The Temple

Went to The Temple on three different nights last month and there were different crowds, but always good music and the same great bartender (Kieran).
I was fortunate to not have been there on a rainy night to experience what other reviews mentioned and I also never noticed a toilet smell in the bar.
I wish they had real ale, but they did have a bottle-​conditioned ale and lots of different beers from around the world.
On one of my visits, my friends and I chatted with a local couple. The guy remarked that The Temple is what pubs used to be like, where people would have to sit near people they didn’t know and talked.
Had a great time each night and I can’t wait to go back when I’m in Manchester again.

Quirky and fun this Temple (…of convenience — as public toilets were euphemistically referred to), was a toilet, and essentially still feels like one. Not everybody’s cup it tea (a coincidental diuretic reference). It’s very size means it always packed. It really has a the great atmosphere of a well kept secret and if you can get a seat it’s an easy place to make an evening of — unless you’re claustrophobic.

I am in love… this place strikes all the right heartstrings on my own special remedy… I cannot explain it.
Walking down the steps. led me to a wolvesden full of candlelight and cool posters… I could see this place easily getting full… which wasn’t hard considering its pokey nature.
At the bar the last two bottles of the isle of man pale ale was purchased between us (thank you Jonny for a cool recommendation on this) and the bar man Miguel was Sooo friendly offering us free music and a cheeky shot of jeigermaster…
I don’t know I just get the vibe here with it’s snugness s
And beer delights. sure it’s a little more pricey for the imported beer… but if I had the capability of placing my. music as a teenager into a room full of well loved sofas and a decent bar… this would have been it!
Only thing that knocks this place is the lack of Care of the toilets, considering this was a public one would make you think the toilets would be stellar.
But they are. not, please rectify this so I can vote it 5stars!
This place is ideal for those that have had enough of the world and need to. take shelter from it :) come here for a getaway from the cruel world.. Oh and please put.some.more music on the jukebox… like Muse wouldn’t go amiss.

Just remembered I went here last weekend!
The Temple used to be an underground public toilet and I have to be honest, it still resembles one — both in terms of looks and smells! That said, it has bags of character, a decent beer selection (including my beloved Leifmans Kriek — get in!) and a jukebox pumping out belting rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Next time I’m in the area, I’ll definitely be popping in for a wee /​drink…

It’s tinny, and it’s smelly but it got a quirky character. You have to come and feel it yourself. The jukebox is awesome.

Don’t get the appeal. I am sure you heard it used to be a pubic toilet. And sometimes you get a smell of a public toilet. Personally, I am not bothered about it being «different» or the novelty factor.
The selection of beer is pretty good though. Only been a couple times I think. You do get a mix of different types of people.
Close to a ¹⁄₅. But I reserve this for really awful places.

The temple has to be one of the scuzziest, dirtiest, downright divey places in Manchester — and I love it because of this!
Built on the canal side and it being a well documented ex public toilet, there’s a strong independent spirit on offer here and there’s a certain type of person that this place caters for — it’s not one for your glammed up cocktail seekers or fans of generic chain bars!
An amazing jukebox belts out rock and metal — we heard Smashing pumpkins, mark lanegan and QOTSA on our visit — it’s got a biker/​hippy vibe that is saying «let’s support somewhere this unique» and this is really cool!
The bar has a great beer selection and I was really impressed to see the Isle of Man Okells IPA on offer (which I basically nailed very quickly)
Love temple!

Funnily enough I visited The Temple and Big Hands for the first time on the same night, not realising they are related. I also didn’t realise I have walked past The Temple dozens of times, despite having heard of it.
So yes, I love its pokey underground former toilet atmosphere. I didn’t like some of the artwork but I’m not Waldemar Januszczack so who cares what I think. Otherwise it’s all very appealing, and they serve alcohol so most people’s bar needs will be catered for. I shall be back!

I popped in to The Temple for the first time in ages earlier this week for a quick beer before going to see a film. It was a regular haunt of mine back in the day, when it was all smoky and mysterious and cool. It doesn’t quite have that same vibe now but maybe that’s nostalgia.
I know this is not politically correct and dreadfully unhealthy but I preferred it when people could smoke in there. and I’m a non-​smoker! As mentioned in others’ reviews, The Temple is an old public toilet, it’s tiny and you can tell that immediately when you walk in there, but when people could smoke in there it added to the atmosphere and made it feel much bigger.
But I digress, the smallness is it’s main charm and I should be thankful that I’m not being poisoned by smoke anymore! I went on a Monday night and it was very quiet.
The jukebox is still awesome and I love how quirky and dingy it is still. I’m a big real ale fan and they had little choice as it’s mainly lager on tap. They do have a good range of bottles though and I went for a local Salford ale which was recommended by the bartender; it was super hoppy but refreshing. Now, I realise that not everyone has to jump on the real ale/​craft beer bandwagon but I really feel The Temple is the kind of place that would suit having a wide variety of it on tap rather than fizzy lager… I guess it’s a space issue though.
Overall, I enjoyed my quick visit. I’d recommend going when it’s a bit busier; Friday night/​Saturday night, when it’ll probably have a bit more atmosphere and be full of more interesting folk than when I visited.

