Elite Event: Lights, Camera, Action @ Bar21

Another outstanding Unilocal event! I was excited to find out what Bar 21 had to offer since it had still been TV 21 last time I went!
A couple of free drinks helped the evening get off to a good start and a nice chance to mingle with everyone (and admire the circular bar dominating the centre of the room!) a tour from the owner and a chance to look around at all the TV and film memorabilia — I’m sure the collection has grown exponentially!
Given a selection of seemingly every possibly menu item I did my best to try a wide range! Mostly leaning to an american/​tex mex theme there were sliders with a variety of toppings, ribs, chicken, all juicy and tasty as can be!
A cocktail masterclass followed — unfortunately I can monkey recall the drunken smurf drink being fabulously blue — recipe cards needed I think! !
The evening 2 was rounded off fantastically by a quiz (apparently a regular event) — I love a good quiz hut I’m not great at them, thankfully my teammates saved the day and we came in second!
A fab end to a fab evening

At long last! A night dedicated to totally getting your geek on, with cocktails, hot buffet and a quiz, plus the opportunity to dress appropriately for the TV and film-​inspired venue at Bar21.
Ok I was in a bit of a panic and didn’t give myself enough time to go ‘all out’ on the night (a Top Gun t-​shirt from a recent Las Vegas stag do saved the day) — ironically I’m a nervous flyer…
Anyway, it was great to catch up with familiar faces and also chat with some first-​timers, I hope they felt the warm Unilocal welcome like we did at our inaugural Elite events.
After the tour of the two-​storey venue by the manager, with Planet Hollywood-​esque signed memorabilia from the world of music and screen, it was back upstairs for the cocktail masterclass. I liked the one with the gummy sweets in it, the chocolate one was way too much for my taste unfortunately.
Swiftly afterwards the hot buffet was laid out and we all gorged on pizzas, chicken wings, mini burgers and then desserts — the food was very appealing, I’ll be sure to come back it to try it properly.
The feasting wasn’t over yet, with a birthday cake courtesy of Hey Little Cupcake! brought out for Unilocal!‘s 10^th — hopefully you won’t soon turn into Kevin «The Teenager» Patterson in a couple of years ;)
The quiz wasn’t limited to TV and film questions but quite wide-​ranging, with a music round thrown in as well as a Killer Round — we crashed out after that one but still got a decent score (go team Everything Is Awesome!).
I had to dash after that so missed the raffle, so if #367 was picked out who can I get my prize from please? :)
Cheers for another terrific night JQ — I’m sure there’ll be another opportunity for you to don your Teen Wolf jacket and fangs again soon!

What a great night! I have actually been to Bar21 a few times since its reinvention from TV21 so I wasn’t as surprised as others. Still it was nice to get a mini-​tour of the place and hear more about what they do.
The evening kicked off with a welcome drink from the happy hour menu. I spotted there was an ale but unusually for me I opted for rum, which hit the spot. After checking out the dance floor (though unfortunately there was no dancing) we witnessed a cocktail masterclass. I was stood quite far away and got distracted chatting (almost like being back at school!) so I may have missed the finer points, but I had a taste of some chocolate and cream concoction. It was delicious although I definitely couldn’t have more than one.
Then along came the food. Like a complete idiot I had eaten not long before. I shouldn’t have. There was so much food. I took one for the team and forced myself to try a selection. After the food, it was quiz time. The team I was on didn’t win unfortunately but I think we did pretty damn well! This was great fun and I would totally be up for a regular Unilocal quiz night.
Overall it was a great, if late and somewhat tipsy night. Thanks as ever to Jonny Q for setting it up, to the team at Bar21 for letting us hang out and sample their wares, and to all the Unilocalers for providing such excellent company!

