TAPS Bar, Manchester: Table Tap Self Service Draught Beer

The decor is a little less understated than the exterior but it is still fairly minimal and chic: cream walls are strewn with mirrors and dark wood trimmings.

TAPS is a revolutionary new approach to drinking. It’s set back from the square next to the Great Northern complex (you know, near the AMC Cinema, Brannigans and Bar38) People love their gimmicks in Manchester, so this bar is totally perfect.

Taps is a restaurant with beer taps/pumps furnished at every table. Not just taps for the sake of it, purely decorative, or taps that serve water like sushi bars. At Taps, you serve your own draft beers at your table. True story. You can choose from Amstel, Heineken, Duvel Green, Leifmans Fruit or Vedett Extra White. As well as this they have a ton of beers on their menu so don’t think you’re limited to what’s on the table.

The price of per pint ranges from £3.20 to about £5.20. Admittedly the prices are a little higher than your average local pub, but then how often does the landlord let you pour your own beer?

I know what you’re thinking: this place could be dangerous. With the lager louts and wrong types. But this place is marketed as a restaurant and unless you’ve booked to dine and as a gender mix, you’ll get marched out. Sorry lads!

Once the beer starts to pour, you can track your progress on a small LCD display embedded in the table, monitoring both how much of your allowance you have left, and how much of each beer you’ve already quaffed. A bonus of this unique approach is that drinks are charged by tenths of a pint, so if there’s something you’re not quite sure about, you can always give it a try first without taking the plunge and buying a full pint.

Despite its seemingly beer-centric offering, Taps very much positions itself as a restaurant and a bar. The menu leans towards that of a brasserie or gastropub, ranging from a roast aubergine dish for £9.95, to salt marsh lamb rump (£12.95) and whole lemon sole (£14.95). There’s also a frites menu (dishes served with chips, for those who’ve forgotten GCSE French), offering the likes of half or whole roasted poussin (£7.95 and £12.95, respectively) and mussels, which you can customise by choosing your own base sauce and topping (£6.95 for 500g; £11.95 for 1kg).

Considering both the quality and the relatively reasonable price of the food, as well as the obvious appeal of self-service beer, Taps is sure to be a hit.