Manchester’s best seafood restaurants
13 Sep 2024
13 Sep 2024
Spotlight on Black Dog in Manchester
The Black Dog Ballroom is a stalwart of the Northern Quarter, a hip area consisting of cool bars and unique restaurants. There is so much to do in the Northern Quarter, from vintage clothes shopping to playing table tennis. Affleck’s is a well-known building of trendy clothes shops, a tattoo parlour, a café and even a poster shop. But underneath it, there is also something very interesting. The Black Dog sits underneath and is one the coolest spots in the area.
With an aim to provide a New York atmosphere in its bar, then Black Dog’s become very successful and hugely popular. In this spotlight feature, we’re going to give you all the reasons why Black Dog is so worth a visit.
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Black Dog’s American style
American style bars are becoming increasingly popular within Manchester and Black Dog does it best. Centred around a bustling New York atmosphere with a speakeasy design, helped by its underground location, the Black Dog feels like an American drinking den, but doesn’t forget its Mancunian spirit.
The long wooden bar, the dimmed lights and basement location makes Black Dog feel authentic. The New York charm mixed with hipster cool draws a lot of young students and professionals alike.
Who wants to play some pool?
It wouldn’t be a classic New York bar without some American pool. The Black Dog Ballroom provides plenty of pool tables so you can play a quick game at lunch, on a night out or book all the tables out and have a competition with friends, family or colleagues.
There is also a cracking deal on Wednesdays; with every drink you buy at the bar, you can play a free game of pool! That doesn’t sound bad at all, if you ask us!
KONG’S CANTINA
The food is currently provided by Arndale stalwart Salt & Pepper, specialists in Chinese street food. Every Tuesday to Sunday, there have been delicious chicken pieces with gorgeous dips, such as Szechuan chilli mayo, sweet and sour, and sweet sticky soy. From classic salt and pepper chicken to tofu and king prawns, the team’s certainly delivered on its promise of quality food. But this collaboration is coming to an end. KONG’s Cantina is taking over Black Dog’s kitchen.
This place will be maintained by KONG’s Chicken Shop crew, adding to its diner in the Dog Bowl and the sandwich shop in HATCH. But KONG’s Cantina will not only be serving its usual chicken burgers and humungous sandwiches, such as their ultimate grilled cheese and ham toastie. These guys will be delivering a Mexican twist to the chicken dominated menu. Expect some mouthwatering tacos and quesadillas.
Splendid cocktails for all
The cocktails are inspired by American cities. The Honolulu is a lovely mix of rum, lime, peach liqueur, mango juice and grenadine. It’s also served dramatically on fire! Other cocktails include the New York inspired Queens, which has vermouth, rhubarb gin, pineapple and lemon served long, and the Tallahassee which includes El Jimador tequila, watermelon, triple sec and lime served straight up.
This is only a quarter of the cocktail menu with another nine American inspired cocktails also available! You’ll find a range of highballs and copas, from watermelon ginbull to the Jack Daniels, lemon, spiced orange and ginger ale. What’s more, there’s a great happy hour from 4pm to 8pm every Sunday to Friday, where you can get a pint of Amstel for £3.50 and cocktails, highballs and copas for £5. Of course, there is also an extensive list of Prosecco, wine, beer and cider available, too.
Party vibes
Whether you go to the Black Dog Ballroom for some food, pool, happy hour cocktails, late night drinks (it’s amazingly open till 4 – 5am most days!) or for a party (hiring the private room is £250), you will likely enjoy your experience in this Mancunian take on a New York classic bar.
The Black Dog Ballroom is able to deliver on many fronts, whilst feeling authentic. It certainly is worth a visit.
