Flavours of Manchester

2020-10-19T14:36:00.478+01:00

News & Recent Visits

SORRY BUT FOR VARIOUS REASONS THERE WON'T BE MUCH NEW CONTENT ON HERE, I'LL LEAVE IT UP FOR A BIT THOUGH - ALSO TWITTER WILL PROBABLY BUMBLE ALONG. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!! XXX

February has been fascinating - I've got loads to fill you in on - which I will get round to - but first priority is our first ever competition!! - woop. With prizes provided by Thorntons! - I know who would have thought it?

January Wooop Happy New Year 2013
Massive gnosh up at The Oxnoble - check it out.

Best new find so far - All Seasons in Old Trafford. - lunchtime offer is £3.50 for medium anything + a can (you have to have the can!). I was really impressed with the savoury flavour of the curry goat - if not as much the rice & peas. Definitely will be back.

Patsys closed again (is this permanent) so first trip to Chicken Run, it was OK not much more to say:

Curry Goat Rice and Peas (and veg)

I'm really in favour of those light meals in pubs - I say light, I mean not huge. This chilli nacho effort from The Bar is Great at £5-6

So, sad as it may seem on the 1st I thought it fitting for a long overdue trip to Saajan:

Chicken Shawarma on chapati - £3.60

samosa and shami - about £1.80

Classic interior scene - both doners and flaming grill, love it.

December 2012
I did get one decent fry up in though - at The Elleray pub in Windemere. I played it safe in a pub and judging by my compadre's reactions I think it was a wise move. £9.95

The quest for the Great Breakfast rolls on - firstly from Red Hot World Buffet, which, unbelievably wasn't worth £6.50 - for a potentially unlimited amount of food - it was just very bad, even the beans. And not even a buffet - hurredly cooked to order. My advice is to avoid this offer, though I stand by the lunch buffet at £8.50

Yoghurt and cereal and whatnot was OK

Eggs were the only thing worth eating - big shame.

Great party at The Parlour in Chorlton around Christmas time, treated like kings and fantastic roast.

Managed to squeeze in a few Northern Quarter Trips. Namely to a revamped - or is that 'tidied up' Hunters BBQ and finally to This & That for a Nihari.

Nihari down at This & That - with a couple of chapati £5.70, great stuff! (Sunday only)

Hunters has tidied up and got brighter - personally I don't care.

But the food had improved a bit. Still under £5 for Rice & 3 + chapati

Some treats and otherwise from the Christmas Markets - nothing outstanding but a bit of a change and a bit of fun:

'Chorizo Rice' was probably the pick at £4

Bratwurst as usual - tasty. £4.50

Grilled Spear - or pork kebab. Expensive at £6.50

Currywurst - Lost for words. (possibly the name's back to front)

So December's been an interesting month so far, the best new jaunt being to BJs in Hulme & possibly the worst food I've ever eaten came from Bite All, on Kingsway. The hunt is on for the best Curry Goat. I've really come to love this dish of late and I reckon it's because nowhere does it terribly. It's always on the bone and never made with a base sauce - just a proper, from scratch, spicy stew. Like Rice & 3 places. Simple but perfect.

November 2012
Hello Everyone. Things have changed a wee bit, in that my centre of gravity has moved about 3 miles south (no I'm not sagging - I mean literally) and therefore the emphasis has changed a bit too - currently a touch towards Carribean food and fry ups. But then how many more times did you need to know that Qila Khyber or Top Quality are 'still great'? - So there's been a bit of upheaval but I'll still be hunting out the best (value) independent food and fine beers. - So here are a few recent jaunts....

The Black Swan in Hollins Green is apparently making an effort, unfortunately possibly in the wrong areas:

Huge Menu isn't often a good sign

Not great - really wanted to like but it was only OK

Zaika - formerly Kashmir King is now a bizarre combo of mediocre kebab/curry place and off license - genius? Depressing?

Jerk Junction 2 - up near the Southern Cemetery is maybe not up to the Whalley Range standards but it's not far off. If you're near by....

Curry Goat & Dunpling £4

Jerk Chicken £3.50

Yard Soup - £2.50

Trying to find myself a great fry up joint - here are two recent candidates:

At £6.50 including a good coffee Gabriel's (next to the postoffice on Wilbraham Rd.) is my current favourite gaff - right mix of quality, value and venue.

The recently opened Chorlton Brasserie £8.50 - high quality but a bit pricey with drink not included - bringing total over a tenner

After all the excitement over cow-based branding it seems Buffalo is just a weak kebab/burger gaff. Mixed Wrap £4.50

I-Jerk's first fail. Which I-ronically was Jerk Chicken. Lots of lean meat but microwaved and dry. Sticking to curry and stews.

Bit of a departure for me,not having meat or beer.But Cake Off well won by the superb creations from Gemma Poizer.

Finally got to De Nada, Ale & S-American grub. Specifically Boggart's Rum Porter & Empanadas(£4.25 for 2)

Why didn't I think of it before? Jerk Chicken & Curry Sauce -like having tandoori + curry wet,best of both worlds! Jerk Junction

October 2012
Buffet at Sher Akbar. Poppadom then any starter (mixed grill obviously) followed by this array - good value at £7.95

Determined to get the measure of I-Jerk - return visit, lamb and potato curry with Rice & Peas. Pretty fantastic at £5.50.

Great Value Mixed Grill at a mere £5 from Saajan Express

NEW PLACE. It's always exciting to find somewhere new. I-Jerk (yes, I know) is a Halal Caribbean place on Chester Rd. - Next to the Gorse Hill pub. It does all the classics, and on first visit I had to go for the standard, Curry Goat, Rice & Peas. It was huge and delicious, what more is there? - This mound of great food was a mere £5.50.

Great night at The Parlour in Chorlton. Beer & Cheese -Beer from Red Willow & Cheese from Hickson & Black - interestingly and expertly introduced by Toby and Jay from their respective businesses. Very enjoyable and interesting. Doesn't often happen like that!

September 2012
The Legendary This & That. Probably the most famous, lauded and loved of all the places that fit the Flavours of MCR brief. It's got its detractors but in the end it's where I want to be on a rainy, autumnal day. Who wouldn't? Plus Wednesday is offal curry day, check out the kidney at the bottom of the plate. Lamb steak and daal were grand as usual, chuck in a chapati and it's a fiver well spent. Come on, it just is.

Another NEW PLACE - Ariana in Rusholme. Middle Eastern and Afghani cuisine. Why on earth do they all have the same stock photographs on their menus. Ariana's food was much more appealing. £3.50 Chicken Shawarma, can't argue. All good.

The Bar in Chorlton is doing hot bar snacks - I stupidly ordered two rather than a main, in an attempt at a light meal. Beef nachos and pulled pork with corn-fritters meant I did not - they were massive! Good though.

Thanks to my occaissional fellow diner and current eyes and ears in London, Alistair Harford, for this picture of what appears to be a Chinese version of Rice & 3. Fascinating.

August 2012
Alrighty then - back to regular duty. A kebab in Moss Side - random stop at a place I've never ventured into before. The reason this blog started I suppose - anyway, enough of the wistful nonsense. NEW Shalimar. Glad I stopped. Tandoor bread, Chicken Sharwarma £3.

With the blistering summer weather drowning the flags I decided to have a bit of a Caribbean curry month. Thoroughly enjoyable it was too - also if you're out of range of a Rice & 3 these are places you can get a big pile of rice and spicy stew pretty much instantly and around the £5-£6 mark. Add chilli sauce of choice and dig in.

First trip to Dougies in Whalley Range. Seemed appropriate to have Curry Mutton, so as best judge against the best of the rest. £5 and very good. No complaints at all. No goat on the menu but all the other favourites were there.

Jerk Junction is rocking it at the moment. Can't fault the place, other than the microwaved patties. Even so - I don't really care. Oxtail is superb.

Curry Steak w/ Rice & Peas from the legendary instiution that doubles as a catering cart: Kool Runnings. £5.50 got me this little bounty and very decent it was too. Tender stewed steak & veg Caribbean curry sauce on (the always great) rice & peas.

A day in St. Anne's Square - cracking meat products from Lakeland Picnic - In this case a Cumberland sausage based hot dog type situation - with onions and mustard etc. Paella always a winner. Both very good. £3.50 and £4.

Back to Chennai Dosa -All day buffet/Thali £6.95, can't haggle with that. Authentic South Indian is a treat.

It's been ages! In fact, it's moved next door. However (new) Panicos gave me a superb Chicken Shawarma. £4.10. One of the best I've ever had.

Come Rain or Ramadan the legendary Saajan never mess about. I'm happy. I love lamb during the hours of daylight.

Ramadan affecting all but the busiest places at lunchtime - Many shut others with reduced and mediocre options. A rare doner kebab. A bad doner kebab.

This was actaully one visit to TABAK, or the Islamabad Grill, whichever it's really called. In the afternoon it's £5.95 and goes to a whopping £6.95 after that. Crazy value really - and I couldn't help but go for it:

Starters included tandoori chicken wings, seekh kebabs, pakora, salad, chutneys and whatnot.

Pilau Rice & 5 -Chicken Korma, Chicken Karahi, Lamb & spinach, Nihari & Tarka Dall. All meat on the bone bar korma

The Mission was not to go mad, but I still took one for the team - or one for the road, or whatever. Third plateful was surprisingly good

July 2012
Finally a great Bento at Yakisoba. The Tea House dishes (starters) are always good - but it was great for the Bentos to keep up the standard. Slow Cooked Beef with Seasonal Greens was the best I've had there, in numerous visits.

