This was published 17 years ago
24 hours in Manchester
Britain's second city is great for more than its football team, writes Meredith Wilkie.
By Meredith Wilkie
Unspecified
Often regarded as Britain's "second city", livewire Manchester is a city of superlatives: its weather may be the wettest but when it comes to fashion, football and food, it's a veritable best of.
8.30am
There's a mouth-watering choice of continental sausages in one of Manchester's best deli-cafes. Generous, homestyle cooking is complemented by bread from Chorlton bakery Barbakan.
Katsouris Deli and Cafe, 113 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BQ. Tel: +44 161 819 1260
9.30am
Twirl your umbrella as you walk through the slick new city centre to the Northern Quarter, where every corner offers opportunities to spend, spend, spend on shiny modern art, fabulous fashion and rare musical finds. Head first to Piccadilly Records, the "best record store in Britain" - as you'd expect with Manchester's musical pedigree (think Oasis, the Smiths, the Stone Roses . . . and a hundred others). If you've still got a few pennies left, no design junkie can miss a trip to the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, where local artisans produce an Aladdin's cave of the most fantastic, stylish wares to adorn home and body.
Piccadilly Records, 53 Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JR. Tel: +44 161 839 8008 http://www.piccadillyrecords.com
Manchester Craft and Design Centre, 17 Oak Street, Manchester, M4 5JD. Tel: +44 161 832 4274 craftanddesign.com
1pm
You can't visit Manchester without sampling "the best dim sum in Britain". The place is huge and always full of satisfied customers. If that isn't reason enough, owner Harry Yeung - whose father was a celebrated Hong Kong dim-sum chef - lives in late Manchester United superstar George Best's former bachelor pad.
Yang Sing, 34 Princess Street, Manchester M1 4JY. Tel: +44 161 236 2200, yang-sing.com
3pm
While you'd be extremely lucky to join the sea of red in the stands for a match (games are sold out weeks in advance), check out the changing rooms where Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand get their kit on (and off), with a tour of Old Trafford, home of "the most famous football club in the world". Being a Man U fan isn't necessary but, if you are, walking down the tunnel to the pitch is guaranteed to get you as hot under the collar as Wayne Rooney.
Old Trafford, Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Manchester. Tel: +44 161 868 8000, manutd.com
4.30pm
When the city centre was being rebuilt to its present urbane glory, the developers ran into a snag: two Tudor pubs - among the last remaining of their kind in the city - known as the Shambles had survived the 1996 IRA bombing, but were now in the way of progress. What to do? Answer: shift them, brick by brick, and rebuild them, beam by beam, 500 yards (457 metres) down the road, right in the midst of the remodelled Arndale Centre. Just the place for a quiet pint among the hubbub.
The Shambles (Old Wellington Inn/Sinclair's Oyster Bar), 2 Cathedral Gates, Manchester, M3 1SW. Tel: +44 161 830 1440/0871 2071737
7pm
Opposite the Victorian shell of the old Fish Market, the Market Restaurant - Manchester Food & Drink Festival's Restaurant of the Year 2005 - is an institution in its own right. Consistently good, and using only seasonal ingredients, the menu is a culinary adventure. Be sure to pre-book and leave room for the chocolate pavlova with coffee cream and mocha sauce.
Market Restaurant 104 High Street, M4 1HQ. Tel: +44 161 834 3743, market-restaurant.com
9pm
Saunter and sashay over to the dark and moody interior of Matt and Phred's, "the only regular live jazz venue in the north", for some smoky jazz with your Bourbon. Not a jazz cat? The even darker - and harder to find - Socio Rehab is quickly becoming Manchester's "coolest cocktail bar". Properly cutting-edge - if you can find it.
Matt and Phred's, 85 Oldham Street, Manchester, Tel. +44 161 661 7494, mattandphreds.com
Socio Rehab, Edge Street, (Northern Quarter) Manchester
11pm
In the depths of the bolthole known as Jilly's Rockworld lurks a club called the Music Box and some of the best music in the city. Get down and get moving at the monthly Electric Chair (Club of the Year 2005 on Gilles Peterson's Radio 1 Worldwide show), or check out new talent - this is the heart of the British scene, after all.
The Music Box, 65a Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 6FQ. Tel. +44 161 273 5200, jillys.co.uk
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