We went on a bar crawl with Jason Momoa... and this is what went down

The thing about Jason Momoa is that he’s a stupidly likable guy. Even if you’re not a Game of Thrones fan, even if you’re not particularly bothered about the Aquaman stuff, he’s just undeniably get on with-able.

We had the privilege of discovering this when our pals at Permanently Unique got to host the bona fide Hollywood star on a visit to Manchester, and we were invited with more of our friends from Indigo PR and Cafe Continental to join them on a foodie, boozy crawl around some of our favourite spots in the city.

Initially baffled, of course, but excited nonetheless.

The Manchester’s Finest crew with Jason Momoa (Photo: James Speakman)

It isn’t quite as far-fetched as it sounds. Momoa – who’s in the country promoting new comedy The Wrecking Crew – is a big fan of Manchester. He’s played (our type of) football since he was a kid, explaining that his team, Iowa United, was named in homage to our very own United, contributing to a life-long obsession with the team, and the city as a whole.

Last summer he met Adam and Drew Jones, local lads and the founders of Permanently Unique Group (that’s swanky Spinningfields restaurants Tattu, Fenix and Louis) and an idea was born. ‘You should come and see our places in Manchester’, we imagine they said. And unlike any other drunken plan ever, it actually came off.

The reason we’re presuming it was a plan helped along with a little inebriation derives from the fact that Mr Momoa does enjoy a drink. During his 48-ish hours in Manchester he was spotted drinking Guinness in a trio of great pubs: The Castle and Gulliver’s on Oldham Street, and Mulligans, naturally. He also stopped for lunch.

At a Mykonos-inspired feast at the aforementioned Fenix with Manchester’s Finest’s Matt White, they spoke about everything from movie roles to the environment to the ethics of pineapple on pizza. Don’t say he doesn’t have range. Keep an eye out for the full mEats episode of their conversation (due to be posted soon).

Then there was a quick, non-negotiable detour to Old Trafford to watch United beat Fulham 3-2. He’s a pretty spottable figure, and despite his could-be intimidating physical presence, he was happy to stop for a chat with fans who were at first surprised, then very happy, to see the Hawaii-born star mooching around the Northern Quarter and Spinningfields on a cold weekend in January.

Guests at The Blues Kitchen were especially surprised. Momoa appeared on stage in a genuinely spontaneous moment, joining emerging jazz and soul star Kemani Anderson for a cover of Purple Rain.

Aside from pints of Guinness, the main beverage of the weekend was vodka. As much as we would like to believe he was just here to hang out, he was in fact working: launching his vodka brand Meili in the UK.

“Most vodka sucks,” he said at an exclusive cocktail masterclass at glamorous Asian restaurant Tattu on Sunday night. “It’s supposed to be odourless and tasteless, but it smells like gasoline and tastes like gasoline.”

Jason Momoa and his band ÖOF TATATÁ playing with Kemani Anderson

That’s a sentiment shared by many, but Momoa, along with best friend Blaine Halvorson, have taken a productive approach making fermented corn liquid drinkable. What makes his vodka different, they allege, is the most basic ingredient: the water.

They tested samples of water from as over the place (‘from North Africa to Mount Everest’, he explained), and it transpires some of the purest water you can get your hands on is sourced from Montana, where Momoa now lives. This is because of geological reasons to do with a millenia-old coastal shelf. It is also very convenient.

The verdict? It’s a really nice vodka that is, as its creators claim, sippable neat. Though much more preferable in an array of fancy cocktails. Which brings us on to the second outrageous claim of its creators: that it doesn’t leave you with a hangover.

We got to test this claim later on Sunday night, when his band ÖOF TATATÁ played at Louis Restaurant. ÖOF TATATÁ are exactly the sort of band Jason Momoa would be in: loud, outrageous and theatrically outsized.

They rattled through an hour or so of rock and metal covers, from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Metallica, clearly just playing whatever they like. There was, of course, a hastily-learned cover of Oasis’ Fucking In The Bushes, because that’s one sure way to get the Manchester crowd on side.

It was a great night. The jury’s out on the ‘no hangover’ thing though…