David Adamson goes for a pub lunch along the road less travelled
A pub you could spend all day in, and be well fed while you’re doing it, and in the city centre? There’s not as many of these unicorns roaming around as you might think.
There aren’t many you’d want to spend all day in, or want to eat in, or would tempt you to be in the city centre longer than you’d maybe like, never mind all in one. But I’d argue that Founder’s Hall is one such pub.
As our Editor-at-Large Jonathan Schofield mentioned in his recent review of the charmingly independent The Ship and Mitre in Liverpool, the underwhelming sameness of Greene King pubs is utterly uninspiring, so much so that you could remote view the menu and reel off its contents like some backwater clairvoyant.
Of course there’ll always be a time and place for fish and chips or a steak and ale pie, it just doesn’t need to be every time and in every place. If part of the magic of a pub is the variety of human life rubbing shoulders, then you can probably take a gamble on the odd menu item.
Of course this was once Duttons, and served the city centre well as a bolthole in which to seek solace, away from the rain or Saturday shopping or Christmas markets or even at one time the Manchester International Festival.
It refurbished and reopened as Founder’s Hall in February of this year, as a homage in four walls to its brewery J.W Lees and founder John Lees, describing the Albert Square site as ‘a temple to Manchester’s finest brewery’.
It was certainly peaceful enough when I walked in to meet Jonathan on Monday lunchtime, and the decor is testament to the changeable atmosphere of a good pub; quiet and soothing on a weekday lunchtime, bustling and lively come Friday. It was a calming and glacial Monday lunchtime, so we took a seat in no real rush.
I was in search of an alternative to The Traditional Pub Lunch, a change from the sort that fills you up, knocks you out and takes you out of action for the afternoon. You know the sort; a deep-fried piece of cod the size of a skateboard, a burger stacked like a totem pole, the ubiquitous and often enormous pie.
Of course Founder’s Hall does all these and well - the tables around us with these dishes looked daunted but happy with their choices - but I was intrigued whether the place could succeed where so many fail; the small plates.
Pubs taking on small plates menus was always an uneasy marriage; these institutions where crisps were for so long the only sustenance were suddenly required to have a tapas style menu, so you can see why many leant on fishcakes and dirty fries so much. The small plates section of the autumn menu at Founder’s Hall speaks more to the modern appetite, with three dishes for £17.95 representing a fair price in my opinion. Yes there’s nachos and chicken wings, but there’s also a cheddar and ale fondue or soft shell tacos with shawarma or beef brisket. Not what you’d expect, and not something they had to do either. Founder’s could have phoned it in but chose not to, and for that you can consider my cap doffed.
We chose three dishes that covered at least a few bases: the sturdy and interesting take on ‘pub grub’ in the black pudding scotch egg with stout BBQ sauce; the meaty but manageable centrepiece in sticky stout pork belly bites, and the east-Asian leaning lighter end of things in Thai honey halloumi fries with ginger, garlic and chilli sauce. Oh and some chips (or skinny fries to be exact).
Served as a tidy trio you can see this side of the menu is geared towards the lighter, quick bite type of affair, which I think is the way forward. Of course there’s the Sunday roast at your local pub after a walk, but these can be as punishing as they are pleasant. I’ve seen the greatest minds of my generation stare up at the unending matterhorn of a roast beef dinner like they’re being led to the gallows.
The halloumi fries were not shy on the honey, lacquered in the stuff to what I would say is the right degree. If you get a bowl of fried cheese with a pool of honey underneath there’s not really much point, whereas these kept the stuff clinging to them, and were a pleasant combination of sweet and salty for it. With a solid sweet chilli sauce for dipping into you’ve got either something approaching a starter, or a side, or a light snack to soak up a pint or three.
The black pudding scotch egg is something of a triumph considering the sorry efforts you can find in any number of pubs. When they’re bad they’re bad; soggy and the size of an ostrich egg, underseasoned and uninspiring.
This however was delicious, its constituent parts given time and effort; well-seasoned and oaty black pudding encased in crispy batter with an egg just on the right side of runny (although I could have had it slightly runnier). The stout BBQ sauce is the ideal accompaniment for this dish’s broad shoulders and self-assured flavours.
I can never really turn down pork belly, it’s just too much my sort of thing. It has a wider scope for disappointment, but when it’s done right it’s tough to beat. These were well-cooked, with that necessary combination of crunchy cracking on top, tender meat at the bottom and a layer of fat in between threatening to dissolve into the ether. And of course pork lends itself to sweeter things as well as it does deep and heavy flavours, so a sticky stout glaze makes perfect sense.
Jonathan thought the fries too crispy, I disagreed. I’m not one for ‘chunky chips’ - no matter how thrice fried they almost never truly deliver - so it’s frites for me. Not overly oily and well-seasoned, these were a solid side and wouldn't go amiss just with a pint either.
I was happy with this trio of small plates for lunch, but Jonathan, ever the conscientious reviewer, decided we needed to see how the pies were doing. Fair enough, I thought, some appetites are bigger than others. So we ordered the ‘JW Lees legendary three cheese and onion pie’ (£13.95), which came with mushy pies and a choice of either chips or mash. Mash please.
This was a much more than serviceable pie, in fact it was very good. People often have such low expectations of pub food that when it disappoints it’s as if all is right with the world. But that needn’t be the case. Great pubs should do great pies, and Founder’s Hall, a great pub in my opinion, does a great three cheese and onion pie.
Founder’s Hall is something of a rarity. It seems to be all things to all men without cutting corners on any one part of what it offers. The decor is intriguing and interesting enough to have character without you feeling like you’re getting steadily drunk inside an antiques shop. The beers are paramount but they do a good line in Sauvignon blancs (Jonathan says), and the staff are friendly but refreshingly businesslike (there’s enough sitcom wine bars about, where you’re an extra in the staff’s psychodrama).
And would you believe it, the food’s good as well. If over the autumn and winter I’m unfortunate enough to be out and at the mercy of a shopping trip, I’ll know a short walk away there’s solace to be found in Founder’s Hall.
Founder’s Hall, 2-10 Albert Square, M2 6LW
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Food
Halloumi fries 7.5, Black pudding scotch egg 8, sticky stout pork belly bites 7.5, skinny fries 7.5, three cheese and onion pie 8
- Service
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Ambience
Seems to suit whatever day of the week or weather. They were even playing good music.