Whilst our ventures out of Manchester may be few and far between for the near future (thank you new variants), in the meantime, Keeley and I still have one or to to talk about.
One of these is Hartford Hall on School Lane. This one in particular is one I’m excited to talk about as it’s close to where my baby sister lives, and having been to a bit of a do at the launch, I now know it’s ideally placed for me to hop on a train to and visit her and her husband. Subject to no further restrictions. Please no more – please everyone keep taking it seriously and be careful, as I’ve still got family I’ve not seen in well over 18 months, thank you.
Once upon a time, Hartford Hall was both nunnery and manor house, including stables. Most recently it was a Marston pub with accommodation, and now, after a makeover is again both pub and hotel under the Revere Hotels brand.
Outside, there’s plenty of outside seating, and a small pond and garden, meaning in addition to the accommodation and event room upstairs, it’s a great wedding venue. But more than that, it has enough space to be both part bar and restaurant, with big tables suited for family dining, high perches for drinks with the girls, and separate spaces for snug and cosy winter pints. It’s a huge space, with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide away in.
Away from the main bar is the accommodation. Prices start from £80 a night (with larger rooms at £140 ish). Double accommodation, family rooms, pull out sofas, means there’s plenty of options for a night away. And some of the rooms even have outside space of their own. Oh, and look at the size of that bathroom!
So far, so gorgeous. Let’s get to the food and drink.
The drinks menu is broad, with cocktails, spirits and mixers, beers – all the things you’d expect in a good pub. In the recent heatwave, I’m going to highly recommend the Tom Collins. A gin classic anyway, it’s light, citrussy, thirst quenching, and bonus, cocktail cherries.
I’ll admit, it’s all I drank that evening – aside from water – and it reminded me why I enjoy them so much.
Food wise, again, you’ve got a broad range of options, from sharer plates (check the other side of the menu for these), and nibbles, through to starters, mains and desserts. We both went in for what we thought would be light starters.
Keeley’s spiced duck salad with watermelon was just that. Cool, refreshing, though perhaps the spice wasn’t as spicy as she hoped it was going to be, to contrast with the salad elements. Mine however, was rather more substantial than I was expecting.
Generous slices of sourdough, topped with crab and prawns in a marie rose style sauce formed the bruschetta. Definitely on the generous side – and we found that with most of the dishes.
We carried on with the seafood theme, as Keeley indulged in moules mariniere with fries, and I opted for the cod loin with aioli, prawns, chorizo and padron peppers. The loin was thick and meaty, the flavours well matched, and then as a side, came the chorizo mac and cheese.
Topped with a sourdough crumb, this was rich, oozy and delicious. The only downside was that the crumb wasn’t quite as crispy as we were hoping, but it didn’t detract from the dish as a whole. We just felt it would have lifted it, and added a bit more contrast to the texture.
We desperately tried to save room for dessert, because the dessert platter offers a little of everything, though ‘little’ might be a misnomer. Because again, it’s generous!
Oozy gooey brownie, pavlova that has a crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside meringue and a light as a feather sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. Why have one dessert when you can have three?
Overall, the venue is gorgeous, we loved the space, the service was fabulous, and the food was delicious.
Now to find a date to treat my baby sister to a long leisurely lunch!