Before moving to Manchester I’d never actually heard of Tiger Tiger before but soon found that it was going to become a place that was talked about amongst all my friends over the next few years. It offers something from everyone despite my preconceptions of it being just another nightclub – instead it’s a bar, club and restaurant all under the same roof.

It’s located in the Printworks Entertainment Complex which is located in the Withy Grove area of Manchester city centre. It’s about a 10 minute walk from the central transport links in Piccadilly and there is a bus stop and taxi rank right outside the entrance to the Printworks for easy access. There’s also a large car park a couple of a minutes walk away if you did decide to drive. It occupies one of the larger units of the Printworks and the entrance can be found on the exterior of the Printworks.

It’s open from 12 noon to 2am from Monday to Saturday offering really great opening times throughout the week. They’re slightly shorter on a Sunday as it shuts at 12.30am. Please note if you are planning to go there for an evening queues do start to form around 10pm on student nights during the week and around 11pm on a Friday and Saturday.

The Venue

The building that contains Tiger Tiger is set over 4 floors and is simply massive! There are six bar areas, a restaurant and a lively club on the upper floor of the building. In the basement area you’ll find a cloakroom and rather posh toilets which are, thankfully, never full and always clean – very important on a night out when your bladder needs to relieve itself!

The restaurant is located on the right hand side of the ground floor and is open from 5pm until late every day of the week. It’s designed in quite a sumptuous manner with obvious influences from the east and west parts of the world. There’s a great range of food on offer as well with quite an extensive menu offering eastern dishes as well as more British meals of steaks and salads. Prices for food do vary immensely depending what you’re ordering but I’d estimate that for a three course meal it would set you back around £30 per person. I’ve only dined here once and both myself and my friend had a main course, desert and we shared two bottles of wine – the bill came to just over £65 so it’s quite similarly priced to other middle market restaurants in Manchester.

Of course if you’re after food in the daytime or don’t wish to eat in the restaurant then there is the bar snack menu which is available in the ground floor Tiger Bar, as you walk into the building on the opposite side to the restaurant. This area has a much more relaxed feel with high tables and stools in the centre of the room and booths surrounding the outside of the area. The food is quite a bit cheaper here and similar to other pub type restaurants such as Wetherspoons with burgers, salads and sandwiches being commonplace. I’ve never actually eaten from the bar menu but a quick look at the menu will show that you can have a burger or a sandwich for anything from £4 up to £7.

On the first floor you’ll find the Kaz Bar which is often reserved for VIPs only at weekends so I’ve only managed to get in here once after sweet talking the bouncer! It’s got a very ethnic, opulent feel to it with an orange, purple and red colour scheme dominating the area. Here you can also book a booth if you feel like splashing out to give you a base for the evening.

On the second floor you’ll find the Raffles Bar which takes up the main area of the floor and has four further bars leading off from it. The Raffles Bar also has a small stage which you’ll find is packed with people dancing away once the light go down! The Canadian Lounge is decorated like an old log cabin and provides a really calming and relaxing atmosphere which is quite a contrast to the previous area, this also tends to be quite quiet as it’s hidden away so ideal if you fancy a sit down! The Club is, as the name would suggest, where the main DJ can be found and also features a small bar area. The majority of this room is taken up by the dance floor which is always packed from about 11pm onwards. There’s also the Loft Bar which is set in yet another room up here, just off the main Raffles Bar and provides seating areas. The final bar is known as The Lounge and houses a considerable sized bar, a grand piano and a large seating area. These latter two areas are lovely contrasts to the buzzing atmosphere which can be found in the Raffles Bar or The Club during the evening.

The Nights

Monday is Vodka Island which is a student only night and houses one of the most popular nights for the students of Manchester. There’s always good drinks offers like £1.95 for a double vodka and bottles of wine for £7 with a great variety of music playing here as well.

Friday is Friday Night Live which offers some really great live music, mainly from up and coming Manchester bands. It’s also hosted by the music station XFM and normally gets a good crowd in as well quite early on in the evening.

As already mentioned Tiger Tiger is only 6 nights a week until 2am but the main nights are arguably a Monday, Friday and a Saturday – the latter is your classic Saturday night with different types of music playing to suit everyone. It’s also over 21s on a weekend.

My Opinion

I really love Tiger Tiger and I have had some really great nights out there. However as with most places that have a reputation for being good it does get really busy and so it can become a little cramped. My second complaint is the number of stairs, with 4 different floors in Tiger Tiger there’s a huge number of stairs which are not the best obstacle when you’ve had a few drinks and are wearing heels! The crowd is quite varied, obviously during the week it’s mainly students while at the weekend the age ranges from 18 (yes sneaking past the bouncers as it is over 21s) up to those in their mid 30s looking for a lively night out.

The prices of Tiger Tiger seem quite similar to many other bars and clubs, especially at a weekend – you can expect to pay around £11 for a bottle of wine, £4.50 for a double vodka and around £3.00 for a pint. The entrance fees also vary, of course during the day and when there isn’t a specific night on it is free to get into the place while at a weekend prices range from £4 before 11pm and £5/£6 after are actually cheaper than the other clubs in the Printworks.

The music is quite current and up to date with the different areas often playing different styles, pop, r n b and dance seem to frequent the majority of the rooms while The Lounge area often has either a piano player at the weekends or sounds of jazz filling the room. For those of you looking for a night out I’d certainly recommend Tiger Tiger, or if you’re just after a few quiet drinks Tuesday to Thursday nights are ideal for this.

Thanks for reading!