Pot Kettle Black

Pot Kettle Black is one of those places I kept meaning to visit because I’d heard really good things about it and their Instagram feed always makes long after their coffee. So I popped in today expecting to be wowed, unfortunately I wasn’t.
While it’s pretty cool looking inside, there aren’t actually that many seats. The coffee menu is extensive, even catering to the V60 and aeropress aficionados, but it was the coffee for me that let it down. I went with a flat white, which was served beautifully and got my hopes up. The taste however was really quite bitter, making me think the beans had been over roasted. I could still taste the bitterness even after eating my (delicious) peanut butter square.
For me it is a little style over substance, and left me wishing that I’d gone to Starbucks across the way.

Great quality coffee. Great food. Good music. What more could you want. It’s a little gem hidden away in Barton arcade that’s well worth a visit. Cheaper and better than the chains. You get a fresh water with your coffee, as you should, and one of those lovely crisp wafer rolls. If you want a warning treat there’s soup. There’s also beer’s and whine available. All in all, just what a great coffee shop should be. Friendly, welcoming, and great quality.

I didn’t want to go to Starbucks like I usually do when I wanted to do work today so I got on Unilocal and looked for a café to check out. I saw a review of Pot Kettle Black and while the reviews were pretty positive, what got me interested with the place was the pics of the hot chocolate.
So I got my book and walked over… The place is on deansgate and not that hard to find. The place is super cool, has an industrial feel with the wooden floor with a mixture of metal furniture. There’s a lot of comfy seats to the place so it’s not uncomfortable. There’s a big table in the middle and plenty of power sockets.
They have the typical coffee offers and three different types of hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was only £3. They all have food and sweets, but didn’t try any of it. I got the orange hot chocolate and it came with water, a chocolate wafer biscuit, and of course the chocolate. The hot chocolate was not too rich or too sweet and had a nice orange flavour. The only thing I wanted was a hotter cup of chocolate.
While I like the place a lot, it was really cold so make sure you have a coat or scarf to stay warm. The staff was really nice and welcoming.
Overall the place was cool and will come back and try the other hot chocolates and drinks.

Pot Kettle Black is one of my favorite coffee spots in the city. Whether you’re meeting friends or getting work done, PKB is a winner. I’ve enjoyed the whole caffeinated menu (haven’t had any of their smoothies, though they look amazing). Cakes are well done, too.
Probably the stand out thing for me is the attention to detail in their coffee. They treat each process with care: espresso drinks, V60, Aeropress, etc. and it shows.
Also: location! Wonderful spot with a fair amount of seating.

Returning to an old haunt to find it the same and better
This café has now been open for almost a year and they’ve settled in to being a prime coffee spot, with a fantastic atmosphere, selection of food and great service as always.
PKB was always a well-​oiled machine but there’s something so lovely about the ease of service, the consistent quality of the drinks, no matter who’s pouring them, and the general attention to detail. The guys have made tiny adjustments – the «outside» seating, the music selection, the food and its presentation – and have made something that was already very, very good into something faultless.
Pop in for a drink, grab yourself soup or a sandwich, a brownie or a slice of cake, and prepare to sit in here for hours.

Must’ve been sat in here for a good 3 hours yesterday, and I enjoyed every minute! I’d always heard that PKB was a great spot to enjoy a coffee, get some work done so as I had a tone of stuff to get through and a meeting to attend it seemed like a good time to try for myself.
I had a Flat White, in fact I had 3 Flat Whites. and to stop the caffeine jitters I had a Summer Berry’s Smoothie — all were fantastic but the Smoothie stood out! You could tell it had a great mix of fruit in there and it wasn’t too heavy and thick like some Smoothies can be.
They have a range of Smoothie flavours as well as some delightful food bits, the fella next to me had the soup which smelt absolutely incredible, shame I had to dip out before lunch else I’d have enjoyed my 4^th hour, 4^th Flat White and a bowl of soup!
Winner.

I’ve heard alot about Pot Kettle Black over the past 12 months or so, and have desperately wanted to try here for a while now, luckily my search for a barbershop brought me to the Barton Arcade, and hence Pot Kettle Black.
PKB is an independant coffee shop, surrounded in Deansgate, close to St Anne’s Square and the Arndale Shopping Centre, by so many big brand coffee companies, PRET, EAT, Starbucks, Costa, all have stores within minutes of a walk away from here, so Pot Kettle Black must be doing something right to be able to afford, what I guess is a high rent in the Barton Arcade, and being able to stay open, and I agree that they are.
They is lots of plug sockets here, with one at near enough every table, and with the main central table being flooded with them, which is especially good to sit and work for a few hours, if you can work on your computer, and it is a nice, relaxing atmosphere to be able to do that too.
The staff here seemed a little poor, I was waiting for a minute or two at the till, while the staff carried on their conversation, and I even talked like I was being served, only to be ignored. When I was served, the staff seemed a little quiet and it was hard to here them, having not offered any flavouring syrups, I decided to go for a plain latte. My drink was £2.80, which I find pretty pricey considering the size, and that it is an independent chain, but I do understand they can’t do it too cheaply, as I’m sure rent is high at the Barton Arcade, and simply they need to do that to pay for all the plug sockets!
The coffee was quite strong, but still I did enjoy it, and it was good quality, I do understand why they didn’t want to offer flavouring syrups, as it would «make people not appreciate the coffee» as my barista pointed out, it cost £2.80 as I said, and was served with a biscuit (sadly not gluten free) and a glass of water.
I was a little upset to see that PKB had wasted an opportunity to offer gluten free, they claimed to me to offer gluten free brownies, but they were not separated, and they was a high chance of cross-​contamination, so I had to avoid that. They told me they would not be able to offer it anyway due to having a small kitchen, but they plan to make the kitchen bigger in the future, and they may offer it. In my opinion, they could clean the surfaces down (as they should anyway) and simply bake the gluten free first in the morning, and put them in plastic bags, that could result in minimum cross-​contamination, and seem more inviting for coeliacs to visit, as it is really nice to have something with your coffee, which isn’t a prepackaged and non-​fresh wrap or brownie.
They do have a couple of signs in the surrounding areas of Deansgate and St Anne’s Square, which let you know it is nearby, with a few humorous messages, and free wifi is also available here, which I feel is great as it adds to the place being great to work from, and it also requires no long sign-​up, which makes it not worth connecting to the wifi at all, and with codes on every table, you don’t need to worry about bothering the staff for the password, hence can connect easier and quicker.
I was a little disappointed with the service here, especially to warrant paying £2.80 for a drink of that size, and it also would have been nice if they did remove the biscuit, knowing I’m gluten free for health reasons, but the coffee is quite nice here and good quality, and it is a nice place, so I do feel 3 stars is a fair rating for Pot Kettle Black.

