Trof is a bar I heard about, long before I ever actually went there. It’s renowned for being a successful, independent music venue. There are three Trof’s in Manchester: Oxford Road Trof, aka Deaf Institute, and Fallowfield Trof, and the Trof in question, which is located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, on Thomas Street.
The NQ, is the coolest part of Manchester, where stylish, creative types strut their stuff and independent businesses rule the roost. It’s just my kind of place. Afflecks Palace is perhaps the reason most people visit the NQ initially, but it’s got so much more to offer.
I go there for tea and cake, to get my hair cut, to watch black and white films, to buy old clothes, quirky magazines, pure cocoa butter to keep spots at bay and now, for my sunday lunch too.
Serving a decent roast seems an impossible task for the majority of bars I’ve ever dined at, and I usually avoid them if I want a good roast, in favour of my own. In fact, I think the last one I ate from a bar, was at The Evil Eye Lounge in York, back in 2007 – it was cold. So I didn’t have high hopes when I sat down in a busy upstairs room in a bar in Manchester. It was Trof.
At £7.95 for tender beef brisket (free range or freedom farmed) with horse-radish cream, yorkshire puds, red onion and thyme roast potatoes, seasonal veg and rich gravy, you seriously can’t complain. Unless of course the beef is tough, the potatoes under done and not crispy, the veg, lank, and the gravy weak. But it wasn’t. It was hot and fresh. The beef fell to pieces and the veg was as tender as a baby’s arm. The yorkshire puds were homemade, big and crispy. The gravy, my favourite part of any roast dinner, was, as promised, deliciously rich and even glistened.
Service was good too. We didn’t have to wait long, even though the whole bar area downstairs and up was full, and we got service with a smile throughout – a common occurence, it has to be said, in the NQ. All for under thirty quid for the two of us, drinks included.
All of that, minus the usual sunday evening washing-up, I can hardly find reason to make my own anymore!
This little piggy rates it: 5/5
Trof, 8 Thomas Street, the Northern Quarter, Manchester
