Allotment Bar & Restaurant Reviewed

Allotments are good for your health. All that lovely home-grown fruit and veg tastes great and saves you money and you get lots of exercise and fresh air. Just 30 minutes of gardening on your allotment can burn around 150 calories-the same as low impact aerobics. And if you garden organically you can reduce the amount of herbicides and pesticides your body consumes.

“…homemade fish finger butty
on toasted brioche…”

But probably the best reason for having an allotment is that now you can enjoy a pint of real ale or two, maybe a delicious cocktail or even some tasty grub and if your partner calls and asks you where you are you can say you’re at the allotment and not feel guilty.

That’s because Allotment Bar is a newish addition to Manchester’s burgeoning bar and restaurant scene, nestled just off Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter. Decor is what you might expect from a Northern Quarter establishment but with a rustic, allotment twist. Exposed floorboards, lots of distressed wood, plants, picnic benches, a picket fence and more flowerpots than a garden centre. But no sign of any slugs, snails or worms. (At least none we could find). And no compost heap.

There’s a well-stocked bar with an excellent range of real ales, a Pilsner house lager and South West Orchards draught cider. There’s a selection of over 20 gins and an extensive cocktail menu which includes The Legless Worm-Bloom gin, lemon juice, bubblegum syrup and soda and The Sulking Shed Mojito-Havana 3 rum, lemon juice, fresh strawberries, mint and soda (both £6.50).

The food is gastro-pubby and reasonably priced. Try the favourite seller; homemade fish finger butty on toasted brioche with watercress and tartare served with salad and a generous portion of jacket chips. Excellent value at just £5.

Try the Allotment Burger – a 6oz beef burger, bacon, melted brie, onion rings, fresh salad and homemade chips at £10.95 – it’s tender and well balanced.

To enjoy a delicious pint of real ale in pleasant surroundings, visit The Allotment, 24 Dale St, Manchester. allotmentbar.co.uk.

Recommended for: people who like real ales, cocktails, good, reasonably priced food.

Not recommended for:people who don’t like the colour green.

To apply for a plot on one of Manchester’s allotments, contact the City Allotments Manager on 0161 226 3322.

Follow them on Twitter if you want @AllotmentBar