You have to hand it to Deansgate Locks. For most weekends over the last decade, the bars have been rammed full until close when crowds spill out onto the street and the taxis pile up for the fallout.

The formula is simple. A row of identikit bars which, like the chart music they play, have no ambition other than to be manufactured, money-making machines. Taste counts for nothing under those arches.

One of the longest standing bars and probably most true to the formula was Loaf. Confidential sent reviewer Felicity Clarke down there in March of this year. There she observed ‘a deeply confusing style collision between Next Interiors, a rave warehouse, and the Rover's Return'. A few months later, the owners decided to refurbish and rename.

Lakota is the result and it seems the former Loaf is trying to bring a little more taste this time around - 'trying' is the operative word. The once mix and match decor is now sophisticated and modern again, opting for a minimal look where furnishings actually match. It’s also very dimly lit with a red hue all around which, my friend suggested are ‘brothel lights’.

Speaking of sex selling, Lakota’s drinks menu has also been stirred up with a special ‘Pimp my Drink’ section whereby you create your own cocktail glass or pitcher. There’s also the Porn Star Martini to tickle your taste buds which consists of vanilla vodka, lime, passionfruit and sugar topped off with sparkling wine. At £4.75 a glass, it’s a full binge night out in just a few short sips. The madness doesn’t end there either, as I order a popular children’s drink which has been remixed by the Devil himself: Cherryaid (£3.50) is Cherry Sourz, lime, orange and lemonade. I was tempted to go for the King of Leon (£3.50) which is a sick-inducing concoction of vodka, tequila and Red Bull, but then I remembered that I’m too young to die. I suggest sticking to the normal drinks which come at very reasonable prices such as £1.99 for a pint of Becks.

The barman tells me the Cherryaid is one of his personal favourites - a statement which would make any serious mixologist reach for the shot gun rather than the shot glass. To praise such devastating cocktails I guess comes down to your idea of a good night out as well as the company you keep and it led me to wonder what sort of customers this classy looking bar with a trashy tasting menu now attracts?

“The place gets wrecked at the weekends. It’s a different clientele now too. Posher.” Mr Barman tells me before miming the words to a Britney Spears song whilst preparing yet another deadly beverage.

We take the opportunity to wash down our drinks with some food, if that’s possible. Menus are on every table indicating that Lakota is looking far beyond a few measly bar snacks. They do all-day Sunday roasts at £5.95 for one or £7.95 for two. They also serve breakfasts all day on Saturday and Sunday for £4 with unlimited refills of tea and coffee and 2 for 1 pizza on Wednesday evenings.

The rest of the week it’s an all-American assortment of all things breaded and battered. For £1.50 per dish we ordered four starters - chicken wings and onion rings, breaded mushrooms, chicken quesadillas and Japanese style breaded prawns. To my surprise there was not a soggy, water-logged mushroom nor a chicken-less chicken wing in sight. I’d even decided that this might just be a contender for somewhere on the level of Odd when it comes down to bar food. That was until the mains came.

The Epic burger (£5.75) was anything but, with two, thin, dry from-frozen burgers being held together for dear life by a cocktail stick. The Club Stack (£5.25), despite being the size of a door stop, also tasted about as exciting as one. The dessert of raspberry and white chocolate pavlova with ice cream was still frozen in the middle, but for £1.50 we chose to let it thaw than trouble the staff, who were charming, polite and entertaining throughout the whole evening.

And it’s to that end that it’s hard to completely write off Lakota. From what I can remember, visually it is a vast improvement on Loaf, it’s an overall nicer atmosphere to be in and the staff fit with the look, despite applauding the horrendous cocktails.

The problem is that the supposed refurb is all a bit half-hearted when you delve deeper. Nice furniture and beautiful settings aside, it comes across as a Walkabout bar in disguise. You can take the ‘Deansgate Locks’ out of the bar but you can’t take the bar out of Deansgate Locks, so after all that, what was the point?

Rating:	12/20
Breakdown:	2/5 food 2/5 drinks 3/5 décor/atmosphere 5/5 service
Address:	Lakota Deansgate Locks 1a-5a Whitworth Street West 0161 819 5858

Venues are rated against the best examples of their kind: fine dining against the best fine dining, cafes against the best cafes. Following on from this the scores represent: 1-5 saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9 get a DVD, 10-11 if you must, 12-13 if you’re passing,14-15 worth a trip,16-17 very good, 17-18 exceptional, 19 pure quality, 20 perfect. More than 20: Gordo gets carried away