Sher Akbar, snazzy looking starter for two. No idea about the veg spring rolls but the rest was good. It was a good meal all-round. One of the only 'proper' restaurants, outside Rusholme, that's open at Noon. They doing a bit of a promo too - they call it 2 for 1, which it isn't really - though decent. Buy starters for two, one main and second main course is free - not a bad little deal. 12-3 only.

Really getting into the Caribbean stuff at the minute and Jerk Junction in Whalley Range is my current favourite place. I'm working through the menu - this was my first oxtail from here:

Judging at Chorlton Beer Festival. Speciality beers. Ginger by Marble won, although it was not my choice. Judging was blind at the time - but we found out/deduced what was what later on. My pick was Lonesome Pine by Ulverston. As ever you're torn between giving high marks to your favourite and attemtpting to judge on basis of category. It's always tricky.

Massive hankering for fry up type stuff. Eventually satisfied with this from Chorlton Barbecue on Wilbraham Rd. 2 sausages, 2 pieces of bacon - 'how much do you like black pudding?' - 'love it', I replied. third piece went on - that's the sort of interatcion I like. Pictures of opened sandwiches never look perfect - don't dwell on that. This was great. £2.45.

Right Check this out as a lunchtime special from a 'proper' restaurant. Sher Akbar in Chorlton are doing this 12-3. Slightly misleading as the poster outside says, served in miuntes, choice of 2 curries, plus rice and mini naan. In reality you can have any curry barring those containing jewel in the curry crown: King Prawns. In this case I had Lamb Karahi Punjabi. Also it takes a while - yes, technically any amout of time can be expressed in minutes but I was assuming a small number of. Anyway, it was certainly quick enough. £4.95 is a good price.

Qila Khyber just never gets it wrong. I love the place for rice & 3. Keema matar, daal gosht and chicken & urid daal. Great, still £4.50.

I have millions of these, so there's little more to say - Saajan in Rusholme, on form. Shami and Samosa for breakfast and 5 minutes later chicken tikka, chapatti and a Rubicon for lunch/dinner, depending on .... well whatever that depends on. Potato Tomato.

The Caribbean adventure continues. Brown stew beef. It was a bit like a Jamaican Nihari. Big chunks of slow cooked meat in a rich broth. What more do you want? Smashing. I love curry goat but one has to diversify every now and again - doesn't one? Or maybe me. Pretty much perfect from Jerk Junction. £6.

June 2012

Rare visit to Taftan Tandoori in Whalley Range. Oddly enough they've extended their Chinese range and ditched the lunchtime curry. Still - I thought I'd better see how they were getting on with the usual stuff. Lamb Karahi and a couple of chapati were decent. £6.

First visit to Today Restaurant on Grandale St. Just off the main drag in Rusholme, very near to the other big hitters, so not out of the way at all. Proper shawarma on naan for £2.50 is a great shout - fresh bread and good salad made it a very good meal. Also 4 pieces of falafel on naan for £2 can't be sniffed at.

Lamb Pilau with a bit of Karahi 'wet' - pretty fantastic actually. Qila so rarely disappoints. notice the pale meat of the lamb chops, cooked with the rice as opposed to the dark brown Karahi. £5, succulent and absolutely delicious.

Standard trip to the mighty Saajan, preferred the starters (shami & samosa) to pretty dried out chicken - shame. Yoghurt based sauces were a bit lumpy too, though fresh chapati excellent as ever. OVerall, fine, but only fine - you know how it is sometimes. A rare 7/10 for these guys.

Cracking little Minty Lamb number at Pi in Chorlton.

Jerk Junction Ackee and Saltfish. £6.

Chennai Dosa, in Stretford, is a real stand out place. Authentic Southern Indian cuisine. Nipped in for a go at the £7 buffet (veg dishes only £6).

MAY 2012

First trip to Dalat in Northenden.

Goose Island, Matilda - I'm defintiely a cask ale fella and often think that there's too much hype about US beer, but this Belgian-style, fruity number from Chicago was just was too good to ignore.

Chilli Sauce, the quest begins.

NEW PLACE: WANASAH in Rusholme. On a baking hot day, sitting outside, with the smell of the shisha pipes and authentic shawarmas it was like being on holiday. Where, I'm not quite sure - particularly when you factor in great real ale at the New Oxford afterward. A Refreshing Motueka Gold by Allgates. A beautiful hour or so.

Thanks for all the chilli sauce suggestions:

Sriracha and Almost Famous Suicide from @DesignStranger (pictured). Also 'Fiesta' from @MagicAlex69, Blairs After Death @PhilNatalie, two brands from @Cereal_Vagabond - Holy Cow & Trees Can't Dance and ASDA own brand Carribean Style Hot Jerk Sauce is a cheeky little bargain at a mere £1 - thanks to @alistairharford for that tip. Keep them coming. Cheers.

New plan: finding a great Chilli sauce. I never really got into the standard Encona options. I realise there are lots of specialist suppliers out there but I don't want to get into the mail order side of things just yet. So what's the best chilli sauce that's relatively easy to get hold of? So far I'm impressed by Windmill. Keep the suggestions coming.

Nihari in a Pub! - Well done to the Old Pint Pot for this offering - at a mere £4.80, good value. Homemade Burgers looked good too. The ales on offer were Hobgoblin and Marston's Pedigree - all in all, a strong effort. Cheers!

Can't really argue with curry + rice or naan for the £4 Zam Zam special, choices are lamb (pictured), chicken, chicken kofta and veg. Previous attempts at this deal have been a touch bland, this time was better. The rice was delicious, flavoured with the usual garam masala type flavourings - cinammon, cloves, cardamom etc - though it was not over-powering. And there was a loads of it. Smashing.

£4 All day special at Zam Zam

The good people of Holland's Pies sent me this - still enjoying them, on about 1 a day:

The future is... well actually, this is the past, as I had it on Friday. But it's a great idea and a mere £3.50 at Qila Khyber. I wouldn't recommend meat on the bone as it takes up a lot of precious space.

Heat N Eat Lunch Box £3.50

First Visit to Qila in a while, great as ever. But the big news is there's a new deal - rice or 2 chapatis + 3 curries for £3.50. It's called a Heat 'N' Eat box and is compartmentalised - sort of army style. It's for eating in or taking out and looks a great deal - as well as solving the problem of multiple curries blending in a single bowl if you don't have rice. If this deal is as good as it seems it's got to be the premier deal around. However, I only saw the offer on my way out - having already eaten this dish of daal and chops - which was delicious. Tough life.

Back to Jerk Junction for Curry Goat, rice and Peas. The Classic.

Brewdog Manchester Opened. It's pretty big, on Peter St. and serves all the Brewdog beers - no shocks there. However, the range is impressive with 18.2% Tokyo Imperial stout being an example of the lengths they go to - they do not mess about. My personal favourite was probably the 77 lager.

More Pan Asian (con)fusion at Yakisoba.

Mongolian Lamb

April 2012

Zam Zam Tondoori produced a great nihari, as good as anywhere. On the bone too which was unusual.

Beerwise - Buxton Spa, Banks Sunbeam and my favourite Robinson's beer - Black Beauty have been the highlights.

Back to Kobeda Place so soon - I know it's ridiculous but friends wanted to go (well, acquaintances) so in an effort to learn something new I didn't go for the usual kebab - but Qabili Pilau, pictured bottom.

Jerk Junction in Whalley Range. Jerk Chicken with Jerk sauce. Very good actually, decent portion and £3.50.

The New brew of Directionless by Red Willow is a little belter. Millstone True Grit was a pretty damn good pint last week too.

There's one place to go for Kobedas - Kobeda Place

Still £3.40 and great. Enough said.

Nice little trip to Yadgar for and then to the New Oxford for a pint of Moonraker Mild by Empire. Lots of milds around at the moment. Yadgar was routinely good, the lamb being particularly tasty and tender. On its day it's as good as anywhere. You do need a chapati though - they don't go wild with the portion size.

Cheapskate's option. The premise behind this is to get the takeaway to make the expensive tricky stuff - like lamb on a charcoal grill & chicken shawarma in this case. - But do the roti and daal yourself as it's so easy and really cheap. I resent paying £4-£5 for a bowl of daal that's so quick to make and costs pence. similarly with packets of pitta or wholemeal wraps. Put the lentils on before you go to the takeaway and they'll be done when you get back (in this case Urid Daal) - order tasty tikka starters and you've got a value feast for 2. Another benefit is the health angle - no butter or ghee or hydrogenated oil (unless you want it) as you've cooked it yourself - Chicken and Lamb from Saajan Express.

Bit of a weird month so far, dominated by takeaways over the Easter Holidays rather than lunchtime trips. Royce Balti Palace has been decent, Village Tandoori ok but not massively exciting - Though a mixed grill, with veg sauce and naan for £6.40 is a bargain. Evening takeaways don't tend to make great pictures so I didn't take any. Beerwise Titanic is around a lot due to the anniversary. The Iceberg and Porter have been my favourites. Red Willow continues to impress as does the relatively ancient Moorhouses - a few White Witch last night went down very nicely.

March 2012

Return to the classic - not much more to say on the matter, Saajan chicken shawarma, £3.50 - great stuff.

Long time since I went to Hunters, that Rice & 3 is £4, including a chapati is incredible. food's only OK though.