A great place to go for casual dining. I bet the diners there were feeling left out as the private area was jazzed up with helium balloons, Unilocal merchandise and of course the Unilocalers who were offered a complimentary drink upon arrival.
We all got to have a little wander around the place and look at all the memorabilia which got us talking about our favourite films and whether Pulp Fiction is over rated. The downstairs dance area is a bit small, but I can imagine going for a private screening down there or bop to nostalgia music and the toilets are cool.
We were treated to a cocktail masterclass where we were introduced to the implements. The Angel chocolate drink was devine and I would have got myself a glass but I was tempted by the Bar21 concocted drunken smurf cocktail. As I moved along the bar I was lucky to get this cocktail and should have gone for the chocolate as the smurfs were a bit chewy.
This was the hardest quiz that I’ve been to. A lot of the questions were before our time. We had lucky Lucy who won the stand up bingo game on our team providing a lot of the answers. I got the Australia question wrong :(Maybe it was the drink Jonny bought us as we stuffed ourselves with ribs, chicken, burgers and various other meats as well as birthday cake.
Happy 10^th birthday to Unilocal,it was a good night and here’s to another decade of Unilocaling.

I arrived at Bar 21 for the movie «related/​themed» event wearing my Die Hard t-​shirt. You may know the bar as TV 21 — its previous name. Its still a venue with various movie, TV and music memorabilia. A nice venue with a friendly, knowledgable staff.
Its hard to name my «favourite movie» but Die Hard is definitely up there. It was a relatively subtle t-​shirt which had a symbol and said Nakatomi Plaza on it. The fictional building from the movie.
We each got given a drinks voucher so we could get a drink from the happy hour list — plenty of choice.
It was good to talk to some new Unilocalers. For some, this was their first Unilocal event. Its always a nice bunch of people at a Unilocal event.
After some mingling, we all went downstairs to the (not so) secret basement dance area. The guy from Bar 21 explained how the area could be used for all sorts of different types of events. E.g. they have a projector set up so can show movies, there is a small stage area ideal for live music performances etc.
We then headed upstairs for a bit of a cocktail masterclass. The cocktails were the Angels Kiss — chocolate liqueur with cream and chocolate — and one called Drunken Smurf (which they had made up themselves) — orange juice, vodka, Smirnoff Ice and Haribo. I think my fav was the Drunken Smurf :)
Shortly after it was time for the buffet. A nice selection from their menu which included ribs, pizzas, burgers and chicken. :)
Finally, it was time for the quiz. I suggested we call our team «Yippie Ki Yay Mother F**ker» but we ended with the excellent name Kylie and the Jasons. We were not doing that well but it was the taking part that counts! :) As Jessica D said, it didn’t matter as we were having FUN! :)
I managed to help with a handful of questions. I somehow remembered the place Neighbours is set (not watched it for about 20 years)! One of these questions was the music round and from singing it on Singstar (and maybe karaōke?) I knew the Whitney Houston song (Greatest Love of All). (Great song!!).
In the end we didn’t come last. 3^rd from last with a score of 39. Maximum possible I think was around 75? So just above 50%. Hmmmm. The winning team actually got 59! Very impressive!
A great night. Brilliant job as always by Jonny. Thanks to all at Bar 21.
And Happy 10^th birthday to Unilocal

Great night!
The chocolate liqueur cocktail took me back those days at Christmas when I would crack into some box of sweetments only to discover they tasted of rancid alcohol… but in a good way.
Sounds like they have some good nights on downstairs, I’m keen for indie!
Food was a great spread, I thought in particular that the burger meat was very tasty and the ribs were well cooked. Perhaps not a destination restaurant because it does feel much more like bar (dim light, fairly loud music) but great to know it’s a place you can go for drinks and get some chicken goujons in.
I made a typically poor showing in the quiz apart from some minor contributions to the geography round. But as Jess D said, it doesn’t matter BECAUSE WE WERE HAVING FUN.
Good work, Jonny, as ever. Already looking forward to the next one.

