please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Classic old Victorian city centre pub. Proper old public bar to the right as you go in. Quite clean and tidy so must have been done out. Sub £3 pint of Holt's - it was ok but had a bit of a tang to it.
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Ventured here in March, not really expecting that much on the ale front but wanted to try the pub and tick it off the list. Doom Bar was on but the Joseph Holt Bitter seemed to be the popular choice so figured that would be the safest bet based on turnover. I was actually pleasantly surprised - it was better than I was expecting. It feels like a proper old pub in the middle of Manchester and I imagine it probably has a fairly regular set of clientele, but we were not made to feel unwelcome and the beer was fine, so all good in my book. Nothing to rush back for but a nice one to have done.
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Two ales on- Doom Bar and Holts Bitter. The Den
Doom Bar was nice but almost a pound more than the Bitter. A locals bar in the centre of Manchester, all seemed friendly enough.
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Spit and sawdust describes this pub fairly well. It's a no frills place that could probably do with a lick of paint. But the 3 rooms do have character and the place was heaving early on our Saturday afternoon visit. We had to fight to get in the door. Ales were Holts Bitter, Sharps Doom Bar & Robinsons Dizzy Blonde. We played safe and went for the Holts, as it was clearly the most popular. It was far better than I had anticipated. Traditional pub that is well worth a visit, if you like this kind of pub.
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Great pub, always stop off for a pint if I'm around Shudehill. 'Salt of the earth' older locals and a top pint of Holts- if that's not your idea of a pub, try shopping.
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If you want real ale don't come here. Asked the middled aged barmaid if they did real ales, she replied "Real what?" I asked if they did bitter she said "Yea there" pointing a solitary pump with Holt bitter on it. I then asked for a taste tester which she begrudgingly gave me in a rude manner. I said "i'll have a pint of Holts then" to which she shoved the dregs of the taste tester into a pint glass and pored me a pint. Great customer service or what?
Shame really because it was a nice traditional boozer to relax in after the Test Match.
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Excellent boozer - just like pubs used to be. A bouncer on the door keeps it that way! Fine pint of Holts.
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Holt's, Holt's, Holt's. What more can one say.
Cracking little Manchester boozer, top beer, eclectic clientele, easy on the pocket.
Only one gripe, the disinfectant smell that hits the nasal passages as you stroll in.
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Sunday evening - not many customers in the front bar. Good pint of Holt's Bitter. However, they were have a karaoke night in the back room and it is quite obvious that certain people should not be given microphones!!! I have heard cats screech better!. Anyway, it was all fairly harmless so we had another pint!. It's good to see this pub still standing when eveything else in town appears to be getting "redeveloped".
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Fantastic Little pub.Just like pubs used to be.Great beer,good value.No Juke box or musac.Mancunian Heaven.Kernow
Roden - 18 Feb 2011 19:06 |
A relic from the past - no smoking apart, this is what pubs used to be like. If you like that, you will love it. If you prefer the trendy and modern please stay away and try one of the dozens of other pubs in that style.
A place for over 50s blokes to pass away the afternoons supping ale and discussing the racing pages.
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If it's great beer, great staff and a friendly atmosphere and a good chance you can get involved in a traditional sing a long then this is your pub. Wednesday afternoons and Saturday lunch times are always a great fun but drop in anytime for a friendly Manchester welcome and a pint of Sir Joseph Holts...Perfect
Acky1 - 24 Jan 2011 21:48 |
I go in this Pub occasionally when I use the Bus station on Shudehill. Always seems to be busy with the older generation of old genuine Mancunians. It's friendly and the Holt's beer is usually well kept. If your in Manchester, definitely worth a visit.
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brilliant boozer, used it on several occasions when in Manchester for footy, made to feel very welcome by both staff and locals, great pint of bitter and even thou in a group given free soup and sandwiches. pity we havn't a few more traditional pubs like this down south. will back again this season for sure.
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Great architecture. Bizarre feel - over 60's clientele with loud 'dreamboats & petticoats' soundtrack.
Odd.
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Cracking pub, just off the city centre. Beer excellent and probably one of the best pints of bitter you will get anywhere in the town centre. Always busy and if pensioner kareoke isnt your idea of fun, you're probably best off sat in the front room. But dont let this put you off, its well run, friendly and good staff, and i say the beer is superb
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An absolute belter of a pub, good old fashioned pub and is well worth the visit, i could have sat there all day! A good choice of ales ( i opted for Holts original). it was around 1 o clock when we got there and there wasnt many seats left in the pub the place was very busy considering its location but that just shows the quality of the place. I felt like i was in a scene from life on mars or the sweeney! A pub i highly recommend.
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Well, where to start? After the trendy bars in the northern quarter we were brought back down to earth with a bump, cushioned by the 2.10 a pint perfectly served Holt's. Great exterior and interior - you could use this as a film set if you got rid of the becks vier fount (is that what they're called?) Friendly staff and punters. Spotless and beautifully tiled. A bit of a gem really.
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This pub has an attractive green ceramic ront and an interior layout similar to The Swan in York. A corridor widens to become the drinking lobby/bar area. There are two rooms, one on either side of this, served by hatches. The room at the front and the lobby share some handsome tiling.
Holt's Bitter is the only ale on pump.
The drinking lobby was harshly lit and music was being played loudly (appalling music at that - Edie Brickell, Rosie Vela, Suzanne Vega). I sat in the front bar, which mercifully wasn't having this 'music' pumped into it.
I would say the pub is worth visiting for it's interesting interior, but that's about it.
