Inside Harcourt, the new Hong Kong-style pub that’s just opened in Altrincham
Brought to the Trafford market town by Hong Kongers Priscilla So and Brian Hung, it's far from a traditional British boozer - but that only adds to its charm.
A new pub has opened up in Altrincham, serving carefully chosen craft beers and wines alongside small plates inspired by Hong Kong’s street food scene.
From numbing morsels of spicy Szechuan pepper chicken kidneys to salted egg yolks with chips and deep-fried crispy prawn toast, whilst we know the whole point of a pub is that you don’t actually have to order any food, if you’re coming here you’d be a fool not to give it a go.
Called Harcourt Pub, inside it feels more like a cool Northern Quarter bar than an old-school boozer per se, with a snazzy green-tiled bar backlit by neons and a mix of seating options: ranging from high bar stools to four-top tables and low-slung leather couches and coffee tables.
A huge floor-to-ceiling window opens out onto the street and, as we tuck into generous helpings of sesame-topped prawn toast and crispy-bottomed dumplings, we feel the intrigued eyes of passersby moving over our sizeable feast.
It’s only been open for three weeks, but the new pub certainly seems to be catching the attention of curious locals already. Having made the 30-minute tram ride down from town, it’s not hard to see why.
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Crispy sesame prawn toast with salted egg yolk at Harcourt Pub. / Image: The Manc Eats
A plate of spicy and crunchy smacked cucumbers at Harcourt Pub. / Image: The Manc Eats
Brought to the Trafford market town by married Hong Kongers Priscilla So and Brian Hung, Harcourt draws on its owner’s experience working in the craft beer industry and, as a result, carries a pretty impeccable beer selection.
The pair came to the UK about a year before opening the pub and had both worked in breweries and beer shops before leaving Hong Kong. Once in Manchester, Brian soon got a job as a barrel ageing manager at Cloudwater Brewery and it was here that he reconnected with his now-business partner Kyle Wong.
Hanging around in the brewery taproom one day, he happened to overhear some customers chatting in Cantonese and to his surprise it was Kyle. The pair already knew each other from home, as Brian had frequented a craft beer bottle shop of Kyle’s when still living in Hong Kong.
After a few drinks, they settled on the idea of opening up their own pub – and as they say, the rest is history. Kyle’s wife Fiona Chan oversees the kitchen, making the whole thing a real family affair.
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Our sizeable feast at Harcourt Pub. / Image: The Manc Eats
Spicy numbing chicken kidneys at Harcourt Pub. / Image: The Manc Eats
With fourteen different craft beers on tap and two casks to choose from, local Manchester breweries are well represented here with familiar names like Cloudwater, Wander Beyond, Track and Pomona Island sitting alongside the likes of Deya, Wild Beer and Left Handed Giant.
When it comes to their tap list, everything is on rotation except for one lager, the Cloudwater Helles, which Priscilla firmly insists is the best beer of that style they have ever tried.
It’s been a while since we’ve had it, but after she pours us off a quick taster we can’t help but agree. It really is quite special: subtly zesty and herby, pouring a lightly hazy light golden with hints of grass and fruit mixed in. And you’ve always got to have a lager on, you know, for the lads.
Scouring the beer menu, there are some exciting choices including a milk stout from Wild Beer and US Cream Ale from Stubborn Mule. In the end, though, we settle on a fruity rhubarb and raspberry sour from Pomona and Track’s Double Hazy IPA to go with our meal.
Alongside the dumplings, numbing kidneys, and crispy prawn toast, we opt for thinly-sliced spiced beef shin and a soft-boiled egg topped with outrageously delicious pickles. Dessert, meanwhile, comes in the form of Hong Kong-style French toast served with a choice of either condensed milk or Golden syrup.
After some umming and erring, we opt for the syrup – a choice that is quickly validated by the staff, who tell us that’s their favourite, too. Paired with a third of Wander Beyond’s 12% Pastry Stout, we’re in pudding heaven.
A nostalgic favourite of Hong Kongers everywhere, Harcourt’s version featured bite-size cubes of eggy bread filled with peanut butter, topped with cubes of melting butter, and then drizzled in sweet, sickly, syrupy goodness.
Pan-fried chicken and vegetable dumplings. / Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
It’s only the second time we’ve had it, but we completely get the hype. This is a must-try dish, for sure, and a dish that can typically be found on the menu in any Hong Kong greasy spoon-style cafe.
Now, there’s no denying that we Brits have a special relationship with the pub. In fact, we practically invented it. Having inherited the concept from the Romans, we’ve spent centuries honing it into a fine art.
That said, we certainly don’t have the monopoly on the concept anymore – so if you’re getting bored of Scampi Fries and pints of bitter we strongly recommend you give Harcourt Pub a try. You won’t regret it.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Food & Drink
The 5 best places to go for a matcha in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Matcha fever has the nation gripped at the minute – it feels like half the country has turned its back on flat whites in favour of the popular green tea drink.
This pretty Japanese beverage might have been around for centuries, but it’s having a bit of a new moment here in Manchester and finding a whole new wave of fans.
With the global success of brands like Blank Street, you can barely walk down the street without passing someone sipping something green.
So we’ve decided to pull together five local spots in Manchester who are doing the very best matcha in town, from the very traditional to the very playful.
Know of somewhere we’ve missed? Drop us a DM on our The Manc Eats Instagram page HERE.
Ohayo Tea, Chinatown
Matcha bubble tea and soft serve at Ohayo Tea in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
This adorable bubble tea cafe in Chinatown has a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot, and you’ll find his face carved into the walls, waffles in the shape of his head, and a giant dog statue bursting out of the wall.
