The Alan, 18 Princess Street, Manchester M1 4LG (0161 236 8999). Snacks and small plates £3-£6.50, steaks and chops £16-£28, desserts £7, wines from £25
First impressions matter. First impressions can also be wrong. The first impression tonight at the Alan, a new boutique hotel on the edge of Manchester’s Chinatown, is of somewhere about as popular as herpes. The moodily lit foyer is a confection of raw brick and rough plastered walls, housing stone slab tables of the sort Aslan might be sacrificed upon if you were in need of a little light midcourse religious symbolism. There’s ceiling ducting and spindly industrial lighting and acres of polished crazy paving-style stone floor. And almost no punters. The Alan isn’t just quiet. It feels abandoned. A single employee is on duty in the main foyer this evening, eyeing the entrance. He greets us cheerfully as we push through the doors. Perhaps he’s grateful for the company.
