Pie and Ale, Manchester

A few months ago I was killing time in Manchester whilst my husband was having a pint with his mate (trust me, this is an unhealthy combination which is best left alone...) I found myself in the Bakerie bread and wine bar, chatting away to a fella making bread and waxing lyrical about the new Pie and Ale shop they were opening next door. Well it's finally open. Off we trot. 

Throwing caution to the wind, we (some may say stupidly) decided to go the same evening we were visiting Mughli. It was about 1pm and we were only having our curry at 7.30pm. Do not make the same mistake. These pies are really filling! Not only do they have pie... but as you would imagine from the name, they have lots of ale and craft beers too. Not a fan of these myself, I had my husband to hand in his professional capacity as beer taster extraordinaire...

As well as the decent list of bottled beers on offer, there were a further six on draught and five guest ales. There were quite a few from local microbreweries, and although the list isn't huge, what they do have is of decent quality. Paddy picked a Weird Beard Chinook to accompany his pie.

To the pies. There were four to choose from, including a steak and ale, vegan Caribbean and then the three cheese and leek which I had, and the Italian meatballs with Puttanesca sauce which Paddy had.

My friend Claire at work is convinced there is such thing as a pastry hangover. This is the notion of enjoying your pastry based snack very much, only to be haunted by the wretched creature that is heartburn of the calibre of a real life, fire breathing dragon. I decided I was willing to overlook this misdemeanour in favour of gluttony.

God these pies are good. The pastry is crisp with no hint of a soggy bottom or any greasiness. I particularly liked the fact that Paddy's came with a little cow on top and mine had oozing cheese... They were both so full of flavour - they were just fantastic! The menu warns that the sides are small because the pies are big, they weren't wrong!

My only criticism of Pie and Ale was the fact our plates were cold, which made the sides cool quite quickly too. Sort that and we have a winner folks. It's the kind of place I could happily spend an afternoon. It's off the beaten track and has everything you could ask for... well... almost everything.
~sends subliminal messages to sell sweet pies and custard~

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