The Wild Alderman — Restaurant in Manchester

I will start the review acknowledging the fact that our visit was on a pre-opening evening, so we expected teething issues but were looking forward to trying somewhere new.

We arrived at 18:30 for a pre-booked table, there was a small wait and the person sitting people down was friendly and welcoming. The new décor is nice and freshet it is lacking a bit of atmosphere (same issue Didsbury Junction had previously); not the cosy pub I think I was expecting from what I had seen online beforehand.

The first issue we had was that all bookings were for the same time, it was clear that the waiting team and the kitchen were overwhelmed from the start. When we have gone to a new opening previously, they stagger the bookings, but this wasn’t the case, every table sat down at pretty much the same time, which meant all drink and food orders were going in at very quick succession. As a result, it took almost 30 minutes for our waitress to come over to us, serving tables before us that sat down after us.

During the wait, we decided what to order. The menu is split across several different single pages, it’s quite difficult to read as you have to keep going back and forth to try and figure out what to order. The mains don’t come with any sides, so have to be ordered in addition, making each quite meal expensive. The menu is quite small with the basics you would expect for a pub. I personally didn’t like that they have no wine menu; we had to go on a recommendation from our waitress but had idea what the end price would be. We eventually decided on the Grilled Chicken & Bacon Club (£12.50), The Alderman Burger (£12.95), House Chips (£4.95) and Crispy Pork Belly (£8.50).

After over an hour, and chasing for an update on our food, the Club and the Burger arrived. The burger was warm, but nowhere near as hot as it should have been, the club had stone cold bacon and chicken that was lukewarm. We discussed what to do, and as they were getting busy with the next sitting, we decided it wasn’t worth waiting for fresh food to be made and decided to pay for our drinks and leave. We told our waitress who was very apologetic and took the food away. After a few minutes the chips and the pork belly made an appearance, the person serving them seemed surprised that we had sent the other items back. We eventually got our bill, paid for our drinks and left to get a local takeaway. Even though I can’t comment on the flavour of the food, it did smell nice, but the portions brought to our table were on the small side given the prices.

Given our experience, I would have expected a manager to come and apologise but this never happened. We actually couldn’t easily identify who the manager was, they weren’t visible enough for an opening evening in our opinion. We noticed that other guests were given a discount voucher off their next visit, however we weren’t given one, so there is no real incentive to give them a second try.

We won't be rushing to make a returning. For us the menu is too limited and expensive for what it is, service wasn’t up to scratch and there are other places, such as the Didsbury across the road, I would...

Yet another place to get it wrong on this site, which seems to be cursed! Was delighted to see this place open and went three or four times in its first months. Service was consistently odd, sometimes the staff looked terrified or confused at what you ordered, or or alternatively service was over the top and inauthentic. Lighting is way too bright, and the weird decor around the skylights at the back are not in keeping at all. Really noisy in the back section, they need to do something to break up the sound.

They've tied up with Beartown Brewery which means I've seen little to no turnover of the beers so not really a taproom as you'd expect. The beers I've had were fine, definitely much better around from the likes of Vocation for example. Reasons to be Cheerful in Burnage or the Head of Steam in Didsbury do this much better.

Although it's not clearly pitching itself as a coffee shop, they served the worst coffee I've ever seen. Not ideal.

I hope they make some changes otherwise I expect this will be yet another short lived enterprise at...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My colleague and I were fortunate to visit the newly renovated The Wild Alderman in Didsbury yesterday, and it did not disappoint!

From the moment we walked in, the service team and management made us feel genuinely welcome, such a warm and friendly atmosphere. The cocktail list is fantastic (highly recommend giving it a try!) and the food was spot on. We had the Steak Frites and Black & Blue Burger with a side of truffle parmesan chips all absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection.

The decor is quirky yet tasteful, full of character and personality. We especially loved the two giant disco balls in the back, which really set the tone for a fun evening. It’s easy to imagine this being a fantastic venue for a night out, with events like quiz nights and live music that sound like great fun.

We’re already planning our next visit and can’t wait to come back! Shout out to Cassie our lovely server and Hank the welcoming Manager....