Browns, Manchester

Interesting old building, was last in here many years ago when it was Athenaeum. According to CAMRA's WhatPub entry for this place, "This bar did stop serving real ale in 2016 but has restarted in 2018 with 2 handpumps" but on calling in on Saturday we found no real ale and no hand pumps from which it could be served, so the real ale appears to have gone again. The only remotely interesting beer that stood out was Wreckless (Redwillow) on keg. Decided not to stay and went in search of somewhere serving real ale instead.

A lovely place to enjoy a drink. Very decorative inside and with marble pillars and a decorative ceiling. Suffice to say it is very grandiose inside. I'll leave it to others to better describe it. The island bar served two cask ales today, Doom Bore and Wainwright.

Very nice place for a drink had a pint of Doom bar in good form but should be for the money very pricey but dont moan keep out the only thing that spoils it theres a lot of Hooray Henrys in that look down on people but worth a visit. A vast improvement from the Athenaeum will call again

Official pages of Browns in Manchester - www.browns-restaurants.co.uk

Official pages of Browns in Manchester - www.browns-restaurants.co.uk

This place was probably one of the first bank conversions in Manchester. It’s a fantastic building inside with grey marble pillars and a couple of busts/statues. The carpet hasn’t been changed since it opened though and it’s pretty tatty in places. When it opened it was a very trendy place with a loud DJ and flashing lights all over the place. It’s changed track since then and is now a Wetherspoonalike with similar menus and clientele to match. There are loads of different types of seating around the one huge room with a raised area to the left as you enter and a number of sofas in the area to the right of the door. There’s also a pool table and a quiz machine towards the rear of the pub. It’s an ornate island bar that has 3 handpumps on. One was turned round, the others were Deuchars and John Smiths Cask. I asked for a pint of Deuchars and was served vinegar instead. It was changed for a John Smiths with no problem though. The John Smiths was OK as well. Now for the shock, a pint of JS plus a 175ml glass of red wine (Blossom Hill) = £3.14!!!! We thought the barmaid had got it wrong but when we sat down and looked at the prices on the menu it was correct. No wonder the clientele has gone downhill, the nearby Waterhouse (JDW) can’t compete with these prices. It’s worth going in for a look at the building but you wouldn’t want to stay for long unless you’re very price conscious.