Top things to do in Manchester — week of 23 March

Right — week of the 23rd, and it is a mint one for once. The food calendar is daft, the music is solid, and the comedy is the kind that makes you forgive Monday.

I keep a running thing on Rifio because tabbing between Eventbrite and Skiddle is a mug's game — the Manchester this-week page does the aggregation for you.

Monday: Beat the Frog at Frog & Bucket

The cheapest decent night out in town. £8, Northern Quarter, eight acts of new material, a crowd that has been trained to ring a cowbell when something is rubbish. It is mad how often the cowbell stays silent.

Doors 7:30, get a seat near the back unless you want to be picked on.

Tuesday: Erst supper club

Ancoats, Erst, the natural-wine place. They are doing a Tuesday-only fixed menu thing, four courses for £38, which is a steal for what they put out. The pasta course alone is worth the cover.

Book direct on their site, do not bother with OpenTable for this one — the table allocation is weird.

Wednesday: Free design meetup at Federation House

The Manchester Design Collective do a Wednesday social on the third Wednesday of the month. Free, drinks are reasonable, the talks are short, the chat is long. If you are freelance and bored you will defiantely find your next two clients here.

Thursday: Mana for the bar menu

Don't book the tasting menu unless you have £200 burning a hole. The bar menu at Mana is the move — sit at the counter, order three small plates, drink the cheapest thing on the wine list, leave having spent £45 a head and feeling smug.

If Mana is full (it will be), Erst again, or Higher Ground in town.

Friday: Deaf Institute, the late one

Indie four-piece, the kind of band that will be on a 6 Music tipping list in six months. The Deaf Institute upstairs room is tiny — about 250 capacity — and that is the whole point.

£14, doors 8, support is genuinely worth seeing. Stay for the late club after, it goes til 3.

Saturday: Mackie Mayor then Band on the Wall

Lunch at Mackie Mayor — the rotisserie counter does a half chicken that I think about more than I think about most things. Then walk it off, do some shopping in NQ, then Band on the Wall in the evening.

This Saturday is a soul night, six bands, £18, runs til midnight. The room sounds incredible after the refurb.

Sunday: Long pub lunch, somewhere with a roast

Skip the events. Honestly. Sunday in Manchester is for a long pub roast and reading the paper. The Marble Arch in Ancoats does a proper one, the beer is unreal, and you can stay for four hours without anyone hassling you.

If it has to be an event, the Frog & Bucket does a Sunday matinee for £6 that is alot of fun if you have the patience.

That's the week. Five things I will defend, two I am ambivalent about, one Sunday roast that is the actual highlight. Save the ones you want on Rifio — the Manchester events page updates every couple of hours.