The best places for karaoke in Manchester

This seemingly innocent Korean BBQ restaurant near St Ann’s Square is hiding a dark, shameful secret. If there’s a group of you and you want to try some of their absolutely brilliant BBQ dishes, which you cook yourself at your table I may add, then Anneyong is the place to be. Even better is that you can add to do Karaoke at the same time too – turning this place into a den of power ballads, sizzling pork and piña coladas.

Normally known for the talent they book on stage, The Blues Kitchen also has a private room where you can showcase your own vocal talents with your mates. Get ready to belt out soul, R&B and hip hop bangers while The Blues Kitchen’s drinks and food are delivered to your private booth. If you’re after a guaranteed boogie, this one’s for you.

Taking things just that little bit further – as is always the case with Bunny’s, their karaoke isn’t just some drunken fool standing on their lonesome in front of a TV screen, no, this is bandeoke. Every Thursday, you get to go on stage and be a proper rock star, singing in front of the house band and flailing around like Ozzy after too many cider and vodkas. It’s a lot of fun.

Everything you love about the other Bunny’s iterations, but more karaoke-centric. Bunny’s Karaoke channels all things American dive bar, and is specifically dedicated to the noble art of shouting into a microphone. Inspired by the bar-top-vaulting of cult classic movie Coyote Ugly, the singing happens on the bar. If you’re more of a wallflower, private rooms are available too.

If you live in Didsbury and you’ve never been to Crazy Wendy’s then do you even live in Didsbury at all? Hosted by the eponymous Wendy herself, you can expect an evening of singing, cabaret and great Thai food and drink without leaving the comfort of your own chair. On the website Wendy says ‘I dress as Shirley Bassey, not Elvis because I tried being Elvis once and I think a Thai woman looks funny. It is the song that is important, the emotion, that I want to recreate’. I suppose this gives you an idea as to what to expect.

Diecast is a cavernous space full of surprises, so it checks out that one of them is a ‘hidden singing booth’, or karaoke den to you and me. Available to book for up to 12 people, the space comes complete with mirrored walls, disco ball, glitter wigs and their club-quality sound system. It’s available to book Wednesday-Sunday, from £50 – £100 hire per hour. With all of Diecast’s daiquiri and pizza-centric fare on offer too, you’re in for an absurdly fun night.

The award-winning House of Fu team from Leeds have brought their celebrated concept to Manchester, which combines the iconic Japanese soup, with cocktails and private karaoke rooms. The restaurant is bright and super-modern, and the Tokyo vibes really come to life after dark. Sing the night away while sipping on sake, or classic cocktails infused with Asian flavours.

Absolutely caked in shiny metal, neon and mirrors, K2 is the closest you will ever get to an actual Chinese nightclub outside of Shanghai. There is of course a karaoke bar here too, with a wide selection of songs for you to murder. They’ve got a pretty impressive happy hour available every day, for people who want to do karaoke before 5pm and 7pm. You can get two hours of karaoke plus two free drinks for £10 per person (£15 on Friday & Saturday), so if you want to get drunk and do karaoke during the day, look no further.

A colossal undertaking on the ground floor of the Great Northern Warehouse, Lane 7 is one of those places that has everything under one roof – kind of like the garden centre that you trudge around on a Sunday, except with more high-heels. Alongside the bowling and the darts and the ping pong and the pool and the cocktails and the Fat Hippo burgers, you’ll find a couple of well-decked out karaoke booths – perfect for bashing out a pitch perfect Bon Jovi on a Tuesday lunchtime.

Surrounded by trendy gaffs where it’s starting to cost you close to six quid for a pint of lager, the Millstone is a shining beacon of reasonably priced drinks and great atmosphere in the NQ. With karaoke on most Thursday and Friday nights, the Millstone gets packed to the rafters. It’s a proper boozer with sound locals and a great karaoke MC Phil Mitchell look-a-like who won’t judge you if you end up singing Dire Straits at 2am.

The legendary Orchid Lounge is open until 4am at the weekends and you can always find someone singing Linkin Park pretty much all the way into the early hours. It’s a great, messy place. You might not come out with your dignity intact, but you’ll certainly have a story to tell.

This bar on Deansgate is about all things irreverently retro, from the decor to the drinks prices, which start at just £2.50 during their marathon happy hours. It’s no surprise then that their karaoke booth is kitted out like an old school record shop, complete with neon signage. It’s soundproof, but you’re not hidden away from the general crowd, which makes for an added layer of entertainment for everyone. It also makes the temptation to get involved harder to resist. 

Located just off Portland Street, Vina is a fantastic den of drinking and singing which is open until 4am on most days. Drinks prices are reasonable and the crowd is usually loads of fun. It’s pretty much the platonic ideal of a city centre karaoke bar, and our nights out would be much poorer without it.