THE concept of "trendy" is probably more hotly contested than others which are clearly more important - like God or commitment.

But I was feeling fairly shallow when I went out for a stroll around the Northern Quarter, so I focused my thoughts on trends - those who set them, those who follow them and, because I was thirsty, bars which try to capture them.

The buildings have of course seen their fair share of fads come and go, though I wondered whether the Mancunian female ability to wear teensy clothes without any overgarments on the chilliest of evenings is not a passing fad but in fact a genetic thing stretching back through generations of millworkers.

I was trying to choose a bar to help me come up with a definition of city centre trendy when I spotted some people who looked truly too cool for school through the window of Odd.

I had a vision of a clientèle of hyper-trendy city-dwellers with lifestyles modelled on glossy magazines so I grabbed my trendiest friend and went in to investigate.

The bar was almost full but we grabbed the one empty table and settled down for a look around and a good gossip.

The décor was plain and clean, but the walls had plenty of the striking artwork that seems to serve as a trademark of any place trying to attract the young professional pound.

The atmosphere was almost like that of any local pub (minus anyone over 40 or less than beautiful) in the sense that I could imagine the people sitting at the bar were probably in the same place most evenings and the people installed on comfy chairs looked as though they had been there forever.

Unlike your average local though, most of the people in Odd looked pretty much the same as each other and if there was anyone there, male or female, not wearing jeans teamed with a funky top, then I missed them.

A trip to the bar was enough to make me feel slightly out of place as several of the staff and customers seemed to be calling each other by their first names, and I couldn't hear anyone speaking with an accent from north of Birmingham.

As I retreated to wait for my mojito, I wondered if bars like Odd were an inevitable consequence of the drive to increase the number of people living in city centres. Everyone in the place looked the type of person who would seek out a loft living lifestyle and everyone has to have somewhere to drink.

The cocktail was strong and well made but we left shortly after, feeling a bit like intruders at someone else's club, or like those extras you see in the corner at the Rovers Return.

The mission to be trendy will be resumed ...

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