As with most Brunning & Price’s dining pubs, Worsley Old Hall has a history. The present building dates to the 16th and 17th centuries but is most well known as the place where the Duke of Bridgewater planned his canal with the engineers. The new waterway, which opened in 1761, allowed coal to be transported to Manchester much cheaper than by cart. It was a major driving force which allowed Manchester to develop into the “First City of the Industrial Revolution”.
It’s now very much a classic B & P place – rustic furniture, old prints on the walls and menus full of dishes you want to eat. So, there’s black pudding “chips”, nicely crisped all round which mean you can easily dunk them in the apple sauce. And if that’s too northwestern for you, then crispy squid takes you off to East Asia. Nice coating on the squid, shreds of a fiery red chilli and a Thai style sweet chilli dipping sauce.
For mains, the chilli sauce puts in another appearance along with a crispy beef salad, along with shredded pak choi, peanuts, red pepper, red onion and lotus root. Whilst the pub is part of a chain and there must be some central direction about menus, each chef has some flexibility. Which is why our usual place has not had braised lamb for ages. It’s an absolute favourite and I didn’t need to look at the menu any more. Very long cooked shoulder, with the meat just falling off the bone. There’s decent mashed spuds, mixed greens and some of the braising liquid serving as gravy.
Good lunch.
