Tiger Lounge is a fantastic, kitsch cocktail bar in Central Manchester just round the side of Town Hall. There's been a lot of buzz about Tiger Lounge's special offers and accompanying atmosphere so I headed down to take full advantage of both.
The Tiger Lounge is peppered with retro features and sixties and seventies decor.
The Venue
Walking down the steps to this basement cocktail bar in Manchester you get the feeling that you're opening a door to something a little bit special. Once you walk in the door you're greeted by a number of candle-lit tables, a wall covered in shaggy faux-tiger fur and a long, slick bar with an impressive display of spirits. We tucked in to the two cocktails for £5 (yep, Happy Hour is Monday -Thursday all night and Friday and Saturday 4pm-7pm) and took our seats to take in the atmosphere.
Incredible Happy Hour offers make this bar a hotspot for savvy young professionals in Manchester.
The Atmosphere & Clientele
With a fantastically diverse playlist of French pop, Motown and soul, Tiger Lounge has created a atmosphere that is hard to find in other Manchester bars. The music mixes well with the low-lighting and the DJ booth is decorated tastefully with old, well-worn, seven-inch vinyl records being lit up by an orange glow. When the bar started to get busier, thanks to an amazing FREE pizza deal (Every Friday with a drink from 5pm-7pm) the adjoining Kitty Lounge provided a fantastic overflowing space to cater for the masses. Tiger Lounge attracts a diverse amount of people, there's the after-work professional crowd letting loose on the cocktails, there's couples sharing a bottle of red for £7 and the folks waiting for the famous Friday club night to kick off at 10pm.
The Tiger Lounge does a cracking selection of classic and creative cocktails.
The Food & Drink
Until 7pm on a Friday night you can get that free handmade pizza with any drink ordered from the bar, of course, we took full advantage of this. Tucking into a White Russian and a Mojito (for only £5!) we chatted away waiting to see just how nice these free pizzas were going to be, well, they were great. The free pizzas are only available as margarita however different toppings are available throughout the week, with A Greek God, Hot to Trot and Hey Presto topping the tasty list. There's a good selection of cocktails in the two for a fiver deal and if you're after something with a bit more of a kick there's some special cocktails available too, with all the classics covered, daiquiri, cosmo, white Russian and the DMN favourite, Zombie.
Regular live music and DJs kick off the dancing from 10pm for a chilled weekend party.
Summary
Tiger Lounge asserted itself as a great cocktail bar to finish off the working week for us. Take advantage of the great deals that are always on offer and make sure you stick around for the club night where you'll find it impossible to stay in your seats with the lure of the dance floor preying on your senses. We never managed to make our way through the entire cocktail menu, not without trying though, so my guess is that we'll be back to this great cocktail bar for another night out in Manchester soon.
