As the festival draws to a rainy close today, people are watching the final event in the Unknown Pleasures music series - a free gig headlined by the Gossip outside the Lowry in Salford Quays. I just hope no one drowns.

My first and only experience of the series, which has included performances by PJ Harvey, Lou Reed and Bert Jansch, was at the Academy 3 last night. Final Fantasy, aka Canadian violinist Owen Pallett, played to about 300 fans - and another 20-odd people who had clearly mistaken the venue for a place to chat loudly.

Soundwise, it was possibly the worst thing I’ve heard at an Academy - and I’ve seen hundreds of gigs there over the years. The low end was muffled and distorted, practically destroying the rest of the music. The lights, too, were noticeably poor - no spotlights, just a vague hue over the stage.

Owen didn’t seem to notice or mind any of this but his fans, some of whom had travelled quite far, surely did.

I also took my last chance to try out Heston Blumenthal’s festival-commissioned culinary creations outside the festival pavilion. The chocolate wine popsicle was the highlight - imagine frozen port - and the accompanying millionaire’s shortbread with salt and ‘24-carat gold’ was tasty too.

The strawberry and vanilla sundae was conventional enough, until you factor in olives. Leather essence was apparently in there too, though I couldn’t taste any. I was far too distracted by the secret ingredient: popping candy.

It’s a shame I didn’t have time for the mushy pea sorbet. Overall, however, this was a great little addition and well worth splashing out �5 for the experience. I thought it rather silly that we had to purchase tickets beforehand, however - especially when the process took a good few minutes.

While Richard Fair over at the BBC Manachester Blog gives behind-the-scenes updates of MIF, I thought I’d do some reviews from the punter’s point of view.

First up, I saw the final pre-festival commission earlier this week: Queen and Country by the Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen. It’s pretty underwhelming, to be honest - just one unmarked oak cabinet full of stamps. It’s also awkward to open and, sitting in the middle of Central Library, isn’t something you can really discuss. People are predictably making a big deal out of it, however, so go and make your own mind up. It’s free to view from 10am until 6pm until July 15.

On Wednesday I made it down to the second Monkey: Journey to the West preview night. Ten pounds sounded like a bargain for such a high-profile event at the Palace Theatre, but I’d advise anyone considering going to splash the cash on good seats. Though it was visually one of the best thing I’ve seen, the subtitles were obscured by a dozen heads, meaning I had only a vague idea of what was being said and sung - a complaint repeated on the MIF forum.

James Hewlett’s visuals were up to his usual high standards though, and Damon Albarn’s mark was obvious through the unashamedly Gorillaz-y beats and plinky piano riffs. But a friend suggested the team had a checklist of acrobatic and circus cliches and after hearing my description of the show (more musical than opera) another said it sounded like the storyline to a Mario computer game. Monkey is on until July 7 with tickets priced �10 to �42.50.

Finally, yesterday was the second day of Manchester Dines, a free event at Manchester Central showcasing ten of the city’s restaurants. They ranged from the obvious (Yang Sing, Shimla Pinks) to the more unusual (Doug’s Take Away in Hulme) to, er, Waxy O’Connors. It wasn’t exactly fine dining - plastic plates, wooden cutlery etc - but I’ve taken away a couple of new ideas for where to visit in the future, so job well done. Manchester Dines finishes today and is fully booked up anyway.

Chain bars: everyone hates them, right? Not right, I know, but I do know a lot of people who steer well clear. Me, for example. I can’t remember the last time I visted a Revolution, for example.

But some of Manchester’s favourite one-off bars are doing rather well, it seems. As the Danish-owned Kro shows the way with its continued city-wide expansion, other smaller concerns are following suit:

Odder - Take two of the Thomas Street original, Odd. It’s in a bit of a bogey position - opposite the BBC on Oxford Road - but is well decorated upstairs (downstairs feels a bit half-arsed in comparison, like an afterthought). The beer’s painfully expensive - £2.70 for a hand-pull ale - but there’s a definite buzz in these early days.

Trof 2 - Trof, the only decent bar in Fallowfield, is heading Northern Quarter-ward and opens just down the road from Odd tonight. If it’s anything like the original, Trof 2 should stock some decent beers (again, at reassuringly expensive prices) and have rickety furniture. Taking a lead from Trof, it will be heavy on DJ nights and live music - the opener tonight features the ever-entertaining Gruff Rhys, for example.

As a side point: I hear that the recently-closed Assembly bar and restaurant on Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury, is to become a Piccolinos.

The Italian restaurant, very popular in the city centre, is part of the expanding (and interestingly-titled) Individual Restaurant Company, which owns the Restaurant Bar and Grill too. See ManchesterConfidential for discussion.

I’m sure the majority of Manchester readers will have seen the Koffee Pot cafe on Hilton Street in Stevenson Square. Until recently, it was just a typical Northern Quarter cafe - full of ‘interesting characters’ and greasy spoons.

But revolution is afoot, it seems. First up, they got a Myspace. Then they asked neighbouring artists to graffiti their exterior. Now they’ve launched the Teatime Sessions:

On Fridays from 5.30 we’ll be bringing you some of the bands we love, summat to eat and a bit to drink for those that arrive early enough.

Tonight’s sessions features Tim and Sam’s Tim and Sam Band with Tim and Sam. Don’t let the name put you off - they’re a cracking band, as you can hear here.

In December, the much-hyped The View played at the Koffee Pot - you can watch them on YouTube. And for more about the Koffee Pot, see its entry on the Guardian’s Been There site.

Ack, one more, just for good luck: half price sushi between January 15 and 31 at Yo! Sushi restaurants.

In Manchester, this means a trip to Selfridges in Exchange Square or, for you hardened shoppers, the Trafford Centre.

You’ve got to register on their website, and everyone who goes has to have a voucher, but it’s worth it to eat in Selfridges and know you won’t have to do a runner after stuffing you face.

I do, however, notice a limit of 10 dishes per person. This may be an issue. And I bet New Samsi’s sushi tastes much better.

Via the Manchester community on LiveJournal.