CityLife

The Modern

GIVEN that Urbis recently announced it may inherit the National Football Museum – the subject of much debate among Manchester’s chattering classes – it was somehow apt to revisit the building, albeit not for its exhibition but for its somewhat hidden contribution to the city’s bar scene.

For as much as the giant glass and metal monolith at the end of Deansgate has evolved over time, The Modern – both restaurant and bar – has, much to this reviewer’s pleasure, stayed the same.

Still blessed by day and particularly at night with one of the great un-championed views of the cityscape The Modern has always felt somehow cinematic.

The dim lighting, the almost secret entrance and the calm, subtle décor mean that if anyone has the occasional Lost In Translation fetish to indulge, this is the perfect place to do it.

But more than the setting, the standards of food, drink and service remain high enough to retain the status of this classiest of city centre bars as one of the best Manchester has to offer.

This place is as serious about its drinks as it is about the award-winning food served on the floor below: evidenced by the lovingly written historical notes that feature in each section of its cocktail list, the quality of ingredients that are used and the expertise with which they’re combined together.

No fruity kitchen sink affairs here: the cocktails are all timeless classics whose ingredients are balanced beautifully to showcase their base spirit to its full flavoured potential.

No desperate fripperies, no rush to ‘reimagine’ familiar recipes in their own name: just good old respect for classic drinks.

Start anywhere on the list for an education in how cocktails should taste. A Red Vesper done just right, a Martinez, Mai Tai or a Hemingway Daiquari: you won’t make a bad choice.

Suddenly your post-work drink, pre-dinner aperitif or early-evening livener will take on a significance it won’t achieve elsewhere.

Combine your cocktail with a fish finger sandwich, Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese rarebit or a slice of Cottage pie with pickled beetroot the interesting nibbles and appreciate the full flavour of modern Manchester: quality without pretension – which too few other venues are able to achieve.

The Modern, Floors 5&6, Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, M4 3BG (605 8200, themodernmcr.co.uk).

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