2G4 visits Manchester’s latest addition to the Michelin Guide.
Under low lighting at the table on my right sit two twenty-somethings in all of the trappings you might expect from Manchester’s Northern Quarter, for some time now the North of England’s epicenter of worth-knowing-about happenings fashionable, cultural, and culinary. Piercings abound, tattoos flash, jeans are ripped in just the right way, the whole thing a concerted effort at an air of effortlessness. By the window at the table to my left sit five middle-aged men with five prominent scalps. The jeans are ripped, sure, but the equation for effort is flipped on its head.
I’m at upstairs at The Trof, a dining room in a pub on Thomas Street that this year has reinvented itself. A gorgeous red-brick building, and a Mancunian institution, it didn’t need much help to be an attractive prospect, but where once we found a wall-to-wall boozer we now find something even more special: the city’s latest contribution to the Michelin Guide. (And the word ‘The’, which was added to the pub’s name in the process.)
Not yet starred, but certainly on the way, The Trof serves up locally sourced seasonal fare, leaning into classics from British (and British pub) cuisine alongside a number of star players from the continent. Ham hock terrine starts alongside crispy squid. Hogget mince toast accompanies squash risotto in the midfield. Ox cheek pie plays up front with cod grenobloise. The hogget mince is the star of the evening, served lip-smackingly savoury with anchovy and lifted with a preserved lemon dressing, and the chicken cassoulet follows on strong. Young carrots, served to us as a starter, might have sat better as a side, but were no less delicious in their bath of ajo blanco. Often when a pub reaches for new heights like this, the results fall short of the intention. The effort equation is unbalanced – too much is done, and not always in the right direction. Here, though, each dish appears thoughtful, understated. Washed down with wine from the comfortably sized list, the whole thing feels done right, done well.
As the Northern Quarter looks for a new phase of life, it’s in places like The Trof that it will find peace. The key is balancing that effort. As we sip at our closing Fernet-Branca, the mains arrive at the next table. Five perfectly domed heads receive five perfectly domed pastry tops. A lesson for us all, and for the Northern Quarter as a whole. Do what you want to do, do it right, do it well – but whatever you do, don’t overdo it. ⚭
Dan JohnsonThe Trof is open Tue—Sun, Northern Quarter, Manchester
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