Manchester

A new gastropub is opening on Albert Square in Manchester

, The Fountain House will combine classic British pub culture and cuisine with a quality wine and cask ale offering

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 29th October 2021

The former Albert’s Chop House site is becoming a gastropub, following the quiet closure of the popular traditional English restaurant in the summer.

The iconic Memorial Hall will reopen as gastropub The Fountain House this November, serving up classic English pub favourites like fish and chips, steak, and pies in a premium setting.

Named as a nod to the stunning Victorian fountain opposition, designed by the buildings’ architect Thomas Worthington, it will open on 11, November.

Split over three floors of the stunning Grade II building, it has undergone a complete refurbishment since being taken over from former tenants Alberts Chop House.

Promising a “chic yet charming pub atmosphere”, The Fountain House is the first northern site for The Metropolitan Pub Company, which largely operates in London and across the south ofEngland.

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Image: supplied

The acquisition of the former Albert Square Chop House in the heart of Manchester represents a bold step for the brand as they expand and bring their premium offering to like-minded guests across the country. 

Hoping to create a “must-visit” experience for Manchester’s hospitality scene, The Fountain House will combine classic British pub culture and cuisine with a quality wine and cask ale offering.

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To ensure the new site retains its heritage and Mancunian spirit, The Metropolitan Pub Company has appointed an experienced Manchester-based hospitality manager, Lawrence Hallows, to oversee the transition.

Hallows previously worked with the Chop House company in multiple roles – including as a weddings and events manager – and knows the building better than anyone.

A former team member at Albert’s Chop House, Lawrence has worked at the site since 2014 at every level of the business.

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Having recently seen the venue pass through the challenge of COVID 19, Lawrence believes now is the perfect time for the Metropolitan Pub Company to help reignite the iconic sites offering.  

Speaking on the new opening Lawrence Hallows, Sales Manager at Metro Pub Co. said: “It’s no secret that lockdown has fundamentally changed eating and drinking habits for customers. Now restrictions have eased, people tend to go out less often, but spend more when they do go out, to make the most of the experience. 

“The location of The Fountain House, right in the centre of Manchester’s business district and focal point of the Town Hall, tells you everything you need to know about its potential. 

“Local city workers, tourists and premium weekend drinkers are all looking for a high quality space with an equally outstanding food and drink offering, and that’s what The Fountain House will provide.”

Michael Horan, managing director of Metropolitan Pub Company, said: “We are really excited to bring our first pub to Manchester. The Memorial Hall site is perfect, as it will allow us to team our premium gastropub experience to customers in the heart of the city.” 

Feature image – supplied

Manchester

Guardian critic Grace Dent raves about ‘pointedly bonkers’ Manchester restaurant Musu

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

The food critic Grace Dent has published a rave review of one of Manchester’s new restaurant openings, Musu, bestowing national kudos on the Bridge Street eatery.

Referred to by the Guardian reviewer as ‘very possibly the most expensive restaurant in Manchester’, in a glowing write up she compares it to ‘the Starship Enterprise, albeit one with geishas on the walls and a £110 seven-course menu’.

Already a favourite of Ilkay Gundogan’s notoriously hard-to-please wife (it’s the only eatery she’s praised since famously saying that the Manchester food and drink scene was ‘horrible’), thankfully, Musu has now found a more discerning reviewer to recommend it.

Dent opens by advising ‘all who have already taken terrible umbrage that Musu even exists’ to ‘abandon reading this review here’, before going on to say she, personally, is ‘rather cheered that there are still people north of Watford who have the faith and gumption to open places as pointedly bonkers as this.’

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

The 55-cover restaurant is described as being ‘as dark in places as Adrian Mole’s bedroom’, with plenty of attention paid to its ‘theatrical’ detailing.

A glass-fronted private dining room that, ‘at the touch of a button, turns frosted’, gets a special mention, as does Musu’s bold ‘Japanese murals, globe lighting and […] nakedly open kitchen’.

