THE TOWN HALL TAVERN on Tib Lane is one of my favourite pubs.
It's not got an original interior, like say Thomas's round the corner, having been ripped out and reconstructed in the mad 1970s, but it has the right pub atmosphere.
The Town Hall Tavern is a fine sidestreet pub. It's one of those happy buildings that politely contributes to the street scene without dominating.
Sitting there cuddling a pint makes you feel comfortable, expansive. It's the sort of place where you can ponder the fundamental questions of life such as what makes a good pub?
Massive set of squid
Is it an atmosphere of age, the frisson of time passing? Is it beautiful fittings and fixtures? Is it talkative locals and a friendly landlord or landlady? Is it finely kept real ales?
It’s actually most of these combined. The really good pub should tempt you in for a quick half and make you stay longer than expected. The Golden Pippin ale and the company I was sharing sorted that last week.
The Town Hall Tavern has pedigree. Indeed its antiquity provides one of those great QI moments with bells and alarms ringing because the obvious answer isn't correct for the obvious question.
Why is the Town Hall Tavern called the Town Hall Tavern? No it's not because it's quite close to the Town Hall, it's because it was converted from Town House to pub sometime in the early nineteenth century and commemorates Manchester's original Town Hall which was at the junction of Cross Street and King Street where the Lloyds Bank is now.
Inside and down
You can still find part of the original Town Hall by the boating lake in Heaton Park, where it was transported after the rest of the building was demolished.
The pub has had a chequered past. This included in those mad 70s times as a topless bar with topless female staff. One gent recalled to me how there was a woman in her late thirties called Brenda, of substantial girth, who would scurry round rooms clearing away the chicken in a basket with a great deal of lateral movement. He said it put him off women for about four years.
Eggs Benedict
Until recently a curious pair of societies used to meet in the useful function room upstairs. I remember being up there one night in 2009 with a group of people, but at 7pm I had to move us downstairs to make way for a regular group booking.
“Who is it?” I asked the barman.
“It’s the Manchester Anarchists,” came the bar man's reply. "I know what you're thinking but they're a really nice bunch. Give me them over the philosophers anytime."
"So the Manchester philosophers meet here as well?" I said.
"They do, though not at the same time as the anarchists," said the bar man. He paused. “They can be trouble though. Very lively. Always arguing with me.”
Nice anarchists, ratty philosophers. Life's interesting.
Aside from the function room the Town Hall Tavern is an up and down sort of place with a sunken back room and raised area opposite the bar. It's nicely done out - nice is the right word - with graphically tasteful Factory Music posters and the like in that raised bit. The pub is clearly proud of its heritage and Manchester's heritage, although it seems to avoid the issue of big Brenda.
Bacon chops
Grub is pub food personified. And comes in gargantuan heaps.
The salt and pepper squid in tempura batter for £4.50 could be so constructed as to provide shelter for a whole family of chichuahas. It's decent quality as well, moreish too so, despite the size, disappears in minutes. The chicken liver pate served with homemade chutney for £3.95, lacks finesse, but is serviceable.
The stack of bacon chops (£8.95) was another monster dish. The meat was good, pure pig, nice Mr Pig. The mash was wrong, runny and made more runny by the 'cider jus'.
Classic pork and apple sauce I suppose, but the 'jus' should in be a little jug on the side for the customer to pour, and this being a proper pub, it should be called gravy. The chef in the kitchen needs to get that mash right though, it needs to be fluffy and bouncy and forget sticking anything else in it, just make it from pure spud with real butter melted through.
The eggs benedict for £4.95 was huge again and in truth a little overfacing. It was good again though, and if you're passing with just a fiver for food, a proper filler.
We were too full for a pudding but probably would have gone for the crumble and custard which would probably have been delivered in a cauldron. Size matters at The Town Hall Tavern.
Interior
The Town Hall Tavern is a fine side street pub. It's one of those happy buildings that politely contributes to the street scene without dominating it. The ales are well kept and the food cheap and filling. Not every pub needs to aspire to gastro status. Some pubs suit putting drinking and chatter on equal billing.
There is a charming old ghost story about The Town Hall Tavern. This states that should you see out of the corner of your eye an old gent in an Edwardian frock coat but when you look at him directly he disappears, then you're going to come into money.
Perhaps that's another reason to hang around for that second drink.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield
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The Town Hall Tavern, 20 Tib Lane, City. M2 4JA. 0161 832 3550.
Rating: 13.5/20
Pubness: 7/10
Service: 4/5
Food: 2.5/5
Inside the pub
Posters
Pate
