March 2024. Manchester.
I’ve just started marking the pubs I’ve done in the marvellous Matthew Curtis book. Just the ones visited since the book came out, I’m not claiming a tick for a Didsbury boozer (does it have any boozers ?) I popped in 25 years ago. Should I colour them with a pink marker though ?
No rush to do the book, though if Blackpool Jane starts doing half a dozen pubs every lunchtime she’s in Manchester then the gloves are off.
I’m doing it in singles, just the one after getting my overdue cut from Matt in Helvete, his slinky salon in Chinatown.
I always forget how central he is now, 2 minutes walk from the Art Gallery, Library and the construction site that is the Town Hall, whose scaffolding seems to dominate Albert Square more on every visit.
We had lunch at Katsouris, a Bury legend whose Manchester branch may have changed hands recently,
but I couldn’t fault the friendly welcome and piping hot paninis, and change must come to us all, eventually.
Central Manchester is always changing, always the same, as Tony Wilson (or was it Mark E Smith ?) used to say, and I realised how little I visit the smart bit between the Arndale and Chinatown.
Chapel Walks is particularly charming,
and houses the shiny new Pomona flagship where I rather disgraced myself before Christmas (it was Jim and Quosh’s fault).
So it was good to return in a more sober state and survey the list like proper beer people do.
Friday lunchtime seemed a good time to see how the cask was shifting, and to get the lovely staff to practise their pronunciation of the Best Bitter.
“It’s Cruffatin” he said.
And so it was; I shall use Cruffatin as a verb inappropriately going forward.
Cool, complex, not quite to my taste. NBSS 3+ for the conditioning.
A calm, classy, escape from the Arndale for couples of mixed ages, with bench seating (of a fashion),
and if Mrs RM had accompanied me I would no doubt have succumbed to a sharing bottle.
Possibly.
Great loos, and a reminder of a time before sharing bottles and VAR.
A bonus point for the soundtrack, too.
But to rehash the old New Musical Express joke, I have no idea which of Paddy’s 10 versions they were playing.
retiredmartin 
A very good pub, especially for a new one. I was there last week after the Northern Restaurant & Bar trade show and the beer was in great nick. It’s a shame that if you want a glass of wine it’s on draft, not out of a bottle and it’s crap!
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Yes, it’s a classy place, similar feel to Cafe Beermoth but perhaps a bit cosier. Good addition to the centre.
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I like the idea of small, manageable ticking projects. That’s why I’ve started the task of completing all the pubs in Worcester. Thinking of doing something in the Black Country too (but where does it start, and where does it end?) as I keep visiting the classic pubs there. We visited the Vine in Brierley Hill on Saturday, the bar at the front right was hilarious.
I’ll keep posting the photos on my blog.
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Andy,
The day after Kentish Paul and myself then.
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That’s a shame, we had a quiet night in on Friday with a bottle of Albariño.
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But we were in at noon for three-quarters of an hour with a tight schedule until 3pm.
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You’re professionals, you made it for 3 !
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And you very kindly saved us the time of getting served.
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Your trust that I wouldn’t order you both a pint of Carling was touching.
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But it’s Humphrey’s Lager, not Carling, in the Beacon Hotel
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Ah, so you’d have been happy with that instead of the Ruby Mild then; I’ll remember that next time.
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No, no, definitely not.
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That was clear enough !
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All the pubs in Worcester is a good idea, lots of variety and very few complete suffers.
Black Country starts and stops where cheese and onion cobs under £2 start and stop I guess.
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That’s as good a boundary marking criteria as any, I suppose. It’s either that or:
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