The Hop House

The Hop House is at 10 Higher Road, Urmston – photo courtesy of the Hop House.

The Hop House is a new bar at 10 Higher Road, Urmston, which offers continental beers, wine, champagne, artisan foods, tea and coffee to Urmston’s thirsty carousers.

In spite of its name, and the prevalence of beers on the menu, the place has the feel of an old-fashioned gin parlour, with an eclectically designed interior (leopard-print walls, mismatching chairs – the kind of thing we’ve been missing in Urmston for far too long …) and a cordial atmosphere of gregarious cheer.  It’s the kind of bar where you could easily strike up a conversation with the people on the next table.

Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of beer at the Hop House – photo courtesy of the Hop House.

If you’re a beer enthusiast, there’s plenty to choose from at the Hop House, but it was the jam jar cocktails that caught my eye.  Now, everybody knows that drinking from a jam jar is probably one of the ten most fun things to do ever; it’s right up there with tree-climbing, star-gazing or reading in bed with the electric blanket on.  The Hop House have taken this a step further and added actual jam to their jam jar cocktails.  As I may have said before, I am more or less teetotal, but I couldn’t resist a Jamble – a blend of gin and blackcurrant jam and … well, it matters little what else was in it.  I enjoyed it: it tasted good and it felt super-efficient, a drink for a busy wo/man who doesn’t have time to consume jam and gin separately.

Jam jar cocktails from the Hop House – photo courtesy of the Hop House.

The Hop House has been open for less than a month but when I called in the other night it was very busy, though not in a terrible, help-me-I-can’t-move kind of way.  It’s just a stone’s throw from Urmston train station and the main bus stops so it’s easy to get to.  If you have visited the Hop House and enjoyed the experience, click through to their Facebook page and let them know.