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Inside Canvas, Manchester’s new late-night bar, restaurant and music venue

With a 600 capacity gig space, new restaurant and late-night bar open until 4am, Canvas makes a great addition to Oxford Road.

Georgina Pellant - 5th July 2022

A huge new late-night bar, music venue and restaurant has just tentatively opened its doors on Manchester’s Oxford Road ahead of a swanky launch this Friday.

Split across three floors, a 600-capacity underground club will host a mixture of live gigs, panel sessions and club nights, with a special members-only viewing mezzanine and late-night bar open until 4am, seven nights a week.

Upstairs, a sleek restaurant and bar from the same team behind the city’s south American Peru Perdu restaurant will serve a globe-trotting menu of crowd-pleasing small plates alongside a long drinks list of inventive aperitifs, highballs and sundowners.

Belvedere lemon and basil with yuzu sake, pistachio and lemon tonic. / Image: The Manc Eats

Duck leg with sweet and sour roast plum, hoisin and pickled cucumber salad. / Image: The Manc Eats

From the chinola picante, a spicy mix of scotch bonnet, passionfuit and vanilla, to a ‘frozen nuclear daiquiri’ made with overproof Wray & Nephew, chartreus verte and citrus, the restaurant’s bar menu is worth popping in for alone.

Highballs span the likes of Plantation pineapple rum with mint and kombucha, a refreshing Belvedere lemon and basil with yuzu sake, pistachio and lemon tonic, and the cafe torino – a mixture of Mr Black’s coffee amaro with sweet martini and soda.

Elsewhere on the drinks front, you’ll find a good selection of wines, beers and softs, as well as different spirit mixers to order.

As for the small plates, which span everything from fish and chips to steamed prawn and pork dumplings, there really is something for everyone here – although, we have to bemoan the fact that there are no chopsticks to eat the dumplings with.

Smack bang in the heart of university land with a wealth of international students living above, the menu seeks to cater to global tastes. This makes it an ideal choice for fussy friends, as there’s no way anyone can look at the varied list of 30+ dishes and decide there’s nothing there for them.

Here, beautifully crispy Korean fried chicken sits side-by-side with garlic portobello mushrooms and ‘disco fries’ topped with saffron mayo, jalapenos and truffle.

Further choices include steak bavette with roast tomatoes and chimmichurri, green pea hummus, Thai fishcakes and a good range of sandwiches ideal for a quick but hearty lunch. Like we say, plenty of choice.

Pork and prawn dumplings. / Image: The Manc Eats

Charred baby gem with croutons and radish. / Image: The Manc Eats

The chinola picante, a spicy mix of Scotch bonnet, passionfruit and vanilla. / Image: The Manc Eats

The new venue is currently in its soft launch period with 50% off small plate until 6 July. It is also gearing up to launch a new breakfast menu, which will also be available for diners to enjoy at a discount from 11-17 July.

Membership is priced at £15 per month for under-30s, including perks like two free gigs per month, free guest passes and access to invitation-only parties, as well as entry to the 4am members-only bar and acess to the best views via the members’ mezzanine. Prices for over-30s start at £25.

Members will also get guestlist access to events, priority bookings and restaurant discounts – all whilst being part of the community with their say on key decisions within the club.

All of the Canvas venues will be fully open to the public from Friday 8 July, whilst later this summer, a plunge pool and sauna will be added to the expansive site.

Feature image – The Manc Eats