Zoo Bar

Taking up less floorspace than an upside-​down pyramid, this bar was absolutely freezing when I first visited in the depths of British springtime. With its great, open doorways, you get the feeling this tacky tan-​towelled kind of place wants to show off how many dancers are packed inside although it just comes off as desperate.
This was the club where I also spotted my doppelgänger, lurking awkwardly through the bobbing mess of bleached highlights. I moved closer in an effort to see how much he resembled me and was about three feet from him when I realised I was stood looking at myself in a wall-​sized mirror. I felt like I’d been cheated, both by Zoo Bar for lying about their dimensions, and my own brain.

I experienced Zoo one drunken night in September whilst doing the stereptypical tour of concert square and the surrounding area. Unfortunately I did not feel that I would like to return there any time soon. Zoo tries really hard, it honestly does and for many people it may be their scene there are good deals which are Baa Baa style on shooters and cocktails and other drinks are standard price for a mainstream club in the concert square area. As well as this there are VIP booths, mood lighting and a downstairs dancefloor which is constantly full of people enjoying the contemporary mix of RnB and Hip Hop. All of these things should make for an excellent clubbing experience but I just found that something was missing, I think it may have been the atmosphere which was decidedly unfriendly as were the door staff who did nothing for the clubs image. This is a real shame as I feel that Zoo is full of potential but it feels crowded unfriendly and more suited to local residents who are regular visitors than new student types who are on the hunt for a regular haunt for their debauchery.
Some would say Zoo deserves more than two stars but for me personally if the atmosphere is not right then a place can never achieve the highest barometer of consumer experience.

I’d be the first to admit that Zoo isn’t really my scene, but it happens to be plenty of peoples’, and it’s not my job to judge. Oh wait, yes it is! Still, I can’t let my narrow opinion get the better of me, and Zoo deserves a fair trial, much as I can’t stand the neon pink, the music, the VIP/​celeb aspirations and the literal interpretation of its name. Nothing spells ‘caged animal’ more than a wannabe WAG attempting to traverse the red rope now.
The décor’s so modern it’s gone all the way round to being tacky, but at least they have some bare brick walls, always a favourite of mine. I don’t know if the zebra print is trendy or yet another nod to its name but we’ll bear with that for the time being. It’s very much attempting to reach the dizzy yet not exactly wonderful heights of Movida in London or Panacea in Manchester, but its cocktail and shooter menu just screams, grunts, yells Baa Bar. Toffee Tini? Chococo? Brain Damage? There’s even a fricking Tinky Winky! Now I KNOW I’ve seen that one in Baa Bar.
It’s all a bit blonde, perma-​tanned and six-​packed for me, but if you like a bit of celeb spotting, a bit of house electro whatever, a gargantuan fish bowl cocktail, a Jagerbomb, animal print as far as the eye can see or indeed all of the above, then Zoo is worth checking out.