Cheap and cheerful take away in the Gay Village which has been there for as long as I can remember…read more At the end of a night out, having consumed copious amounts of alcohol there's nothing nicer than a Cheeseburger and Fries from Safads. For £3, really cheap too. Although I think they do hike this upto £5 at Pride. There's a few tables available to eat your food immediately if not carrying it home. The chipped Formica tables have seen better days, but at these prices it wouldn't be fair to complain!! There's also a good selection of Middle Eastern food and Pizzas. Recommended!

Safad is an ordinary-looking pizza and kebab shop in the Gay Village which has attracted a fair few…read moreplaudits on review sites for the quality, freshness and healthiness of their offerings. £3 falafel wrap from here was good quality and the central location of Safad makes it worthy of special mention - this was my lunch stop whilst doing a training day on Piccadilly Gardens. Flatbread for the wrap looked to be khoubz from a packet and warmed up on the chargriller. The falafel seemed fresh enough. On these two points, this places Safad slightly behind Atlas Shawarma where the bread is fresh naan and also I always see the falafel being made to order at Atlas. Safad's trimmings such as hummus, tabbouleh and yoghurt mint sauce are above average, but still suffer from the unwritten law that kebabs shops must use only iceberg lettuce and pale tomatoes. But my overall verdict is that £3 is outstanding value for a substantial, freshly-made lunch. The décor is well-worn vinyl on the floor, formica tables etc. But for me is the integrity and warmth of the staff, plus the predominantly Arab clientele which give Sadaf a charm which beats many flashier places. I would definitely go back for falafel or maybe a pizza.

My friend used to live in Fallowfield and being a typical single male student, ate at takeaways…read morepretty often. Just as me and my other Whitworth-Park dwelling friends would stop off at Adbuls or Gemini after a night out, he would never fail to stop at Saajan. Fast-forward 5 years. Single male student is still a student, but now, like many mature students has emigrated south to Didsbury. He still has a penchant for fast food, but not many residents of Didsbury share his fondness, therefore he was most upset when he found out that there are no late night kebab houses in Didsbury. So the resolution to this problem is that after a night out in town, he simply gets off the bus in Fallowfield, purchases his Saajan kebab and gets back onto the bus to Didsbury feeling content. It's very rare for such an establishment to survive for so long without even the slightest hint of a rumour about cockroaches, rats or gross staff (a la Abduls and Gemini) to tarnish its reputation, so Saajan must be good. My friend is also generally very lazy, meaning that Saajan must be damn good.

Sajaan is a bit of an institution for me. It's the first Indian/Pakistani kebab I ever had in the…read moreUK when I moved to Manchester over 6 years ago now and I always loved it. The fact you could stuff yourself with deliciously saucy and spicy meat and salad on a bit flat bread for £3 was just brilliant. And I genuinely always liked the taste of all three meats: chicken, lamb and shish. I managed to have a perfectly time opportunity and excuse to go last week after probably about 4 years. I went for lamb. Problem is, and I knew this before, a kebab doesn't travel too well. Before I was only living 5 minutes away but now it had to cope with a 20 mins drive so the bread was saggy and the meat a bit cold. Nothing to do with the Sajaan guys however. My main criticism would be about the quality of the meat. I think it went downhill as my lamb was chewy and full of nerves. I still like the flavours but despite the fact the price has gone up (£3.80 now which is not that exorbitant for a full meal) the meat is not as good as it used to be. Would happily go back for the chicken or shish, hopefully in the near future though.

I went with my sweetie wife . She loved the restaurant and told Turkish food is the best but never…read moreseen as fresh lamb chops. We had tasty meal . Lamb chops were made perfect tender juicy . Calamari was done just right . Prawn was little bit raw but tasty is good . Service was fantastic Environment was romantic We will visit this restaurant again

We ate shrimp , calamari & lamb chops. Shrimp was little bit raw taste but good. Calamari was good…read more Lamb chops was delicious & fresh. Service very good. Environment was good Recommend

A classic ethnic restaurant. Dine on delectable food from Armenia (similar to Greek, Turkish, or…read moreMiddle Eastern), surrounded by memorabilia from there and from the business' 45-year history, all with attentive service and reasonable prices. We eat here almost every time we're in Manchester. Come hungry, because you'll eat a lot! Sample a little bit of everything on the mezze platters. Everything seems to be good, but I suggest you try the Armenian goulash for an entree.

