Black Dog Ballroom

Once the plethora of bars and pubs around the Northern Quarter have kicked out, there’s only one place to go. For good or ill, that place is Blackdog Ballroom. Open until 4am on school nights and even later on the weekend, this is the place for that ‘one more drink’ you definitely don’t need but crave so desperately. That said, it can lose a little of its cool due to the lost souls that wash up in the wee hours – it is, after all, located underneath the iconic Affleck’s Palace cocktail bar.

The American prohibition theme of the bar sneaks into the food, too, with New York-style diner fare mainly consisting of burgers, homemade pizzas and onion rings that would put a frisbee to shame. The speakeasy vibe doesn’t make for the most welcoming eating and drinking environment during the daylight hours, but for an afternoon playing pool, there’s nowhere finer.