Ohayo Tea serve a complex take on a matcha drink that plays into their bubble tea expertise – expect your matcha to come layered with tapioca pearls, cheese foam, pistachio foam, and plenty more options too.
These drinks come with instructions – tilt your branded cup (the Shiba is back) it to at least 45 degrees to get every layer at once, or, if you insist, use a thick straw to mix it all together.
You can also get matcha soft serve here with shards of honeycomb stuck to it. Delightful.
Just Between Friends, Ancoats and Northern Quarter
Matcha drinks at Just Between Friends, Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re someone who actually likes matcha to taste of matcha, rather than of all sorts of syrups and other add-ons, turn to one of the city’s best coffee shops.
At Just Between Friends – which has locations tucked into an old mill in Ancoats as well as right on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter – matcha is whisked properly with a traditional bamboo whisk, before being added to steamed or chilled milk.
The result is either a warm, smooth drink served in an earthenware cup, or a refreshing iced matcha.
You can wedge yourself into a window seat or even sit on the cobbled archway outside and imagine you’ve transported yourself to a Tokyo backstreet.
We’d love to tell you the opening hours and location of this pop-up matcha hotspot, but it tends to shift around Manchester a bit.
It’s worth tracking down though – Matcha Kyoto is importing speciality ingredients all the way from Kyoto and doing everything as authentically as possible.
With matcha whipped cream, matcha lattes, matcha desserts and matcha toppings it’s a dream come true for matcha lovers… Is the word matcha starting to sound like gibberish to anyone else at this point?
Track their latest movements on their Instagram HERE.
Sipp, Ancoats and Deansgate Square
Sipp matcha in Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re new to matcha, or just know that you like yours with a little sweetness and fun, you must get a sip of Sipp’s.
These guys are based in General Stores around town, with their own coffee shop soon to open in Chorlton, and they have a whole list of ‘Matcha Cloud’ drinks.
Their best-seller is the raspberry and coconut, which tastes exactly like a lamington, or there are always specials cropping up (currently, it’s a mango and passionfruit).
This is gateway matcha – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Tsujiri, Chinatown
A selection of matcha items at Tsujuri in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Not satisfied with simply serving matcha you can drink, Tsujiri is a Japanese tea house using this powerful ingredient in cakes, ice creams, cheesecakes and more.
Tsujiri was founded all the way back in 1860, before bringing the finest matcha lattes and infused desserts to British shores.
In Manchester, you’ll find them in the heart of Chinatown, tucked up an anonymous flight of stairs, where there are cabinets full of green sweet treats like a matcha basque cheesecake, matcha sundaes, and classic iced lattes.
The two best bakeries in Greater Manchester, according to the Good Food Guide
Daisy Jackson
The Good Food Guide has released its list of the top bakeries across the UK – and two in Greater Manchester have made the cut.
The prestigious guide has been travelling across the nation testing out the joy of British bakeries, from pastries to loaves to biscuits.
50 bakeries around the UK have been selected, ‘from a makeshift industrial unit in Devon to a radically remote destination in the Scottish Highlands and a must-visit spot in Mid Wales’.
Greater Manchester, as we know, has no shortage of great bakeries, whether it’s queueing for ages for an artisan pastry at La Chouquette, the ever-changing specials at Half Dozen Other in the Green Quarter, or delicious bakes and breads at Companio.
The Good Food Guide has said that the nation is going through something of a ‘modern baking boom’ and selected two spots locally that are doing it better than anyone else.
The first is Pollen, a legendary bakery which started life under a railway arch near Manchester Piccadilly, where people would queue all morning for a cruffin (at the time, this was revolutionary).
The team have now gone on to open a sunny waterside cafe at Ancoats Marina, and another in the leafy Kampus neighbourhood.
Pollen in AncoatsPollen in AncoatsPollen at KampusPollen at KampusCredit: The Manc Group
The Good Food Guide praised Pollen for its ‘quality viennoiserie and sourdough loaves’.
The Good Food Guide says of Pollen: “Since the aroma of fresh croissants first wafted from the ovens of the original bakery in Ancoats, Pollen has established something of a cult status in Manchester for its quality viennoiserie and sourdough loaves.
“A second, larger outpost at the Kampus development in the Piccadilly area is a serene, putty-hued space looking onto a lush courtyard garden where you can linger over a lunch of BBQ mushrooms on toast with celeriac and salsa verde or Jerusalem artichoke soup with herb butter.
“The counter also advertises a handsome selection of sweet treats: our surprisingly delicate matcha cheesecake was a sure sign of the pastry team’s skills.”
Long Boi’s Bakehouse in Levenshulme. Credit: The Manc Group
The second of the bakeries in Greater Manchester to catch the eye of the Good Food Guide is the brilliant Long Bois over in Levenshulme, a sunny, colourful little bakery which first rocketed to fame for its homemade pop tarts.
The guide said: “A small team of all-female bakers turns out a satisfyingly creative selection of sweet and savoury bakes – perhaps a pandan lamington (a take on the coconut-drenched Aussie classic) or an ‘everything bagel’ croissant stuffed with dill, spring onion and cream cheese – while classic cakes and pastries are presented with equal doses of flavour and flourish.
“With a tiny production kitchen, bread comes from the also-excellent Holy Grain Sourdough in Manchester city centre. Like any self-respecting neighbourhood bakery, they sell out quickly – so get there early.”
Where’s your favourite bakery in Greater Manchester?
Georgina Pellant -
10th February 2023 
