Varsity Cardiff

Holla At my blog readers

When you think of UK party cities, you think of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bournemouth, Newcastle and of course….Cardiff! Until last week I had a little Wales shaped hole in my list, I just had to tick Cardiff off my party list and boy did Cardiff deliver.

First of all I must comment on what a lovely city Cardiff is, walking round the city I noticed the mixture of the old (cathedral) and the new and the locals were so welcoming and friendly. Great first impressions.

After spending a VERY long time trying to stay away from the shopping centre it was time to get dressed up and paint the town red. We had hunted the best nightlife spots before we came and visited a few of them whilst wandering round the city and found a street with 5 of the better bars in the city.  We floated around from bar to bar but they all seemed to lack a bit of spark and atmosphere, it’s difficult to pin point what was missing, the party X-factor or the PP Factor –Party Princess Factor but somehow I don’t see that catching on much.

Our sprits were low; we were slightly disappointed with Cardiff but pushed on and tried our luck in the last pub on our list. Varsity. Frankly, we should have gone there in the first place! We were greeted by a lovely groups of cheeky chappies on a birthday party and coaxed us in the bar with the promise of a few drinks and dance.

We walked in and the bar looked a little empty but its only because everyone was on the dancefloor. Ideal really – no queues for drinks and a chokka dancefloor.  I grabbed my self a long island ice tea and headed towards the floor! Just as we started to loosen up and enjoy the music, it was announced that a dancing competition was in session and the winner would be given a large pitcher of their choice. The mood changed, dancing was no longer for fun…this was serious. There were some pretty funky shapes being thrown about by some people, and even though I didn’t win (I’m not bitter….much!!)

" I said ooops inside your head....."

Also…the Captain Morgan promo team popped out from no-where and the Capt’n himself, dressed his finery joined in the dance competition and lead a stupidly long conga out of the front door, back and through the bar – madness. Highlight of the night was dancing with everyone to “oops upside your head” song, I’m sure that’s not the real words but ill investigate.

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Super-fast, super friendly, super awesome

Atmosphere and decoration:  Little quiet but MORE than made up for it.

Facilities:  Huge mirror to fix my bronzer disaster

Talent Radar:  The Capt’n was look mighty fine.

Fun Factor: F.U.N spells fun,

Perfect for: Pre-clubbing, cheeky mid-week dance, quiet nights turning crazy.

In 3 words: Dance, pitchers, conga.

For other reviews visit: Cardiffpubs.co.uk, Qype and /View Cardiff or visit this lovely little video

My Alibi in Manchester

Hello to my beautiful subjects!

Last week I ventured up to Manchester again alas on a work mission not a party trip which is never as fun, but when life gives you lemons….ADD VODKA! Tee hee.

Given I work for a website, it’s pretty important that I have access to the internet…well tell that to our IT manager, I couldn’t log on to the Wi-Fi and after an hour of procrastination and with my in-tray piling up by the hour, I hauled ass and tried to find a free Wi-Fi spot.

I found a nice little bar/coffee stop/restaurant on the corner of Portland Street, very close to the town hall square called The Alibi. The warmth hit me as soon as I walked in and this was a welcome break to the freezing winds outside.

Logging into the Wi-Fi was so easy and so quick; I was very grateful but not so grateful when I saw my email inbox.  I was going to need some serious motivation tunes and some coffee. I could have kissed the barmaid when I saw that they served Costa coffee, so 2 Americano’s later I was in full swing and finished my workload in record time which gave me an hour or so the chill out and enjoy the rest of what The Alibi had to offer.

I really liked the decorations, there seemed to be lots of areas, by that I mean, at the back of the bar were several semi-circle booths with low lighting and atmospheric wallpapers, the middle of the bar were higher tables perfect for perching on a stool with an equally tall cocktail. (The cocktail menu did look pretty awesome)  The front of the bar was filled with smaller tables, benches and gazebos. I liked the idea of bringing the outdoors inside and gave the bar a nice air-y feel to it.

The stairs were lined with oversized vintage pin up posters. I LOVED the posters; I will have to get my hands on some of those for my flat I think. The VIP area was also upstairs which had a great view of the rest of the bar.

6pm came along and the bar slowly filled with people celebrating the weekend and I would agree The Alibi is the perfect place for a post-work drink or 3… or 5 or 6 and a spot of dinner. I ordered a bacon and tomato melt which normally come with chips but swapped the chips for extra salad – It is nearly party season. Well its always party season for me but sequin dresses never look good with a tummy full of chips.