Polite and calming atmosphere, I keep coming back here, particularly at the end of the day. The staff are lovely, and know their stuff, even seem not to irritated with small children ringing the service bell on the counter constantly (unlike me). Enjoying the summer fruit smoothie, free WiFi (come to expect it these days, but I like it here because it is fast.
Also a good crowd using the place for a mixture of work, meeting, and play.

I have genuinely found my favourite coffee shop in Manchester.
Pot Kettle Black, found in Barton Arcade just off either Deansgate or St Annes Square, is a unique little café that served me one of the best coffees yesterday evening.
The inside of PKB is very homely and welcoming. There were plenty of people already sat enjoying their coffees — some were families, friends couples and a few people were working away on laptops which was also good to see. It’s a place for everyone.
They have plug sockets around the main island-​type table, which is a huge plus for me as my phone battery tends to let me down very often.
The menu was great and boasted all the best coffees. Their little Christmas menu caught my eye though as I saw they served some boozy coffees — Disaronno coffee to be precise — so I opted for that. Tim C. went for a mulled wine.
The coffee took a while to make, but it was well worth the wait. Served to me on a little silver tray, the Disaronno shot was in a separate glass so I decided to try the coffee on it’s own first — and it was so so good.
After plonking the Disaronno into my coffee and chomping on the little wafer biscuit you get as a freebie I was over the moon.
Try it. I’ll be back to Pot Kettle Black.

I’m keeping it short today.
Great service, delicious cakes, well-​roasted beans and well-​made drinks (smooth without the burnt/​bitterness taste) AND great presentation and atmosphere.
I can see myself sitting here comfortably doing work on my laptop. They even provide power outlets near most of their tables. A plus for people who likes to work at a coffee shop (like me).

After reading the amazing reviews on here about this new and exciting Coffee shop i had to give it a try, Pot Kettle Black is based in the beautiful Barton Arcade which is just off Deansgate, I love the style of what they have done to the place from what it used to be like when it was the Circle Bar and Club.
The Interior is lovely and it has a industrial but classic style at the same time, theres quite a few tables and chairs to go around and a table in the middle. There is also a raised area with high stools which seems to be the place to sit, there’s also power points scattered everywhere so dont worry about charging youre Macbook up or your iPhone, PKB has lovely big windows as well for people watching! This place is quite stunning for a coffee shop!
I had a beautiful tasting large Latte it was smooth tasting and you could just taste the coffee for a while after and at £3 which wasn’t a bad price considering the elegance of this place it also comes on a cool silver tray with a small water and a biscuit, nice touch!
The staff are super friendly as well and the whole place had a great feel to it.
This is a really cool coffee shop and I’m sure its going to get really busy when people get to know about it and I sure am a fan!

I’m very excited about the potential of ‘Pot Kettle Black’ — a new coffee shop that’s opened in the Barton Arcade just off Deansgate.
First off they have it down in terms of the style of the building and the fresh minimalist approach to décor — pretty much all glass walls and a feeling that’s open and inviting. With plenty of room at the actual coffee counter, I can’t see there being a crush for takeaway, while the middle bench can probably seat 15, with scattered tables and chairs all over. This is great because let’s face it, a lot of the best places in the NQ for coffee (NTP, Fig’ and Eastern Bloc) are always rammed and it can be a bit of a fight for a table.
The coffee was nice (the sample I tried was from the fantastic Workshop coffee in London) and due to me having a billion coffees already I went for a large pot of Assam tea (good value at £2). They also do a selection of sandwiches and cakes but they’ll have to be for a return visit.
Fast wifi, good music (definitely an 80’s soul vibe when I was in yesterday) and friendly staff/​owners (I got chatting to John and Mark yesterday who were very passionate about coffee and deserve to do well) it’s the perfect place to hangout at all times — especially with them opening till 7pm, meaning it’s a good choice for after work if the boozer isn’t on your agenda.
Make sure you check it out — soon!

PKB seemed very popular when I went to visit.
Wanted a quick warming cup of Joe before heading home on the train and PKB had the most promising reviews.
Set in an arcade, PKB is a little coffee shop with a couple of benches outside. Prime location to see the very trendy, Hoxton-​esk Gentlemens barbers shop across the way. Complete with barman making cocktails and dapper tashed galore it’s certainly entertaining to watch.
There’s a very simple but good choice of coffee and cake. I liked that the coffee wasn’t too big and it came with a little glass of water and wafer. The coffee itself was nice, much nicer than most chains.
It’s a little bit on the pricey side but nice and different from the alternatives none the less.
Chocolate Oreo Brownie is a winner.
Worth a look.