New Century — Restaurant in Manchester

We went to see randy feltface, 8.30 showing, to get in we had to understandably wait in a qué which stretched around to the back of the theatre. If you're with someone who's not able to stand for long contact the theatre before attending is my advice. Security were great with the lady in our group who had difficulty, but there was an incident between some horrible Scottish guy and a guy who suffered from sciatica who had to sit down on a wall whilst in the queue. Again security did a great job sorting that out. We managed to get into the hall after about 30 mins. We reconvened with our friends and sat on what I can only describe as the most un-butt worthy chairs I have ever had the incontinence to sit on. It was hell with four legs. The floor is obviously flat, as I think the venue is usually standing only. Meaning the huge guys we ended up sat behind eclipsed all of our views of the stage. After being unable to focus on Brodie snook for the giant bald head I was sat behind, I never knew they made heads that big, after a half hour she finished and left the stage. And they had a twenty minute interval, twenty minutes. Ugh you'd have thought we were warmed up and could continue to the main event but noooo. Let's cool everyone right back down. Eventually the lights dimmed and randy started his act, oh, some of the lights pointed at the audience were blinding, everyone missed the first time the banana popped up because we were blinded, however it was awesome the lighting seemed on the whole good we had rearranged our foursome in an attempt to match our oversized stage eclipsers. And randy started to speak... the sound was so muffled I couldn't understand anything that was being said, so much so on the car journey home I mentioned I thought I should go get a hearing test to which everyone else said the same thing. None of us understood a word of randys opening gambit. Probably why we all found the inflatable banana bit so hilarious. I was leaning right into the isle for the entire performance to gain my view of randy down the isle. When we had messages from our 15 year old son. I left briefly to talk with him, omg he had been assaulted back home while out playing basketball with his friends after speaking to him for five minutes he seemed fine just a little shaken, I told him to get something to eat and drink and that we would be home around midnight. The rest of the show understandably I wasn't really able to focus which was a shame. Anyway in conclusion wait not great sound quality is bad, seating horrific. Hope others had a better night than us maybe we will go out again in another five...

Visited on Saturday night for Stavros Halkias.

New Century hall it's self is lovely, such an historic building, the stage and ceiling is definitely an eye catcher - the security and ticket scanners were very welcoming, also the bar staff upstairs, although the bar closed quite earlier upstairs - but I imagined they wanted the room quiet as they were recording the show. I'd definitely want to come back to see a live artist as I'd imagine it's an electric atmosphere. The overall sound of the venue was good and i feel like my view wasn't obstructed. Seating was adequate although a bit uncomfortable after a while, don't think I could have sat for longer than 90 minutes, my bottom was starting to ache towards the end.

Visited the kitchen for some food - service was quick enough and the staff were very kind. Ordered the vegetable gyozas and s and p chips from the fusion place - gyozas were a bit crispy, chips were fine. From ply we ordered the falafel gyros and house fries, did not realise the gyros came with chips also so it was a lot of food - but good value at the end of the day. Gyros bread was nice and soft but the falafel was a bit dry - still tasty altogether.

Some tables were a bit dirty, but it didn't look like they had a lot of staff, so I asked at the bar for a damp cloth to wipe our table so me and my wife could sit down - not that big of an issue.

Went to use the provided condiments for my chips, and it was decanted into this gross slimey glass bottle. I couldn't get it out, and on different table I saw another guest dipping their knife that they were eating with into the bottle, so immediately put me off using. I asked a member of staff if I could get sauce that wasn't from a glass jar and they directed me to pay for some through the app.. ? So in order to get ketchup and mayo that hasn't had other peoples used cutlery in, I have to pay extra? To not have other people's germs as a side for my chips? Feel like it could probably be an allergy risk or a risk for people that don't eat meat aswell as you don't know what people have on their knives before they dip it into the bottle.

Downstairs seems like it could have a lot of potential but there are a few things that let it down, which is...

Review for Food Hall, not the venue

Short Ver. - Food is great, although there are limited vegan/vegetarian options depending on where you go. The staff are happy to see you in, but want you out as soon as you are done. I'd only recommend going if you are short on time when seeing an artist at New Century Hall and can afford to spend a pretty penny.

My Dad and I went to the Food Hall 1.25 hours before doors open (19:00) for Gary Clark Jr. Initially the atmosphere was great, and a young lady with long, wavy red hair kindly informed us of limited availability - which was expected. Thankfully, we managed to find a table for two, and sat down at a table which had been reserved from 19.15. When we sat down, we scanned the QR code to find the menus for the different stalls. As my Dad is vegan, his choices were limited. This was further emphasised by a large handful of vegan options being sold out. He enquired a couple stalls about this, and was turned away by being told to order from the app. Unfortunately, he could only pick one of two things, but to compensate the wait was not long. My food also arrived before the scheduled time, and we thought both our meals were lovely - the only reason why we gave 4 stars on this is because the portion sizes were small, and does not fully justify the price we paid for them. I also had to ask for napkins and cutlery, as all we had on our table were three knives.

As we were eating our food, we were notified several times the table had been reserved for someone 20 mins later, then 15, then 10. While we understood it was busy, this ultimately disrupted our dining experience, having to stop eating to acknowledge the waiter. Once we had finished our meal and enjoyed our drinks, the, red haired waitress asked us quite assertively to leave the table - again this was understandable, and so we thanked her... however she did not respond. Assuming she did not hear us, I thanked her again, and it was clear that she had a bit of an attitude and was deliberately ignoring us. To see the waitress who had nicely greeted us turn uptight as we were leaving seriously makes me question the staff's after...