Mort Subite has a morbid history and a fiercely loyal crowd of regulars...
It feels like in the world of food and drink, you often need to find something to help you stand out, a point of difference. Mort Subite – the Altrincham bar recommended to us by another Altrincham bar owner Paul Rooney – has a few.
The underground bar is located in a basement on Greenwood Street, which visitors to the town will know as the polished and pedestrianised street that runs adjacent to Altrincham Market.
But when Wyn Rys opened Mort Subite nearly two decades ago, Altrincham Market didn’t quite have the magnetising presence it does today. Back then it was more about broken biscuits and nighties than curated independent food and drink, so what Rhys was doing was all a bit more daring.
Meaning ‘sudden death’ in French the (objectively very cool) name references the fact that the underground bar once had a very different role. It was the overspill mortuary for Altrincham Hospital, which used to sit directly across the road. And an overspill mortuary is exactly what it sounds like: it’s where they kept the bodies.
“It’s night time all the time” explains Rhys when asked about what made him choose this specific unit for the bar. And yes, it’s dark, it’s underground, and phone signal is patchy, but that’s part of the appeal. You’re beckoned in by a neon sign that reads ‘MORT’ (death) above an arrow cheerily pointing the way downstairs.
Inside, Mort Subite leans fully into Belgian bar culture, both in look and in spirit. “Well, essentially, a Belgian bar, authentic table service, extensive beer menu, almost like a restaurant, but for beer,” Rhys explains. The walls are lined with a lifetime of ephemera collected from various travels, and Belgian radio is constantly piped in. Those who get a bit spooked by taxidermy should avert their eyes.
By ‘extensive’ he means more than 200 beers available at any one time. For those less familiar with Belgian brewing, there’s guidance on hand. “If people are a little unsure, we do have full menus, which do explain quite a lot. So we have tasting notes for each beer.”
It’s the sort of place that its easy to lose an hour or four. Proost to the next two decades…
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