A new lounge bar and café in east Reading will finally open this weekend after its launch was halted by the coronavirus lockdown. 

MNKY Lounge, at 30 Erleigh Road, was set to open at the beginning of April before the Covid-19 pandemic took a hold of the UK.

It will now open tomorrow (Saturday, July 4), when many businesses – including restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and cinemas – will be allowed to open their doors for the first time since March.

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The owner says he “cannot wait” to open on July 4 – figuratively speaking – and will take customers safety very seriously, with guidance on how to maintain social distancing.

Formerly the home of the Fruit Bat Bar for many years and more recently vegan café Vegos, the latest business venture wants to be a place for the community to hang out in all day long, once such activity is allowed again.

Manu Gill, owner of MNKY Lounge, said the lounge bar was 95 per cent ready before the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent shutdown of non-essential businesses halted further works.

READ MORE: Opening of new bar and community space MNKY Lounge halted by coronavirus

What is the space like?

Mr Gill said te lounge bar will open up in the morning for mothers and their new-borns and be a place for the community to “hang out” in the day with “outstanding coffee” from 200 Degrees.

At night, it will turn into a bar with live sports and a pool table.

He said: “It is going to be a bar and a place that people can hang out during the day. I want it to be a hub for the community – for locals, for students and for NHS staff.

“I don’t want to be classified as just a bar.”