There’s nothing more secretive than The Washhouse. Nothing about it, from the frontage to the website, suggests it’s a bar. But it is. It’s not a laundrette, it’s a bar. Sorry guys. Your only chance of entry comes from tracking down the phone number to book a machine (aka, a table). Bit too much hassle? Maybe, but you’ll be missing out on some wonderful cocktails in this cosy enigmatic space.

A basement cocktail bar dressed top to bottom in vintage erotica. Why not? With cheeky nooks and enclosed sections, along with private phone lines in every booth – requiring your discretion – this is a place for the mischievous. Our top tip: ‘The Chocstar Martini’. A playful twist on the classic Espresso Martini, using vanilla vodka, kahlua coffee liqueur and topping it all off with a big dollop of whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate swirls.

Hidden in the backstreets of Manchester, Kōdo is the kind of bar your mates keep chatting about, but no-one seems to know where it is. There’s no neon sign or obvious entrance – just an unmarked red door, giving nothing away except for a single watchful eye painted above it. Go for the intrigue, stay for the cocktails, leaning into Japanese and East Asian flavours, balancing yuzu, sake, and umeshu with effortless precision.

If you go out in Manchester and enjoy a well-crafted cocktail you’ll almost certainly have heard of Speak In Code. Despite its best efforts, this hidden-away bar has a solid reputation as one of the city’s best bars, and for good reason. It’s also proudly plant-based bar, creating, in their words, a closed-loop drinks and food program based on reduce, reuse and recycle.

Serving Manchester’s music lovers for nigh on 35 years, Corbieres has a place in the heart of many a Mancunian. Including no less than Oasis and Mick Hucknall, all of whom used to drink down there back in the dark, pre-boom days before every spare building boasted its very own fly-by-night “pop-up” bar. Stick to the tried and tested and check out this dark little hideaway, famed for its unshowy atmosphere and laidback staff.

One of the few exceptions to the rowdy Northern Quarter bar scene, Dusk Til Pawn masquerades as a – how did you guess? – pawn shop, complete with deceptive items in the window. Don’t be fooled by those crafty decoys, it’s actually a fairly genteel cocktail bar, with a vintage feel. Think mahogany and well-worn leather, with a classic drinks menu.

Probably the most well-known secret bar in the city (due, in no small part, to their mention on the 2008 Elbow single ‘Grounds For Divorce’).  You haven’t experienced true Manchester unless you’ve squeezed your way down here and recoiled in horror at the appalling state of the toilets. And indeed, this fantastic little bar – spread your arms out and you might be able to touch both sides at once – used to be public toilets once upon a time. Don’t be put off, just see it as an example of the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Manchester (complete with a soupçon of grottiness).