The Sawyer's Arms — Restaurant in Manchester

Edit: feel I have to update this as I went again to try some of the food options for lunch. I had to ask through 4 different bits of food which they either didn’t have or didn’t do on the weekends…. I understand the place is busy but i thought going through 4 different options at the weekend was a bit ridiculous.

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Had food and a few pints at the Sawyers Arms. Personally I would’ve given 2.5 stars but the below is a bit out of the control of the pub so I’ll give 3.

It is a lovely looking bar and good location in Manchester. I booked because they had Game Suet pudding (one of my favourites) and a lentil vegetable cottage pie that I had noticed on the menus previously. Two things me and my girlfriend really enjoy. When I went to order both of these the server told me they were both out… really disappointing as this was literally the reason I booked. My girlfriend has the fish and chips (really good) and I had the “award winning” steak and ale pie. The pie I thought was really average and tasted pretty boring. Fish was good but portion was far too big.

Value for money it is really good, especially for the city centre. But I was definitely expecting more, plus also looking forward to the two dishes that were out of stock didn’t help the experience much. Overall...

Had a very interesting conversation with a bouncer when I tried to get into the pub at about half past 8 today after a play rehearsal. I hadn't eaten all day and was keen on trying the pizza here. I had just touched the door handle to open it when I was stopped and asked what I was doing. Smiled, said I was just going into the pub. Bouncer then continued to ask what I thought I was doing. I was very confused - just trying to go into the pub for some food. I told him that. He said he thought I had "Had too much or something". I responded that I had just come from work. After a moment of taking me in, he said "Ok, you can go in." I decided not to. He was clearly very wary of letting me in and I wasn't sure why. I really don't understand what happened but I wonder if their clientele is filtered in some way? i.e. levels of prettiness or perceived wealth? I don't know. It just really troubled me when I'd been keen to try this as one of the apparently friendly venues...

Popped in for Sunday lunch last weekend. When we ordered food, we were told that there was a 35 minute wait for food as there had just been a large order placed with the kitchen. Also, there was no roast beef, but they had beef rib instead, whih we ordered. The food duly arrived about 40 minutes or so later (close enough) and looked great.

However, all was not good. The beef ribs turned out to be quite stingy on the meat front. I managed to get about 50g of edible meat and my wife about 75g. The rest of the rib was gristle and fat. The parsnips looked the part but the insides were quite crunchy when eaten. Possibly they weren't parboiled, meaning they didn't cook through. The cabbage was quite overcooked and watery.

Decent roast spuds and yorkshire puddings, but the gravy portion was a bit small, I could easily have had double the amount and not drowned the food.

Overall a bit disappointing, but well kept beer and...