CityLife

Taps

Taps
City centre
January 2010

(Bar food review)

Overall: 3/5

CITY bonuses aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the Maseratis and the Porsches. Sackcloth and grimaces of heartfelt contrition have replaced the pinstripe suits in our newly nationalised banks.

So where do our city boys celebrate in these straitened financial times? One possible habitat is Taps in Manchester city
centre – a beer bar and bistro underneath Epernay champagne bar.

The stylish dining spot is not simply an addendum to the upstairs champagne shop, but an enjoyable venue in its own right.

Tables and tucked away booths are each equipped with a set of beer taps allowing drinkers to help themselves to Czech and Belgian beers. The novel system is harder to use than it first looks; the total amount drunk totalled up on an electronic screen.

During the day it caters for well-heeled business folk and deal-doers, later turning itself over to more discerning beer-lovers. The perfect spot for our recently deprived financial elite to cheer themselves up. The menu claims Belgian and Dutch influence, leaning heavily on game dishes and moules frittes.

I made short work of my pigeon pie starter (£6)– chunks of gamey meat encased in an open shortcrust served with syrupy puy lentils. My companion tucked into Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit (£6) – the roast ribs, leg and faggot of poor Bugs complemented by tangy beer-steamed plums.

My main of steak frites (£14) – an 8oz sirloin – was complemented by a herbed bernaise sauce. It was a nice cut of meat but red rare rather than the medium I’d asked for.

My companion’s beef and rabbit stew (£13), braised in cherry beer, was excellent. The intense demi-glace brought out the best in the rabbit and lean beef chunks.

Overall, a stylish spot for a fine lunch or after-work bite or drink.

Taps, Great Northern Tower, Watson Street, Manchester M3 4EE (0161 819 5167).

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