North Westwood Ho, Manchester

Inconspicuous place and very easy to miss… in fact I did miss it first time around. Once inside it is nicely done out in a traditional style, lots of comfortable banquette seating and dark wood. Very relaxing if a little boring on a midweek afternoon with a scattering of elderly customers and 70s soft rock at a sensible volume. Decent array of Blackjack cask beers on, I wouldn’t bother with their Irish red ale again though.

With the appalling state of Northern Rail thwarting our attempts to try a few new Manchester pubs, we settled on just the one, which didn't disappoint. Run by the local Pomona Island Brewery, it's a large pub located in a former restaurant. The interior feels quite spacious, with a long bar in front of you as you arrive and a slightly more secluded area for drinking at the far right end. 5 handpulls dispensed 4 Pomona Island beers - Cruffatin, Tarquell, Horngus & Eclipse, along with a guest beer (North Shadow Play). There is a much larger selection of craft beers alongside two banks of fonts either side of the handpulls. Clipboards on tables and on the bar have beer lists, but I'm not sure how up-to-date these were. From just looking at the pumps, there appeared to be Burning Sky Provision 2023, Pomona Island Bubblegum Rock on Plastic Transitions, I Can't Get Behind That, Put On An Iron Shirt, Does It All Stop At The Tree, Solitaire Til Dawn, Phaedra, Factotum, Bernadette Nere, The Best In Me, Kissing Sexing Casio Poke You Me, Liege, Lief Barrel Aged Barley Wine & My Pink Half of the Drainpipe, Baron Blank Canvas, Laurent Cazotte's Narcotte Bland & Soon Jester King. The cider was Pomona Island Table Cider. I echo the previous reviewer. As a new pub, it felt a bit like the first of the Craft Beer Co. chain when that opened in the Hatton Garden area of London, in that it attempts to be a traditional pub but perhaps still feels a little sterile to succeed in that regard. Nevertheless, as I did with the Craft when it first opened, I took a liking to this pub. The beers we tried, both cask and keg were good and there was plenty of space in which to drink in on our Saturday evening visit, despite a bouncer at the door suggesting that it could often get much busier. It sounds like our visit one week later than Ian Mapp was a much more sedate experience.

Facebook page of North Westwood Ho - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of North Westwood Ho - www.facebook.com

latest pub on the Manchester scene.... well, maybe Victoria Tap trumps it. Cavernous pub that has bucked the recent bar trend and attempts to make it more traditional than modern city bars. Long bar with bar back offering pork pies, rather than the double diamond/inde coope/skol offered at Soho's coach and horses. Mixture of seating options including booth type areas, round tables, high tables etc. Pamona range and some guests/specials, including a Basqueland Brewery Paso Fino NEIPA. Obviously brand new, so although trying for that pubby feel, its yet to have the lived in feel that a traditional pub would have. Saturday afternoon before XMAS meant the place was packed with Christmas jumper wearing parties, so would need to go again to appreciate it when slightly less manic.

North Westward Ho is a new pub by Pomona Island, and is located on the first floor above Sam's Chop House (entrance at the rear). Five hand pulls for cask ale, backed up by many keg taps. Pomona Island ales are featured but there are also guest beers. This looks old and traditional and there is only the new and modern smell of the place that gives it away. It's been very well done and is well worth a visit.

Official site of North Westwood Ho - www.northwestwardho.co.uk