North Pole in Manchester: climate change not to blame

burt Codeine says..“ Looks fantastic - in fact Manchester does Christmas exceedingly well these days...brings a small tear to my ducts. I'll no doubt be popping into whet my wintry whistle...”

Flo says..“ We went last night and it was just 'OK'. It's not very Christmassy, and the stews sounded delicious but we saw one go past and they're served in tiny plastic dishes like you get trifle in at kid's parties! The Winter Crumble cocktail was worth the visit though.”

lee says..“ I agree, the crumble cocktail was very nice! but i saw the stews go past me to another table and they looked very small indeed, the venue is fantastic however”

crazyjohn says..“ I met a bear in there last night who was going crazy. First he tryed it on with me and then my girlfriend. He was bi-polar.”

Lola says..“ Went in last night. Looks good. Was pretty quiet yet it still took a good quarter of an hour to get served at the bar. When we did get served we ordered a mulled wine and a winter warmer. Only to find out they had sold out of both and it would be another quarter of an hour before anymore was ready. Poor Effort from the Ear to the Ground folks !”

phil says..“ I'd have called it The Polar-Bar. I thank you.”

Jo says..“ I agree, Flo. Can't understand what all the fuss is about. It looks ok but there's nothing decent to eat or drink, really. A marketing gimmick.”

Southern Exile says..“ Place sort of OK - but would soon get fed up - service well mannered but painfully slow and toilets truly awful.”

Jonah says..“ Went last night. Customers thin on the ground. Therefore no atmosphere. Despite lack of customers waited what seemed like a millennium to get served. Pity the smoke machine doesn't produce a wood burning aroma. Agree with food comments. Overall a nice idea but could be executed in a much better way.”

Old NQer says..“ I went on the opening night and was very unimpressed. Can't see why Confidential are giving this so much of a push on these pages? The drinks are expensive, it's not very christmasy, and you have to walk past portaloos before you get in which stink! Should have put them at the back for a start. Ear to the ground really have let themselves down with this little venture. I'm stikcing with the markets, much more of a Christmas vibe over there.”

Helen says..“ We went on Thursday night, not busy at all. Heard a woman being told that she'd have to wait a while for the mulled wine. We left without having a drink, couldn't get served.Slow service. ”

stripeyhat says..“ I went on the launch night and despite what some others have said I thought it was good and nicely thought out, I'll definitely be going back. Probably wouldn't stay a whole evening in there to be honest but it's somewhere different to go before heading to a club. Shame about the bad service you all seem to have got, I didn't have any problems but I was there early evening so maybe I was lucky. As for the loos, yeah portacabins aren't the best thing in the world but I don't see where else they could put them other than where they are, and come on it could be worse - they could have the plastic 'turdis' things, now they DO stink. ”

Jay says..“ Sorry, why would I want to stand in a really cold space with no one else, STILL failing to get served, having beaten my way past some truly horrible scallies on the Urbis, when I could be in a nice warm NQ bar. Thank bejeezus for trof. ”

Race says..“ We have been twice so far, once evening, once daytime and BOTH times they were sold out of the stews. Only 2 hrs after opening and not stupidly busy, they have run out of stock! SORT IT OUT!”

eskimo nell says..“ This place was so cold it felt like home.Called it a day and caught the last sledge home.p.s Jay the things around Urbis i believe are called MOSHERS their sort of punks who are middle class and end up with careers in the civil service at19.No offence to .the civil service ”

juicy ju says..“ what a pity! I was really looking forward to going here this weekend but looks like i'm gonna give it a miss till they get their act together, if indeed they do. You've bigged this place up so looks like you're gonna have to sort this one out!!”

jazzy-m says..“ Tried it out Thursday evening. Had high hopes - guess I had visions of the Absolut Ice Bar (well not quite for a temporary place but you get the idea). Disappointed was the reality. Described as an 'arctic wonderland with seasonal drinks, food, music' it didn't really live up to this. Plain upside down Xmas trees, dry ice and snowflake projections are as festive as it gets. The drinks are expensive (beer choice very unexciting) considering they come in paper and plastic cups. This could have been done so much better.”

eskimo mell says..“ more like been sat in steptoe and sons yard. Beer tasted yard piss and totty serving were miserable.A jazzy M jazzy You me a fiver t**t. ”

Anonymous says..“ don't know why anyone bothers doing anything in manchester if you listen to the constant moaning on these pages.”

burt Codeine says..“ hmm...I may give it a miss afterall...there's no room for 'queuing for ages for a lager' in my life these days, they reside in my teens. I think, in fairness, the picture of the younger Kim Catterall (from the 'Big Trouble in Little Sex' film) in the stripey sweater above got me a little excited...aye, might stick in the NQ - is the 'new' Cord any good?”

