Founder’s Hall, Albert Square, reviewed

A pub where you could hang out all day and be well fed while doing it, and in the center of town? There aren’t as many of these unicorns roaming around as you might think.

There aren’t many where you’d want to spend the whole day or eat, or tempt you to stay in the city center longer than you might want to, never mind all together. But I would argue that Founder’s Hall is one such pub.

As our Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Schofield mentioned in his recent review of the charmingly independent The Ship and Miter in Liverpool, the uncanny similarity between Greene King pubs is utterly impossible, so much so that you can look at the menu from a distance and browse it. the content like a backslider.

Of course, there is always a time and place for fish and chips or steak and ale pie, it just doesn’t have to be every time and in every place. If part of the magic of a pub is the diversity of human life, then you can probably take a gamble on the odd menu item.

Of course this used to be Duttons and served the city center well as a bolthole to seek solace away from the rain or the Saturday shopping or the Christmas market or even the one time Manchester International Festival.

It was refurbished and reopened as Founder’s Hall in February this year as a four-wall tribute to its brewer JW Lees and founder John Lees, describing the Albert Square area as “a temple to Manchester’s finest brewery”.

It was certainly quiet enough when I popped in to see Jonathan on Monday lunchtime, and the decor is testament to the varied atmosphere of a good pub; quiet and soothing for a weekday lunchtime, lively and lively next Friday. It was a soothing and glacial Monday lunchtime, so we sat down without any real rush.

I’m looking for an alternative to The Traditional Pub Lunch, a change to something that fills you up, knocks you out and gets you going for the afternoon. You know the sport; the deep-fried hunk of cod the size of a skateboard, the hamburger stacked on a totem pole, the ubiquitous and often huge pie.

Of course, Founder’s Hall does all of this and well – the tables around us with these dishes looked apprehensive but pleased with their choices – but I wondered if the place could succeed where so many fail; small plates.

Pub small plates menus were always an uneasy marriage; These establishments, where chips were the only sustenance for so long, suddenly demanded a tapas-style menu, so you can see why many leaned so heavily on fishcakes and dirty fries. The small plates on the Founder’s Hall autumn menu speak more to the modern appetite, three dishes for £17.95 represents a fair price in my opinion. Yes, there are nachos and chicken wings, but there are also cheddar and ale fondue or softshell tacos with shawarma or beef brisket. Not what you expect, and not something about them was do neither. Founder’s could have called it but chose not to and so you can keep my cap off.

We chose three dishes that covered at least a few bases: a sturdy and interesting take on “pub grub” in black pudding Scotch egg with stout BBQ sauce; a meaty but manageable centerpiece in sticky stout pork belly bites and a lighter East Asian end in Thai honey halloumi fries with ginger, garlic and chili sauce. And some potatoes (or potatoes to be precise).

Delivered as a neat trio, you can see that this side of the menu is aimed at a lighter, quick-bite type of affair, which I think is the way forward. Sure, there’s the Sunday roast at the local pub after the walk, but they can be as punishing as they are pleasurable. I have seen the greatest minds of my generation stare at the endless horns of a roast dinner as if they were being led to the gallows.

The halloumi fries were not shy of the honey, lacquered in a substance that I would say was just right. If you get a bowl of fried cheese with a pool of honey underneath it doesn’t really make any sense, whereas these held the thing together and were a pleasant combination of sweet and salty. With a solid sweet chili sauce, you can dip an appetizer, side dish, or light snack to soak up a pint or three.

The black pudding scotch egg is a winner given the lackluster efforts you can find in many pubs. When they’re bad, they’re bad; soggy and the size of an ostrich egg, under seasoned and uninspired.

This was delicious though, its parts were given time and effort; well seasoned and oat black pudding in a crispy batter with an egg on the right side (although I could have gotten a bit more runny). Stout BBQ sauce is the ideal complement to this dish’s broad shoulders and confident flavors.

I can never say no to pork belly, it’s just too much for me. It has a wider scope for disappointment, but when done right, it’s hard to beat. These were well cooked, with the requisite combination of crispy cracks on top, tender meat on the bottom, and a layer of fat in between that threatened to dissolve into the ether. And of course, pork lends itself to sweeter things and gives deep and heavy flavors, so a sticky stout glaze makes perfect sense.

Jonathan thought the fries were too crunchy, I disagreed. I don’t like “chunky potatoes” – even if they’re thrice fried they almost never deliver – so that’s a potato for me. Not too oily and well seasoned, these were a solid side and wouldn’t go amiss with just a pint.

I was happy with this lunch trio, but Jonathan, ever the Conscientious Reviewer, decided we needed to see how the pies fared. I thought some appetites are bigger than others. So we ordered the ‘JW Lees Legendary Three Cheese and Onion Pie’ (£13.95), which came with chewy pies and a choice of chips or mash. Mash please.

This was much more than a serviceable pie, in fact it was very good. People often have such low expectations of pub food that when it disappoints, it’s like everything is fine. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Great pubs should make great pies, and Founder’s Hall, a great pub in my opinion, does a great three cheese and onion pie.

Founder’s Hall is a rarity. It seems to be all things to all men without limiting what it has to offer. The decor is intriguing and interesting enough to create character without feeling like you’re constantly drunk in an antique store. Beers are paramount, but they do a good line in Sauvignon Blancs (Jonathan says), and the staff are friendly but refreshingly matter-of-fact (there are enough sitcom wine bars where you’re an extra in the staff’s psychodrama).

And would you believe, the food is good too. During the fall and winter, if I’m unhappy to be outside and at the mercy of a shopping trip, I know that solace can be found in Founder’s Hall, a short walk away.

Founder’s Hall, 2-10 Albert Square, M2 6LW