
Wednesday night is football night in Manchester, unless you play in Trafford in which case it’s Thursdays.
I treated Mrs RM to a stopover in Eccles (I know, I know, I spoil her) on our way to Wales, combining City v Brighton, a haircut at top barbers Maclure’s and a Northern Quarter curry. Life gets no better.

Well, actually it does, for the metrolink between Eccles and Salford Quays is being dug up so we get to take a replacement bus through luscious Langworthy so Mrs RM can assess options for her next big house renovation project.
I need a coffee and cake to recover, and luckily Ditto opposite Maclure’s is selling off its Bakewell tart for £2 a slice.

For some reason Matt doesn’t take photos of me to illustrate his barbering skills on his Instagram, but he does a lovely job. Pleasingly he’s busier than ever as Manchester bounces back, though that means he can’t join us for a pre-match curry at Al Faisal on Thomas St, the lane with all the new bars.

In a world of menus that say “bed of silky smooth cauliflower puree“, be more Al-Faisal.

Lamb Karahi and Chicken Tikka with Naan. Old Skool.

Sorry if that makes the Southworths jealous. We’d struggled to find anywhere to eat two hours before kick-off at the Etihad, where Pete the Badge was admiring City’s latest art exhibit.


A routine 3-0 win v brave Brighton, a wonderful sunset over the greatest city on earth.

To link back to your earlier post, Langworthy is where snooker player/commentator John Virgo comes from (as does Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston).
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Great city yes but how have you found the beer quality there lately? Both myself and Quinno found it to be lacking somewhat last weekend with only The Hare And Hounds top notch, Preston was better.
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I’d say less cask being sold these days, depends where you go. I probably drink more keg these days. It was good in Lower Turks Head and the Angel yesterday, City Arms always good. Stockport is top notch, particularly the Robbies.
But I agree Preston is better. No one believed me when I said that a few years ago.
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“the beer quality there lately …… to be lacking somewhat last weekend with only The Hare And Hounds top notch” so is the Hare and Hounds in the Good Beer Guide ? ,
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Yes it is. The local branch, like Stockport, has a good selection.
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Thanks.
That’s reassuring.
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I doubt if my branch has put any “one beer is plenty” or “two beers are plenty” pubs in.
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“Ditto opposite Maclure’s is selling off its Bakewell tart for £2 a slice” – probably because it’s not a proper Bakewell Pudding. .
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I’m a big fan of Al Faisal. Reading this has prompted me to have luncheon there on Saturday before the joint delights of the CAMRA Greater Manchester Regional Meeting and AGM.
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I was hungry prior to seeing those photos and now I’m desperately hungry. What great stuff.
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Delights indeed John
Cafe Marhaba in Back Piccadilly my favourite.
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I introduced my mate Mike to rice and three at This and That the other day. Both the Hare and Hounds and the Lower Turks’s Head were top quality beerwise, as was the Hydes in Abel Heywood.
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Good to hear that. You haven’t lived if you haven’t been in a Manchester curry caff !
And yes, Turks Head very good this week and Hare & Hounds always is. Haven’t drank in Abel Heywood but I knew two American readers who have !
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Ahh. Finally got to the end of your posts.
I can encourage you to follow somebody on Twitter I have had beers with in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan – back when the country was actually allowing people to visit. (Although in my instance, it might know something.) He goes by “mellow0”. He is another City fan.
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Will do, Steve. Have always wanted to visit Japan. Was in plans for August 2020 😪
Are you on twitter?
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ALL of my posts?
Not possible . Even I can’t do that.
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You’ve just whet my appetite for Stockport, I spend a considerable amount of time in Manchester (pubs) these days but tend to gravitate to the keg as I too have been rather underwhelmed by the cask (The Castle is always spot on tbf) Another random observation is the number of dirty glasses I’m being served (it bordered on embarrassing the other day in the (not to be confused) Edinburgh Castle, with them eventually seemingly giving up and opting for a dimple pot (almost clean). It’s phenomenon I’m not used to and one that needs sorting – maybe I’m just very unlucky?
Anyway, see you tonight Stockport! Cheers all.
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Where have YOU been.
Nice to have you back.
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I’d say cask quality in Manchester is down 0.37 nbss on average compared to 2019 and that’s entirely due to the absence of the Southworths.
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I tried to reply to your reply, Martin, but I suspect putting in a URL of a photograph of Chris “Chuwy”, and Tim M. (mellow0 on Twitter – the City supporter) in the Aldgate British Pub in Shibuya, Tokyo, on 23 April 2014 wound up sending the reply directly into the bit bucket.
I am pudgym29 on Twitter. I have not tweeted much lately. Too many vigilante gangs on Twitter looking to excoriate and | or cause real life problems for persons who make tweets which they dislike. It may be because I tweet *sensitive content*. I do inform you of this though. Check my Twitter lists for a general idea.
Craft Beer Week starts here on 13 May. I will likely tweet more often during that week.
Let me know how I can display this photograph’s URL.
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Hi Steve. Your comments all went to spam, no idea why, and I don’t know how to post photos but if you put it on your twitter I’ll add it to my blog post.
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