This & That 2

CLOSED July 2011 - has become Phatha Phat.

Butter Lane, Central Manchester

 Keema with peas, chicken Masala and lamb with okra - next to a bowl of chillies

Daal, Lamb and Chicken w/ Chickpeas

 Karahi lamb, chicken and chickpeas, keema and peas.

21/01/11
It'll probably never match the original for atmosphere or iconic status but the food today was better than our last visit to the Soap St branch. Really good place, just a bit short of seating. Lamb karahi was the standout dish - excellent.


17/12/10
Not really changed at all in 7-8 months. Always seems shut later on so pretty much lunchtime only by the look of things. Still good and still £4.60. We like it here, but given the lack of competition/alternatives in this area we wish it were open later - till about 7.30 or 8 would be fine i.e. after work but before the boozed up 'let's have a curry!' trade. 

29/04/10
The gap between this place and the original has closed to 'wafer' thin. There isn't the same range of food available but it's good, has very little competition this side of town and is apparently open late at weekends.  With nothing of the sort in this vicinity This & That 2 (as we call it) is a real winner.

Key Ingredients 17.0 (out of 20)
Other Food 8.5 (out of 10)
Service Setting 8.0 (out of 10)
Value for Money 4.0 (out of 5)
Range 3.0 (out of 5)
Average Rating 8.1 (out of 10)

Original Blurb
This is a new venture for This & That, and it is housed in the old Let's Eat café, which is a real bonus for that side of town as there is very little in the way of Curry Cafés or Kebab Houses. In all honesty the curry was very good - on a par of with the original establishment – which is high praise indeed. So why hasn’t it scored as highly? Well, this all depends on your criteria – all we can do is to point out what wasn’t as good. Firstly, one of the highlights, and main draws of the Soap Street branch, is the menu - which changes on a daily basis. There was no evidence of that here. In fact there was no menu at all. Perhaps it is to come. It was easy enough to order from sight, however somebody was served a chicken tikka kebab at one point and there was absolutely no indication that they were available. In terms of the other food, the rice was a little disappointing by comparison but the chapati was very tasty. There were no free jugs of water. No obviously free yoghurt sauce – although thankfully the chillies, onions and coriander are available. The interior is bland and modern, which lets the place down and seating is pretty limited. Perhaps when it’s a bit more lived in and with a few minor niggles ironed out the new This & That will rival the old. However, if you’re new to Curry Cafés or are based on that side of town or don’t go regularly enough to need menu changes or don’t really care about lived in décor or atmosphere – basically just want a good plate of no nonsense curry, you may well be very happy here.

Key Ingredients 17.0 (out of 20)
Other Food 8.5 (out of 10)
Service Setting 7.0 (out of 10)
Value for Money 4.0 (out of 5)
Range 3.5 (out of 5)
Average Rating 8.0 (out of 10)


View Larger Map