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?
Massive gnosh up at The Oxnoble - check it out.
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)
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 2012I 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.
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
'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
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:
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.
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
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.
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.
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
04/03/11
Top Quality biryani - we love it.
02/03/11
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