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  All seemed very friendly.

Atmosphere and decoration:  different atmosphere and décor in each corner, loved it.

Facilities:  Liked the huge posters on the way to the loos.

Talent Radar:  Not too bad, possible hotties….

Fun Factor: would have been better if I had my party peeps with me

Perfect for: pre-drinks, Lunch time filler, free Wi-Fi, Yummy cocktails

In 3 words: Dark, atmospheric, sexy.

For other reviews visit Manchesterbars, qype and Viewmanchester or Citylife

Durham

Howdy!

I was invited up north again this week to witness the first “Sutra” night of the term at Varsity Durham. As you have gathered I’ve been to a few Varsity’s now so I went up with a certain expectation of the venue, its inhabitants and the staff.  I’m happy to report, all of those expectations were well and truly SMASHED! I do like to be proved wrong (sometimes –let’s not get ahead of ourselves!)

I’ll start with the venue. Most Varsities’ consist of one large space which is then separated by areas with different style of tables, booths and the like.  Durham was totally different! Plain walls were replaced with brightly coloured and textured wallpaper with really comfy trendy furniture and unlike most Varsity pubs; this one had an outdoor area to the back overlooking the river and the bridge. The balcony had at least ten tables and there were another five or six in the terrace which had a roof but open at one side. Seeing as it was such a nice day I sat outside, enjoyed my glass of wine and tucked in to a southern fried chicken wrap and chips (don’t tell my gym buddy, I’ll get told off!)

YUM!

Fun in the sun

Party in the pub

Whilst going to refill my glass I noticed a nice big dance floor and several little hidden seating areas, each with two or three smaller tables, thought it would be really good for a private little date

Whilst talking to the bar staff, it was pretty obvious they were excited about the night as well and were expecting around 700 students over the course of the night. Now over a space of 4/5 hours, 700 hyper students doesn’t sound like much but it wasn’t mentioned that they would all come at once which was indeed the case. The look on the bar staff’s face was priceless, a nice mixture of terror, excitement and determination! Within no time the dance floor was filled to the rafters and considering the playlist was pretty awesome, you couldn’t help but dance along.

After talking to some students it was clear that Varsity is one of the better places in the city for students and it’s really obvious why.

All the students were really friendly which makes a nice change. Sometimes they get a bit too drunk and get rowdy but there was good clean fun to be had by all including little old me! As you can see, everyone was really friendly. Little note to the girlies reading this….Durham has some great guys, easy on the eye if you catch my drift! *wink*.

 

Nutters

Crazy girls!

 

 

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  swift service, fab food.

Atmosphere and decoration:  On trend, surprisingly lush and warming

Facilities:  HUGE bathroom.

Talent Radar: yes yes YES!

Fun Factor: University fun at its best

Perfect for: Cosy date,  quiet dinner, party hard, lunch time chill out, watching the game.

In 3 words: Student hot spot.
For more reviews visit Beer in the Evening, Qype, or Scoot OR watch these videos

Fun in Leicester

Hey guys.

First things first, don’t you just love my new page! I do! Check out the Contact me page for links to Facebook, Google+  Twitter and my party diary to see where I’ll be popping up next!

Last week I witnessed the MOTHER of all fancy dress parties. Now at most fancy dress parties you’ll find the obligatory, cats, cowboys, school girls, superheroes or some form of slutty Disney character. So when I ventured up to Leicester for an open entry fancy dress competition I did have certain expectations. HOWEVER……these were BLOWN out the water, I mean like nuclearized bombs couldn’t have touched it. I’ll give a little background information before I start the costume parade.

I had a couple of mates still floating around in Leicester at De Momfort University doing various things and after seeing their pictures on Facebook and the fun they have (and having very very hazy memories about my own experiences in Leicester)I thought I’d head up again and see what they have to offer.

The city itself is really lovely, if only I had a spare £1000 for a little shopping spree because Leicester looks like the place I’d be able to spend it rather nicely. So after a painful few hours of wishful window shopping, I caught up with the girls (and boy) over a quiet drink at a pub called The Reynard. It’s a nice venue, really high ceilings on two floors, cream and yellow interior and a cracking food menu. I had a big ole’ steak, glass of wine and polished off a slice of lemon tart with ice cream. Perfect pre-boozy food. It was clear there were a lot of regulars in the place because there seemed to be a good bit of banter passing back and forth from both sides of the bar. It was nice thing to see; it gave the pub some life and made an interesting session of ear wigging.

