Calling all insomniacs
Late night shopping
You’ve got two options: city centre, mostly open until about 8pm; or The Trafford Centre (0161 749 1717), mostly open until 10pm. The first option features the big shops of The Arndale (High Street, 0161 833 9851), The Triangle (37 Exchange Square, 0161 834 8961), etc. – plus department stores like Marks and Spencer (7 Market Street, 0161 246 9085) and Selfridges (Exchange Square, 0161 838 0619). The second… well, the same, only less spread out. Pros of the city centre: attractive in places; access to fresh air; nice places to eat and drink. Cons: a bit of a trek between some quarters; roads to cross. Pros of the Trafford Centre: extremely handy for mass emergency shopping (i.e. Christmas). Cons: the usual synthetic drawbacks – heavy air con and lights comparable to living inside a dentist’s surgery or a fruit machine.
Late night drinking
In the Southern Quarter, in the cobbled cavernous area under Oxford Road Station, lurk The Thirsty Scholar (50 New Wakefield Street, 0161 236 6071) and The Salisbury (2 Wakefield Street, 0161 236 5590). Both old, characterful and crammed; yet with the possibility of a seat if you stay sharp and look lively and aren’t afraid to turn to intimidation. If a backdrop of studenty metal music isn’t your thing, try Fab Café (111 Portland Street, 0161 236 2019), Tiger Lounge, (5 Cooper Street, 0161 236 6007), or Manto (46 Canal Street, 0161 236 2667) in the Gay Village. Or pretty much anywhere in the Northern Quarter, where irregular opening times are part of the charm.
Fags at 4am
NOT vending machines. They’re just muggers in disguise. If you’re near the Southern Quarter, the 24-hour Spar (2–4 Oxford Road, 0161 228 0355) is indispensable. Or, alternatively, why not try taking advantage of the smoking ban side effect and try bumming ciggies off the crowds of smokers outside bars and pubs across the city?
Post club action
In Manchester, post-club venues are viewed as being more pretentious than cool. Late-night revellers fall into the following categories: those who dance feverishly in Manchester’s top clubs until morning, all weekend, every weekend; those who have a quick dance then return to talking-while-drinking at a relaxed bar or pub; and those who always choose a late-night meal in Chinatown or Rusholme over a club. For most, if it’s summer, you’re likely to be in the same garden you arrived at 12 hours earlier; and in winter, the takeaway-taxi-home-tunes-bed combination wins hands down.
Food now
It’s an unwritten law in Manchester that every residential address must have 20 takeaway menus. But on the late-night journey home, name and design are of secondary importance. “The kebab shop near the Spar on Oxford Road” is revered by many friends of Itchy, namely for its red chicken kebab: thing of legend. Its real name is Monsoons (2 Oxford Road, 0161 237 5557). Other popular choices include Finger Licking Chicken (422 Wilmslow Road, 0161 4451070) in Withington, McTucky’s (36 Canal Street, 0161 236 1700) in the Gay Village, and Janam (78 Portland Street, 0161 228 2485) in the city centre.
Other late night indulgences
Entertainment beyond the 9–5 grind doesn’t have to consist of watching strippers work their way through med school (although there’s nowt wrong with that). Casino membership at Manchester 235 (Watson Street, 0161 828 0300) can have you living the life of a Vegas high-roller ‘til rosy fingered dawn does her thang. Or prove your devotion to cinema at the Printworks Odeon (27 Withy Grove, 0871 224 4007). Laugh the night away at The Comedy Store (Whitworth Street, 0161 839 9595)
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