[Closed] Good real ale in Manchester? And cocktail..

just up rochdale road from where you are. the angel, the marble arch. both offer great ale. the marble arch has a micro brewery in the back.

Never really been out properly in Manchester but had the pleasure of trying Marble Beers, in fact possibly the last of it's kind a stout about 9 years old, it was marvellous.

http://www.marblebeers.com/beerhouse/

This is the Camra list, Marble Arch is on there 🙂

Crown & Cushion M4 4DU
Hare & Hounds M4 4AA
Smithfield Hotel M4 5JZ
Bar Fringe M4 5JN
Angel M4 4BQ
Marble Arch M4 4HY

Calling Portlyone to the forum... !

Across the road is BrewDog! Then head to the northern quarter, Port Street Bar, Castle Hotel and even Band on the Wall

EDIT: Oops, wrong Radisson. Still head to N1/4 though

Brew Dog is rediculously over priced imho...

Try the New Oxford just up the road on the A6. 10 minute walk from Victoria...

Brewdog is expensive but the beer is ridiculously good, especially if your looking for something a bit different from 4% bitter. The darker strong stuff that comes in half pints is great if you like something different.

Port street beer house (M12EQ) is good. If you want a proper old fashioned pub then head for Lass O'Gowrie on Charles Street just off Princess Street.

If you walk past the Marble Arch to go to Brewdog you'll be arrested by the Camra police. And I like Brewdog.

The Alchemist (on New York Street, behind Picadilly gardens [url= http://www.thealchemist.uk.com/contact ]here (with menu/prices)[/url]) is good for cocktails (perhaps pricey but good quality). There is also an Alchemist in Spinningfields where there is also the Oasthouse where you should be able to get a decent ale too if passing. Joshua Brooks is out of the way but if in the area usually has a few different / decent ales (avoid the cocktails !)

Thank you peeps. Food for thought. Sounds like the Marble Arch is a runaway winner.
With the Alchemist for a cocktail to finish/start...

i concur - the Angel and the Marble

Fringe bar usually has a couple of lambics on tap. Bar staff will make sure you know how much it is before pouring you a pint (or maybe I just look poor)...

You can't go wrong with that CAMRA list.

There's a great little cocktail place in the Northern Quarter, next to the Market Restaurant.
About 5 minutes walk from The Marble Arch/Angel/Bar Fringe.

Just ask someone where it is, they'll show you.

If you fancy a really nice cheap curry, try one of the little curry cafes in the Northern Quarter - they're great.

Er... doesn't Joey Holts qualify? They've got 144 pubs.

Two Holts pubs on that CAMRA list, I think?

Can't go wrong with a pint of Joey's, proper real ale for pennies.

There's a great little cocktail place in the Northern Quarter, next to the Market Restaurant.

If you're refering to SocioRehab it closed down I believe.

Yeah, SocioRehab is dead. Though they're replacing it with something similar, not sure if that is open yet though.

Never been a fan of Marble beers, Chorlton has two Marble pubs and I avoid subconsciously. I don't know anyone who likes Holts.

Socio is dead, but Keiko is next door for rum based cocktails

the castle is really good too on oldham street , just around the corner from swan street where bar fringe and smithfield are, or there's the monkey or the circus tavern on parliament street , otr the chop house , don't go to the peveril of the peaks though, it used to be good but now its shite. the lasso'gowery off oxford road also has its own brewery. Having said that id stay in the northern quarter , start at the castle and m,ake my way to the marble, or vice versa

Which curry house then in the Northern Quarter for a Bradford boy?

Go for 3 curries and rice at one of the little cafe's. This and That is pretty damn good, but you can't go wrong with any of them

Beer-wise, another vote for the Castle on Oldham Street, down to the Angel and the Marble.

For cocktails [url= http://www.apothecabar.co.uk/ ]Apothica[/url] in the northern quarter do a mean Espresso Martini

I don't know anyone who likes Holts.

Really?
If you'd have said Lees or Robinsons I'd understand, neither travel very well, but Holts is just wonderful.