Peter Stevens says..“ What are you lot going on about? I was in there on Friday night and it knocked the Christmas markets stuff into a cocked hat. Loved it. Will be back. And Burt I tell you what there was some great girl-watching to be had even without the presence of the younger Kim Cattrell. I'm more partial to the two girls above the Kim picture on the right. Sure one was in on Friday too.”

Shez says..“ Polite doormen, slow service at the bar and the lighting made me feel dizzy, but overall wasn't too bad, enjoyed the Winter Crumble it certainly did the trick!!”

Avo says..“ Went there on Friday. Not sure where people got their preconceptions that it would be cold inside as it was warm as toast due to the propane heaters around the circumference of the room.

Agreed that service was a bit slow but this definitely does knock the socks off any of the usual outdoor Xmas venues. ”

Anonymous says..“ went down on saturday to have a nosey. Not a mulled wine fan so tried the winter crumble.... loved it, tried the buttered rum not bad either. nice and warm and you can sit down, beats being stood outside on the markets. ”

interactivelegnds says..“ Went on Sunday afternoon. It wasn't very busy, easily got a seat and there was no problem with the service. We had the Winter Crumble which was very tasty :o) Would go again for a few hot drinks.”

GJH says..“ same nice attention to detail i'd expect from etg. it is a very nice spot, with great interior design, that will have a few opening problems on service - for crying out loud manchester, support rather than slag off! I'd recommend a visit to anyone. ”

Darren says..“ a group of us went on friday after the christmas light switch on it took 25 mins to get served. what a joke, come on guys pull your finger out”

johnthebrief says..“ I went for the first time last night. It was very quiet (no more than half a dozen other people in) so hard to judge the atmosphere, but I think the place is overlit - if they killed the big spotlights then I think the fairy lights, candles and coloured spots would be enough. The mulled wine and winter warmer were both lovely, and needless to say I got served very quickly. The stews smelled nice (the door staff were eating them) but I didn't try them myself, and the bowls looked a kind of reasonable size. I'll definitely be back”

Brian says..“ Rubbish. Ages to get served. Had to wait longer for the hot rum to be available. My hot toddy tasted like tepid water. Toilets Rubbish. Stews not actually available when we were there. ManCon clearly kissing PR company backside. Again. ”

Anonymous says..“ Visited the North Pole on Monday and would not recommend to anyone. Only one stew on the menu, should have been 5, the one we ordered should have been braised beef with caramelised onions in Guinness. Nowhere near, it was more like a potato-hash, or as my friend mentioned, it tasted like a Heinz big soup with some beef added. The portion size was ridiculous for £4.95 it was hardly big enough for a child, it was served in a paper jelly and ice cream bowl, and for that price you didn't even get any bread to accompany your stew! We made a complaint to the manager who came up with some cock and bull story. I get the impression these guys are only interested in making as much money as possible with no regard for customer satisfaction, the managers attitude gave me the impression that they were just out to rip off the festive shoppers. ”

Langworthy Basketball Team says..“ We booked this venue for our Xmas get together, by the sound of it we may have made a big mistake. Big portions is the way to go, we are BIG lads, we cannot be eatin' no stew from kiddies bowls, we paid £15 a head. Hope for their sake they get their act together, I hope they have a decent lager on tap like Red Stripe or summat!!. Don't be thinkin you can take the micky of us workin class hard workin lads who just want a good time with some classy northern soul, good company, nice food n' fit ladies. Get your act together POLE BAR!!”

Anonymous says..“ We went to North Pole Bar on Saturday afternoon and I don't know what you people are moaning about, the food was delicious, perfect portion for drunken munchies; the vimto wine was well tasty and the atmosphere was gorge. We thought the staff were really nice, the bar was quite busy but the service was still pretty swift. Yeh, the portaloos aren't ideal but what do you expect from a temporary bar? At least there was loo paper which is more than can be said for a lot of Manchester bars! Overall, would def recommend it for warming up after a day's city centre shopping, better than standing in the cold at the markets”

Anonymous says..“ Yeah, I agree. It's not that great. This review seemed a little more honest. http://hivecentral.ning.com/profiles/blogs/north-pole-bar-left-out-in-the”

Anonymous says..“ The bar has come on leaps on bounds since it opened. and a few subtle additions have made it far more interesting, granted there were a few teething problems initially, but it is now, actually, an amazing space! for all you negative commentators out there i'd suggest another visit.”

Anonymous says..“ I went here for a Christmas do and really wish I hadn't. It was dreadful and a total rip off. £15 for a drink, a bowl of stew and a couple of scoops of ice-cream!? The place was dead so no real atmosphere and smelled really badly of sour/stale wine. We complained to ETTG and their attitude stank nearly as much as the venue. ”

Anonymous says..“ We went there last night and it was far from dead, the place was heaving! There was a top atmosphere in there and despite it being really busy, the service was surprisingly fast:) The staff were lovely and the drinks were yummy, I'd definitely go back there again, a great alternative to the cold wet markets!”