Ye Olde Cock Inn — Restaurant in Manchester

Great Setting, Disappointing Dining Experience

The restaurant’s charming building and attractive location initially drew us in, and it looks like they have some promising events planned that might make it a good spot for a social drink or sports viewing. However, when it comes to dining, the experience left much to be desired.

We opted for the “5 plates for £22.50” deal, but the value and quality were disappointing. Each dish felt poorly executed and seemed aimed more at a crowd with low expectations for taste, possibly those there for the atmosphere rather than the food. The chicken strips, for example, were incredibly thin—closer in size to shredded chicken you’d find in a stir-fry than a proper portion—and noticeably dry, as if they had gone from freezer to oven without much thought. The corn ribs were especially disheartening: one small cob cut down into quarters, with a price tag of around £5.49.

Almost every dish was topped with a “spiced mixed herb” garnish, consisting mainly of chilli, spring onion, and a heavy dose of coriander. For those with a strong aversion to coriander, or even an allergy, this lack of transparency on the menu could be a serious issue. I spent several minutes removing coriander from each dish. The overuse of sauces to bring up the flavour was also disappointing; sauces should complement a well-prepared dish, not be relied upon to compensate for dry, uninspired food.

The pulled pork tacos (two small tacos) were another letdown. For the price, it’s not that one expects gourmet, but a reasonable standard of freshness and quality is fair. Unfortunately, everything here tasted like it was frozen and then hurriedly prepared.

Service was similarly lacklustre, the wait time on our first visit extended to 75 minutes, which is unacceptable given the quality of the food served.

While the building and location make it a decent option for a drink, especially given the numerous screens for sports viewing (although the majority of the screens are obsolete due to pillars, walls, and generally other people in the way due to the placement of the tables). I’d recommend looking elsewhere for a meal. For the price, there are many other places in the area that offer better food and better value.

Ye Old Cock In doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, a sit down restaurant or a sports bar. It seems to be trying to tender to both target markets but by doing so, isn’t...

We had a very poor experience at this pub. As our second stop on the Didsbury Dozen to celebrate a 21st birthday, our group was in high spirits and excited to drink at this pub. However, after around 30 minutes, we were told we had to leave the pub as some members of our party had been ‘caught doing drugs’. We were sceptical about this, as none of us would ever do any drugs, especially in a public place at 4pm in the afternoon, but nonetheless we left amicably, with no fuss. However, when we reached our next stop, the managers of the pub told us that staff at Ye Olde Cock had circulated a picture of our group, telling other pubs to refuse us entry and saying that we had been doing drugs. We absolutely denied this, knowing it wasn’t true, and upon questioning, the staff insisted that it was the two ethnic girls in our group who had been ‘doing drugs’, purely based on the fact that they had entered a toilet cubicle together. This is absolutely disgraceful - throwing around harmful accusations with no evidence at all. In actual fact, our friend had been administering her medication in the toilet, something that she did not need to disclose to the staff, but was forced to anyway in order to defend herself. When they went back to Ye Olde Cock to defend themselves and ask for the accusations to be rescinded, the staff member was rude and not listening to them. They made no effort to apologise, or remove the disgraceful accusations that they had make. We were forced to change our plans and abandon the Didsbury dozen since all of the pubs were told not to serve us, based on unsubstantiated claims from Ye Olde Cock! It’s absolutely disgusting behaviour, to accuse two girls of doing drugs just because they entered a toilet cubicle together, something that girls do all the time in busy toilets to save time, also showing no awareness of medication and health conditions. Would not recommend this pub at all, judgemental and racist staff who ruined 30+...

Lovely place and good food and drinks. I asked what drink was available and was recommended a lovely drink which was £6 for a single which was a bit pricey in my books! Went back to the bar to order food, having found the student discount online. And I got grumpily told the discount didn't apply to the meal deal which I wasn't after anyway, just the marinara sandwich itself. Then I got told - "on a Saturday we lose £1000 through student discounts". And she put it through anyway! She could have just said " we don't do that here" and I would have accepted that and felt more comfortable than being made to feel guilty, it certainly takes the enjoyment out of the meal. It was a cheap meal, I think around £5, although it was just a sandwich (like a 6 inch subway with nicer bread) and some leaves on the side, and I didn't actually feel bad because I got a pricier drink. There were plenty of spaces still around the pub at the time of eating so I certainly wasn't taking the place of someone who would spend more. I wouldn't usually complain about service because I know it can't be the most fun job, but I believe this person was a manager so I would expect higher levels of professionalism and it confuses me because there was simply no benefit to making customers feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Still gets four stars because she was nice until I muttered the forbidden words...