A proper, local, award winning real Northern beer, which actiually tastes great.
What's not to like?

The pubs are great too - clean, simple & unpretentious.
They do Hollands pies now as well.

Try going out and drinking yourself into it with a gallon of bitter.
Kill or cure, innit?
And you'll still have change from £25.00. 😀

binners - Member

Go for 3 curries and rice at one of the little cafe's. This and That is pretty damn good, but you can't go wrong with any of them

Everyone has a favourite, but there's none I'd actively avoid.
Some only open till 5 o'clock ish though - This 'n' That might be open later.

OMG, they'v got a website!
[url= http://thisandthatcafe.co.uk/index.htm ]Link.[/url]
And a new shopfront by the look of it.

Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs, etc.........

Maybe it was The Monkey that put me off Holts 😉 It's a decent bitter, just not great. I hear their lager *spits* is award winning though.

Yadgar any good?

They've not just got a new shopfront Rusty, apparently they've got a new 'Concept'.

Clearly the rest of the Northern Quarter is rubbing off on them 😉

This n That is legendary. I went last summer, and pretty sure the same guy served me when I used to go 20yrs ago. The veggie dishes are also vegan as they use vegetable ghee, if that's important (tis to me!)

Found bottles of Holts in a remote village bar in the mountains of Navarra. It does indeed travel well.

Also, for Cocktails Browns might be good, they also do "beer". Like the Marble Arch (and Castle), it's interior is pretty cool.

http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/manchester/menus/drink/

I'm thinking post beer curry so needs be open 9-10pm ish.

See if you can resist the call of Rusholme in that case.

It's a decent bitter, just not great.

Decent? Holts is an excellent traditional bitter, unaffected by the trend for lightweight, pale, hoppy session bitters - not that I don't like those beers! It's just a little old-fashioned in colour and strength but a beer of huge character from a brewery that deserves public support and at the prices they charge, Joey Holts is very drinkable!

Anybody who would like to try something different ought to try The Cedar Tree in Thomas Street, which is Lebanese. Not quite up to Edgware Road London standards but very tasty all the same.

binners - Member

They've not just got a new shopfront Rusty, apparently they've got a new 'Concept'.

If it involves changing the food, prices or atmosphere, I swear I'm going thermonuclear.
There my one constant point of reference in a scary, confusing and increasingly unpleasant world. 😀

Saying that, they've not been the same since they stopped serving sheep's brains on a Sunday with the Nehari.

Decent? Holts is an excellent traditional bitter, unaffected by the trend for lightweight, pale, hoppy session bitters - not that I don't like those beers! It's just a little old-fashioned in colour and strength but a beer of huge character from a brewery that deserves public support and at the prices they charge, Joey Holts is very drinkable!

I agree wholeheartedly.
It's proper, traditional, Northern bitter.

The dark mild is a lovely pint too.

The lagers are actually very good - the Crystal wins awards all over the world, including Germany.

If you want to learn a foreign language in six easy steps, try half a dozen of these:
[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvvIf-Z0zlsiTUh2x-9TDv18kqLEtNlNhbwlw-w-nnqCQtydjH [/img]

It's the stuff that put the first Mancunian into space.
It's great. 🙂

From their [url= http://www.joseph-holt.com/intro.asp ]website[/url]:

Diamond lager has followed up the success of Crystal by winning a Gold Medal at this year's prestigious International Brewing Awards. Diamond beat off worldwide competition and was voted the best premium lager in the world. This follows up the success of Crystal Lager winning a Gold in the standard category at the previous International Beer Awards.

Sod it, we'll go to this n that first. All this talk of curry has made us hungry 🙂

Rusholme is not really worth the taxi trip either.

Just woke up after sleeping off our This n That rice & 3 meat late lunch. Good food, basic but good.

Pubs next 🙂

We tried the Marble Arch, Angel & BarFringe. All good, Marble Arch is a really nice pub and the food looked great but we spent most of our time in BarFringe because the atmosphere was good and the nasty Belgium/German stuff in fridge was hitting the spot!

Thanks again folks.