Shotz Cafe

Shotz café sounds like it’s some sort of start off point for nights out, or maybe a health care centre, or a self-​aware ghetto establishment. In fact, it’s none of those — it’s a shisha bar.
Yet another of the indoor varieties, so watch your back. Apparently these places get used to paying fines on a fairly regular basis, but I doubt you will. It also apparently has some of the nicest shisha in Rusholme, which pushes the popularity up, and you can get drinks and food as well, but would you really go into a shisha bar just for that?

The Shisha café on the Curry with the big green sign is how I indentify with Shotz café. It’s got pretty comfortable seating, outdoor and indoors and dim-​lit fairy lights all over, giving it a typical chill look. It’s got the rudest staff on all of Manchester and they can be mean as hell to even ask you to leave if you say you’re just sitting with a friend and would like to order a dessert instead of another Shisha! But, my friends, it has the best Shisha in all of the Curry Mile! If you want to have class Shisha with excellent flavouring, this is your place. The desserts are pretty alright to go with the Shisha and are your ticket to sit in there in case you don’t wish you have anything. You will need to buy at least one item!
It’s a good place to chill out if you’re done with the pubs and prefer a change to hang out, especially late nights.

Shotz is right next door to Albaghdady… it’s exactly the same. Except their sign is green and they’ve got big pictures of shisha pipes on it. Ooo and an ivy/​fairylights thing going on in the shop front. Which is nice.

One of maybe 5 shisha cafes along the Curry Mile, Shotz Café is the one with the stupidest name and the grossest bogs. But their shisha is very, very good.
Now, I’m not sure what the crack is with the smoking ban; some shisha cafes make you smoke your pipe outside, some are totally indoors. It’s not mine to ask, but to enjoy their offerings and relax with a pipe and a cuppa. Shotz is one of the totally indoor venues on Rusholme, and has the expected smoky haze floating above the low-​slung bucket chairs and little round tables. The pipes are of the terrifyingly-​tall variety, which makes me a liiitle uneasy with so many people milling round. But then, that’s just because I fear shrapnel and fire, so the prospect of a shisha pipe falling over and exploding is something I find hard to deal with. Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes, the pipes are tall, which makes them a lot easier to share with mates, and the seating is easily moved to create large group seating or more intimate options if, like me and the boyf, you’ve just been out for a date night.
The shisha here is really good; moist, flavourful and easy to smoke. They carry a wide range of flavours, ranging from cola to gum to double apple (an old fave, and a good ‘starter’ flavour) and mint. We opted for a double shisha (£1 extra) of grape and mint; lovely stuff. The staff here are obviously shisha afficionados, and are more than happy to help out if you don’t know what goes with what. The shisha is obviously good quality; it creates long lasting, thick, creamy smoke. A pipe costs £7 (£8 for double flavour) and you can pay £3 more for ‘iced shisha’ which apparently lasts longer and stays soft for longer.
As well as shisha, Shotz offer a good range of cakes, soft drinks and hot beverages. The mint tea is really good, and their £5 big pot will easily be enough for three or four people. They have a strict no-​booze policy, however, and will throw you out if you try and smuggle any in.
The staff here are really attentive, and are more than happy to help out with the breaking-​up of the coals (which I don’t let the boyf do, because of my fear or shrapnel and fire).
Don’t let the slightly awful exterior of Shotz fool you; it’s a great shisha café with great service and a jolly good selection of shisha. Just make sure you go to the loo before you come here…