REVIEW: The Garratt bar/pub – good food, relaxed atmosphere, great prices

Elliot Garlick takes a well earned break from his Xbox/studies (delete as appropriate) to sample the fare at The Garratt…

First, I have a confession to make. I’m a student. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, by 2017 I will be in £50,000 worth of debt and splitting my time evenly between finding a ‘real’ job and crying myself to sleep. So it makes sense that I would want to get the most I can out of the few carefree years I’ve got left. I just wish I could find a place that has a warm, welcoming atmosphere, good food and alcohol I can actually afford for once. Now I have.

“The Garratt is
the only pub/bar
I’ve ever found
that do take-
away…”

From the outside The Garratt looks like any Red Lion-esque pub, but it’s actually much more. The cocktail menus, pop culture walls and student-heavy clientele reveal immediately that it’s more of a bar.

Now I’ll admit that the menu is pretty basic. It’s dominated by sandwiches, burgers and the all-day breakfast, but The Garratt definitely gets a +1 for consideration, boasting five veggie-or-vegan dishes (excluding jacket potatoes). This may not seem like a lot, but is more impressive when you learn that there are only nineteen set meals. That’s right, more than a quarter of the dishes are suitable for the herbivores amongst us.

Into the mix goes the alcohol. Twenty different cocktails (2 for £6, as with house doubles) and a choice of nine pitchers (ranging from £8.50 to £10.50) means that it’s the perfect place to take your mates for lunch, after work or a long day of lectures. I wanted to try their take on a Zombie (the signature drink of Manchester’s Liars Club), but even I shied away from that much rum at lunch time.

When the food arrived, it was delicious. Cajun Chicken cooked with fresh chillis and a homemade curry with rice and chips, with some onion rings thrown in for good measure. Alongside a Sex on the Beach, Strawberry Daiquiri and two Purple Rains (cherry sourz, curacao and lemonade), it was easily the best meal I’ve eaten this academic year. And from £2.50 a meal? Bargain.

In addition to all the positives I’ve pointed out here, there’s one that tops the lot. The staff. From the moment I arrived they were happy, polite and considerate to everyone I saw. If there was a delay, it was dealt with and an apology was made. Craig, the bar manager, was easy to talk to and our barman/waiter ‘D’ was a good laugh, which made the atmosphere the best thing about my visit.

So if you’re a student and looking for good food and a few drinks at lower-than-low prices, The Garratt should be one of the first places you think of. In a rush? The Garratt is the only pub/bar I’ve ever found that do take away. It isn’t advertised, but they’ll cook it, pack in in a takeout box and meet you at the bar. If that isn’t great service, I don’t know what is.

Contact & location

127 Princess St, Manchester M1 7AG

0161 237 5111

@Thegarrattbar