Read more: Ilkay Gundogan’s wife has finally found a restaurant she likes in Manchester after saying our food and drink scene is ‘horrible’

But the real praise is reserved for the cooking of chef Michael Shaw, formerly of Gordon Ramsay Inc and Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, hailed as ‘minuscule portions of exquisite pleasure that linger in your mind.’

As she reels through the seven-course tasting menu, praising each dish as she goes, things go from great to excellent.

At one point, after digging into Musu’s sashimi (described as ‘ three of the finest pieces of sashimi imaginable’) she proffers: ‘I felt like handing my badge back there and then – it’s over; I won’t ever taste better’, before moving on to another ‘outstanding’ dish.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

If there is a criticism, it’s that upon finishing the seven courses she still finds herself hungry – commenting: ‘Very rarely – in fact, never – do I wish I’d chosen the longer tasting menu, though at £150 plus drinks, that would have been guaranteed to cause a reader revolt.’

This, in turn, leads to some good-natured musing on just who all these people are spending hundreds in ‘mobbed’ Musu on a Friday night, with Dent asking pointedly: ‘Where are they getting their money? None of them seemed to be the type to have Brink’s-Mat gold buried at the bottom of their garden.’

Read more: Historic Salford boozer The Crescent where Karl Marx drank set to reopen

Summarising, she writes: “If you’ve already decided to boycott Musu over the sheer cost, the din and the small portions, I must at this point stress that the food is outstanding.

“Sure, Musu isn’t for everybody, but if someone else is funding your wanton extravagance, then drag them there. It’s unforgettable for many reasons: some of them are hilarious, yes, but mostly they’re just plain good.”

Read more: The best restaurants and bars to open in Manchester in 2022

Feature image – The Manc Eats

Manchester

Manchester brewery Squawk is opening a bar in the Northern Quarter

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Manchester brewery Squawk is opening a new bar in the Northern Quarter this week, taking over the former Beatnikz taproom site.

Called Pelican, it is the first bricks-and-mortar site for the indie brewery favourite which first launched in Manchester ten years ago.

Until now, the brewery’s humble home has been located in an old railway arch in Ardwick and, for the first few years, it was just owner Ollie and his dog Bernie running the ship.

Over the years, though, it has grown into one of Manchester’s best-loved breweries – with Ollie slowly taking on new recruits along the way.

Now, as of this Friday, fans of Squawk’s locally-brewed beers will be able to head down to Dale Street for a taste of its famous fruity IPAs, light lagers and punchy sours.

Image: Squawk
Image: Squawk

The new bar will sit next door to Idle Hands cafe and take over the former home of Beatnikz Republic taproom, which sadly closed its doors in April last year.

Read more: One of Manchester’s best-loved breweries announces ‘incredibly sad’ closure

With 14 keg and 4 cask lines in total, there’s plenty to tempt craft beer and ale fans with lots of room to host Squawk’s own beers alongside a wide variety of rotating guest selections.

As for those who aren’t into craft beer, there’s more on offer too with a beautifully-curated selection of wine and spirits to choose from as well as a mean hangover-curing Bloody Mary.

The bar will also host live music and a number of fringe events, with DJs spinning beats throughout the opening weekend and going forward.

Image: Squawk
Image: Squawk

Punters can also expect film nights, karaoke hosted by Andy Baukham of Wizard King fame, foodie
offerings, games nights and Crafternoons for all and sundry to enjoy at Pelican when it opens its doors this Friday 31 March.

Read more: The award-winning cocktail bar hidden beneath the old Coronation Street cobbles

Oliver Turton, the head brewer and founder of Squawk, first set up the brewery in 2013 after following his own personal journey from barista to chef, to beer-obsessed brewer.

What first began as a hobby soon became a way of life, with Squawk soon moving into its own archway in Ardwick.

Read more: Historic Salford boozer The Crescent where Karl Marx drank set to reopen

Whilst today those archways have become somewhat synonymous with indie breweries, back then Sqwuak was one of the early trailblazers – opening alongside the likes of Blackjack and Marble.

Featured image – Google Maps

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