The Reynard

So, fake tan on, uncomfortable underwear set and with a pair of even more uncomfortable (yet fabulous!)  heels, it was time to hit the town. Varsity is always a student staple in any city so we started there. It was a lot smaller than the other Varsity’s I’ve been to in the past but boy – Was it busy!!

As I said it was a fancy dress party and if I had known beforehand I think I would have joined in the fun with some old University costume I’d used back when I was a student. I was quite content with admiring everyone elses hard work to be honest. With that in mind…..check out these AMMMAAZZING outfits. These are my top four but check facebook to see the rest of them.

Aribaaaaa!

Safety First!

Thirsty? With Steve the manager

Pile up!

 

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

 

Food and service:  Really good bit of steak at The Reynard. Even though the staff looked a little over whelmed in Varsity they all had a smile on their faces.

Atmosphere and decoration:  Really relaxed in The Reynard, massive contrast to the craziness of Varsity.

Facilities:  All clean and shiny.

Talent Radar:  Hard to tell under the costumes – but how can you resist a man in tights!

Fun Factor: AWESOME time. My hats off to you Leicester!

Perfect for: The Reynard – Chill out, quiet dinner, cheeky glass of wine

Varsity – Pre-drinking, shots, pitchers, all things student-y

In 3 words: CRAZY CRAZY COSTUMES

Don’t just take my word for it though! Check out other reviews for The Reynard on View Leicester and Qype

Varsity Manchester

Hello – again, did you miss me?

When I was a weeh baby princess (about 17/18) I spent a LOT of time in Manchester, going to gigs, shopping, partying and generally hanging out and I have always wanted an excuse to go back and visit to see if the Manchester party spirit is still alive!

With my found memories alive and kicking I headed to Manchester for the Varsity launch of their new promo night “Reem On!” (http://www.facebook.com/Varsity.Man) Poor old Joey Essex, I bet when he started that show he didn’t know how popular his catch phrase would be. Well it’s made its way up north and Reem On is aimed at lassoing the students out of halls (which is just above Varsity actually) and show them a Manchester welcome.

This particular Varsity is at the top of Oxford road its where most of the student bars, gig venues and halls are based so it’s a great location to live if your one of the lucky students to live there.

Note the foozball table - I challenge you to a duel

I arrived to a see a nice healthy bunch of students wallowing in their hangovers and cooked breakfast. The smell was too much and I cracked with a bacon sarnie, pot of beans and a cup of tea, best way to start a Wednesday morning in my opinion.http://hub.varsitybars.co.uk/_assets/files/Barra-1858-Varsity-Menu-LOW-AW-LoRes.pdf Doesnt the menu look yummy!

As I’ve said I spent a good few weekends in Varsity but it sure has changed from then to now. The massive TV screens have gone, gone has the “old man style” décor and that nasty warm white wine smell has drifted on to pastures new. All the interior walls have been removed so it’s one huge open space which makes it look 10000000 times bigger than I remember it to be. To separate the pub out, open door frames have been put up in different parts of the bar and instead of a door, there are hanging plastic crystal style curtains or ribbons of bright coloured material. There are booths and sofas and mixtures of low and high level tables all with different styles of chairs – very creative.

After my breakfast I couldn’t help notice a MASSIVE gorilla looking at me from the other side of the bar. Turns out its one of the longer serving bar staff, and as a reward for all is hard work, he had been condemned to a day in a monkey suite (Think of the gorilla drummer from the Cadbury adverts) and after a chat and few diet cokes later I was in dragged along in a session of flyering/stickering along Oxford road near all the student halls, lectures rooms and around the other student pubs. As the theme for the night’s party was PC PLOD, a flashing policeman hat was plonked on my head and away we went!

Monkey had to make a quick phone call!

After a shower, make-up on, heels precariously placed and fed and watered I was back to enjoy my night! The place was buzzing, little slow to begin with but everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Overall I had a great time catching up with some old mates and revisiting my past. It was a night Joey Essex would have been proud of! Well reem babes, hope your jeal. If not I hope this video sways you http://www.facebook.com/VarsityBars?sk=app_154621764620492

I think he loves Varsity!!

