Manchester’s finest Twitterati met up to test out the Bay Horses’s pie and a pint deal this week. Except I didn’t have a pint, and there
was a discussion about whether the pie actually constituted a pie. But let’s start from the beginning.

Taste of Manchester is a new website run by Manchester Food and Drink Festival, which is absolutely full of news and reviews about eating, and you guessed it, drinking, in the rainy city.

They’ve also pulled together some of the best offers out there, and will even email them to you if you sign up to the mailing list. I spotted an offer for a pie and a pint at The Bay Horse in the Northern Quarter for £5.50, which seems like a tempting lunch time offer. You can buy the pie on its own for £3.95 if you don’t fancy a pint, and for £4.95 you can get a pie, peas and gravy.

The only pie on offer was the bacon, bubble and squeak so it was five of those all round. Arriving in a small dish with mash on top, a discussion ensued as to whether the lack of pastry meant it wasn’t a pie. Feel free to discuss among yourselves as I don’t think we came to any conclusion.

This was real home cooked hearty food, but maybe just had too many flavours going on for it to gel. The bacon was tasty, if a little salty, and there was also rosemary and a big spoonful of grainy mustard thrown in there for some extra tang. The mash on top was beautifully creamy and plenty of cheese was slathered on and melted. It was enjoyable but I’m still not sure if it worked – but it wouldn’t stop me from going back to try other flavours.

Next week is also British Pie Week so we were doing our bit for the national celebrations. How honourable. There’s also another pie review coming up very shortly, which will also coincide with this  national event. But it’s also an excuse for me to eat more pies, one might say.

I’ve only ever been to the Bay Horse in the evening before, when it gets really busy and plays very loud music, so it was good to find it’s a rather chilled lunchtime venue. Run by Yvonne Goldsmith-Rybka, this is a real boozer, but with a cool NQ twist with big comfy sofas and chic arty stuff on the walls. Yvonne and business partner, Nicky Rybka-Goldsmith, also run the very successful Soup Kitchen and more recently Cord. Their unusual surname situation is because they are best friends who took each other’s name by deed poll at university and kept it.

A quick look at the drinks menu shows good prices and a wide selection of wine and draught and bottled beers. And they also do a bottle of wine for £6, Monday to Friday from 5-7pm. The food menu has a nice simple selection of toasted sandwiches, salads and light bites – all really good prices.

INFO
The Bay Horse, 35-37 Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1NA.
T: 0161 661 1041
E: info@thebayhorsepub.co.uk
W: www.thebayhorsepub.co.uk

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