First visit ! A must dining experience in Manchester! I absolutely loved this place, it is what I…read morecall "a gem of a restaurant": family place with a very friendly & comfortable ambiance, and top notch service. The food is amazing (as you can see from the pictures below), and if I can recommend one dish that you CANNOT miss out on, I would say the dish not to miss it ; I ll recommend the khorvat ( mixed grill ,delicious! Going back soon with a bigger group of friends who like to explore & try new cuisines. The decor there is so so soooo beautiful, classy and so traditional armenian , every corner tells a story! Now a little - point : They don't honor Yelp promo that pops up while checking in so don't expect that. Still #loveArmenia

Aladdin had been mentioned to me by a couple of friends on different occasions - how the food was…read moresupposed to be good and it's BYO so you can drink your personal favourite without having to pay extra. The interior is expansive, with lots of seating on both the ground and first floors - they look to have knocked through as the business took off, as the layout is too haphazard to be deliberate. It's nothing to write home about, but clean and no-nonsense. It was fairly busy when we arrived, so book ahead to avoid having to wait. Service was fine but there were so many diners you can expect a bit of a wait to order and in between courses. As for the food, the starters (or 'mazza') were definitely the highlight of the evening, so I'd recommend you order a few dishes to share if you're eating as a group. The mains didn't appear to blow any of us away with deliciousness - they were just underwhelming. If we went back we'd probably just order more starters. I've yet to find a Middle Eastern restaurant where all the food is great. Aladdin, unfortunately, didn't live up to expectations for me.

A hidden gem of Withington!…read more The food is scrumptious, the service is authentic and, the best thing, it doesn't burn a hole in a student pocket! From the exterior, the Aladdin looks like somewhat of a run down takeaway, however, take a moment to step inside and you are greeted with delicious smells and flavours of the the middle east. The food is freshly prepared, healthy and enough to make the mouth water. The Hummus Hab, Baba ghanouj and salads are not to be missed! Add that to it's BYOB policy (£1 corkage) and your set for a great night. Evidently, the Aladdin's has built up a good reputation in the local area and thus provides a bustling atmosphere, with a diverse cliental (Coronation Street stars have been spotted in here!), particularly during the weekend. For this reason, I recommend booking in advance. The only blip ever reported to me is it's portion sizes. However, this was a comment from two 21 year old males with ENORMOUS appetites! My advice- get yourself down there!

My new favorite restuarant in manchester!! I'll be honest, coming here was not the original plan…read more My girlfriend and I intially intended to try out the popular seoul kimichi next door but this was completely pack so we were forced into Petra. However, this place is brilliant. For less than £10 a head we were treated to great service, complimentary olives, fresh pita bread and small desert each; a large starter of lamb in homous (big enough to share given the unlimited supply of pita bread) and a great main dish each. Needless to say we were completely stuff. I'm so glad the seoul kimichi was full as this place was a fantastic discovery.

Ok, admittedly I'm always complaining about the fact that there are no great restaurants in a…read moresufficiently small radius from uni. This time a mea culpa is necessary, because Petra is simply extraordinary. We ended up here almost by chance, because the place next door where we intended to go was complete and we didn't feel like waiting more than five minutes. The place, a Middle Eastern restaurant, immediately struck us as welcoming and characteristic, and the staff turned out to be incredibly kind and professional. Food is undoubtedly 5*****. We shared a starter, that might as well been a main given its size: hummus with parsley and saffron topped with slices of roast lamb, the whole thing served with pita bread. It's the best hummus I have ever had, its taste was so delicate! We also got a cucumber salad, offered by the house, that was identical to the one my grandma made when I was a child, so flavoursome! As for the mains, the majority of them are made of lamb meat seasoned with some vegetables, the whole thing served with rice. My friend took one of them and was very satisfied. I went for a vegetarian dish, spinach cocked in garlic and other spices enriched with crispy onions. Absolutely delicious. Finally, we've been offered a dessert, some sort of condensed milk topped with pistachios. There's no risk of feeling hungry after a meal, portions are huge! And the prices are unexpectedly low given the excellent quality and taste of food.

Falafel is a classic case of not judging a book by its cover i.e. you might not even contemplate…read moreentering this eat in/ take out place if you'd never heard of it. It was recommended to me by a vegetarian friend, who knows I'm Jewish and assumed I'd love it. So, inside and out its not exactly thrilling stuff in here but then again Falafel doesn't need to be: the food totally makes up for the lack of quality elsewhere. And thats what you come for. Yummy wraps, tons of hummus, salads, falafel obviously. The service is fine and the prices are low - a couple of pounds, which is less than you'd pay for some bland supermarket copy. A great alternative to the curries and kebabs which neighbour this tasty joint.

Just to say that I lunched again here on a falafel with mixed mezze plate (see photos) and…read morestandards are still high on all fronts - falafel, bread and mezze. A return visit is also in order as the boss here has explained that another vegetarian option is 'sauce' with rice. Basically, they make a different vegetable stew fresh every day - green beans, tomatoes, okra and so on - which can be had as is as a vegetarian dish or served as a sauce over a non-vegetarian dish. And the price for the sauce and rice is £3.50 or something - win!

Zorais are a Greek fast food stall in the Arndale Centre serving quality Greek curries and kebabs…read morefor good prices. The kebabs are, as is often the case for me, the highlight of the stall. Though they only do chicken kebabs, the meat is absolutely gorgeous and you can have it with chips, pitta or rice. All options come with a Greek salad as well which can have anything of your choice in. They even have two types of Jalapeno peppers to compliment your kebab. If you don't fancy a kebab I would recommend the roasted chicken leg, which is in a gorgeous herby sauce and served with rice and salad. They also do various curries, some of which are different meats. Portions are always a good size and cost around £4. The blokes who work there are good for a bit of banter.