Mash Tun, Manchester

Now called Mash Tun and is trying to be a basic tap room. 8 handpumps and loads of craft taps, but only 3 beers on the handpumps. The crap barman tried to tell me that a 2 inch head on a pint was "normal for cask ale". I let him know that he was mistaken. I asked him to show me the pint line. He didn't know what I was talking about. I explained patiently that if the isn't a line, then it's a brim measure glass and that it needed to be topped up. He topped it up, twice, badly, and it still wasn't a full pint. What a useless knobhead. Some of the curved high backed leather seats from the Le Petit Blanc days are still in here, so I sat on one of those. There's loads of vinyl around the walls and a stage in one corner. The rest of the place and the ceiling is now bare, industrial look. The almost a pint was in reasonable nick despite the barman. I'll call back again to see what's on the pumps and hopefully Mr Useless will have gone.

Once upon a time this was Le Petit Blanc and was owned by Raymond Blanc. We used to visit here regularly for its excellent food. It's now reopened as Grafene which is still mainly a restaurant, but has a small cocktail bar attached. There's no draught beer and a small bottle will set you back an arm and a leg. A glass of white wine is £7.50. No idea what the food is like now and we're not going to be finding out anytime soon judging by the bar prices. Pretentious and overpriced.