OrlaDoherty's Qype profile

Once my absolute favourite spot for a morning after breakfast experience, it saddens me to say that Solomon Grundy's has recently taken a turn for the dreadful in my book.

After some years of loyal (if hungover) patronage, more recent visits have seen me come away with a disappointed feeling.

The food here is great, with the fried breakfast a particular jewel in its crown whether you're a meat eater or a vegetarian. The specials menu is vast and often impressive, too, and the selection of beers, coffees and other drinks is great and not over priced.

However this cafe bar falls flat on its face when it comes to service. As pleasant as the young staff may be, the slow pace at which the food has arrived of late has meant I've not been back in some time. Stunningly, the last visit I made saw me stubbornly waiting for over an hour for our order to arrive. It never did, and without a single word of apology or update on its arrival time, we left without a word.

I can't say whether this is typical of the service now, but it was a slow decline towards that point in my experience. I'm sure I'll be tempted back by their good food at some point, but for now I'm still a bit too disappointed to give it a go.

Being primarily a live jazz venue, it almost goes without saying that Matt & Phred's is a place that feels very cool. Thankfully, though, it's never intimidatingly so, instead finding its niche as a hangout that's welcoming and chic all at once.

The building is pretty large, leaving room towards the door for some hushed chatter without interrupting anyone's enjoyment of the music. If you're more interested in soaking up the culture, getting towards the stage means you can enjoy some great acoustics that compliment some truly great live jazz acts. Worthy of taking a gamble on a strange name, the venue has always impressed me with the mood and talent on show on various nights of the week.

The drinks here are good, as are the pizzas and other foody bits served, and prices are neither over the top nor particularly cheap. Really, the appeal of this place is all in the atmosphere, and it's one of those rare venues where you'll feel just as at home in your best threads as you do in your big jumper and jeans.

Most certainly my most frequented place in the Northern Quarter, Trof's NQ branch is a bit of an all rounder. Providing everything from lunches to a Friday night's dancing, this newly late-opening bar is certainly worth a visit.

With a good crowd that draws a mix from a small handful of young students to plenty of well dressed thirty-somethings, the atmosphere is friendly and chatty. Downstairs is usually filled with diners, though at night this is where you'll find room for a sit down drink and a natter. Upstairs transforms variously into the space for bands, club nights and the regular quiz, with space to dance and plenty of comfortable seating until you're ready to bust out the moves.

The barstaff are always lovely, up for a laugh and speedy of service - even when there's someone in front of you ordering 10 cocktails of varying types. As for the drinks themselves, there's a range of lagers on tap, imported beers by the bottle and a wide variety of spirits. The new cocktail menu provides something a bit different from the many cosmopolitans on offer across the city, too. Some of the pricetags can be steep, though the Trof brand lager is certainly pleasant enough if you're looking to save the pennies. Also worth looking into is a membership card which can entitle you to some discounts on bottles of wine and more.

Musically, you'll find an offbeat take on the city centre mood, mixing classic dancefloor fillers with some rarer gems that you'll find yourself wanting to know about. The overall feeling is relaxed and doesn't suffer from the too-cool attitude either.

If you're after something a bit different on your lunchbreak from the burgers, pasties and dull sandwiches on offer in the Arndale's food court, Bagel Nash is a very welcome alternative.

The menu was the real draw for me, while searching for something filling on my lunchbreak near the Arndale. There's a good variety on offer, with far more interesting and healthy options than many sandwich bars (from smoked salmon to avocado in various combinations). The prices are good, too, with the more expensive end coming in at £3.50 for a well stuffed bagel featuring around three or four fillings.

Given that this is placed in a shopping centre, the ambience is entirely lacking, but that's more than made up for by friendly and fast staff and food that both fills you up and tastes surprisingly lovely. I've gone back more than once for another fill of the New Yorker bagel and a coffee too.

The Rampant Lion, now that it's under new management and post-refurbishment, is what I can only describe as a huge disappointment.

Once upon a time this pub was a great little local, tucked away in a spot much in need of welcoming and relaxed drinking holes. But it's all change now - what was once a place with good pints and pub style decor is now a plasticy bar with no personality.

The drinks on offer are generic and unimpressive, and the interior substitutes inconveniently low lighting for genuine atmosphere. The building was once full of relaxed ex-student folk spilling into the beer garden, whereas now it appears to be all but empty at any time before midnight. Once in a while, very late at night, the venue appears to be rammed with people, though I've yet to discover what's drawing them there.

I'd give this one a wide berth until they find their feet, or someone sensible takes it back to its former glory. Never have I left a pub so fast in my life.

Hidden away at the back of the longstanding retro haven of Pop Boutique, Barberella fits the mood of the shop to a tee. If you're after an affordable, retro haircut that you'll actually enjoy getting, this is the place.

It must be pointed out, this is a barber's shop first and foremost. No Toni & Guy up to the minute cutting techniques are used here, and you won't be receiving a wash and massage either.

