Mary and Archie

In the run up to Christmas we had so many festive activities planned at times it was hard to keep track. One festive activity we had been particularly looking forward to was a trip to the cinema with our chums Tom and Heather to see Gremlins.

On the day we decided grab a bite to eat beforehand. The only problem was that no matter how much we racked our brains and asked for recommendations on Twitter, there didn't seem to be anywhere jumping out at us as a good Didsbury/Burnage area pre-cinema meal location, seeing as we were already booked into Mud Crab Café for the following day.

It was then that Tom suggested Mary and Archie, a quirky but relaxed boozer on Burton Road which I had been told was one of the nicest places to drink in West Didsbury. I thought this a splendid idea, I hadn't even realised they did food and as soon as I saw the words "craft beer" on their Twitter profile I knew Bailey would be sold.

This particular night was one of those nights that it's so cold that even walking a few yards from the car to the front door of the pub is enough to chill you to the bone. It was fortunate then that Mary and Archie was so cosy and inviting. As soon as we got in I ordered myself a lovely hot cappuccino complete with crunchy Amaretti biscuit, while the others worked their way through the good selection of draught beers. Bailey commented that the selection was great "for such a teeny tiny place" and was very impressed that every available space that could be used for ales, was being used for ales.

Onto the food and we were very lucky to have stumbled into Mary and Archie on a Tuesday which happened to be Pizza Night - when a pizza and a bottle of beer will set you back a mere 7 quid.

Cue a bit of a wait on food but we didn't mind as all the staff who had dealt with us were so friendly and once the food did arrive it was all freshly prepared with love. For example any annoyance we might have felt when the extra order of jalapeños were missed of Tom's Americano Pizza was prevented by the most lovely of waitresses delivering an apology from the chef with a plate piled with jalapeños (many of which went into my belly).

The pizzas went down rather well - good bases topped with a tasty pizza sauce and a generous smattering of toppings on all of them. After having decided against ordering a pizza myself I found it hard to resist the last slice of the Funghi Heather couldn't eat which was lovely though it had gone a bit cold (greedy).

I had ordered the Carribbean Fish Stew which was a great choice for a cold winter's night. Given that I would later fill my face with Minstrels at the cinema I felt very good about chowing down on tasty fish, loads of flavoursome, nicely spicy, well-cooked veggies and a hearty portion of rice and peas.

Even the side orders of chips (hand cut, absolutely huge, fluffy on the inside), wedges (covered in cajun, some normal and some sweet potato and all delicious) and side salad (fresh and nicely dressed) were all great.

As we paid for our meal I got into a lovely chat with the barmaid about lampshades from Pop Boutique and it was all very nice and we left feeling very happy and full of good food.

Sometimes the most relaxed meals are the best and this was one of those occasions. We really enjoyed our trip to Mary and Archie and will definitely be returning for some more of their honest, home-cooked food. Their quiz has also been recommended to us and seeing as we do love a good quiz I'm sure we will be heading over for that too.