The place is called Temple, it is a bar which used to be a public toilet, it is underground and looks very grungy and dark inside and of course serves alcohol —- I love the whole concept (Note: I was born and raised in a Hindu family and Temple is a place of worship for Hindu’s). I would love to bring one of those conservative Hindu priests here just to see his reaction (would be comedy gold).
I am a big fan of its sister bar Big Hands and that is one of the reason I decided to visit Temple (obviously the name intrigued me too). They play funky rock music, have a good selection of beers and good enough seating arrangements (don’t expect to get a seat post 8 pm on any day). Yes the bar is quite crammed and small but that kind of has its own appeal according to me – It definitely keeps you warm on a chilly winter night! The beers are reasonably priced, though some may say its expensive for the kind of space it has, but I guess being ghetto and grungy is upmarket these days (explains the price). The crowd is usually quite nice, mostly working professionals around oxford road, you might find the masters and Phd students hanging out here too but definitely not a place where 18 year old’s are screaming and shouting!
Verdict: You should definitely go there for the novelty of the concept!

Yes it’s an ex-​public toilet. Yes, it’s small. Yes, it has it’s own familiar (public toilet) smell. But there is so much more to this unique little Manchester bar and a reason that Guy Garvey and the boys from Manchester band Elbow chose to write a song about The Temple — it’s because it’s good!
A blackboard gives you the option of beers and wines from around the world and the jukebox has an excellent selection of songs you normally only get chance to play when having drinks with friends at home. Posters of local gigs in other pubs around Manchester litter the walls and if you’re a fan of maps then the actual toilets provide a great reading point whilst spending a penny. It’s dark and initmate and the sort of bar you only go in for one but end up making friends with the people squashed in next to you and stay for hours.
The best thing about The Temple is the fact that it’s underground and you have no idea what time it is in the bustling city outside. If you like Yates or The Printworks, you will hate The Temple. For everyone else who wants to take steps down in to an unknown hole where your one bottle of Tyskie turns in to more than you care to remember — you don’t want to miss this bar.
Check out Big Hands, a sister bar to The Temple situated further down Oxford Road.

Nasty smelly pub not much bigger than a wardrobe. Don’t know what all the fuss is about unless you like the smell of second hand clothes and people who look like they live under a viaduct.

Ooh, very mixed reviews for The Temple I’m noticing so far… interesting stuff! I’m firmly down the middle on this one. The brunette and I clattered into this little underground bar sheltering from the horrible Manchester rain (which doesn’t seem ready to stop as I type this) and looked around, assessing our situation.
I like conversions. Ever since those myriad property TV programmes cropped up during the boom years and discussed barn conversions, church conversions, school conversions, hospital conversions (yep, that last one is close to my heart… I lived in a hospital conversion) I’ve been intrigued by the idea of old buildings being converted into other establishments. But a toilet converted into a bar? Why, how delightfully anarchic! I’ll let my Critical Theory Masters rear its ugly head and talk philosophically about how such a conversion reveals so much about our contemporary post-​secular routines, how symbolic and poignant it is that converting a toilet into a drinking venue signifies our modern need to urinate our paycheques down the drain…
Urgh, do you see why I hated that course? It could suck the fun out of a five year old’s birthday party. (Ah, jelly and ice cream, the wobbling of which highlights societal instability, the coldness of the ice cream revealing our preoccupation with global warming… *Facepalm*)
James makes a very good point — if it wasn’t once a toilet, where would the novelty be? Wouldn’t it just be kind of… grotty? Then again Alexandra does talk of excellent credentials, I too am a huge fan of Big Hands and those who own that also own this. The brunette herself said, ‘It’s good. It *could* be better.’ Gosh, if she was doing my duties you’d already know by now if you wanted to check it out or not. There’s a lot to be said for being To The Point.
I, however, waffle. I Belgian waffle with ice cream, fudge sauce and bananas, you know this by now.
The orange walls are indeed crumbling… whether this is caused by damp I’m not sure but there’s a sense that the place could simply collapse at any second. It’s utterly tiny, which was fine when we ventured in on a Wednesday night as we had somewhere to sit, but I couldn’t imagine anything worse than trying to get a drink here if it was packed.
The stairs leading downwards can get a bit slippery when wet (oh hai, Bön Jovi!) so I’d take care, and it also means a distinct lack of wheelchair access which unfortunately can’t be helped. The smoking area is made up of a stairwell around the other side, which, from one of the photos I took, looks like a terribly grim scene from a horror movie. Alexandra’s spot on about not being able to hear any street noise, which does make it feel cosy and tucked away. And I’ll echo exactly what Sarah-​Anne said about going if you have the chance, it’s absolutely different to any other bar in Manchester and you should give it a try at least once. If people didn’t live by the ‘I’ll try anything once’ motto, nobody would be eating sushi, would they?

