‘Pub grub done right’: The Badger, Dale Street, reviewed

Proper, traditional-style pubs with good fodder; the countryside (and even the suburbs) is littered with them, so why are they so hard to come by in the city centre? In fact, I reckon I could count them all on one hand. 

So you could imagine my delight when I found out the team behind The Crown & Kettle and The Rat & Pigeon (two bloody good pubs, if you ask me) were opening a third site slap bang in the middle of the Northern Quarter. 

The Badger, as its simply named, has turned the former Calcio site on Dale Street into a charming Dickensian-style gastropub, complete with all the decorative bells and whistles you could wish for; taxidermy ducks, vintage horse brasses, William Morris-esque wallpaper, Royal Doulton Toby jugs - the lot. 

My fiancé Dave arrived a few minutes ahead of me and I found him nestled in a cosy corner with a pint of Guinness already on the go. As I took my seat opposite him, a member of the team attentively approached with a warm smile and took my drinks order. 

“Do you have anything alcohol-free?” I looked up, half-wincing in fear of going up in flames for saying such blasphemous words in such a wonderful pub. 

I expected the usual eye roll I often get when I ask this question elsewhere, or the dreaded “I think we’ve a bottle of Peroni Zero in the fridge”, but to my relief no such thing happened. Instead I was met with an enthusiastic response. “We’ve got this new mocktail - it’s kind-of like a cherry soda.”

Sold. 

The aforementioned cherry soda mocktail arrived, garnished with an edible flower and served with another warm smile. It was thoroughly enjoyable - not artificial tasting but still sweet - and certainly looked the part. 

The food options are fairly concise, fitting on one side of A4 with just over a handful of options per category. All of which were reasonably priced; sides like triple cooked salt & vinegar chips start from just £4.95 and mains hover around the £20 mark, with the exception of an 8-ounce sirloin topping out at £31.95. 

As we pondered we enjoyed some complimentary warm crusty bread with homemade onion brown butter - a nice little introduction to the quality we could expect from the rest of our meal. 

To start, I ordered the Jaipur Welsh Rarebit served on garlic toast with caper berries and pickled radish. A rich dish with plenty of bite, both in texture and zingy flavour from the salty accompaniments that helped cut through the creaminess of the molten cheese. 

Dave was instantly swayed by the confit duck sausage roll served with English plum and port sauce. Wrapped in buttery, flaky pastry and neatly cut into three bite-sized chunks, the rich duck filling infused beautifully with the thin plum dip rather than becoming overpowered by it.

By this point we were salivating, eager to try the next course. Around 15 minutes after finishing our starters, our mains arrived in all their glory, piping hot and plated high. 

I ordered The Badger’s pie of the week; haunch of venison, bacon and blackberry pie served with buttered mash, minted peas, pickled red cabbage and plenty of gravy. The square slab of fluffy pastry brimmed with hearty chunks of tender venison meat and roughly chopped veggies, providing that comforting taste and feeling you only get with proper homemade dinners. 

The accompaniments were delightful too - the pickled red cabbage and slightly mushed minted peas did a good job at cutting through the richness of the venison without being too overpowering or distracting from it. 

Dave originally chose the fish and chips as his main but, since the pub had been inundated with customers during its opening week (a very good problem to have), they’d run out. 

Luckily, a member of the team was on hand to recommend the chicken kiev; served with garlic and tarragon butter, purple sprouting broccoli, roasted baby potatoes and cheese and chive sauce. He ended up being glad of the lack of beer battered haddock in the end as he really enjoyed the curveball recommendation and wouldn’t stop talking about how beautiful the sauce was or how light yet buttery the chicken kiev tasted - not oily like similar dishes drenched in garlic butter tend to be. 

Thoroughly impressed and full to the brim thanks to the generous portion sizes, we opted to share a dessert. And by ‘share’ I mean I polished off a sticky toffee pudding while he watched sinking the dregs of his pint. 

I’m somewhat of a sticky toffee pudding connoisseur these days as when I see one on a menu I can’t help but gravitate towards it. This particular one was vegan, served with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce. Sometimes vegan desserts can lose their butteriness and become quite claggy instead, but thankfully that wasn’t the case here. In fact, this STP had quite a rustic, traditional feel to it - the perfect amount of stodginess, helped along by the generously drizzled butterscotch moat it sat in. A blissful way to conclude a brilliant pub meal. 

If, like me, you find solace in cosy, dimly lit nooks, surrounded by taxidermy and nicknacks from times gone by, whilst being served homely dishes that focus more on flavour than flare, then The Badger might just become your new favourite spot, too.  

The Badger, 24 Dale St, Manchester M1 1FY

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