The Bank, Manchester

The Bank is a Nicholsons pub in an old… erm… library. Past the impressive columned exterior and up a few steps is a square open plan high ceilinged room. The bar counter runs up the left-hand wall facing high tables down the centre and standard tables under the right hand windows. Ten or so thin supporting columns break up the area between the bar and high tables. In the right rear is a small raised seating area. No televisions, but there was some background music playing that was hardly audible over the chatter from the after work crowd on a recent Friday visit. The bar supports premium keg alongside Carling and there are two banks of five hand pumps. Nicholsons Pale Ale, Sharp’s Doom Bar, TT Landlord and Laine Breaker were available. The Fuller’s London Pride and St Austell Tribute were labelled as coming soon. Food is available, the cheeseburger is priced at £12. It was busy during my visit, but the service was friendly and efficient. That said, the large open space is impossible to fill with any real atmosphere, even when very busy. I expect that this place gets quieter through the evening as the local office workers go home.

Paid a visit on Sunday to have a meal with my wife, to recover from a shopping session. There are 10 hand pumps at the bar, split across two banks, but the only available real ales were Doom Bar, Nicholson's Pale Ale, Robinsons Dizzy Blonde and Sharp's Atlantic, leaving three unclipped. I have been before and remember the real ale selection being better, or my memory could be deceiving me. It's always possible they had been busy over the weekend and run out of a few. There were a few better than average keg options including RedWillow Wreckless and a couple of ciders. The cider I had was rather nice. I went for one of the Sunday roasts and having struggled to decide between beef and the ham hock, my decision was made for me when I ordered at the bar and was told there was no ham hock left. The meal was delicious; my wife had the Nicholson's burger which she reported was also very nice (and looked huge). There is also a chalk board with a list of pies, with tick boxes to indicate which are currently available. The pub was not that busy but there were a few customers in. Service was quick and there were enough staff to cope. The meals arrived quickly but not suspiciously quickly. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the food in here and it was pretty good value; only a bit more expensive than a Wetherspoon meal but so much better. I'd happily come back again.