retiredmartin

June 2024. Stockport.

“A gallon of Unicorn, and a greasy lamb dhansak, a night out in Stockport… “

Actually, that would have given John Denver a bigger hit than his paean to Sheffield nightlife.

But I couldn’t recommend an Indian restaurant in Cheshire’s finest pub town, and neither could Curry-Heute, who’d seemingly never been to the place despite being a big pub man.

So I asked the Southworth twins for advice, and they recalled this place from their seminal 2017 tour.

Just outside the Edgeley entrance, a couple of minutes on from the Olde Vic, perfect.

I’d sent Jane a photo of the right exit so she didn’t end up in the Chestergate by mistake.

And we still missed her; it’s almost a tradition. And entirely our fault, as we’d chosen to take cover from the UK’s annual heatwave in a tiny alley behind the bins in the station car park.

Never mind, five minutes later we’re in the Last Monsoon, first in so we get to choose the seat next to a goldfish we’ll call Dick in recognition of his curry tip.

It’s a great choice; cheery staff, bright modern décor, trad, Indian soundtrack, six (6, as many as Paul’s sausages in the Lost Dene) dips for the poppadoms,

and an “exciting” curry menu with “fusion specialities“, “Chef’s recommendations“, “Signature dishes” AND “Old favourites“. What’s wrong with “Curry of the Day” (CTM) like you get in a Marston’s 2-for-1 ?

It was very tasty, NCSS 3.5+ stuff, not too dry, not too soggy.

Jane “I never ever share food such as sweets or crisps, nor have I ever understood why people do this. I am, however, unable to resist such offerings myself ” being Jane wouldn’t let us steal some of hers but on this dining occasion she didn’t steal ours either so she can stay in the curry team for now.

Joking, Jane is very generous and clearly gave such a great tip that we all got complimentary chocolates AND a large glass of Bailey’s (a massive 327 calories says OK ! magazine), which was nice.

As professional beer smelliers like myself will know, the best way to start a curated survey of artisanal beer dispensers is with a large glass of Bailey’s, it softens the palate or summat.

But we were consequently already drowsy when re-entering the Stockport fug and headed aimlessly towards that flight path over the viaducts.

Those arches, and the pub beneath it, graced the cover of Stockport (etc) CAMRA’s seminal pub guide in the noughties as a symbol of the town and national real ale star,

and despite a rollercoaster ride akin to that of the town’s football team the Crown seems to have come out the other side renewed.

OK, some (not me) will look at the pumps and say “Is that it ?“,

but rarely have I seen 3 halves of Silver King served so cheerfully, and Mrs RM picked this gem of a room in a pub reminding me of York’s Fox.

Lovely art,

a crowd spanning the ages, and a typically tasty Ossett (NBSS 3/3.5 depending on whether it was first or third pulled),

and some contentious art in the Ladies.

Mrs RM made me go in. Honest.