But if you're looking for something affordable and specific it's ideal. I've had a variety of cuts done here, from a 60s bob to a mod-style pixie cut, each one with great results. I've always gone an exact style in mind, and that's where Nicky excels. She knows her vintage references, and has good taste in both boy's and girl's cuts (in my opinion).

For a full cut it'll set you back just £17, an absolute bargain in the city centre, and though that doesn't include getting your hair washed it does leave you with a blowdry and styling. If you're a girl looking for a complex restyle you're probably in the wrong place, but for reliable trims and simple styles it's a total bargain.

The music playing is always great, and the charming collection of odd little mags and old Beano issues there to read is a cute touch too. Oh, and the resident stylist is incredibly speedy to boot!

The Oyster Bar is a bit of a Manchester landmark, and like many others it's a place that should be fantastic, but just isn't.

Since it's a Sam Smith's pub, the beers and ales on offer here are great and pretty inexpensive. The building itself, too, is a little gem. Winding staircases into snug nooks and crannies mean an intimate and old-fashioned cosiness is found throughout the inside of the building. The massive beer garden out front, with picnic table style seating will be likely where you find yourself, thanks to the pub's popularity with all and sundry, and it does the trick just fine too.

The real shame about this place is, thanks to its central location and cheap prices, the fact that it's almost always rammed full of people. There's rarely space to move, especially on sunny days, and the punters can sometimes be a bit rowdier than you'd really like. In the end up, I've often left feeling that there's nothing really special about this pub, other than a particularly long line at the ladies.

The Brazilian Waxing Company has two locations in Manchester, one with trainee staff (in the University Precinct) and this one. I opted for the Cheapside venue thanks to it being my first waxing experience, and I couldn't have been happier with the visit.

The staff are really fantastic, putting you immediately at ease with the whole process and coming across both polite and friendly at once. Given that they're dealing with some rather intimate areas, their ability to conduct a conversation about everything from people screaming in pain to Britney Spears' greatest hits is a credit to them.

The salon itself has booths instead of rooms, which can feel strange as you can occasionally overhear other clients (not great if you've got someone going for the Bafta in the building), but there's no compromise on your privacy. The cleanliness is exemplary, and the decor is pleasantly more comforting than clinical.

The prices are what sold me, though, with a great range of services that are affordable without compromising the service. You can also book your appointment online, making it a breeze. Definitely somewhere I'll visit again.

Hair Cuttery used to be my go-to salon, and were it not for me losing a job some years ago I'd probably still be going there. I have to say, I don't regret moving on.

While the cuts you'll receive here are of a good standard, it's a matter of finding the right stylist for you among their staff. A task which you'll have to figure out for yourself through trial and error, rather than a good stylist being matched to your needs by the staff themselves. I don't have to tell you that, at up to £35 a cut, there's very few clients who're willing to accept more than one sub-standard cut without moving on.

I was lucky enough to be given a stylish who suited me down to the ground on my second visit. This was the girl I ended up having genuine laughs with and whom I trusted enough to take my hair from over a foot in length to a pixie cut. Her name was Kerry and I'm almost certain that she's moved on from here, sadly, so there's not a great deal I can boast for Hair Cuttery above the huge numbers of salons in the city.

The salon is fast, treats you well with a head massage and good washing treatments for free before a cut. However, unless you're absolutely fantastic at explaining what you want you might come away disappointed.

This salon isn't one for those of us too shy to say 'I don't like it, refund please' - the cut you'll receive will likely get compliments and look very professional, but it isn't guaranteed to be anywhere in the region of what you asked for. Like many hair salons, this place suffers from the stylists thinking they know best. I think they missed the 'customer is always right' aspect of the training booklet.

First things first - unless you're under the age of 22, achingly pretty and most definitely up for a snog then Pure is not the place for you.

This gargantuan super club is among the most typically mainstream of venues in the whole of Manchester, making its location in the Printworks absolutely ideal. Once you know what the Printworks is like on a Saturday night, the description of Pure all clicks into place.

Playing a variety of mainstream music from pop classics to radio-approved dance music across its many rooms, there's nothing unusual or shocking about this night out. If that's what you're after, you'll love it. If that's not, you'll be biting your fist in rage all night.

The club itself is absolutely, with no exaggeration, massive. Snaking hallways between the many club rooms can be a bit dizzying, so you'd do well to keep close to your mates at all times in case you get lost (and can't ring each other underground).

The drinks in here a pretty pricey, though there's always an offer on something that will get you drunk (but I wouldn't expect it to treat you to well the morning after). As well as that, smokers might go a bit nuts thanks to having to walk for ages all the way upstairs and outside to have a cig.

All that said, this just wasn't my kind of evening - but if you're after an unashamedly, unpretentiously mainstream night in the city centre, you can't go wrong with this jam-packed superclub.