Wow! It's extremely rare you get an eatery that serves food on par with homecooked food. Dera is one of those rare places. Having driven past it a few times it had been on my radar for a few weeks. The reason for the delayed visit is the fact that I don't venture into these parts that often.
The location is a tad out the way and in no man's land near what I like to call 'textile district' of Cheetham hill. Aside from a few buffet/banquet hall restaurants and takeaways there's not much here as you drive out the city on Cheetham hill road towards Prestwich. Dera is the one exception. In fact its exceptional in pretty much every way possible. Why? A few reasons;
Guaranteed a table any time of the week!!
We arrived at prime time in dining terms on a Saturday night at 8:30pm without a reservation. This is a dangerous tactic but if you know me well enough it's the kind of thing I'd do. Mainly because there's so many dining options in our great city but more importantly, spontaneity and I get along well. To our bemusement the restaurant wasn't busy at all and we got a table immediately. I made a note of this for future reference. A quiet and intimate spot for dinner on a Saturday night away from the pretension of city centre white noise maraudery? Hell yes please!
Unique and Authentic decor!!
Upon entering there's an air of informality about the place. Things are very simple here. It'd be weird if they weren't. Dera refers to the Urdu/punjabi word for the makeshift restaurant/eatery across Pakistan. They can be found in Villages or are littered across the motorways that join major cities to these remote villages. (a simpler version of motorway service stations if you will) The huge wall paintings depict life in the villages. There's a main stage area that's littered with beautiful ornaments synonmous with Pakistani villages. There's everythign from hand made decorated chairs and pots to 'patangs' (kites). An ideal photo oppurtunity for social media savvy folk. There's even an old school replica farm tractor parked outside much like the ones used by farmers in said villages.
Holy Moly batman, the food!!
I honestly cannot recall tasting a rice dish that's cooked better in a restaurant than the Saji I tried here. It was nothing short of blow your socks off sensational. Also, I challenge anyone to find me a main course at £14 that could feed 4 people. That portion was, let's just say sizeable. Saji is a bit like a biryani but with slow cooked tandoori chicken. The chicken was melt in your mouth tender. Understandably I took more than half of the portiion home and had it for lunch the next day. It tasted even better the next day! How's that even possible?
In conclusion I can't recommend this place highly enough if you like Pakistani food. Note: Much like a lot of other authentic eaterys from Pakistan they don't serve alcohol here. There's a huge car park at the back but beware the sharp left turn entrance which is a tad obscured.
I don't normally make grand statements but 'Dera say it', this could be my new fav eatery in Manchester. read more