Overview

I went to the Koffee Pot on my first and so far only visit to Manchester, although I’m keen to get back. Not even the pouring rain could drown out the good vibes of the city! It was a rainy public holiday – everybody was out and about and keen to get inside. It’s no surprise then that we had to wait for a table, even though the café is a bit bigger than it looks from the outside. The area is full of trendy cafés and pubs, so we had a look around before following the call of vegan pancakes and tofu scramble into the Koffee Pot. I thoroughly enjoyed my pancakes and milkshake and the relaxed atmosphere and colourful decor helped me settle into that contented holiday feeling.

Transport & Parking

As we were only stopping in Manchester as part of a longer car journey, we took the car into the city centre. I wanted to avoid paying for a commercial parking lot, of which there are a few around, so I was looking for on-street parking with my blue badge, which was difficult but not impossible to find in one of the less lively side streets. I took my powerchair from there, occasionally having to go onto the street because of inconsistent lowered curbs. I didn’t mind too much, though, as there were few cars in the mostly pedestrian area.

Access

The Koffee Pot shares its premises with Birria Brothers Tacos. Despite the shared entrance, the facade and the interior are very distinctly decorated, with the Mexican restaurant on the left and the brunch place on the right, but the alternating opening hours make me think that the establishments take turns using the whole space. I mention this in the access section because the left/taco side is on a platform with a few steps up and no ramp access that I could see. The right side, including the bar, is level access. The seating is mostly booths with a couple of tables with chairs and a long table with bench seating in the middle. There is also some outside seating with folding metal chairs and tables. There was enough space for me to park my chair and transfer to the booth by the window and I could have also stayed in the chair to sit at the table. The right side of the space feels nice and spacious and I had no concerns about moving around in my chair, as opposed to mostly feeling in the way when we were waiting for our table in the nook at the left side of the entrance. I waited in my chair, but there was also a bench and a couple of chairs there for people to sit while waiting. As far as I know, there are no alternative formats for the menu and the fry portion of the menu is yellow writing on a white background.

Toilets

The main toilets are at the back and to the left and there is a step up to them. There is a medium-sized accessible bathroom at the back of the right/Koffee Pot side. The door opens to the outside inside. No key is needed to access the bathroom. There is no door opener. The door handle is a vertical bar. There is a horizontal handrail to the right of the toilet that can be lifted and moved out of the way and a fixed diagonal handrail on the wall to the left of the toilet. The flush is a lever. The toilet paper holder is to the right of the toilet. There is some limited space for a both left-side transfer and a right-side transfer, but there is a narrow sanitary bin to the left of the toilet. The red cord is to the left of the toilet. There are no handrails on either side of the sink. The sink is a small wall-mounted sink and the tap has a short lever. There is a liquid soap dispenser on the sink and a mirror above the sink.

Staff

Our server was lovely and contributed to the good mood of the experience.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I appreciate the offer of more than one vegan main, but am disappointed by the policy to not allow any requests to alter the dishes. They say everything is made fresh to order, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to accommodate dietary restrictions beyond vegetarian and vegan. They also only take card payments, no cash.

Photos