Scores on the (royal) doors: 

Food and service:  How can you NOT love being served by a 6ft gorilla?
Atmosphere and decoration:  Really good referb’ they gone done a job!!
Facilities:  All clean, sparkly and comfy.
Talent Radar:  Not all too bad, little young for my liking. All a bit too drunk too. ‘hick’
Fun Factor: Lots of fun, nice venue, great staff, even better customers.
Perfect for: Hangover cure, quick pick me up coffee before class, shots at the ready!
In 3 words: Well Reem Babe’s

Don’t just take my word for it though! Check out other reviews at: http://www.whathappenedlastnight.net/manchester/bars/varsity%20manchester or
http://www.viewmanchester.co.uk/pubsandbars/varsity-manchester-info-31303.html

Me with the Manchester students

The Mariner – ooOOoo I do like to be beside the seaside.

Good afternoon my beautiful subjects

Went on the sly little shopping trip to Brighton at the weekend. Forgot the one cardinal rule about living in England – Always carry a brolly from Sept through to March and I got thoroughly drenched head to toe. After a few hours of shopping in the rain and the cold and spending money which I don’t actually have (Halifax bosses are defo getting a bonus this month!) I popped into Varsity on the seafront near the pier, to meet up with a friend from Uni. Turns out Varsity isn’t Varsity anymore, it’s now called the Mariner. They have had a bit of a re-furb but it’s still just as I remember it from Uni just with less students.

Unique menu holders

Liked the lampshade for lights and love LOVED the menus. They had turned old LP sleeves into menu holders which were stuck on the inside and every table had a different menu sleeve. Thought that was a really good touch and ties in with the Brighton music scene.

I had grilled chicken and pesto wrap and my friend had chilli noodles and we shared a bottle of wine. ‘hick’!! You could buy two large glasses of wine for £10 (Pick up the voucher here:  http://bit.ly/o3iSK1 ) and get the rest of the bottle for free which is really good value. I’ll remember that little deal for next time I’m in Brighton. MY wrap was yummy, little too pesto-ey than I would have normally have but I liked it actually. Who cares about garlic breath? And the noodles were surprisingly spicy, deceptive little noodles!

Pesto chicken wrap and the hot hot haaaaat chilli noodles

On my way to order we found where all the LP’s from the menu sleeves ended up! On the wall, it made a really nice feature amongst the booths and tables.

The barmaid told me about the club they have downstairs called Ally Cats, have to check that out soon I think.  Meow!

Top tip, book a table because I think it’ll get very very busy over lunchtimes and weekends. http://www.partyatthepub.co.uk/new-booking/

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Nice and filling, good little liquid lunch.

Atmosphere and decoration:  Really liked the music theme. Hope they put up more LPs on the other walls.

Facilities:  Comfy booths round the whole bar.

Talent Radar:  Little older than my usual type!

Fun Factor: Good place to chat in the day but I bet it gets packed downstairs.

Perfect for: General hang out. Quiet pint, pre clubbing drinks.

In 3 words: Music, Relaxed, Foodie.

Varsity Plymouth

Hello Party Kings and Queens

I live with two blokes who both went to Plymouth University together and I’m always regaled with tales of drunken nights, waking up in strange places, new recipes for stomach churning shots and most of all Varsity! So when I got the chance to party with the students I jumped on a train with red bull, pro-plus and the vital post-night out orange berroca in hand.

The venue was HUGE. I mean massive. All the way at the back was a good sized stage and I noticed huge projector screens for watching sports. I was told later that Varsity hold NFL Sundays and show a lot of the football and major sports games

Varsity hold a weekly promo night called Funky Monkey, and upon my arrival I was greeted (I say greeted it more chased) by a massive 6ft gorilla who I now know goes by the less ape-y name of Lee!

No Monkey-ing around here!

I was invited to sit with the lads from the American Football team who were sponsored by Varsity (Varsity also sponsor Lacrosse, Ladies rugby, Cheerleaders and a few others I think) and after spending a lot of time with the rugby blokes from my own Uni I thought I could match the banter, alas no! Al the guys were so much fun and I enjoyed hearing the disgusting, gore filled, cringe stories and tales of broken bones, initiation tasks and messy nights outs.

American Football Team.

Decided to have a chimichanga from the new Mexican section of the menu, which, besides from being massive, was so yummy although there’s no way I’d want to see the calories from that dinner, don’t care, it was too good.

