There’s something really special about this time of year – crisp nights, twinkling lights, and many, many pints in bars that have fully embraced the Christmas spirit.
But for a lot of us, getting a festive drink can also mean getting shoved and elbowed and sucked into six-person-deep scrums to get to the bar.
Manchester’s Christmas Markets are world-famous, for good reason, but their popularity does make them astonishingly busy.
Thankfully, there are more than a few local bars opening pop-ups and other festive drinking dens.
Salvi’s Italian Christmas Market, Deansgate Square
Credit: The Manc Group
One of Manchester’s best-loved restaurants has got in on the festive action, in the most impressive setting of all.
Standing at the foot of the awesome Deansgate Square towers is Salvi’s Italian Christmas Markets, with two tipis, four festive huts, and loads of food and drink.
Expect all the Salvi’s favourites like sweet and savoury takes on soffietti (fried doughballs), as well as mulled negronis and limoncello spritzes.
It’s been thrown right back to the 80s over at Hatch, the shipping container street food hub just off Oxford Road.
It’s been kitted out with fluorescent lights and disco baubles, transporting visitors back to a ‘different era when iPhones and ‘furlough’ were yet to enter our mainstream vocabulary’.
There’s food too, of course, like pigs in blankets parmos from Parmogeddon, vegan Christmas burgers from Herbivorous, and Terry’s Chocolate Orange martinis from Miama Ice.
Bar Rumbug, Salford
Our Secret is out….
We didn't quite have time to build our distillery before Christmas so we created something a little special…
Rum drinkers will like this one – the Salford Rum Company has launched its very own Christmas bar this year.
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The temporary space has been opened before it launches its distillery.
It’s been decorated with custom art from local artist Urbie, and will serve drinks from its own rum range (naturally), as well as other local breweries and drinks producers.
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Food & Drink
Live your Come Dine With Me dreams with this all-new dining concept
Thomas Melia
Across the world, one app has been uniting strangers in 235 cities, matching six lucky diners for an evening meal at a surprise restaurant table and now Manchester is the latest city to open its taste buds to this pseudo-Come Dine With Me concept. Only this one involves less cooking.
Guests are expected to partake in an evening of food, booze and plenty of interesting conversations between six total strangers, only with hopefully less drama than the hit Channel 4 show. Strictly no Jane’s spoiling anything…
The concept is being pushed by French entrepreneur Maxime Barbier and his company ‘TimeLeft’. He has a lengthy career in the nightlife industry behind him and now wants to further strengthen good food and good times via this app.
And it’s clearly working: according to the company’s official website, 96% of dining groups consider themselves compatible meaning their carefully selected pairings are pretty accurate.
All curious diners have to do is download Timeleft and take a personality test before they’re whisked away for a night of entertainment and lush catering picked out by the pioneering new app.
Fear not, there will be a ‘Break the ice’ game where you can get to know the like-minded and compatible strangers you’re spending the rest of the evening with.
Once the table fills up and the evening is well away, everyone round the table will receive a notification to continue the night at a nearby bar chosen once again by this new dining concept app.
This new mealtime experience is a really good way of making connections, especially for newcomers to the city who are looking to expand their friendship group and navigate Manchester with some similar fresh-faced companions. There’s crucially much less cooking involved too, by which we mean none.
Throughout their website, the company shares a range of blogs breaking down everything from ‘6 tips for smoothing over a heated conversation’ to ‘the ultimate guide to Timeleft’.
In a standout piece entitled, ‘The 10 types of strangers at your table‘, they discuss the different types of personalities that you may come across during your meal.
From the simpler and recognisable labels like the introvert and extrovert to the more complex like the contemplative and the humourist, these little excerpts are handy to anyone who may have any nerves ahead of the meeting.
So, anyone located in Greater Manchester who might be interested in this new dining concept can participate by downloading the TimeLeft app and seeing where the night takes them.
You might not go home with £1,000 in cash but you’ll certainly create some memories and come pretty close to living out your Come Dine With Me fantasy – there really is an app for everything.
The stalls causing massive queues at the Manchester Christmas Markets
Daisy Jackson
If you looked at our comment sections during the Manchester Christmas Markets you’d assume everyone hates them – but one look at the queues forming again this year proves that is FAR from the case.
The annual festive event is back with a vengeance for another year, with wooden sheds and pop-up bars all over the place.
Whether you’re after a traditional mulled wine and bratwurst, or a loaded mac and cheese and shimmery cocktail, you’ll find it.
And while the Manchester Christmas Markets always get busy, especially at the weekends, this year is looking especially lively.
Videos shared online show huge queues of gridlocked people on Market Street, in Piccadilly Gardens and on King Street.
The cause of one of the biggest queues is again The Flat Baker – the Ancoats indie debuted at the markets last year with huge croissants served with pots of dipping sauce including pistachio and dulce de leche.
For 2024 they’ve introduced hot chocolates served in an edible cookie cup.
It went viral last year, it’s gone viral again this year, and the queues have gone so wild there’s now actual fences, Disney-style, specifically to manage The Flat Baker crowds.
These wind all the way from their stall in Piccadilly Gardens to the outside of the markets, travelling along the Piccadilly Wall.
And while getting your hands on a Flat Baker croissant requires some grit and determination, it’s not the only spot where you’ll be facing a wait.
Molten dark, milk and even golden chocolate can be bought here in an edible chocolate cup, poured over brownies and strawberries, or used as a base for hot chocolates and affogatos.
The Flat Baker are at The Winter Gardens in Manchester Christmas Markets and causing big queuesWaffle Kart are back at the Manchester Christmas Markets 2024
The team here move fast but if you go at peak times you’ll still be looking at a queue.
Down on the King Street section of the Manchester Christmas Markets you’ll find Waffle Kart, a brilliant little business serving fun family recipes inspired by Hong Kong street food.
Expect fried chicken and waffles, waffle prawn toast and loaded waffle fries – and a bit of a queue that’s worth the wait.
And finally, the biggest queue of the lot is just Market Street in general.
This is Manchester’s main shopping street so ahead of Christmas it’s always busy, but now that there are stalls all the way down it luring shoppers in, it’s totally gridlocked.
Daisy Jackson -
9th December 2021 
