I SPENT early spring road-tripping around Northern Ireland, unaware I was trespassing upon Game of Thrones locations along the way. Why was Antrim coastal bolthole Ballintoy thronged midweek in March?
Because here: “Theon was baptised into the faith of the ‘Drowned God’ and the pirate Salladhor Sann met Davos and pledged his support (and ships) to Stannis Barateheon. It also served as Lordsport Harbour for the homecoming of Theon Greyjoy,” saith the Ulster tourism leaflet.
I never bought the box set, so I’m still none the wiser. Same with Mad Men, which I’m told has finished its seventh and final season – without me ever being lured into this recreation of Fifties Madison Avenue.
So to Pen & Pencil, a new Northern Quarter bar, which built its launch hype on being an homage to Don Draper (yes, I’ve done my research) and that glamorous lost world of New York admen, many of whom hung out out in a bar, you’ve guessed it, called the Pen & Pencil on East 45th Street in Manhattan’s Midtown East.
Our NQ reincarnation is on Hilton Street and features some lovely exposed red brick and a cosy vibe after dark. Manhattan? Hardly. Well, the skyline does feature in the “smoking Asian girl” mural by French-Vietnamese spraycan artist Akse in the side room… and there are some vintage American print ads as further window-dressing. So far so referential; so far so reverential, but what of the substance?
Well the service is sassy, well marshalled by manager Gethyn Jones, who is also responsible for some terrific cocktails. OK, I didn’t get the link between Benton’s Old Fashioned (smoked bacon infused Old Forester Bourbon, maple syrup and bitters, £8) and Benton & Bowles the ad agency inspiration for the series, but it was a swell concoction.
A Brooklyn green space gives its name to the Sunset Park Collins (£7.50), mingling Portobello gin, lemon, soda and habanero infused watermelon purée to wonderfully refreshing effect.
But the piece de resistance from the bar is another New Yoik name check, Beer In The Bronx, where the same gin is mixed with home-made IPA syrup (they boil down the Brewdog Punk) grapefruit and both sweet and dry vermouth.
I laud the cocktails because the wine list is limited but better than the dull draught beer range, redeemed by a fine but usual-suspects craft bottle array – Beavertown, Brooklyn, Camden, Flying Dog, Thornbridge.
But then P&P is not trying to be a Port Street or a food destination either and, despite its cocktail quality and Big Apple aspirations, lacks any speakeasy feel. Rather it is an all-day destination but doing it better than most of the joints that have sprung up at the Piccadilly end of the NQ (Tariff and Dale the honourable exception).
Physically it’s a bit odd with the table-ridden main bar well tucked away from the second room with the Asian girl mural. Good for private parties, mind. One real retro relic is the gents’ walls pasted with pin-ups, lad’s mags and macho icons.
And so to the food, divided into small and large plates, with a more substantial offering in the evening. None of it is at all bad, but none of it offers any real identity in a way that the cocktails manage.
A small plate of jicama, papaya and cucumber pickles (£3.50) lacked any punch; ditto the guacamole component of avocado and prawn lollipops, which cost £6.
Large dishes were better with some spice heat in the sausage and chicken jambalaya (£9.50), though the accompanying buttermilk biscuits were a dry irrelevance. A sample of the house Mac & Cheese didn’t convert me to what has become a stodgy fixture in every NQ bar.
Same goes for sliders, fries and slaw. £11 seemed a lot of dosh for the P&P trio (prawn and chilli butter chicken and chimichurri; brisket and and Monterey Jack cheese).
Prawns made an appearance again in the Surf and Turf (£15), pan-fried and garlicky. I’d have been happy enough with the beef short rib on its own, tender flesh with the requisite burnt ends and a well-judged BBQ sauce. Best dish of a subdued food experience. I think Don Draper might have stuck to the cocktails.
Pen and Pencil, Fourways House, 57 Hilton Street, Manchester M1 2EJ. 0161 660 3303.
