Qype: Odd Bar in Manchester

Manchester - Eating & Drinking - Pubs & Bars - Bars


The first ever time I went to Odd Bad was in 2006 during Futuresonic Festival, and I owe to it one of the oddest experiences in my life. The now regular in-house project, Pukka, was debuting, and the DJ was planning on playing the soundtracks from Italian police movies and thrillers. To complement the set and make it a bit more special, they were going to screen extracts from some of those films on the screen downstairs. All excited, I headed there and found myself in a cozy room with several sofas. The screen was just above one of them, the extracts were already showing, and on the sofa right beneath a guy and a gal were sitting, embracing each other and kissing. They knew I wasn't watching them, and I knew I wasn't watching them, but it didn't make the situation any less awkward. Or odder, for that matter.

Pukka has become an in-house project, and in the years since I've visited the bar many times. To me, the place has always been unique mainly because of its location. There is something special about sitting with your feet up on those cozy sofas on the left, under a kind of canopy, drinking a cocktail or beer, and watching people in the street. Its atmosphere is peculiar, for it almost epitomises the word "atmosphere": it's many things at once, and the impression is always too fleeting to capture. And because I've got this strange interest in 1970s-1980s, Odd somehow evokes the spirit of these decades. The dim lighting, cheesy music, laid-back style, and the suspicion that there is more than meets the eye. Pukka must be a resident project for a reason.

It's not all about Pukka, though. There is a regular quiz, as well as a few other regular DJ sets. Beers and wines are good, and although I didn't eat there often I wasn't disappointed when I did order food. Last year Odd Bar hosted one of the stages of the launch of Havana Cultura website, in association with Havana Rum. It is frequented for a reason, and its popularity naturally puts off those who shun the crowds. But whether you are new to Manchester or have lived and breathed Northern Quarter for a number of years, then Odd is not so odd a choice. It's weird, strange, peculiar, different, original, quirky, and possibly even at odds with itself.

And I shall make no apologies for all the puns...

Check out my review of Odd Bar - I am juliedelvaux - on Qype