This greasy spoon is reputed to be one of the best places to have a slap up breakfast in Manchester. Mind you, you may want to indulge in an all night bender before rocking up to The Gemini Cafe in the morning if you want to agree with its fans.

The Venue
Positioned on Oxford Road and close to the beginnings of uni-land in Fallowfield, Gemini Cafe is proper student territory. The University of Manchester and the Metropolitan are within shouting distance and the cafe makes an ideal place to roll out of bed to indulge in proper hangover fare after a heavy night on the tiles.

The layout is mostly forgettable with ripped torn seats not reflecting a retro rough and ready Northern look, they're just plain tatty. However points are awarded for the spanking clean tables (which are just as they should be in spite of the constant stream of traffic to and fro). The walls are clean and blank and are testament to the fact that the cafe is functional rather than charming.

The Atmosphere
As mentioned, Gemini Cafe does a roaring trade with students of all ranges and cultures. Unfortunately, the breakfasts match the level of cooking found in some of the digs nearby. Neighboring builders, brickies and labourers also all stamp their mark of approval in the cafe that's surely got to say more about the prices than the cooking. Full marks to lively and raucous banter but this isn’t enough to save the overall most important aspect, namely the food.

The Food
Extremely cheap and cheerful, a full English will set you back less than £4 and the vegetarian option will also ensure you have some change from a fiver. A buttie and cup of tea comes to around the £2 mark and there's a selection of carb overloaded baked potatoes that are accompanied by all the standard fillings such as baked beans, cheese and tuna.

Onto the main event and the vegetarian breakfast leaves something to be desired. The hash browns are almost burnt and overcooked whilst the mushrooms are dry and shriveled with a bland aftertaste - you may as well be eating car tyres for all the flavour they have. The toast has certainly not seen a toaster for very long with the bread as white as the milk in the jugs. In fact, not only is the bread barely warm, it's not crisp either and there's certainly no fancy wholemeal bread option here either.

In fact, it's safe to say that if you like food with your grease then you're in the right place at Gemini Cafe.

Other snacks include sausages on toast, egg and chips and chicken burgers and at least they have all the condiments already on the table to squeeze generously over the plate to disguise the taste.

The Drink
A large tea will set you back around £2 with a small cup weighing in at under a quid. There are also milkshakes, hot chocolate and standard coffee to choose from. In fact, standard caff fare.

The Last Word
For what it’s worth Gemini Cafe satisfies even the hungriest of hangovers without burning a hole in your pocket but there are far better cafes to enjoy a full fry-up without having to fork out much more cash.