Our lunch stop, curated by Mudgie, took us outside the comfort of the Guide and the craft bars that have sprung up in Macclesfield to lure away half of our party.
We were saving the Castle till last, and headed into the part of town with most lunch options.
Very quiet for a Saturday, and we were surprised to see so many places not opening till late afternoon.
Perhaps the Spoons was packed.
The Mandarina, a Hydes cafe bar, was almost impossible to capture on camera from ground level, and the Google Maps pic does it no favours at all.
An odd choice by Pub Curmudgeon, I’d thought, lacking architectural merit or GBG recommendation.
I’m delighted to be wrong.
For a start the welcome was as good as I’ve had all year.
“Hello gents. Sorry, I’ve only got the one beer on at the moment but it’s really good. Two pints ? Straight glass or mug ?”
That wasn’t all said in one go, in case you were worried.
That one beer was a 5.2% gem (“Boys bitter !”) clearly not aimed at the office lunchtime trade. Cool, rich and tasty, an easy NBSS 3.5.
Modest lunchtime trade, just ticking over, and a late ’60s soundtrack to delight any Old Codger. Creedence, Simon & Garfunkel, and this;
I’d never heard of Blue Cheer, so we had minutes of fun researching their extensive catalogue. What did pubgoers do before Shazam and Wikipedia ?
Not the best calamari but the nachos and fries were filling. That is FAR too much food; professional Pub Men don’t eat at all when they’re ticking.
Two pints in, I was getting James Blake, star of the new GBG, mixed up with James Blunt (whoever HE is), and Mudgie was gracing us (well, me) with his critique of Dylan.
I won’t tell you what he said, I don’t want to upset Dave.
retiredmartin 
I can imagine what was said.
Offers to tie shoe laces have been immortalised in the past, however, re your earlier post., Martin..
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Like the man said “ Say anything you want to, I have heard it all.” Lol.
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My experience with him is you like him or you don’t. No middle ground there!
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It occurs to me that is an amazing number of shazams. Wow.
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‘Mug or Straight?’, the single most important question in pubs and beer. Unless they correctly have no mugs, in which case it’s “Plant pot with that sir?”
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Ha Ha. I’ve only had beer so bad it deserved a plant pot once this year; the problem was there WASN’T a plant pot.
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I was smiling ear to ear at the “we’ve only got one beer on” apology, as I imagined you giving them a two handed handshake and saying “More than enough, my friend, more than enough.”
Well you’re certainly right, the Google street view photo doesn’t make it look a likely first port of call for an Old Codgers Pub Crawl. But really all the local boozers I most enjoy here in Michigan are in more or less similar such locations, must be said. (And I am, let’s be clear, definitely an old codger!)
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You’ve just answered my question about pubs in Michigan that look like the Waters Green, Mark; I bet plenty look like the Fountain or the Mandarina.
The lady saw Mudgie peering at the bar for hand pumps and guessed his question and made a positive out of the sole beer, as well she should.
And you’re no codger !
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Never heard of Blue Cheer? Vincibus Eruptus is one of the defining albums of the late 60s. I think it’s a load of toss, but there you go…..
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You just made that up.
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Didn’t, a mate played it to me about 1986. He hated it as well.
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Terrific looking pint – Mudgie on the verge of going craft?
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