The Temple’s awning sitting all alone on the side of Oxford Road is quite neat. Going down into the cavern of a bar is even better! The ambiance of this place is amazing. It’s TINY, mind you, but intimate and has a rock’n’roll vibe to it… a.k.a. a bit grungy.
The drinks aren’t cheap (£3.50 for a beer), though I’m a student. I always like to mention that, because I feel like we’re a different breed of human beings. Cheap-​skates, if you will.
The music was nice. I believe they played a Radiohead song I really liked while I was there.
I will definitely go back to The Temple to have a good beer and a nice sit. Seems like a neat place to take a boyfriend/​girlfriend.

I noticed this place on the end of a night, while I was walking back from the famous McD’s (I know I’ve mentioned I’m not a fan, but the growling stomach made it very necessary!) At first it obviously fascinated me, as to what could be in the middle of a street and not to mention under!
Anyway, so the adventurous soul and me were at the Temple and believe me on a friday night, there was no space to breathe! It was indeed the tiniest place I had ever been to, in fact the tiniest pub in England that I had set my foot into! Nontheless, even that little place there was litle niche for some live music, drinks overflowing which cheap tags and menand women having a great time! I got talking and discovered that this place was actually a converted toilet into pub, hence there wasn’t a toilet inside now! So if you need to wee, you better run elsewhere!
Other than that it should be fun when it isn’t that full, since it can get quite claustrophobic for people!

I know Corbieres has a reputation for having the best Jukebox in Manchester but if you really want a righteous choice of tunes then you really have got to head to Temple Bar. Pavement, Nick Cave and a local heroes Elbow all have a place on the Wurlitzer here (note: not actually a Wurlitzer.) Jukebox aside, the environs are a little cramped and if you’re coming with more than about three other people you may struggle to find anywhere to put yourselves (the toilets however are actually pretty spacious. Maybe this shouldn’t be a surprise given the original use of the building.) The whole place exudes an easy, unpractised cool though with little red candles and walls full of prints and posters. The selection of beers is extensive (and also expensive — poet; didn’t know it) but wine and cider wise you’re a little stuck for choice.
You might even catch Guy Garvey in here, probably best to lay off the Elbow if he does come in though — he gets enough of that at the office.

My family still haven’t got over the fact that I chose to celebrate my birthday one year at The Temple. They would have understood if I’d chosen a restaurant or a nightclub with a dancefloor but a bar that used to be a public toilet? That threw them completely.
To digress, The Temple used to be a public toilet many moons ago. In the nineties however, it was converted into Manchester’s smallest bar. Accessed via a blink-​or-​miss-​it stairwell off Oxford Street, it’s a bustling place with an intimate atmosphere and shabby chic interior. There’s a tiny bar with great bottled beers and spirits, a cool jukebox with lots of Mancunian rock and roll, a cluster of seats for about 20 people and standing room for about 20 more. Suffice to say, nights here to be fun and messy — which is why I chose it as the perfect birthday venue!

THIS BAR USED TO BE A TOILET!
Once you’ve got over that fact, it’s actually not too bad. Lots of different weird and wonderful beers on offer and good music. Not bad.
Big downside though, this bar is underground and you go down stairs to get to it, on a rainy day (most days in Manchester) this bar floods.
And also it is very small. But I really think you should go at some point if you get the chance, it’s just off Oxford Road and really is completely different to all the other bars in Manchester.

This is one of the best bars I have been to in Manchester. The reason is that it’s fun and different and above all else the owners have taken a risk… in my veiw one that has definately paid off.
This bar located in the middle of the street is in fact owned by the group Elbow who also own Big Hands bar which I also love.
I’ll be honest and I felt like I was in central New York when I was in this bar which excited me greatly. It is surprising how little noise you hear from the road above you and although the place is small it all adds to the charm .
If you want to take your friends or girlfriend/​boyfriend somewhere completely different with great music and excellence service get down to Temple Bar. Just mind the road on the way out when you have had a few… little dicey

When the best thing about a bar is the fact that it used to be a toilet it doesn’t bode well. But seriously, the ingenuity involved in transforming an old public toilet into a bar makes means credit is certainly due.
The fact that the entrance is in the middle of the road and takes you down into a tunnel beneath the crowded street also means it is one of the most exciting bars you will ever enter first time.
The intimate nature of the seating means you are bound to make friends quick… or end up spilling the wrong persons pint but hey, you takes the rough with the smooth in this life!