Return to Marmara Grill after a long time. Mixed Shawarma £4.30. Rusholme

First Visit - New place, Sher Akbar. Chorlton

RED HOT WORLD BUFFET NEARLY KILLED ME, for £8.50 (at lunch). Deansgate

Spice Kitchens in Rusholme do a great value Chicken Shawarma. £2.50.

Northern Quarter Kabana - bit of a mixed dish, lamb tikka, chapati and a little helping of curry sauce to dip. £4.30 - can't argue.

First visit to Moghuls Taste this year, very good. Half keema and bitter gourd, half chop karahi.

New place - Swanky lookind Sher Akbar has finally opened opposite the Marble Beerhouse in Chorlton. There is another branch in Northenden.

New Metro Cafe in Chorlton - Bit confusing for me, Traditional English & Carribean cafe-type food. And 'chicken kebab' (pictured) £4.50 and you get a brew.

Snack Attack - new fixture at the Quadrant roundabout in Stretford, worth a look if you're off to B&Q or whatever. Curry Goat £4.50, Patties £1.

February 2012

After whining about not being able to go for weeks I finally got to This & That for the Offal curry and two others, naturally. Slight let down for a change.

Kidney and Liver (bottom left) lamb and lentil (right) chicken (top) £4.90

Chicken Pakoras £3 at Saajan

NEW FIND - RAJA CAFE - found it and dived right in.

Chicken Shawarma on chapati £2.95

Quick Ash Wednesday bite. No meat and no carbs.... OK slightly dubious on both those counts as fish and lentils were there - however: no lamb, no chicken, no chapati and no rice. Still very filling and felt pretty healthy - but mainly just tasted good. £6.

NEW FIND - Shabirs Kabana Cafe

Couple of friends wanted to go to the place I rate the highest at the moment, had to be Qila Khyber.

First time in a long time at Spice Kitchens in Rusholme, I like this place. Although its often pretty full with the kids from the mearby FE college. £2.50 for Chicken Shawarma is a steal.

Kabana on Cheetham Hill Rd, not the Northern Quarter one, decent but just a bit dull. Lamb Masala seemed like a generic lamb curry with a few cardamom pods. Fine but not exciting. Very loud and just a wee bit irritating, particularly for a Monday at midday. Curry £4.50, chapatti 70p.

Had almost no time, with an appointment at noon, but I had to eat - at Top Quality you can park right outside and it opens at 11.30 - hence my only option in a rush - nailed it too. £5 for lamb, chappati and salad.

Saajan however - different story, first chicken shawarma of the year was a smash hit.

The Qila Khyber Lamb kebab however was a bit poor - which goes to prove the age old adage - either a curry cafe or a kebab place be as nether the twain shall meet. - It makes more sense in the original Urdu.

January 2012

Standard and Excellent Qila Khyber trip, Chicken Tawa, karahi Gosht and keema mattar. Brilliant. £4.50

Yadgar hit the right notes then off to Atherton for Bent N Bongs Beer Bash. Good day.

North West Winners at National Winter Ales Festival.

Kabana in NQ, Very good, £5.50

Lamb, Chicken and Channa

Lamb White Takeaway, interesting dish:

Judging at CAMRA Winter Ales Festival - Ended up on Barley wines and Strong Old Ales panel. Interesting at 11AM. Winner for this category was Pushing Out (7.3%) by Outstanding of Bury.

Top Quality on a very cold day.

Interesting dish at Qila Khyber, Begum Bahar. Chicken Keema and Tikka. £5 all in.

Beech Rd. Chippy - pie and chips £2, cannot be argued with as a deal.

Classic Saajan - very little to say except probably the first of many in 2012. £3.50.

Wagamama Katsu Chicken Curry - a decent meal but £9.15 was expensive by comparison with the usual haunts.

Christmas and New Year

So what’s been going on over the Festive period? – well not a lot. All but one of my curry experiences was below par. Places were closed or empty, takeaways were slow to deliver and often pretty poor when they did. – Presumably down to lack of custom and therefore staff being ill-prepared or whatever. Shame. Probably my best experience was at Saajan Express – which to be fair I picked up, however they produced an excellent Nihari. Another few takeaways and one restaurant experience I’d rather forget. I'd like to think that this period isn't truly representative so let's get on with 2012.

December 2011

Standard but great stuff at Saajan:

Samosa and Shami combo - £1.50

Chicken on Chapatti - the classic.

First visit to Swad.

This & That - the old classic.

Khan's has closed - it is now a bar. Shame as there's little else down that way, in terms of a curry cafe experience.

A little look in Saajan Express.

Back to Asian Fusion and a really enjoyable meal, best I've had there.

Impromptu visit to Zam Zam in Chorlton, cant argue with their 'special' - chicken kofte with naan for £4.

November 2011

Nice little Kobeda at Kobeda Place, the standard remains high, the price remains £3.40.

Friday means Chicken Biryani at a few places - instead of rice in a rice & 3 is a great bargain. £4.50 at Top Quality - redeemed itself.

Routinely good trip to Qila Khyber - they always have interesting vegetables here - keema with Karela and lamb with some other form of squash (and chana obviously)

23/11/11

Top Quality is a good place, but why charge for rice and 3 if I'm not having rice - then charge extra for chapatti. Still only £4.90 - but it would have been £4.90 with or without the rice. A bt irritating.

22/11/11

A great chicken doner/shawarma freshly cut from the rotating skewer - so different form the dried out rubbish from the warming pot (see picture from 15th Nov) - always a gamble.

16th - Old style sizzling curry feast at Asian Fusion in Chorlton.

15th - I feel a bit guilty about this feast of a mixed kebab, chicken shawarma and a couple of Seehks. It's great - but I doubt my mum would approve.Only one place to go for it.

Interesting Weekend - Friday featured a return to the Mothi Mahal Buffet, which is amazing value at £5 all you can eat. Saturday featured a surprise Fry Up - and Sunday a Roast at The Parlour early doors, ending in a cheeky mixed grill starter from Eesas at bed time.

Eesas Mixed Grill Starter, £7.50

Lloyd's Fry Up - get in! £6

Moti Mahal Buffet, great value at £5

Miserably dark day called for some up lifting food - Curry Goat Rice & Peas from the legendary Kool Runnings stall.

Not our usual thing but had the Steak Burger at The Parlour in Chorlton at the weekend. Excellent burger - I don't eat that many but I might have to start.

Disappointing at Al Faisal - OK food, but a small amount and up to £6.

I know we go a lot but it's so reliable and good - heartily recommend the chicken on chapatti. A classic - £3.60 at Saajan.

October 2011

Bit of a weird week - no point going in to visits to the same old haunts but one day stood out - Judging at the Great Northern Beer Festival - and nipping out to Marhaba. Superb.

Bit of a go at Hot `n` Spice in Whalley Range. Pretty good actually.

Finally got down to Delhi 2 Go - the revamped Tastemaster's on Oldham St.

Hearty Congratulations to the MFDF11 winners last night, particularly The Parlour in Chorlton winning Best Pub.

Classic bright red lamb tikka - couldn't fault it. Saajan £3.60.

Eesas has become one of the better Chorlton takeaways.

Kabana - Cheetham Hill Road, not town. £3.

Weekend - Moti Mahal upped the stakes.

6th - Rare trip to Adelphi Cafe, samosa not amazing value at £1.98, but does qualify for our new EatUnder£3 category - along with Moti Mahal's rice & 2 yesterday.

Old Style Takeaway at Shiva Tandoori

5th - New Place, Moti Mahal

Interesting Rice & 2 Concept - £2.99

4th - Theoretically healthy option, chicken tikka at Kobeda Place

3rd -Pretty quiet day in Top Quality

2nd - Taftan is now Taftan Tandoori and under new management - new menu, new staff - is it a new place? Tricky. Decent little takeaway - dall tarka and chicken karahi. Chops and samosa below.

1st Start the month with a Nihari - 2 days in a row at QK, but I was passing and it's good, what can you do?

September 2011

30th - Standard good food at QK-

28th - Bit of a classic Saajan, nothing really to report.

26 - Back to Jaffa for a proper shawarma

25th Paan House mixed grill

21st - Tabak Buffet, this time with photos...

19th - bit of a wander up Cheetham Hill Rd:

Ended up with a Seekh at Lahore Karahi:

K2 Curry Lounge has become Kiri's Grill House:

It seems Roti & Boti is nearly open but not quite:

18th - decent Nihari and fish from Saajan Express.

16th - Pretty strange kebab from Lakshami Chowk - rather than tikka the chicken was pakora.

15th - Florets Syndrome! A massive Gobi (cauliflower) Pakora at Qila Khyber.

Weekend - Good meal at a 'proper' curry house - Sangam in Rusholme. And a decent Bratwurst at Barbakan in Cholrton.

8th takeaway form Qila Khyber, lamb on the bone.

7th - Kobeda Place, but no kobeda, I wanted lamb but none available so a huge chicken tikka became the alternative:

6th - Back to school curry on a cold day at Moghuls, very good. Killer chops!

4th - pretty gargantuan takeaway order from Spice Kitchens. - wee bit oily.

1st First visit to TABAK, curry buffet.

August 2011

30th -Morning after Eid - most places shut, opted for Al Quds.

finally saw the famous Vnam Cafe on Oldham Road. Interesting menu which seems well worth a try. More after we get round to the first trip.

