The Observer
Jay Rayner was left “slack-jawed” in awe by the restored splendour of Rochdale Town Hall in greater Manchester, whose gothic revival interiors are decorated with William Morris-style illustrations of peacocks and the martlet, “a mythical bird that was forever on the wing”. He was equally impressed by its all-day restaurant from chef Darren Parkinson, who grew up locally and trained at Hopwood Hall College just four minutes’ walk away, before a career which took him to France, Winteringham Fields in Lincolnshire and the Shibden Mill Inn near Halifax.
There are cooked breakfasts, European bistro-style dishes, afternoon teas and more formal meals on Friday and Saturday evenings, but Jay was here for the traditional Lancashire dishes listed as ‘Rochdale Town Hall Classics’, all costing just £14: fish and chips served with “Manchester caviar (mushy peas, of course)”; bacon chop with Bury black pudding; and “joy of joys, a rag pudding” – “a parcel-shaped pie, named because of the way the suet pastry is hand-folded over the filling to make it look like a bundle of the cotton rags which once underpinned the region’s industrial economy.” Inside is both braised and minced beef, and it comes in “a reservoir of gravy so glossy you could check your hair and makeup in the reflection”.
All in all, Jay sees the Martlet as a civic amenity delivered with a combination of professionalism, good sense, taste and skill: “every town should have one.”
Jay Rayner - 2024-11-24