Well my first Elite event and what fun it was. Jonny was being the host with the most anf making everyone feel welcome, even though his teenwolf teeth didn’t work!
I do like Bar 21 revamp all movies and still some geeky Sci-​fi bits to be had.
All the bar staff were really nice and made sure we were well looked after. We were taken around the venue and showed what the spaces could be used for. Then we were showed two of their cocktails. I did question them a little when smirnoff ice was added to the Drunken Smurf cocktail but I had to eat my words when I tried it, it did added edge to a sweet cocktail.
The the food came out big platters of wings and ribs. The ribs were great, just how I like them, tender meat and tasty source. I think this is movie watching food, I think that the idea. I got a little carried with the ribs and had to go back to get some more. The mini burgers were cute and very meaty.
Then the Geek Quiz, I’m a bit bring in on when it comes to quizzes. I like to think I’m smart. We can 4^th just out of the prizes but oh well I had fun and you can make the questions harder!
I can’t wait for the next event. I can’t think what Jonny has in store for us.

Another great night was had at my third Unilocal Elite event: Lights, Camera, Action @ Bar 21 in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
Jonny Q, donning his Teen Wolf t-​shirt, jacket and ripped jeans, greeted my plus one (Gavin L) and I with welcome drinks tickets. I chose to get the evening off to a great start with a large glass of sauvignon blanc (my fave vino), served by Bar 21’s friendly bar staff.
We were soon shown downstairs by a member of the Bar 21 team, to a basement room, complete with strobe lighting, film, TV and music memorabilia (even a gold disc by The Smiths — love it!). He gave us a verbal taster of what the bar/​club has to offer (indie nights, quizzes, film screenings, live music), all of which sounded awesome, so we’ll be back to sample some of this at a later date, no doubt.
Once back upstairs, we were given a cocktail demonstration by more members of the Bar 21 team. I loved the addition of jelly smurfs to one of the drinks — a really sweet touch, literally!
Next up, buffet time! I was lucky enough to be one of the first to dig into the delights that awaited us on the bar — plates of mini cheeseburgers, jamon, chorizo, olives, chicken goujons, ribs, pizza, garlic bread, spicy chicken strips and delicious salsas. I enjoyed the food so much, I went back for a second helping!
Once the food area was nicely demolished, we played bingo and a Geek Quiz — neither of which I was very successful with but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.
It was great to meet some of the new Elites, it’s just a shame I started feeling poorly towards the end of the evening and had to leave a bit earlier (cold, caught in the freezing, windy hell hole that is Blackpool, last weekend, grrrr!).
Bar 21 is a cool-​as-​**** bar-​come-​club with some brilliant film posters and memorabilia on the walls throughout (even the toilets are full of them). I loved all the music they played and the staff were funny (nice funny) so I will definitely head here on my next night out in Manchester.
A great night and already looking forward to the next Elite event! Nice one, Jonny Q :-)

My first experience of an elite event. and I loved it!
Bar21 is looking great after its facelift. much better than I had anticipated after visiting the previous TV21 on a drunken night out! Love the geek sheek vibe they’ve got going on, and loads of movie memorabilia on display — somewhere where you’d find something new each time you go.
Jonny Q made us feel welcome instantly, helped by the offering of a free drink off the happy hour menu and the display of free goodies to take home (I later found 2 boxes of mints, a bottle opener, a lip balm & some fingerless gloves in my bag!)
The cocktail master class was really interesting, turns out the shaking & the pouring is not all just for show! who knew! particularly liked the chocolate liquor cocktail (but find me a girl who wouldn’t).
The food was incredible — meat lovers eat your heart out. The ribs had great flavour & the chicken wings really packed a punch. Was a bit worried about my plus one being a veggie but the staff were right on the ball & within 5 minutes she had a freshly made bean burger presented — great service!
Loved the quiz, even if I now feel that my common knowledge is zero. Will definitely be returning for another attempt in the future!
All in all, a great night in a cool venue, really friendly & accommodating staff & a brilliant way to meet like-​minded people.