Also went to This & That for the first time in ages. Very good chicken masala.

29th - Nice little takeaway from the cheap and good Paan House. Just Eat helps a lot with these things....

26th - A first, Qabili Pilau & 3 !!! Woo - rice full of lamb on the bone (mostly bone for flavour) with 3 curries, including 'Lamb White'. Qila Khyber has some of the best and most interesting stuff.

Became this - the bones are just from the pilau.

25th - Another Fat Git Special at Saajan.

Chicken Doner & Seekh Mix

23rd

Decent from Top Quality but not really up to their high standards.

22nd

Been a while sice we went to Zam Zam - OK kebab, good price at £3.

19th - Prety standard Rice & 3 from Moghuls Taste.

18th - New place, Phatha Phat. On the same site as This & That 2 - which has closed.

17th

Two in one day - karahi Gosht at Yadgar.

Back to Saajan for a classic Chicken on Chappati.

12th

Biryani &3 is a real treat at Top Quality on a Friday. No it doesn't look that great but it is. Interestingly the guy chose my curries for me.

No Curries Cafes damaged in riots of 9/8/11 - a sweep round on foot found Yadgar open at 11.15 the next day. It was great stuff too, some of the best I've had here.

lamb, chicken and keema & potatoes

Great little trip to Moghuls Taste.

July31st
First Nihari at Qila Khyber. Superb.

July 2011
It felt wrong but tasted right, seekh and chicken doner mix. Fatties only. Saajan.

27/07/11
New one on me - Chicken Daboo (the fella spelled it out to me like this but the all-seeing eye of the internet thinks it's Dabu). QK full of surprises.

26 July 2011
A write up of weekend trip to Moroccana

26/07/11
Sundays mean Nihari, and I had a very good one at Al Madina

23/07/11
Great tagine at Moroccana - will write it up soon, here's a taster, so to speak:

21/07/11
Great stuff - Fish Karahi, salad, roti - £5.50. QK

20/07/11
Call it boring or classic, but Saajan just don't often get it worng. Little starter today too.

16/07/11
A 'proper' restaurant experience at Coriander opposite Southern Cemetery.

13/07/11
A first for us, lamb's brain at Qila khyber.

12/07/11
Return to an old favourite - Darbar. Decent but not outstanding.

07/07/11
Ok Kebab, but great Karahi Gosht at Al Madina

06/07/11
Cracking Chops & Spinach with chickpeas. Great stuff at Top Quality.

05/07/11
Rare and surprisingly good trip to Hunter's, great value at £3.95 for Rice&3 + chapatti

04July2011
Interesting week featuring a curry takeaway from Eesas in Chorlton and a Rice&3 at Moghuls Taste in Strangeways.

30/06/11
Qila Khyber AGAIN - but it's so good.

27/06/11
Kobeda Place

20-25/06/11
L'al Quila Express - best lamb tikka.

Moghuls Taste - Haleem (centre) is essentailly slop, but great

Top Quality on good form.

Prices have crept up to £5.50 for rice & 3, roti 60p at Kabana, but the food is some of the best in town at the moment.

16/06/11
Good kebab but mediocre falafel at Kobeda Place.

June 11
Chops in Fallowfield.

07/06/11
Kebab at Saajan Express.

04/06/11
Takeaway from Paan House

28/05/11
Best Curry all year at Al Madina

26/05/11
Quick curry brunch at Lakshami Chowk

25/05/11
Sheep Feet - Paey, at Top Quality

24/05/11
A Little trip to Kabana.

Nothing major to report - no new places found, just routine high standards from Qila Khyber (pictured) and Saajan.

19/05/11
Bit of a feed in Zam Zam

18/05/11
Saajan was good, but they hacked up my chicken on the grill - not a big fan of that techinique - dries it out and some chicken suually gets lost. Just give it the extra few seconds - bit more charring outside won't hurt and the inside stays juicy. Not a big deal. Seekhs and chapattis great.

16/05/11
Quick one at Moghuls.

11/05/11
First trip to Yadgar in a while

09/05/11
First visit to Caspian in over a year.

08/05/11 -
Not much to report but good stuff from Zam Zam and Qila Khyber.

05/05/11
First trip to Peter Pan's in Stretford.

03/05/11
Decent trip to Saajan - pretty standard, although slight mix up between medium and small led to getting chicken shawarma ladled on a couple of seekhs. Bit weird but big, tasty and cheap.

01/05/11
Top Quality for a Sunday Special - Nehari.

27/04/11
Little Aladdin put in a good shift today - better than This & That yesterday and still £4. However the lingering vibe of christmake spices (Garam Masala and Cinnamon) won't go away.

26/04/11
Eesas over the weekend and This & That have been the recent trips.

20/04/11
Qila up to usual high standard - one eat in and one takeaway this week.

19/04/11
Not great at Al-Faisal.

Funny old week really - well not funny at all. We've been a bit quiet for various reasons - no new places and no surprises form old ones, so very little to say overall. For those who want to know where's still up to scratch we have visited: Saajan Halal, Zam Zam, Kobeda Place (twice), Qila Khyber and Moghuls Taste.

11/04/11
If not too hectic Moghuls Taste can be great. Today was pretty decent.

08/04/11
Our favourite for this type of kebab - Kobeda Place up to its usual high standards.

03/04/11
Rare takeaway from Lazeeza, wish we were closer.

01/04/2011
Finally - a second, late night trip to Janam.

31/03/11
First time ever - free plate of chips in K2 Curry Lounge.

30/03/11
First ever sighting and visit to Lakshmi Chowk. This is near Strangeways.

29/03/11
Top Quality maintained its high standards.

26/03/11
Darbar was pretty decent - though a restaurant and hence far more expensive than our usual trips, however - justified it with one of the best single dishes we can find.

23/03/11
For once let down by Saajan Fallowfield. Has to be a one off.

21/03/11
Qila Khyber again - sorry bit predictable but it's near, relaxing, great value and high quality.

20/03/11
Nihari at Kabana on a Sunday, what could be better?

19/03/11
Not really updated much this week - we've had trips to Top Quality, Yadgar and Saajan - which are all old faves and good and nothing's changed. Beer-wise we went up to the Hawkshead & Watermill breweries in the Lake District - but that's only relevant if you see those beers in Manc. Hawkshead you do quite often and it's very decent stuff. The only slightly rare thing we did was get a takeaway from Ashiana for a change.

10/03/11

Qila Khyber is really on form.

09/03/11
Only OK at Saajan. Still pretty good. Kebab was a bit dry though.

08/03/11
Taftan in Whalley Range for their staff curry.

07/03/11

Sunday at Saajan and Monday at K2 Curry Lounge - mixed fortunes.

04/03/11
Top Quality biryani - we love it.

02/03/11

Jasmine

2013-02-21T12:52:00.001+00:00

Barlow Moor rd. Chorlton

Bread & ....I'm not sure - some confusion over this dip

Falafel

Kofta Bilajeen

Sujok

Kibbeh - fried lamb dumplings

Jawaneh - chicken wings

Mixed Kebab

Three of us ate these dishes and a few others for £31 total. ??? Love it.

2013-02-19T12:17:00.001+00:00

Flavours of Manchester Chocolate Competition!!

Our first ever competition just in time for Mothers' Day. We thought we'd keep it topical so you've got 2 weeks and 50 words to tell us (flavoursofmanchester@gmail.com) why chocolate is better than.... yes... beer. This will be easy for some and difficult for others, but our feeling is that the most deserving will win - and therefore justice will be done.
You've got till noon on 5th March, which (post allowing) will get the prizes to you in time for Mothers' Day on 10th.*

(Please check Thorntons.co.uk for specific dietary or allergy advice)

Good luck everyone, I'm looking forward to reading these and thanks to Thorntons for providing them - I can vouch for the Gateau Egg - it's massive and a delicious.

1st Prize:

Deliciously Dark Hamper

Description

Welcome to the dark side and a gift box full of tasty goodies... The perfect gift for dark chocolate lovers.
This hamper presents the ultimate taste sensation for dark chocolate fanatics.
Containing truffles, chocolate blocks and casual share bags there's something in this hamper for every occasion.

Each hamper contains:
• Whisky Truffles Bag (95g)
• 85% French Dark Chocolate Block (90g)
• Dark Classics (330g)
• Chilli Dark Chocolate Block (80g)
• Almond Marzipan Bag (119g)
• Dark Chocolate Gingers bag (98g)
• Dark Chocolate Caramels Bag (110g)
• Mini Mint Chocolate Block

2nd Prize:

Black Forest Gateau Egg (468g)

Description

Fancy something dark and delicious this Easter? Our mouth-watering Black Forest Gateau egg is made with chunky dark chocolate, juicy cherries and chocolate curls, making it the perfect Easter indulgence.
Inspired by the rich, fruity taste of Black Forest Gateau, a gorgeous blend of textures and berry flavours means this egg is a swirl of creamy, sweet, chewy and deeply delicious. A quirky twist on a traditional Easter Egg that's just right for the person who always asks for seconds of dessert!

Please check Thorntons.co.uk for specific dietary or allergy advice
*Sorry but we can't guarantee this - it will depend on Thorntons and the post.

The Oxnoble

2013-01-11T01:21:00.004+00:00

Liverpool Rd. Castlefield.

This is my first visit in a long time. It is a great old building, having been a pub for over 200 years and known as The Oxnoble (or The Ox) for more than 150. The interior has changed since my last trip: low lighting, roaring fire, plush leather upholstery – it looks great, just the sort of place you would want to walk into on cold January evening – funny that...

So why am I here? Well in all honesty I was asked to come down and check it out, and yes ‘on them’. I hope this hasn’t impacted on my impartiality. We’ll see eh?

So, straight to the bar – good to see a few cask ales on, nothing inspiring or different, but I don’t mind that. A couple of well kept ales is all I really want (out of life), yes diversity adds interest and I am spoilt by my more regular haunts but its not a prerequisite, particularly if coming for food. Anyhoo... A well kept pint of Timmy Taylor's Landlord was provided and I was perfectly happy with it.

Having had a look at a sample menu online and seeing starters priced between £5-£8 and some main courses well over the £15 mark I’m slightly surprised to see an A-board outside advertising 2 courses for £10. It turns out to be a separate, set menu. So being the greedy buggers we are my companion and I have decided to try a bit of everything.

First up is ‘Pan fried Scallops served with crispy black pudding and a raspberry vinaigrette’, in short a mini triumph, classic combination of flavours and textures brought together with a twist of fruit. This combo is a no-brainer, so long as well cooked. And it was. £7.95.

The ‘Pear and Blue Cheese Salad’ is less my cup of tea though the contrast of melted cheese and pear is appealing. The accompanying salad was very good and substantial but I am slightly questioning the use of capsicum, perhaps one flavour too many for me, £4.95.

And finally, from the 2 courses for £10 menu is the ‘Ham Hock Terrine with homemade Piccalilli’, also coming with unadvertised bread and butter (win!). Perhaps this says more about me than the place but it is probably my favourite of the three, the terrine is dense, meaty and fibrous (in a good way). The piccalilli is slightly sweet complimenting the salty ham. It also shows some effort and skill. Fried black pudding and scallops will always be delicious.

And to the main courses... We’ve been recommended the pies and the burger and duly oblige. Throwing in the pork belly from the set menu. Having three meals between two alleviates the problem of feeling short changed when ordering a veggie option, my thinking being we’re already having beef and pork, so let’s try the veggie pie, in this case Cheese and Onion (made with ‘How’s Yer Father’ from the Saddleworth Cheese Co). Very impressive – again the drizzle gun is out but so what if it tastes good? And it does. The pastry is short, crumbly and delicate – some of the best of its type I’ve ever tasted. I’ve always been a suet or rough puff man when it comes to savoury pies, this might be enough to convert me. The filling unctuous, gooey and tasty, a good cheese pie, £12.95.

Next, from the set menu comes pork belly on bubble and squeak mash with apple sauce and gravy. I wanted to love this but I’m sorry to say I didn’t. A (too) large percentage of the slice of belly was just white, un-rendered fat. Yes I know pork belly is fatty, but too much white wobbly stuff is pretty unappetising. In addition the skin wasn’t crisp– although a delicious cross of crackling sat on the dish as it arrived. It was as if the whole belly had been rolled, slow boiled and sliced. A quick finishing in a pan would have worked wonders. Everything was tasty, just slightly marred by the meat.

Particularly by comparison with.... The Giant Ox Burger – with bacon, relish, dripping in cheese and as big as your head. We asked for medium rare and got it. If you like massive burgers and fries you’ll love this. Personally I do, although not being able to get a burger into my mouth does pose a problem as I do want to be able to taste the entire thing simultaneously. Ah you know what? Who cares, its a massive burger you’re either into it or not – I’d probably rather have 2 smaller ones, but whatever, you get the idea right? £13.95

So we are down but not out! Cue chocolate Torte served with cherry and Amaretto ice cream. I really liked this dish – to me it was more like an incredibly dense cheesecake than a torte, but potato pot-arto. It had a deep, rich chocolate, cream and black cherry vibe, so yes the holy trinity of flavours that made the black forest gateau the legend it was (is). For me combinations like that don’t go out of fashion, this was a very tasty dessert. £4.25 and also available on the 2 courses for £10 set menu. And so we’ve made it to the end.. nearly... yeap we did it. A ‘Lancashire Cheese Board', a very enjoyable selection from the Ox’s well chosen suppliers: The Saddleworth Cheese co. £8.95

It was really nice to be in an old historic pub in Castlefield that hasn’t resorted to Sky Sports, The Ox is a very pleasant place to be in, the atmosphere is nice and the staff are friendly and attentive. The food is a bit of a puzzler, the 2 courses for £10 seems fantastic value – I think Haddock and chips would be my choice next time. Though, If I do have a criticism of The Ox it's that it’s not clear what the place is about – having Gressingham duck at £18 on the same menu as 2 courses for £10 seems a little unbalanced and I would imagine slightly confusing to punters. Pub grub or fine dining? – Does The Ox need to choose? I don’t know, but wish them all the best.

NEW Shalimar

2012-09-05T10:51:00.000+01:00

Junction of Claremont Rd and Princess Rd. Moss Side.

Chicken Shawarma £3

2012

I've been passed this place plenty - it definitely meets the criteria. Fresh Kebabs, tandoor bread, low key - all the usual stuff. However I feel I've been elsewhere bound every time. This Friday was the same, I was on my way to the Fallowfield Saajan - saw this place yet again and finally stopped. I was very glad I did. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the place, the picture pretty much tells you everything you need to know. But it does what it does well. Fresh bread from the clay oven is always a winner. Tasty, succulent meat, a decent sauce selection and crisp salad pretty much completes a perfect picture. A mere £3. Perfect. The starters were good too - my standard combo of 1 samosa and 1 shami was only £1.20 too. No faults, no complaints. Recommended.

Dalat

2012-05-30T10:05:00.002+01:00

Palatine Rd. Northenden

Thai/Viet
In short, I really enjoyed it. Authentic and tasty grub, nice, none too fussy atmosphere, not too much polish about everything and good value for money. The reason I started this blog in the first place was for gems like this. The Thai curries are around £5 - which is good by any standards. Other 'speciality' mains go up to £8-£9 - it's still good value. The full menu is on Just-eat.co.uk and they do deliver. There were some high spots and some rough edges which I'll probably get down on paper tomorrow - a few pressing deadlines today. But a picture's worth a 1000 words right? - so here's 4000 words:

Steamed Mussels with Thai Herbs £3.95

Thai Combination for 2 - bit pricier at £11.95

Seafood and Glass Noodles £9ish - can't recall just now

Lap Mu - 'Very Tasty Pork Dish' - Yes that's what the menu said - I had to go for it. £8.95

Chilli Sauce

2012-05-23T15:35:00.002+01:00

Right, I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, but the vague idea at the moment is trying to find the best chilli sauce - WITHOUT going massively specialist or expensive.

Round 1.

Dunn's River: Jamaican Style Hot Sauce £0.59
Initial impression is of a very familisr flavour. If you've had chilli sauces you've had something similar to this. It does what it's supposed to and only 59p.

A Dash of Wahaca: Smoky Chipotle Chile Sauce £1.32
Fantasic - if you want smoky, which I'm quite up for. Has a much more natural smoky taste than many barbecue sauces - really tasted like smoked pimenton. Impressive. However it could have a bit more chilli strength.

Tropical Sun: Peri Peri Sauce £ £0.99
The fruitiness of this sauce lifts it above some competitors, strong whck of citrus in there. Like it - strong effort from a realtively generic brand.

Holy Cow: Himalayan Hot Garlic £1 (Currently on promotion with 1/3 off)
S'Good - tastes essentially of what it's supposed to: chilli and garlic. Like the chilli dipping sauce you always wanted with Asian Type dumplings, but rarely got. The largest bottle and great value at £1 (albeit an offer) - however, it will linger in the mouth like only raw garlic can. Whether you're bothered about that or not is your problem.

Wanasah Cafe

2012-05-23T09:28:00.002+01:00

Wilmslow Rd. Rusholme

Wanasah is one of the new breed of standard Rusholme 'hang-outs' - and I mean hang-outs as that's what people do there, seemingly all day, drinking little cups of sweet tea and smoking shisha pipes. However that world offers little to the likes of me - until, of course, I see two huge masses of rotating (real) meat and the magic word - 'shawarma'.
For those who don't know, shawarma is Arabic for the Turkish Doner, but in the UK at least this has come to mean a bit more than a like for like translation - at best it means the difference between in-house made, marinaded slices of lamb, stacked on to a spit, slow roasted till dripping, juicy and just a bit crispy on the outside - and frozen elephant's foot bought from a factory and warmed up. Processed Doners are what have (wrongly) given kebabs as a whole a bad image in Britain, where as Sharwarmas are an ancient and delicious dish, far removed from the fast-food, after pub, stereo type ........I digress. (Incidentally not all Turkish places sell factory bought, perfectly shaped, processed stuff either - so this distinction is a tricky one - but in non-Turkish places the use of the word Shawarma instead of Doner is usually the indicator)

Wanasah does both lamb and chicken sharwarma for a mere £2.50, with fresh clay-oven bread (or tandoor naan, if you prefer). This is a steal. In an interesting twist I think it was my first kebab+gherkin experience too, which actually cut through the fatty lamb nicely. The lamb itself was delicious and tender and not over-powered with additional flavourings. Fresh clay oven bread is always a winner - no need to go into that really - suffice to say it's infinitely superior to freshly unwrapped and warmed up bread.

The place was fine, if a bit modern for my taste - big TV etc (but I say this all the time). It was a hot day and we sat out in the sun, with the exotic smell of the shisha and loud Arabian music it was a little like being on holiday, though I'm not sure where.

The service was pretty quick, the guy didn't ask us to specify which salad or sauces we wanted but I'm sure we could have. He didn't put on any chilli - so I went up and was treated to one of the best fresh chilli sauces I've had in a while. If you're up for this sort of food (with the usual suspects accompanying - humous, falafel etc) I'd recommend Wanasah. If you want kobeda or tikka or whatever then probably not.... You've got brains, so I'll leave that decision to you.

Sher Akbar

2012-03-29T14:18:00.000+01:00

Manchester Road, Chorlton

Mixed Starter for Two, Bhajees in the background

Mixed Grill Starter

Dhansak top left, Punjabi Karahi bottom centre

July 2012

Lunchtime Special 12-3

I was really impressed with this though the poster outside is misleading. The reality of the deal is any curry on the menu, barring those containing the legendary takeaway gold dust: king prawns + rice, mini naan and a little pot of salad for £4.95. I think that's really decent value.

March 2012
First visit to Chorlton's latest and probably grandest Curryhouse. This is the only establishment of its type open at noon, though judging by other places I can't see it lasting, the trade will not be sufficient for a place of this size - if it isn't in Manchester Centre or Rusholme then it isn't in Chorlton. We'll see.
Sher Akbar seems to be sister to a place of the same name in Northenden and their menus don't differ much. Inside it's clean adn bright - glass walls yadda yadda - the staff were really nice and attentive though we were pretty much the only folk in there at 2PM on a Saturday afternoon. Early days yet of course.
So - to the food. Unfortunately Sher Akbar seems to have fallen into the trap of so many grand places - (too) extensive menus and not enough 'from scratch cooking'. - The grills are a safe bet as are most starters, popppadoms and the other faff that people like. But when it came to the curries they were only OK. With the exception of the dhansak which was a creamy disaster (pictured top left with pineapple ring). When I asked for the most traditional sounding dish 'Punjabi Karahi' I hoped I was on to a winner but when the guy came back to ask me 'chicken or lamb?', I realised it was the same as ever. Big pot of sauce to smother whatever ingredients the customer wants in it, change the trimmings a bit and before you know it you've got a 200 item menu. Shame.
Some people like these flashy 'you know what you're getting' type places, just not me really. It's fine, clean, edible and tasty - but why not have some slow cooked lamb on the bone or something with a bit more depth behind it. Ah well - no biggie. An enjoyable occasion and to an extent recommended - but only of it's type: big, flashy, fluffy naan, crispy pakora, sizzling platters, inoffensive curries, After Eights and Bailey's for the ladies type affair. You know what I mean.

Shabirs Kabana Cafe

2012-02-21T12:18:00.002+00:00

Vega St.

February 2012
New find and first visit to Shabirs. This place is on a back street off Bury New Rd. You would really have to be looking for it - hence not having been before. It's got a nice vibe, the guys behind the counter were helpful, the place was clean and reasonably bright whilst still reataining the ramshackle feel that makes us love curry cafes. The choice of curries wasn't inspiring - lamb, chicken, chickpeas, potato and spinach, daal and a cauliflower dish. Nothing particularly interesting or out of the ordinary. Nor was it all that interesting to eat - I can't really complain at all. But the nearby Moghuls Taste and Qila Khyber are quite far ahead in terms of choice and execution. This isn't to denigrate Shabbir's - it's a decent place, just not exciting. The bread was excellent - done freshly in a tandoor - as was another diner's chicken tikka. So it looks promising for kebabs - another visit required. The price was £4.70 for the curries, 60p for chapati and a cheeky little hidden cost of 40p salad - something I've never encountered before. Hey ho, still under £6 for a good feed. I can't complain too much. I think the pictures give an accurate impression of the place. Decent, if not particularly exciting, which, to be fair, is what plenty of people want.

National Winter Ales Festival Winners

2012-01-26T09:02:00.003+00:00

The Sheridan Suite, Manchester

Regional Competition (North West)

Stout
GOLD: Marble, Stouter Stout 4.7%
SILVER: Liverpool Organic, Imperial Russian Stout 7.9%
JOINT BRONZE: Bollington, Oat Mill Stout 5.0%
JOINT BRONZE: Kirkby Lonsdale, Jubilee Stout 5.5%

Porter
GOLD: Hawkshead, Brodie's Prime 4.9%
SILVER: Dunham Massey, Dunham Porter 5.2%
BRONZE: Dent, Oat Porter 3.8%

Strong Mild/Old Ale
GOLD: Jennings, Sneck Lifter 5.1%
SILVER: Ulverston, Fra Diavolo 4.3%
BRONZE: Hesket Newmarket, Old Carrock Strong Ale%

Barley Wine/Strong Old Ale
GOLD: Outstanding, Pushing Out 7.3%
SILVER: Coniston, No 9 Barley Wine 8.5% (WON GOLD IN NATIONAL COMP)
BRONZE: Leyden, Crowning Glory 6.8%

Swad

2011-12-14T13:54:00.001+00:00

Longsight - A6

Dec 2011

First visit - seems pretty new. Clean and freshly painted. Liked a lot - good chicken shawarma cut freshly off the skewer - decent sauces and what not, could have done with more salad (served separately - small plate between 2 of us) but that's a minor gripe - all in all very impressed. The tandoor bread was first rate and the price was £3 - very reasonable, what more can we ask for?

Hot 'N' Spice

2011-10-24T11:41:00.001+01:00

Moss Lane West, Whalley Range

I like this place as an alternative takeawy venue - In all honesty I don't have that much to say about it yet - even after 2 or 3 visits. The food's good, the prices are decent and the menu's interesting enough. I might just leave it at that until I have a stronger reaction - hopefully a positive one. One offer of note is that they do 3 naan for a £1 - which is good in anyone's book.

delhi2go

2011-10-19T13:43:00.004+01:00

Oldham St. NQ, Manchester

Rice & 3 - chickpeas, lamb & chicken

October 2011

Formerly Tastemaster's, delhi2go has arisen in the same spot with some of the same staff. Appearance-wise it's from another era. Gone are the grime and hand-written, star-shaped, luminous signs. In their place are fancy new printed signs and menus, stark walls and splashes of colour (greeny yellow). It's about as much as I've ever seen a curry cafe look like a modern sandwich shop. Do I care? No.
One genuine addition is that there are curries and rice in containers, at the front - ready '2 go', so to speak. This is a big improvement - seeing the dishes is a big part of the experience in rice & 3 type places and food mysteriously appearing from the back doesn't inspire confidence. So far, so good. As a first visit Rice&3 seemed the logical choice - especially since there was no sign of the other advertised dishes - no ready marinaded kebab skewers in the chiller, for instance. The current offer is rice or naan and 3 curries for an introductory price of £3.95, apparently going up to £4.20 at some point.
I'll cut to the chase - the main disappointment was the portion size, a small quantity of rice was put on one side of the plate - rather than covering it, which occurs everywhere else. This was followed by spoonfuls of mostly sauce being poured into the rest of the dish. And when I say mostly sauce I mean it - surely chickpeas aren't such a valuable commodity that a portion has to be restricted to approximately five individual peas? The other issue was that the curry sauces all mingled, with no rice to block their progress – making it difficult to distinguish any individual flavours. This was one of those unique occasions with very little filler or killer. In fact possibly the smallest rice&3 I've ever had. Now - the flavours were good. The principle ingredients of the 3 curries were all well cooked and the rice was fluffy and tasty, with hints of clove and cardamom. So is the complaint really that I'm a greedy git? - Possibly. But I stand by that. If you've got £4 for a curry-like snack this isn't a bad option, I can't see it being destination of choice for me though.
A slight aside is that delhi2go professes to do healthier food – look at the photo. Plenty of oil. I don’t personally care and accept it as part of the gig but don’t quite understand why places make these declarations and then do nothing about them.

Shiva Tandoori

2011-10-06T10:28:00.001+01:00

The Quadrant, Stretford

Mixed Grill

Samosa

October 2011

Shiva has been around a long time - which is both good and bad. It's purely a takeaway, which is a bit of a shame as it's got the old style curryhouse vibe - flock wallpaper, well mannered and well dressed staff, soothing music etc etc.
The down side of this is that the menu is pretty old fashioned too - I doubt I really need to describe them. In these circumstances I tend to go for tandoor meat as the curries are pretty bland. It's been a while since I went anywhere that did all tandoori dishes with a naan and veg curry sauce inclusive of price. - There's no point going on and on about it, I'm sure anyone reading this blog knows exactly what to expect - decent and tasty but not massively exciting, sometimes that hits the spot - but most of the time you (well - certainly, I) want more interesting and authentic stuff. Generally places like these do the starters well and Shiva is no exception - limp as the picture makes it look the samosa were great, onion bhajees too.
....In all honesty I think there are loads of places like this - catering for an audience who don't want traditional dishes but the Anglicised, 'curry after the pub' type stuff. Fine if that's your bag but I'd rather something less generic most of the time - once in a while though it can be a comforting reminder of where your love of curry probably started.

Moti Mahal

2011-10-06T10:05:00.005+01:00

Chapel St. Salford

Rice & 2 curries. £2.99

Buffet curries and naan

November 2011
Best trip yet. Lamb Jal Freizi, Chicken and Urid Daal and pliau rice. Fresh chappati on demand - and refill your plate when you want. For £5. Fantastic value. Pictured bottom.

October 2011 - a few days later.
Circumstances consipired to give me a second go at this place a few days later and it was far better than before. I had the buffet, 3 curries were available, chicken karahi, lamb rogan josh and a cauliflower and potato dish. There were all distinct and tasty. No starters available, however getting a proper lamb dish in a £5 all you can eat buffet is pretty decent. The naan were done freshly as required, which was another unexpected bonus. It's good value here and very decent food. Some might find it a bit oily but personally I can accept that as part of the deal, alternate with chicken kebabs and your arteries will be fine. Probably.

October 2011

These premises, within the old Copper Heads hotel building have changed hands a few times in the last few years. Halal Bites was the first Asian food outlet - followed by Kaarma, so short lived that I never went. Possibly this is due to the slightly confusing nature of the establishments themselves. Part curry cafe, part sandwich shop, with paninis, kebabs and wraps all (sort of) on offer - then ice creams and milkshakes rear their sweet heads - and the whole thing becomes slightly disjointed. It just doesn’t quite convince me as a coherent idea and I worry that the patrons aren't really committed to anything in particular, which generally yields poor results. Moti Mahal offers a £5 buffet, which seems reasonable value - although by the time I left, 12.45, there were only 2 curries and rice available. I'd been offered rice & 2 curries for £2.99 - I don't know if that's a standard offer or just made up due to the lack of buffet options. So chicken curry and chickpea curry we the dishes of the day. It wasn’t a massive portion but fine for the price - how could it not be? Unfortunately the curries were a tad undercooked, the tell-tale aroma of raw turmeric powder hung in the air and the onions looked far from integrated into the slightly bitty sauce. Clearly the whole thing was rushed, possibly things improve over the day - or will as the business gets into its stride. As ever, we wish them the best - but also wish places wouldn't open and take custom before they're ready.

Sangam

2011-09-14T14:00:00.005+01:00

Wilmslow Rd. Rusholme.

Full-on, table service, Curry House. - This blog is more about the cafe type places, so I won't go on and on.

I like Sangam – some people think it’s ‘the best in Rusholme’ but then you kind find someone who’ll say that about anywhere. One thing it is, in my view, is one of the most professional. It’s very clean, has good service, is welcoming to families and always provides freshly cooked food – even if you arrive at midday the poppadoms are fresh, not yesterday's, like elsewhere- pakora crisp not microwaved, you get the idea. Personally, I’d prefer more authentic and interesting food but it’s still good, just a tad generic. On my last visit three of us had a bhajis and chops starters and a Machalay Roasti (cod), Lamb Roasti and Mixed Grill for our main courses. I can’t really fault anything but I couldn’t honestly get excited either. Fairly generic, but definitely good generic. And it wasn't bad ordering I've been through the majority of the chef's specials and traditional dishes over the years. Nothing jumped out as all that interesting - but big and tasty, yes. Sometimes I really fancy plentiful, rich, buttery dishes, colourful rice and sizzling platters of bright red tandoori – and when I do Sangam’s probably my first choice.

TABAK

2011-09-02T08:47:00.004+01:00

Curry Buffet, Wilmslow Rd. Rusholme.

Starters

Some main course curries - notice the trotter!

Sep 2011
Almost exactly the same, but no naan. great value at £5.49 - oh and they had 'chicken pineapple'.

Aug 2011
TABAK is a curry buffet restaurant, the price increases over the day as does the number of dishes on offer. As a 'rice & 3 for a fiver' type guy this set up appeals to me. The deal is £5.49 until 5pm, then goes up to around £8 or £8.50 - with the promise of both better quality and more choice - and possibly again to £11.50 later still. I visited at around 12.30 - it was open, though only just. There was a reasonable selection available, who can grumble at £5.49? First in line were salads, pickles and chutneys, which I think is a nice touch as I like going back to these items long into my main courses. Starters included veg pakora, veg samosa, tandoori chicken wings and seekh kebabs. The mains were more interesting - featuring Paya (trotters), chicken karahi on the bone, brinjal (aubergine), mix keema and daal, tarka daal, mushroom masala and chicken korma. - Reading between the lines this is all the cheap stuff - no real lamb meat, only the gelatinous trotters. The chicken on the bone had plenty of bone, the korma wasn't great and the rest were veg. But this isn't really a criticism. I like those types of dishes and making the most of less than prime cuts is probably a good thing. Yes it was a bit rough and ready, in huge pots, not finished nicely with swirls of cream and almonds, but who cares? I don't like those fancy Rusholme restaurant flourishes anyway. What's more, the rice was excellent, flavoured with cloves and peppercorns and there was plenty of fresh naan. There's little point mentioning the dessert - so I won't, even though I just did. I'm intrigued to see what comes out later at night - but at £5.49 can anybody not think this is a good deal? I'm sure anyone who likes the rice & 3 approach would approve, those wanting sizzling platters, being asked if you're OK every 2 minutes and buttery sauces may not.

Phatha Phat

2011-08-18T12:40:00.005+01:00

Butter Lane., Central Manchester
August 2011 - been open six weeks apparenly, not eaten here yet (other than a few starters) but looks promising. I wonder what happened to This & That 2? Surely this side of town is ripe for a curry cafe. Rice & 3 + a drink is £5

Moroccana

2011-07-26T10:33:00.004+01:00

Seymour Grove, Chorlton

Mezze

Lamb Tagine

Chicken Tagine

August 2011 - Not been yet but apparently the Mezze has a had a revamp - hope it's good. Really like this place and would like them to do well.

July 2011

Moroccana is a new venture on the site that was Wild at Heart. It’s a great little spot on the corner, not too near the road, with plenty of outdoor space. A really nice venue to sit, eat, drink and chat. The first thing that caught my eye was ‘paninis’ written on the A-board outside, a bit unexpected. Didn’t sound very Moroccan – but quite a few places expand their menus a bit to tap into other markets, which is fine so long as the core cuisine remains intact.
We thought we’d try to play to Moroccan food’s strengths and presumably the the bread and butter of a place like this so we ordered a shared Mezze and a Tagine each. I was disappointed with the Mezze, the picture says it all really – potato salad, coleslaw, beetroot, boiled eggs, chicken - no babagnoush, no tabbouleh, no humous, no falafel, no vine leaves. I should have just had the olives. It was about £5 and not great. I couldn’t help but think we were getting sandwich fillings – which is the negative side of an off-shoot, a bit like getting naan cooked in a pizza oven or chips with kebabs. The tagines were a completely different story – rich, tasty, fully of meat and interesting flavours – the prunes and almonds worked brilliantly with the lamb on the bone, as did the preserved lemons with the chicken. They were exactly what we had come for and at £5.95 with bread, seemed a good deal. We would have preferred flat bread or something similar rather than the Panini/baguette type stuff but hey ho – it soaked up the delicious juices well enough. Though again this felt like the Panini trade impinging on the Moroccan side of things.
They guys working there are very attentive and friendly – a real credit to the establishment. The bill was £21.80 I think, which I couldn’t really work out – £5 starter, 2x£6 mains and £3 a pot of Morrocan mint tea adds up to £20 – so maybe we were charged for the bread I’m not quite sure.
We really enjoyed it here, though will stick to the Morrocan main courses in future, unless they really start to do the Mezze properly. It’s only been open a while, perhaps getting the Mezze up and running is next on their list. We wish Morrocana all the best and will see them again.

The Parlour

2011-06-27T15:27:00.012+01:00

Beech Road, Chorlton
Winner Best Pub MFDF11

Fish & Chips, very enjoyable, £10.50

April 2012
- In short, we come loads, eat resonably regularly and drink their good and varied range of well kept ale. What more do you want? If it's Weatherspoons prices then go there.

November 2011
Quality Sunday Roast. Went for the beef. I guess the only criticisms I could make are ones of personal preference rather than anything else - which are probably based on what I had growing up - ie. no mash, all roasties. The Parlour includes mash and roasties and mashed carrots & swede with whole parsnips - I guess they're covering all the angles. The main bits - the meat, the yorkshire pud etc. were pretty much flawless. In short, very good, loved it. £10.50

After getting mini samples at the birthday party - and being very impressed I thought it was time to try a burger. Top notch, really was. The meat was excellent, seemingly hand cut or something - definitely not cheap mince - and referred to on the menu as a 'steak burger' - I can't honestly say I could identify the cut of steak after the process of turning it into a burger - but it worked, tasty and juicy. Recommended.

October 2011
Extensive research has led me to conlcude that The Parlour has the best selection of ale in this vicinity. It is genuinely varied, with a good mix of light and dark - even featuring a few milds, without resorting to the staples of Marble, Phoenix or Pictish. Someone's doing their homework and it's working.

June 2011

As a modern business and a favourite of the Twitterati there’s not much I can add to comments on The Parlour that haven’t been made by many others – so I’ll be brief.
After opening up in August 2010 the Parlour settled into being one of the best bars in Chorlton – a good selection of well kept local and seasonal ales along with a European lagers and decent wine list. The staff are attentive and friendly. The food is good and provided within a spacious and tastefully decorated setting. Is it a restaurant or a bar with good food? Or even a pub? – We don’t know, a bar with good food probably fits the best. A really good spot.

Paan House

2011-06-06T10:19:00.009+01:00

Ayres Road, M16

Starters

Roti, Rice, Karahi Dall Tarka, Karahi Fish, Lamb Tikka Masala

September 2011
A hell of a mixed grill, featuring lamb, chicken and fish tikka, chops, seekhs and chicken wings. It's about £10 but well worth it and plenty to share.

August 2011 - very similar order, very similar result - an absolute feast for a modest outlay and something really authentic about it - just not the usual bland takeaway rubbish - with some of the best prices around. Just Eat.co.uk helps with the ordering too. Much less ambiguity and no language barrier.

About a week later....
Unfortuantely not as good this time. It took over an hour - it seems they were closing up and just banged some OK grub out of the door, it was fine but clearly rushed and a bit lacking in the finishing touches. Probably stick to prime time ordering in future.

June 2011
If you check the net you'll find some pretty favourable reviews for Paan House - using terms like 'authentic' and 'traditional'. They're adjectives we're in favour of at Flavours of Manchester, it's also reasonably priced - another key feature from our point of view. Price is certainly no guarantee of quality when it comes to authentic curry dishes. However, one area where it seems to matter is starters. Low cost places often do batches of starters early in the day and them microwave them up - more expensive places can't get away with this as a soggy bhaji is notceable to all customers even if bland, generic curries may not be. That certainly appeared to be the case with our tandoori chicken wings and chappli kebab - microwaved and a pretty tough, though mitigated by price and size. The chops were fresh and tasty, but cut very thin. The veg samosas were also small - but at £1 for 2 who can argue? So far so so - the starters were fine, nothing special but pretty cheap, so no complaints given the price. Moving on to the curries everything went up a notch or three - karahi Dall Tarka, Fish Karahi and Lamb Tikka Masala. All distinct and interesting. The 'Tikka Masala' was an aromatic and rich lamb dish, heavy on the garam masala type spices but without the sugar and cream - nor was it lamb tikka. Oddly named but a great dish. In contrast the fish was fresh with coriander and more subtle spicing. The dall was excellent, not over cooked, retaining some bite and earthy with cumin - a main course at £3.50 is great value. The Roti were some of the best I've had in a while and at 4 for £1 another bargain. We got a feast for £20, but that was being greedy - there are many main courses under £5 and starters from £1 to £3.

Paan House isn't faultless - which is probably for the best. It doesn't look like the sort of place that'll will get too big for its boots. It has lots of interesting dishes on the menu - if only we could figure out what they all were - Nahari, Paya (trotters) and Gurda Kalegi (kidneys and liver) are on there but some of the dishes I've never seen before and are seemingly un-goggle-able due to variations in spelling (notice dall instead of more usual daal, Kalegi instead of more usual Kaleji etc). Any ideas on Kaphoore or Batere?

We like it here and will be ordering again - though, as ever, it's all about what you order.

Peter Pan's

2011-05-06T09:49:00.007+01:00

Chester Rd. Stretford

Oddly dry and wet chicken kebab

May 2011

Peter Pan’s is one of those Halal takeaway places that tries to do everything: Pizzas, kebabs, chips, fried chicken etc. On walking in it was pretty obvious that kebabs weren’t the priority, but there was a pretty tasty looking chicken shawarma rotating away – our unwritten rule is ‘eat only that which you have seen’, we followed the rule. In other establishments we’ve been refused chicken shawarma at lunchtime as it can take 3 or more hours to cook through. We asked if it was ready, the guy nodded. Although it was 4PM the place had only just opened – so did they really put it on at 1? Perhaps sensing our doubt, the guy serving went to the trouble of moving the gas heating element closer to the meat, to emphasise...er? Something. Unfortunately he didn’t do anything sensible like cut meat off and serve it to us fresh and juicy. The meat we were given was retrieved from the dreaded warming pot. The rotating shawarma was completely whole and the place had just opened – so when was this meat put in warmer and from which shawarma was it cut? - At first I'd thought the Peter Pan name was a play on 'Pizza Pan' - now I realised it was because the meat never grew up. The ‘fresh naan’ was cooked in the pizza oven in a pizza pan – this wasn’t terrible in itself, just a bit weird. It was a lot like a pizza base – it did the bread-job well enough, but lacked the charred smokiness of a good tandoor naan. The salad was probably the high point, although this was ruined by the sauces. The ‘chilli’ sauce was clearly yoghurt mixed with tandoori masala powder, a very distinctive and unwelcome flavour – essentially raw marinade. Why this was put on when I could see two decent looking chilli relishes I’ve no idea. The kebab ended up dry but drowned. The guy was having a bad day. £4.40 wasn’t a good price either. We won’t rush back.

Lakshami Chowk

2011-03-30T13:53:00.013+01:00

Bury New Road, Strangeways.

Lamb, Chicken and Chickpeas

No sign as yet - early 2011

Now with a sign

Interior

September 2011
Pretty bizarre really, no curries ready, no lamb tikka available, bad start. SO in the end I ordered chicken tikka and seekh kebab mix - fancying a good bit meat. However I received, as pictured below, one of the strangest kebabs I've ever encountered. The chicken, rather than tikka was pakora - presumably yesterdays refried. The seekh kebab was anaemic and didn't taste fresh either. The bread was good - being fresh tandoor naan, but the meaty content was pretty odd and pretty poor. The bright red mango chutney was a bit weird too. £3 for hot food is something I suppose but this was a let down.

27/05/11
We gave them 2 months to get a sign up - and they have. And gained a vowel in the process. It's now Lakshami Chowk - at least externally. I had much the same as the time before - lamb on the bone, chicken on the bone and chickpeas with 2 chapatti - he made up the price of £5, which seemed OK - though 20p more than last time. I don't think this is an actauly rise, just an arbitrary figure. I like it here. The reason I went was due to it being the only place open at 11.20 and it wasn't full of teenagers, as can be the case. This might sound a bit arsey but I don't particularly like sitting and eating quietly in a room full of teenagers shouting about their burgers and calling each other bummers - which has been enough to stop me entering the establishment in the past. Lakshami Chowk has pretty stiff competition in the form of Qila Khyber and Moghuls Taste, very near by. The younger clientele aren't an attraction to us at Flavours of Manchester, so I can only guess that our visits will be infrequent - however if it stays good and it's looking quiet we're sure to come back.

30/03/11
A complete surprise for us – we’d never even seen it before. It has only been been for 6 weeks and there is currently no sign naming the establishment, though the pictures of food in the window were a bit a of a clue as to the nature of their business.
Not until we entered did we find out that 'Lakshmi Chowk' was more or less a curry cafe. It was quiet on this wet Wednesday, due to many of their usual customers watching the cricket (we were told). They offer all the usual stuff: a few curries (5 or 6 today) and kebabs and a few eccentricities - how many menus have you seen with Spaghetti Special directly above Karahi Gosht £15/Kg? Not many we’d guess. Add in pizzas, fried chicken and the odd Chinese dish (odd being the operative word) and you're getting the picture. Slight side issue - 'Manchunian' with egg fried rice, in the Chinese section of the menu? - is this Manchurian food for Mancunians? God knows. Karahi by the Kilo? Sounds good. As with so many new ventures menu writers often get carried away and within 6 months don't serve half the things advertised. Not a bad thing.
One of us went for a classic chicken tikka kebab at £3.50. The other ordered curries with 2 chapatti & salad for £4.80.

Chicken Tikka on Naan

The curries were rather good, both meat dishes being on the bone. Not tons of meat - but that’s not really the idea. The two excellent chapatti handled mopping up duties very well. Getting 2 chapatti instead of rice was decent of the guy in charge – as the advertised deal is rice&4 for £4.80. Other establishments have not allowed the substitution of a plate of rice for even one chapatti, as chapatti flour is more expensive than rice, apparently. He was a friendly and accommodating fella, without trying too hard – perfect. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the curries - just good, solid ‘proper’ dishes. The sort you could eat every day (I wish). The kebab was tasty, with a very substantial naan (the chapatti were just the same) and plenty of well cooked chicken. The marinade was a bit lacking, but the salad was pretty fresh and the sauces were decent. The thick bread meal very filling for both of us. The salad and sauces were a nice touch with the curry and complemented the kebab in the tried and tested way.
The interior is a bit garish – bright red and a bit space agey, like a bad sci fi set, but we really didn’t care. Other things affect atmosphere more – the people (good), TVs (none - very good) and music (none or very quiet) – so the experience was relaxing and enjoyable overall.

We wish Lakshmi Chowk all the best and will return soon. We'll be interested to see how much spaghetti they shift, if nothing else. Bury New Road already has 2 big hitters on the curry café scene: Qila Khyber and Moghuls Taste, hopefully Lakshmi Chowk can benefit from this mini-curry-Mecca rather than be beaten into submission by the competition.

We’ll be back to find out.

Zaika

2011-02-19T12:21:00.004+00:00

Zaika, Upper Chorlton Road, Whalley Range.

February 2011
Finally, a trip to Zaika. This place is in the block that contains the Hillary Step and Jam Street - sort of sandwiched between the two. It used to be Kashmir King. The food was pretty good and the service was efficient and polite. The chicken tikka meat was a bit redder than we usually like, but the marinade was subtle and the kebab was cooked just about right. The seekh kebab was even tastier. The salad and onions were fine, as were the sauces. The bread was slightly thicker and more doughy than is ideal, and it is not cooked in a tandoor. One of us ordered chapatti and got naan, but that is hardly breaking news. Nothing amazing, but a decent feed after a night out. A large seekh and a medium chicken tikka cost £6.10.