Magazine


The city spy

Sarah Warden
5/ 1/2006

IT should be no surprise that young people congregate in bus stops when they want a place to chat in the evenings - after a festive season hunting down bars where it was possible to hold a conversation as well as a drink, I'm tempted to join them.

Any night out in late December is made tough by the number of venues selfishly hiking their prices or even hiring themselves out to keep out the average reveller, but try to find somewhere to have a gossip with your Christmas tipple and it seems to me you have a real struggle on your hands.

And yet surely the holidays are the one time of year when everyone is catching up with someone they haven't seen for ages and would like to be able to ask how they are without permanently disabling their vocal chords.

In an attempt to find somewhere cheery in spirit rather than crowd noise, I dragged an obliging friend on a tour of the city centre, only to discover that there was very little point stopping in most places - though of course we had to agree this using hand signals.

I'm not a stick-in-the-mud by any means and I enjoy a good noisy night out as much as anyone, but there seemed to be a disproportion- ate number of bars containing people standing sardine-fashion while listening to eardrum-splitting music despite there being no dance- floor within sight and no room to swing a cat, let alone a handbag.

The list of bars which were too noisy for conversation could probably take up most of the page. A few surprising ones included the bar section of Room, Cord, in the Northern Quarter, which is so cosy I was surprised sound could disappear in such a small place, and Lime, where I'm sure I've managed a gossipy night out in the past.

But if anyone else is in the position of looking for somewhere to drink and talk after 8pm, and there must be quite a few of us out there, the winners for me were the Cornerhouse bar in Oxford Road and the Town Hall Tavern. Great places for tipsy chat, and long may they stay that way.


Have your say
 
Have your say Got an opinion you want to share?
Register now and have your comments heard.

Register now


 
Personal Finance
 

Balance Transfer
Card BT Fee
Virgin Credit Card 2.98%
MBNA Platinum 2.9%
Customers with a 'good' credit profile
Company Typical APR
Platinum Exclusive Loan 7.8%
AA 7.9%
Sainsbury's Personal Loan 8.2%
Alliance & Leicester 8.7%
Lloyds TSB 8.9%
Abbey Personal Loan 8.9%
HASH(0x2af1431ee280)
Provider AER*
ICICI BANK
HiSAVE Savings Account 		3.55%
FIRST DIRECT
Everyday e-Saver 		1.75%
SAINSBURYS FINANCE
Internet Saver 		2.25%
Fees may apply