a nice expected price. It was refreshing for the cocktail maker to come over and ask us how we liked it , in my case if I wanted the mojito sweet or sour... or with a twist .. When the cocktails arrived, I have to admit I thought they were a bit weak, and did not blow my socks off.. Which was an anti climax considering he had especillay asked how we liked it prepared.. I just hoped the food would be better. The menu contains steaks, sandwiches, pasta, and various other gastro pub grub. I decided to choose the moules mussels with white wine sauce for a starter, to be followed by a goats cheese risotto after the waitress had recommeneded this. Rach had some beautiful meaty prawns and a steak. We did not wait long for our starters, and my mussels did look appetising. There were two things that I think they missed a trick on however. One , the bowl to place the discarded shells was too small and I had to balance them like jenga...and 2) the sauce was beautiful but I was not provided with a spoon to actually consume any of it. The prawns with chorizo that Rach had were really tasty, however there were not many of them.. Starters were soon whisked away and replaced with the mains. My risotto was really flavoursome, although I was still quite peckish after it. The steak Rach had was cooked perfectly rare as requested. Both of us still had room for dessert. I chose the lemon tart which was deceptively filling considering its delciate appearance, with a nice strawberry coulis to soften the blow from the zest. Rach's looked more impressive , it was a literally a chocolate tower which was soon demolished. Overall the level of service was impeccable, but I think the portions were slightly on the small side, and I think the bill wa expensive at £75 for a drink and 3 courses each.. The flavours were good but not good enough to reflect the price. I will come here again though with a steak eater due to the strong postivie feedback. I will just advise them not to order a cocktail.

I love Velvet Bar 5* Amazing atmosphere with little posh side on Canal Street. Place is very modern and elegant, great for drink and chat with friends. Restaurant it is without spirit. My pizza was with out flavor and looking boring. I ask for extra spicy and waitress bring to me bottle of Tabasco lol This is not what you expecting dining in City Center and in Canal Street.My friend has roast lam and that was nice meal. Place nice and plenty of room. Staff nice, but this place is cold no spirit no passion. Starters are very nice. My recommendation is nice glass of vino upstairs and you can order some snack from downstairs.