CityLife

Bulls Head

The Bull's Head

HIGH praise is obviously due to those pubs which appear year after year in the Good Pub Guide, the pub-goer’s bible published by the Campaign for Real Ale.

There are, thankfully, many of those in the city centre. But even bigger applause should ring out for pubs which appear in the guide for the first time, the 2010 edition of which was published on Thursday, September 10.

One such pub is The Bull’s Head, on London Road, just the wrong side of Piccadilly Station.

The landlord brought real ales to the fore a few years ago and has been rewarded with an entry in this year’s guide.

Two-week beer festival

The Bull’s Head is a good, honest, one-room Manchester boozer and as it is a Marston's house has the usual Pedigree and Burton Bitter with their specials, such as Long Hop.

But it also had Ringwood’s Filly Drift, which will also appear as part of the pub’s two-week beer festival – I suppose, a sort of celebration for that Camra approval.

That starts on Monday, when there will be seven cask ales available, including Everard's Beacon Bitter and Brains Merlin's Oak.

This corner pub serves upright, tasty pub grub like corned beef hash and gammon and eggs.

Peppery chunks

I had a classy steak pie (£6.50), the shell more suet than pastry with lip-smacking, peppery chunks of meat in an onion gravy. Good chips, too.

My companion had a decent sirloin steak for a decent price (£9.95), too. Due to the closeness of the station, the place seems to attract a disparate crowd, but there was a number of ‘suits’ ‘doing lunch’ when I visited, which indicates a consistency of food that people like that demand.

The varied regulars are served by a cheerful, friendly, no-nonsense staff who help to build an atmosphere of conviviality.

And consistency in the cellar has obviously impressed the Camra judges.

A great addition to the city’s real ale scene. Well done, The Bull’s Head.

The Bull’s Head, 84 London Road, Piccadilly, Manchester M1 2PN (0161 236 1724).