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Fine old pub, a local in the city. Great tiling and some excellent glasswork round the bar. It's not actually a Holts's pub as far as I know but that is the only bitter they sell. It's a good, well kept pint as well. Has a strange thin table in the back snug. Full of characters who will start a singalong at the drop of a hat. A dying breed sadly. If you're doing the N4 pub crawl, then add this pub to the crawl. Not for the beer selection but just for the craic.
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Much improved on how I found it in August '06. Fine honest-to-goodness boozer with an enjoyable pint of Ordinary.
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Paid a visit on a Saturday afternoon and it was just like a city boozer from the past, it was a pub atmosphere from the days of yore. All rooms jam packed with characterful folk, shoppers and a good old fashioned sing along. There was a keyboard player in the back room, must replace the piano that was at the bottom of the stairs..
Holts bitter in good nick. Timeless.
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A good traditional pub , servering Holts bitter on hand pump. Friendly locals.
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Holts pub serving only that brew on handpump. Plain traditional bar area, tiled lower walls, upper decorated with hunting prints (The Meet, Break for Cover, The Kill, poor fox), either end of the central � bar are carpetted rooms, upholstered settles, decorated with brass plates, mirrors & pictures. The bar itself has a nice wood & lead-light glass frame & a large upper window allowing light from the front room. Worth a look for the unchanged interior, but with the limited beer choice (just Holts bitter) and totally inappropriate soundtrack (yep, my old bugbear modern �r&b� � oh no it�s not!) it is not somewhere for more than one, & I may have now paid my last visit.
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Yes, they do serve Holts - I was in there on 31 March. It's now � 1.90p a pint, which, if you're used to London beer prices, is good value.
In a Holts house, such as The Lamb in Eccles, the standard price is � 1.74.
I suspect the mild ( which is not sold in the Hare and Hounds ) is a few pence even cheaper.
The Hare and Hounds is a splendid pub, well worth visiting ( not far from Manchester Victoria B R station )
Listed on CAMRA's National Inventory of Unspoilt Interiors.
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In reply to lad_newton below - I think it was Holts they had on, I doubt if it's changed much since you last went in
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Fond memories of this pub around the 2000-2001 era - visted at least once during trips to Manchester, and have a very precise memory of paying 66p for half a Holts mild, and all the regulars had their own special seats. Hope it remains intrinsically intact, Scottie Chorlton, did you spot any Holts beer clips on the pumps?
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How long can this pub stay open for? It's a great old time boozer in the middle of new development, surely only a matter of time before it is bulldozed?
I hope not. It's like going back in time - no real beer choice (a poor Boddingtons) - but friendly atmosphere. It's in great contrast to all the trendy bars that surround it
They even have a piano
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Its a bit of a scruffy dive compared with some of the trendy bars spouting up in manchester. It attracts a working mans crowd, no need to dress up in this place. I bet "Boz" is still propping the bar up though....regardless.
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Old style working mans drinking pub,with bar at the front,lounge at the back & a mainly standing room in between(pubs like this in york are venerated!)...Have to agree with beer quality being up & down at present-hope this gets sorted as its one of my favourite stopoffs
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The Holt Bitter was disappointing on my last visit. Had live music on at 3pm Saturday?!
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Decent old-style town pub, lovely tiling and so good to see the three divided areas still in place. Very well-kept beer. The only gripe would be to echo the comment elsewhere about the disinfectant smell which was much in evidence at 9.30pm on a Saturday night...
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The only pub I always visit when I'm in Manchester. Once in an area swamped with pubs, the H&H has been listed for future generations to enjoy. Tetley's and Holt's available.
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I presume this has changed hands now - the interior has been repainted and the fantastic old football memorabilia that used to line the walls have been replaced with routine hunting prints. It's still falls into the old-fashioned town alehouse category but has lost some atmosphere.
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Traditional pub, with classic interior, serving well-kept ales.
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Here's one of those pubs that have to stop swilling the floor with disinfectant every morning. Come July when cigarette smoke no longer covers it up it'll smell like a toilet. And I agree about that landlord from years ago, Jim Roddy was just the pits.
anonymous - 12 Jan 2007 10:28 |
seems to have improved with the new landlord ,friendly staff ,etc. had the misfortune to go in this pub 10 years ago!the WORST landlord i have ever come across!!!!
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It's for sale, and didn't impress greatly, perhaps as a result. Brilliant interior, though.
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I'd like to hear any comments about this pub when my great uncle owned it, Jim Roddy, and believe my he was Great.
Many thanks.
MJ
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Was in by chance on a Wednesday when the Pianist was on. It was like stepping back to the 50's and none the worse for that. The beer was excellent, cheap and the company, mostly composed of extremely lively pensioners, was most congenial. It looked like a good pub for all times but Wednesday is something special. Check it out.....
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Classic, traditional city-centre boozer with fabulous tile, wood and glass interior. Friendly staff and never had a bad pint here. Some great old footie programme memrobilia in the front room.
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A real blokes pub.
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Decent `old style` boozer.3 roomed layout,Lotsa tiling,not usually too busy...Excellent Holts & tetleys...Good `linking` pub on a crawl including the northern quarter & Printworks/Sinlairs etc
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Nice to see an old style, sash-windowed, lock up bar from its residential days. Plenty of tile work and polished wood. Handy for the tram at Shudehill for a quick pint of Holt's bitter. Wednesday is piano singalong night.
Dr Piffy - 12 Oct 2004 10:30 |
One of the last surviving traditional pubs in central Manchester, and it sells great cask condition beer.
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Fine old market pub although the market shut years ago. Well kept hand pumped beer and clientel of retired market traders and cognoscenti
Colin - 21 Jul 2004 14:30 |
