Expo Lounge

I’ve been to Expo Lounge quite a few times now, with my family and the dog since they opened last year.
As always I love a welcoming dog friendly venue, and Expo Lounge is certainly that. They have treats for your dogs (just ask and they will provide!) There is a seated area upstairs too, which owners tend not to take their dogs, so if you didn’t want to socialise with the pooches you could go upstairs which is just as comfortable. Filled with sofas and armchairs galore!
Their food & coffee has improved a lot since they opened and I am really impressed by the vast amount they have on offer on the menu, I would recommend the quinoa burger with edamame bean mayo I had off the specials menu, it was delicious!
I would suggest this place for a lazy Sunday lunch after a long dog walk in the Carrs, I have yet to try it on a busy Friday or Saturday night.
The only thing I would say is the music is quite eclectic in there; which isn’t always a bad thing! But for a quirky gastro-​pub kind of place I didn’t expect EDM-​dance on a Tuesday afternoon! But that wouldn’t put me off going back.

Get the tapas! The mains are okay but the tapas is amazing. If you’re hungry order a few dishes :) Really excellent though — fantastic, chatty staff as well and a great crowd and atmosphere here too on a good day!

Expo Lounge is currently my favourite hangout. It’s toddler friendly and my nearly two-​year-​old loves it.
It’s very chilled and has a lovely outside seating area too which looks out to Didsbury Village.
There’s a great selection of food including vegan and gluten free.
On my last visit I spotted Freddie Flintoff!

Great wee spot for a cheeky afternoon coffee or a pint of ale. Food looks good and this place always looks busy in the evenings — I’ll deffo be giving it a shot when I’m next in the area. Had a nice iced coffee which was perfect for the rare but warm Mancunian weather. Nice décor, friendly staff and an enticing menu at fair prices. I’ll be back.

Had a nice meal here on a Saturday night with a friend — good food, a chilled atmosphere and reasonable prices. The menu had plenty of tempting options, and a nice tapas selection too.
We ordered tapas dishes to start before our main courses so were a little surprised when everything came out together, but it was fine — good grazing! All of the food was presented nicely, hot and full of flavour.
Service could have been better, some of the staff were a little cold and inattentive, but the others made up for it. Overall, it was a pleasant experience and a good spot for a casual meal with friends. Nice playlist too!

We went for brunch. We ordered coffees and tea to drink, a ciabbata, pancakes and English.
There was no table service, so you had to wait at the bar to order. It was a long wait as there was only one chap on the till who was taking orders and delivering food.
The waiter who delivered the coffee managed to spill a lot of my friend’s coffee on the table and did not even bother asking if he needed another.
The food came out. It was warm and tasted ok but they did not ask if we wanted any sauces or anything. Some of the pecan nuts on my friend’s pancake were not roasted properly and still felt raw.
It was not the best experience and I don’t think we’ll go back again.

Came for breakfast as this place always seems reasonably busy. The décor is the standard mish mash of home photos, paintings, clocks and general bric a brac that abounds in Chorlton/​Didsbury.
There’s plenty of room for going with a group. I prefer my craft and real ale though, so with a very standard selection of beer I wouldn’t be encouraged to return for a drink, because I don’t want a Beck’s or Stowford Press Cider.
No table service, but that’s fairly standard in bars that serve food.
The server brought over my flat white and asked who had the coffee, appearing not to know what kind of coffee it was and proceeded to spill half of it into the saucer with no offer of a replacement.
My food came, I ordered the bubble and squeak stack. It was pleasant enough with bacon, hollandaise and poached eggs, but nothing special and slightly too small a serve without being sufficient to complain about.
Wouldn’t return quickly.

We went in here on Saturday for a couple of drinks after our meal at Mud Crab Café. It wasn’t very busy, but then as I’m a townie and rarely go out to Didsbury, I’m not sure what is normal. The 12 of us got a table, which surprised me as we got there at about 10pm and in town that would mean standing room only. So it was a pleasant surprise to get a seat on a Saturday, I could get used to that.
I just had amaretto on the rocks which was reasonanbly priced. Some friends had Victoria sponge cake (as they didn’t fancy the desserts at Mud Crab) and they said it was really good.
One thing I liked was the jug of tap water on the side — call me old and boring, but its nice being able just to grab some water if needed rather than queuing at the bar and only asking for tap water. More bars should do this.
Next time I venture out of town into Didsbury Village I’d definitely be up for going here again.

This is a very trendy, sweet large venue that offers a variety of brunch sandwiches, tapas and burgers. I went in to just get a coffee after a long day and ended up getting a banana split to cheer myself up for £4.75, not too over priced and very tasty!

The Expo Lounge in Didsbury Village always looks busy whenever I go past so thought it was about time I popped in and gave it a try. First impressions were good as the place has been done out beautifully with a real quirky feel. Love all the mirrors and unusual pictures along the wall. Expo has a look of an independent but is in fact a chain bar/​café.
The food was good for the price, I had the falafel and halloumi salad which tasted very fresh and certainly filled a hungry hole. My friends spinach and lentil curry was also very nice and looked home made.
My only problem with this restaurant is the service. When we arrived no one came over to greet us so we had to go over to the bar and ask for a table. We waited for quite a while for someone to take our order only to be told we had to order at the bar. Why didn’t someone tell us this when we arrived? Also to me this doesn’t match the ambience of the place as ordering at a bar is something you do when you go for food at the local pub not a smart café like Expo.
However, this didn’t spoil my experience at all as the place was nice and relaxed and the food good. Not sure I will rush back as there are so many places in Didsbury worth 5 stars. Expo, you just need to raise your game a little if you truly want to compete in this competitive foodie area.

A friend had suggested a mid-​week meet up here as it’s pretty spacious and child friendly, two boxes that needed ticking as we were both bringing babies and buggies. Unfortunately that was pretty much the only thing going for it.
I wandered in looking decidedly lost whilst I tried to spot my friend and, when I realised I’d arrived first, choose a suitable table that 2 prams would fit round. Two members of staff looked over in my direction but neither greeted me or offered any guidance as to whether I needed seating or I should grab a table. When I had sat myself down I then assumed, as you do, that someone would come over to take a drinks order or at least welcome you but this didn’t happen either. It turns out that you need to go to the bar to place orders for food and drink which is fine in this time of casual place but how would you know that if you’ve never been before?!
Food-​wise I ordered the very reasonably priced mug of soup and half a panini at £4.50. The soup of the day was roasted tomato and honey which was nice enough and luckily you couldn’t taste the unnecessary addition of honey. I opted for a halloumi, sun blushed tomato, houmous, chutney and spinach panini which came looking like sandwich road kill and didn’t taste a great deal better. There was one tiny piece of halloumi, a leaf of spinach and just tons of houmous. I love houmous but if halloumi is the first ingredient I would like to be able to taste it at least. My friend had the same panini (although a whole one) and agreed that it was definitely ‘spot the cheese’.
It’s obviously a very popular spot with mums and babies during the week due to the size but I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon.