Pumpkin Metro Bar

I remember. How funny. A group of 6 people, we suppose to take the train and go all the way to Wigan. We’ve missed the train, surprise surprise and the next one was in about an hour. Annoying. Really annoying. Where to go, what to do?! Pumpkin café in front of us. They serve food, they serve tea and beers. All we need for an hour. The prices are for a train station if you know what I mean. Quite up for what they offer. But it’s normal, so I’m not going to criticize on that. I didn’t like the staff though. At all. So sour. Like they were making you a favor serving you a cup of tea, which to be fair, it takes 2 minutes to be done.
The atmosphere in the place is not awesome or something but obviously is like a little place where you stay for a bit to wait for your train. Nothing more.

Pumpkin Metro Bar is the kind of place I never visit at a train station. That is because I always leave things to the last minute travelling-​wise. So I’ll be the one running the last hundred meters to the station and desperately queuing to get my tickets before bolting onto the train.
However, when I travelled from Victoria yesterday I’d looked up the wrong times online and actually ended up having a good 40 minutes to spare, so I visited the Pumpkin Metro Bar t get a drink and read the paper.
A pint of Grolsch was £3.20 which is reasonable and that price really could have been a lot worse in a train station. The girl serving behind the bar was dead friendly and there was plenty of space to sit down, including lots of really comfy and soft leather couches.
The décor in this bar/​café/​newsagent space is really retro and steeped in the history of Victoria station. If only the actual station outside wasn’t a chilly, wet and windy pit. Once they re-​do this station this pub will be even better.

These little Pumpkin Café stores are excellent. They now occupy a number of Manchester stations including one at Manchester Oxford Road, another in Stockport station, and one here at Manchester Victoria. They really have made a difference to train journeys in the Manchester area. Waiting and travelling are now far less painful, so cheers pumpkin.
You can get nice coffees, for low prices, as well as muffins, cakes and sandwiches. They even have the daily papers. Basically it’s the place to pick up whatever you ened to set you up for a nice relaxing train journey.
This one has a nice little set of tables as well and its usually remarkably peaceful for the middle of a train station. Lovely smiley staff as well.
If you go on the website you can print off a voucher for a free cake as well so make sure you do that and pop it in your wallet for your next Manchester train journey.

Didn’t railway stations used to be more glamourous? The steam clearing to reveal a handsome man in a trench coat or a lady kitted out in fur, hat, gloves, heels and a Louis Vuitton Speedy?
The exterior of this Metro Bar in Victoria Station makes me think so. The little dome shaped roof, the pale blue mosaic. Aah. Now what once was the station Bookshop next door has now become an information point and this ‘Restaurant’ serves travellers with tea, coffee and snacks pointedly lacking in glamour.
In spite of the fact that this is now a Pumpkin Café, I much prefer this slice of nostalgia to the other options — WH Smith, hot dogs or a Java coffee stand. I just don’t want to sit in the station with people walking by me. I want my own table in a booth where I can put my suitcase underneath in comfort. The Louis Vuitton logo has just worn off, I swear. I want to pretend that I am meeting someone mysterious. Or maybe I’m the spy. Im going somewhere important, that’s for sure.
None of these imaginings are that easy considering who you are likely to be sat next to these days but worth a try nonetheless when you are kicking back waiting for a train at Victoria.