Every year The Oast House becomes Spinningfields go-to winter hub as the venue rolls out its signature festive teepees. This year, it’s given things a serious upgrade as the venue celebrates ten years in the city.
Complete with roaring fires, twinkling fairy lights and cosy faux fur throws to snuggle up in, 2022 sees the festive destination’s set-up reimagined.
With three tents joined together by a huge open hub, allowing guests to see into the main bar and soak up the party atmosphere, the teepee feels roomier than ever.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
A festive utopia of firepits and live music, the new lodge is open from now right the way through to January.
Inside, you can enjoy chunky pork and apple pies loaded with Bury black pudding scotch eggs, Hendersons gravy, mustard mash and piccalilli – and that’s just for starters.
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As part of the new pie menu, launched especially for winter, there’s a tempting-sounding chicken madras pie topped with pilau mash, onion bhaji, mint raita, mango chutney and toasted almonds, and a steak and ale version loaded with roast mushroom, roast tomato, onion ring and peppercorn sauce.
The Oast House kitchen will also be cooking up everyone’s favourite festive snack, the Yorkshire pudding wrap: each filled with your choice of chicken, beef, or vegetarian meatballs, hot stuffing, triple-cooked potatoes, roasted vegetables and homemade gravy.
Another menu newcomer is the buffalo chicken macaroni cheese topped with crispy chicken fillets, tossed in Frank’s hot sauce and served with a blue cheese dressing.
As for drinks, alongside big steins of beer and all the usual favourites, from next month you’ll find steaming mugs of mulled wine and a selection of show-stopping seasonal cocktails throughout the season.
Open from now through to January with a packed roster of live musicians playing everything from pop to rock to funk and soul in the evenings, we have a feeling it’s going to be a popular hideaway during the colder months.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
A tiny new train station pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road
Daisy Jackson
A tiny craft beer pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road, making all those inevitable train cancellations a little sweeter.
The new boozer will come from the same team behind some of the UK’s best train station pubs, who already have bars at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria.
A licensing application has now been submitted by Bloomsbury Leisure Holdings Limited to take over the former cycle hub at Manchester Oxford Road.
The small building is directly opposite the entrance to the busy train station on the southern side of the city centre.
If approved, it will be the third site for the pub group in Manchester.
They already operate the Piccadilly Tap, that two-storey beer bar on Piccadilly Approach with a heated rooftop space and outdoor patio.
The team are also responsible for the more recently-opened Victoria Tap, which took over the former bin store at Manchester Victoria.
That particular pub has a heated beer garden constructed just inches away from where the trams tootle past and has a departures board where time is measured by pints (got 10 mins til your train leaves? That’s one pint, sir!)
As for the Oxford Road Tap, a new account on X appeared a few weeks ago that appears to confirm the imminent arrival of a new pub.
The Oxford Road Tap have applied to have opening hours through to half-past-midnight Sunday to Thursday, and until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
They teased a mocked-up photo of posters outside the station with the new pub logo, plus a slogan of ‘Great beer is just a few steps away…’
They later shared ‘Triple threat incoming’ with all three pub brands lined up as a deck of cards.
Northern Quarter favourite Pie and Ale has sadly closed down
Danny Jones
Beloved Northern Quarter eatery and pub Pie and Ale has sadly and quietly closed its doors this week in yet another gutting bit of news for the Manc hospitality sector.
Known for its legendary homemade pies, great selections of ales, craft beers and lagers, not to mention a great little pub when it comes to watching live sport, it’s long been considered an NQ institution.
Unfortunately, however, as confirmed by a sign posted in the window, Pie and Ale has now closed for business after more than a decade.
Safe to say, we’re absolutely gutted, as we’re sure everyone else is.
Credit: The Manc Eats
While no official announcement has been made on their social media as yet, which will no doubt receive love and sadness from its loyal following, the sign in the window simply reads: “Pie and Ale has unfortunately ceased trading. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The local favourite which was always hailed for being great value for money – celebrated especially for its popular pie and a pint for under a tenner deal – also served up great nibbles and light bites as well as dessert specials.
Although the Lever Street spot previously shut down for a short spell back in 2018 due to what they labelled as “unforeseen circumstances” before reopening just two months later, this latest update looks pretty definitive.
Sister-site Bakerie also ceased trading back in April 2019, with husband and wife founders, Alyson Doocey and David Cook, admitting that all independents had been “feeling the squeeze”.
While we have few other details at this stage, it does look like Pie and Ale has indeed closed down for the foreseeable future.
A mainstay on our list of the best pies in Manchester since day dot and just the latest in the list of losses in 2024 so far, they will be sorely missed.
We sincerely hope this is like last time and will keep our fingers crossed that we see the pie pros and expert pourers back in business at some point.
Georgina Pellant -
12th October 2022 
