Idle Hands

Rushing at 7 in the morning from my hostel to the Piccadilly trainstation I was expecting to have no other option than a chain place to grab some breakfast… Passing Costa, Nero, and more, I was surprised to just before the trainstation entrance spot this place!
Ordered a yummy avocado toast and a really really good cappuccino! They know how to make great coffee!
I know where to stop on my next trip to Manchester and i find myself near the station :)

I’ve never sat down for a relaxed drink here. But as far as coffee quality goes these guys are right up there. I get the feel they would be far more appreciated if they weren’t on the Piccadilly Station approach. Though I’m sure they do a steady trade through out the day because of it.
I always get a friendly greeting and the staff are very active around the Manchester café, bar scene. I’ve seen many of them at other events around the city including Indy Man Beer Con back in October.
Very plain a function inside white walls and minimalist furnishings. The coffee shop feels clean and modern but perhaps lacks a little comfy style warmth.

Walking past from the station this place looked great. Very simplistic design and light and airy so I though why not try it out.
My coffee was actually excellent but the thing that let this place down was the wifi. I asked for the password and was given it but it just didn’t seem to work. When being away from home good wifi is so important and this sadly made my experience here shorter than it could have been.
This is a great café and it is very much a place I would normally sit for a while but if you are looking for somewhere to get on with a bit of work this may not be the best coffee shop for you!

Great coffee and service, they are very helpful to help you choose the right coffee!
Great location just next to Piccadilly train station

Idle Hands is that coffee shop that you may have walked past a thousand times on your way to and from Piccadilly station.
It’s a open space with tables of all shapes and sizes, and plenty of comfy seating to relax with a coffee.
The coffee menu is great — they have a wide range of coffees and they have cold brew too.
I ordered a latte and a toasted sandwich — salami, Swiss cheese and pickle. Both were good.
It’s a good coffee shop and definitely better to grab a train coffee from here over Starbucks in the station. Whether it’s a good as other independent coffee shops in town, is debatable. But still, it’s nice.

Stopped in for a coffee after arriving in Manchester as I hadn’t had enough to wake me up quite yet. I always love it when a place offers filter coffee and not just espresso. So I was super excited about that.
I got one of the filter coffees. It was really tasty. I took it to go, so I didn’t have time to enjoy the ambiance of the place, but while i was there, I was enjoying the music and the vibe. The food looked good as well, but I didn’t have anything. Great independent coffee place to stop into if you’re near the station.

Having missed my train (due to circumstances out of my control!) I had an hour to kill so thought I’d try out Idle Hands as it was on the approach to the station.
It’s an airy and fairly spacious coffee shop, with the ubiquitous ‘iMac brigade’ typing away with their grande hot soys with extra foam (I made that drink up). Anyway, it looked to be a decent spot to while away your waiting time or just escape the bustle of the world outside.
I’m strictly a tea drinking kinda guy, and they had a small range on offer, but on this occasion decided to try a hot chocolate — it looked superb and was very good to taste; just didn’t last long enough!
If you fancied a snack they sell pastries, sandwiches and homemade cakes etc.
It’s somewhat devoid of much atmosphere given the lack of music; even quietly playing in the background wouldn’t have bothered anyone.
Despite that though, an indie deserves supporting over a chain any day.

Idle Hands do a really good job in a really small space. Very modern and clean inside and a brilliant working space if you need to pop in somewhere and do a bit of work like I had to.
I was there was a few hours so I sampled a couple of different coffees, all well priced and none over £3.
Little tip, get the cold brew coffee over a few rocks of ice — amazing stuff!

I literally see this place every day going to and fro Manchester Piccadilly .and have been wanting to chance it, rather than go to a chain inside the train station.
I am a regular at North Tea Power, and to discover they are one and the same, I was excited.
After a 12 hours shift, I decided I would have a injection of coffee from this place, to prepare for a shopping spree.
Stepping in, it is quite minimalistic, clean white walls, plain furniture and a simple counter. Right I am by no means a connoisseur of coffee, but I wanted to try something new but did not know what.
The kind lady behind the counter sensed my bafflement and talked me through a couple while giving samples. I settled on a filer coffee and gasped at the price .£2.50! bargain.(can’t remember which one) and went to perch near the window.
This place is great for people watching, it felt good not having to join the mad rush hour, When my coffee arrived, it was really nicely presented, a glass vial contained the hot coffee, sealed with a cork top embellished with the Idle Hands logo. After a admiring this, I actually went pour some into my dainty glass… however this was scalding hot, which made me spill most of it everywhere. After waiting ten minutes the glass vial still had not cooled, so I dug deep into my over-​sized handbag to retrieve a napkin, I then used this to protect my mitts.
So overall, this place is perfectly placed, and ideal if you want to grab a quick sour dough bacon butty and a coffee on the way to work. I think they just need to serve the coffee in something else.

The first few times I passed Idle Hands I was put off from going on because they had a board outside saying something disparaging about iced coffee. It was something like «iced coffee is great» with the word iced crossed out. It wasn’t particularly witty and my thoughts were a) it is WARM and I do not want a hot coffee and b) do I want to go to the kind of place where they’re going to tell me how to have my coffee? I understand people get very intense about coffee and that the people making your food/​drink have a say over how it is prepared, but I would happily swerve any place where they’re going to get snobby about my delicious iced coffee.
It was the advertisement of avocado on sourdough that tempted me in when I was in need of something light and nutritious for my lunch. And, they have iced coffee! It is cold brewed, though. So I guess that it is different. It tasted like cold coffee and I enjoyed it. I am the kind of person who will make coffee and leave it to go cold so maybe my opinion counts for nothing.
My avocado on toast was delicious. Pretty much what it says on the tin, and nicely affordable at £3.50. My only minor complaint was that it was covered in chilli flakes. Very hot chilli flakes. My issue isn’t that I disliked this more that I was not expecting it, and people who are not comfortable with spicy food would probably have been pretty annoyed.
It looks quite smart inside and has a table with communal water and condiments which I really like and think should be everywhere. Staff were nice, professional and friendly. Overall I’m impressed!

nice café well located as very close to the main entrance of picadilly station! it provides the perfect alternative to the usual chaînés, would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a place to seat before getting your train!
I just had drinks so will need to go back to try their food menue (and perhaps give them 5 stars)!

Never particularly liked the look of Piccadilly Gardens to be honest, it’s always been brash and lacked anywhere with any personality — until now that is.
Next to the new Tap (great beer though a little shabby looking) Idle hands is a typical cool Edge street style hangout. With a alt/​indie/​folk/​trip-​hop playlist and a clean, uncluttered layout it’s the perfect place to unwind after a hectic bus or train journey — sod Nero!
My Americano was fruity, smooth served with lashings of Cat Stevens — just how I like it. They’re only here for six months initially I believe so make the most of this Piccadilly gem.

I really like this new coffee shop brought to us by a couple of the guys from NTP. It’s part of the new renaissance (can we call it that yet with 2 cool places opening up here with Piccadilly tap…) of the Gateway House/​Piccadilly Station approach area.
A really chilled spot with loads of light and great for people watching — there’s room for about 30 seating I reckon and the tunes are spot on (think Indie disco night and chill out tunes…)
All of the usual great pastries and sandwiches are of offer (reminiscent of NTP) and the coffee is also high quality (I had the Nude blend for my Flat White — £2.60)
They’re initially here for 6 months so I’d recommend getting down here soon and supporting this great new Manchester biz and hopefully they’ll be here a lot longer!
*extra note — 30p charge for using cards and no wifi yet*