Waxy O’Connor’s, Printworks

Pub grub can be a fairly mixed bag, but if you get it right, you’ve got me for life.

I’m bored of sarnies, and it’s still too cold and wet for salads, so it didn’t take much to convince me, Moyo and The Boy Jorgensen to head over to Waxy O’Connor’s in The Printworks to give the menu a going over.

We’d been invited over by management on a drizzly Thursday evening, so it was nice to leave the wet night behind and duck into the warm glow of the main bar. Waxy’s is a honeycombed maze of dark wood and mosaic tiles, full of booths for cuddling and canoodling, should you so wish.

It was a joy to get a good pint of Guinness as we were waiting for our food to arrive. I’ve lost count of the number of bad pints of the black stuff I’ve had in Manchester over the years.

Moyo threw a total curveball by ordering an all day breakfast (£7.90). Not what I was expecting from our health and beauty editor but Ms Moyo is something of an enigma at the best of times (that’s a compliment, Lynda). “What? I love having breakfast for my tea.”

It was neatly arranged, almost, fittingly, high fashion for a fry up. Bacon, sausage, black and white pudding, mushroom, a tomato and a hash brown all surrounding a poached egg. Very artistic. The lack of beans was ‘controversial’ and the soda bread could have been toasted, but the plate was emptied at breakneck speed. I genuinely have no idea where she puts it all.

Cajun chicken burger, tidy

TBJ selected a solid pub staple – the Cajun chicken burger (£8.50), this time with added cheese and good-sized portion of chips.

“Nicely tender, and coated with sesame seeds which was a nice touch,” said TBJ. “I was expecting a sloppy mess of a burger to be honest. That’s what you normally get. “Home made rather than a standard frozen one banged in the oven.”

I wanted mussels (£8.90). When they arrived, it was in a crock that was bigger than my head. The mussels themselves were plump and meaty, and sloshing around in a creamy white wine and garlic sauce. There were hundreds of them. I seemed to be eating for a good five minutes after the other two had finished. Cracking value.

Waxy’s is a cosy enough place for lunch or a few beers after work and certainly better than your average pub grub. After a few pints of Guinness, you may even get lost in one of the bars many underground rooms – if you’re lucky.

TBJ tucks in

The Bar