All the bar staff were wearing yellow monkey T-shirts and it was nice to see a dash of colour and solidarity behind the bar. I was “treated” to a shot of gin by the football boys and the night began! (Note to self, never accept a shot again unless you want your throat to burn, who thought one little shot could bring me to my knees!) I watched a very messy game of beer pong, joined in the YMCA dance and somehow ended up with a big inflatable monkey which – with the help of some unsuspecting students, I named Spank! So armed with Spank my pet monkey we travelled the bar meeting new friends.

I was warned by my housemates to “watch out for the navy men and the squaddies” and they were right! Lock up yours daughters when they are about!

Boy what a night it was, my hats go off to Plymouth, you guys can party! I’m going to put my name on the guest list next time I go for sure. Party Princess plus 1000000 guests!

Football team and Spank the pet Monkey

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Had a good laugh with the gorilla!

Atmosphere and decoration:  MASSIVE venue with stage at the back

Facilities:  Very gothic themed bathroom, but hold your nose going past the boys loos – You know what they’re like!

Talent Radar:  Top notch. 10/10 for cheeky smiles!

Fun Factor: Loads of good clean(ish) Uni fun!

Perfect for: Watching the game, all in one venue, sports bar, hangover food. Group parties

In 3 words: Sports, banter, cheeky!

Don’t just take my word for it though! Check out other reviews at ……..http://www.inapub.co.uk/pubs/varsity-plymouth/plymouth/PL12SW/24569.aspx

Varsity Huddersfield

Hola Chicas/Chicos

I headed up to Yorkshire this week to party with the new fresher’s at Huddersfield University.  For the last few weeks I’ve been un-in dated with invites from various pubs and bars asking me to come check out their fresher’s week. I hadn’t even considered Huddersfield until I saw their Fresher’s Fling night. 5 pubs, 3 groups, 1 t-shirt, the pub crawl to end all pub crawls. Looking at the list of bars and seeing Varsity in the mix made me happy, love a good student bar which is a rare thing to find other than the student union. Wetherspoons and slug and lettuce is getting too expensive.

So I trekked up to Huddersfield to join in the fun. I decided to scope out the bar before the night’s carnage. The venue was much bigger than the other Varsity’s I’ve been to before. The downstairs part was where the main bar was and had lots of tables, sofas, high top tables and stools. Even at 2pm the bar was HEAVING with hungry students. The place smelled of burgers and BBQ sauce, score one for making my tummy rumble! I had a cheese burger and curly fries. The burger was amazing, tasted really fresh and so juicy. Considering it was under £5 for a burger and a drink, I think I’ve replaced my cheap burger deal with a new one – sorry Wetherspoons!

Once the bar had got a little quieter I had a chat with the manager who told me he was expecting over 700 students tonight. That’s a whoooole lotta students but all the staff seemed really excited for the night. Had a little quiet time in the beer garden and found out the bar had free Wi-Fi and after failing to ignore my email inbox I couldn’t escape them anymore and fully took advantage of the Wi-Fi.

I returned later in the evening just in the nick of time, right before the first wave for pub crawlers. Even though I graduated a few short months ago, I was out of practice and these fresh faced fresher’s were drinking me under the table! It was so good seeing the big groups of students together all partying and dancing. Witnessed the most hilarious dance-off in the upstairs seating area. I would have filmed if it hadn’t been so dark but seeing 4 blokes inside a ring of adoring girl’s body popping and jumping around was funny as hell!

FUN FUN FUN

Speaking of girls, in the boy to girl ratio, the boys were massively loosing, never seen so much long hair and bare legs, if you got it flaunt it and these girls defiantly had it!

The lovely Huddersfield Girls

 

 

 

..and boys! ooOOOooo errrrrr

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Staff were pumped and ready to go

Atmosphere and decoration:  Good reliable student bar, a dying breed.

Facilities:  High heel friendly, I hate slippery floors, never a good look when you fall on your face.

Talent Radar:  Oh yes, the blokes that were there score a good 8/10 although a bit young for me.

Fun Factor: Major fun, great music, good dancing fun was had by all

Perfect for: Hangover fixer food, cheap prices, student hang out, free Wi-Fi.

In 3 words: Raise the roof!

NB: Best of all you can book tables for parties, drinks or dinner! http://www.partyatthepub.co.uk/