The Angel, Manchester

Looks a bit tatty on the outside, inside as BF describes below, it was quite busy on a Friday early pm so a good sign for a pub There was actually 13 handpumps with a good range of beers, just a couple of pumps being vacant,the house beer was Angel Ale brewed by Howard Town,Hawkshead Windermere Pale,Farm Yard Haybob, Howard Town Super Fortress,Prospect Gold Rush, Mallisons Barbe Rouge,Fell Tinderbox IPA,from the Keith Brewery were Hungry Keith, Pale Keith and Stout Keith, there was also Angel Cider on hand pump but no Idea who by. It is certainly an OK pub and although I didn't Warm to it as much as Mr Fastard seemed to Its well worth a look.

As others have said, from the outside it doesn't look much but it is much better inside. Fairly open plan, with what feels like two distinct sections to me - a more comfortable arrangement of tables and chairs in front of the bar leading down to a nice fireplace, then the area to the side of the bar leading to the patio doors which feels more basic and a little run down with evidence of leaks and damp that could probably do with some attention. The real ale selection is a very pleasant surprise for such an unassuming looking pub, with 11 pumps for real ale and 2 for real cider, and only one of each being off at the time of my visit a couple of weekends ago. Normally the place is pretty busy and getting a seat can be a struggle, in fact even making your way through the crowd to the bar can be tricky, but worth the effort. For some reason Manchester seemed pretty quiet on bank holiday weekend so we managed to get a seat in the better area in front of the bar on Saturday night. As ever a good selection of real ale to choose from with a variety of styles meaning something for everyone.

Funny one this. Located down a less-than-lovely road and looks a bit battered from the outside. Inside is a pub of two halves – a straightforward locals pub in terms of clientele but with a baby grand piano in situ. The interior is L shaped with a varnished floor and boxed wood ceiling. Main reason for visiting was the ale - 13 pumps with (perhaps sensibly) seven on which were a mix from Liverpool Organic, Howard Town, Kelham Island and Plain. No complaints about my Howard Town Shining Clough. A decent, if odd, place with a tidy ale range. Worth a visit but as stated by PSM below, it’s got too much of an identity crisis to make for an essential experience.

A very unassuming pub from the outside but once in you are presented with 13 handpumps serving both real ale and cider. The interior is described elsewhere. Inside the pub is sort of zig zag. A very good pub.

This place doesn't look like it's going to be up to much on approach, but once inside, it transpires that it's a fine ale house with a slightly chopped up interior. The pub had a traditional, two bar layout that has since been opened up, with a few traces of the original floor plan still very much evident in the form of various pillars and sections of partitioning wall. The front part of the pub is bare boarded and offers standard table and chair seating in an open space with plain windows and a white wood strip ceiling. One pew here perfectly fits into a gap between two sections of the former partitioning wall, creating a natural barrier at this point that further emphasises the previous layout. The servery is on the front wall, to the left of the entrance and has lots of dark wood, including some attractive ceiling panels and a lot of frosted glass. Opposite the bar, there is a much cosier and comfier looking space, carpeted and with long a banquette down the left hand wall, supplemented by standard chairs. A small fireplace stands on the end wall and has a few interesting art prints surrounding it plus a shelf displaying various champagne bottles. A staircase to the rear leads up to a restaurant, although no-one seemed to be heading up there and a few folk were happily eating in the bar area. The menu seemed pretty decent, with snacks costing around a fiver and the mains a tenner. A jazz-funk soundtrack played through much of my stay and there is a grim 'garden' out the back, complete with portaloos to replace the actual toilets which were out of order. The beer range focussed on microbreweries, with the full range on this visit comprising Kissingate Old Tale Porter and Six Crows, Liverpool Organic Shipwreck IPA, Bob's Brewing White Lion, Hawkshead NZPA, Bright Side Topaz, Howard Town Kerala, Saltaire Raspberry Blonde and Pictish Alchemist's Ale. I tried the White Lion, which was in pretty good shape and appears to be one of the regular brews available here. I found this place has a bit of an identity crisis and couldn't figure out if it was trying to present itself as a traditional alehouse or a more contemporary bar and restaurant. To my mind, it offered a bit of both without really nailing one or the other. I still enjoyed the visit though and recognise that this is a well run enterprise and another great place to find exciting beer in this part of the city.

An L-shaped room with the bar situated in the corner crook. There is a fireplace down one end which has a painting of a seemingly apocalyptic event above it, I couldn't make it out. Corner high shelf with Champagne magnums, a wall mounted case contained beer taps, samples of malt and a cross-section drawing of a brewery showing the various processes. It was very busy on a Thursday lunchtime, especially around the bar making the pumps difficult to view properly. Eventually I ascertained that the selection was Liverpool Organic Russian Stout, Revolution Brewery Clash, Hawkshead Windermere, Slightly Foxed Quick Brown Fox, Pictish Alchemist's Ale, Bob's Brewery Yakima Chief plus White Lion, Saltaire Triple Chocoholic and a pair of ciders, one by Farmer Jones, the other remained out of my view. Food served, hot sandwiches seemed popular. Seating inside included upholstered benches with wooden backs while the dismal outdoor side area remains. A deservedly popular pub with a superb line up of beers, well worth a visit.