This week, Ancoats General Store has welcomed a new kitchen takeover from Bread and Bowl – home of one of Manchester’s naughtiest fry-ups.
Stuffed inside a giant loaf of hollowed-out bread, owner Charlotte’s breakfast bread bowls became something of a hungover lockdown sensation in 2020 and we haven’t been able to stop eating them since.
Filled with fry-up favourites like high-grade local sausages, crispy streaky bacon, beans, cheese, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and hash browns, they look seriously impressive. They’re also seriously filling.
With a range of dishes designed ‘for the greedy’, alongside Charlotte’s famous Full English bread bowls, you’ll also find a brand new sandwich menu.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Featuring breakfast burritos and all-day butties like the brilliantly-named ‘Meat Sweats’ – a combination of salami, ham, bacon, Lancashire cheddar, mozzarella, rocket, homemade pickles and ‘secret sauce’ – there’s plenty to get stuck into.
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Think sambos on ‘big ol’ foccaccia’ stuffed with the likes of buttermilk chicken and buffalo hot sauce, and fish fingers with homemade tartare sauce and mushy peas, plus chunky chips, loaded hash browns and staple breakfast butties.
The kitchen is also vegan-friendly, with plant-based alternatives available for non-meat eaters like the ‘Not a Chicken Butty’ which features oyster mushroom baked in a special spice blend with vegan mayo, onions and tomatoes.
Initially opening at The Tavern (now The Lawn Club) in February 2020, she’s moved from pop-up to pop-up and can now be found at Ancoats General Store slinging out top-tier butties for the foreseeable.
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 -
30th March 2023 
