Opening as recently as 1997, this big brash boozer is situated in the centre of town just off the busy thoroughfares of Albert Square and Deansgate. Before becoming the Ape & Apple, this building housed a bank - compare this 1910 Archive photo with the snap below - not much has changed in one hundred years, particularly the shop next door to the pub! Note the sign for "Dalton Passage" in the 1910 photo which still exists today. This tiny passage provides access to Manchester's hidden church, St. Mary's on Mulberry Street, the so-called Hidden Gem.
Dalton Passage, John Dalton Street. (c) googlemap.
A typical Holts pub - and, like the Old Monkey once was, one of Holts' showcase pubs - with a varied client base, it is still one of the best pubs in town. The bitter is still under £2 a pint and bottled Humdinger - along with loads of other superb bottled Holts' ales - is available at 3 for a fiver (better value than your supermarket!).
Holts bottled ale. (c) Joseph Holts.
The Dark Mild is also a great sup (even better perhaps is the old fashioned "mixed" - half a bitter, half a dark mild).
Mixed. (c) Jospeh Holts.
The Ape & Apple is once again in the Good Beer Guide for 2010 and I'm told the food is also good, but I've yet to sample any of this. There is also a good-sized function room available for hire and there are free comedy nights and poker nights every week. Bizarrely, its also Greenpeace recommended, and was featured in an episode of Top Gear for this very reason. Make of that what you will!
1993??? Nah, try 1997 at least. The Old Monkey opened in 1993, but the ape and apple was a good few years later. Funnily enough I popped in there the day after it opened, and it already had a set of well worn regulars.
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