One of the first things that strikes you about Neukölln is that it’s not in the Northern Quarter. For a bar inspired by the speakeasies of a Berlin suburb – Spinningfields is not necessarily the place to expect to find it.
If you can find it, that is. While Neukölln has been running for two weeks it’s hosted within Caffeine and Co, an industrial looking café situated within an artistically empty office block just off Byrom Street.
Look closer, however, and a blackboard of the outside of the café bears the smudged chalk name of the pop up.
The food for all the outlets is made at a separate location within the family company, so our food platters (£6 each) start off as bags of mush.
Yet as they are laid out on slate their charm and the bright freshness of the ingredients outweighs the initial concern of their having been brought in.
Neukölln is really all about the drinking experience, though, and in that department it seriously impresses.
In the speakeasy style the choice is very limited and subject to change, with an emphasis on manoeuvring patrons away from their comfort brands.
Only two wines are served – a white and a red – on a rotation, meaning that once a bottle runs out instead of restocking the same a different type is bought. This gives variety and forces you to try something new.
Waddling Duck (£4.50 per glass), the white, is a mature Sauvignon Blanc with an intense, full flavour. It works well with the light food platters and the vaguely Scandinavian décor.
Although it’s the last evening of November the room is an easy temperature, and the cool food suits the casual but upmarket mood.
Both the mackerel and the beef options are filling without being heavy, and each come with a variety of sides.
The mackerel has a grainy but creamy texture and is very fine, though it overpowers its sides of salsa of peppery tomatoes and shredded cucumber a little.
The beef comes with celeriac in a mustard sauce and a traditional British piccalilli. This platter has the opposite issue, with slightly dry and bland meat being completely outplayed by sharp and complex sides.
For the limited selection offered there is a decent variety in the beer options, with a couple of different pale ales (one simply called ‘Pale Ale’).
Those sampled – including Schneider Weisse (£4.50) and Doggie Style (£4.10) – are crisp, rustic and creamy, while remaining light and refreshing.
For gin there’s Death’s Door which, with tonic, (£5.50) is full of bright citrus and had an uplifting and lingering aftertaste.
For vodka the bar manager, Simon Horner, 21, recommended Finlandia and Curiosity Cola (£3.80).
Horner, who helped build the bar, is knowledgeable and confident and the suggestion yields an incredibly successful vodka and coke combination.
Neukölln’s remit might be tight and its venue small, but the self-imposed restrictions allow it to really get it right. Hopefully this speakeasy will stick around until the New Year.
Neukölln is situated in Caffeine and Co, off Byrom St in Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3JE. Walk-ins welcome. Telephone 0780529825.
Opening hours are Thursday to Sunday 6 – 12pm. @NeukollnMCR
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