The food is fantastic deep flavors and unlike some Indian spots they don't hide behind spice to…read moremask their flavor. The service is excellent with an online menu which lists every allergen in the dish which is a big help. Lastly, the ambiance is unreal but I will say the lighting is a little dim.

The food was good, but the restaurant was incredibly dark inside. The dishes were presented on…read moremetal trays, which I found unappealing. It felt like a cafeteria tray in a mental institution. The restaurant was so dark that I had to use my phone's flashlight to read the menu. Some of the dishes I had ordered were listed under different names on the menu. This could be because the restaurant is from a region of India where the dish is called something else. For example, Dahl makhani was not listed on the menu, but the lentil dish was, and it tasted the same to me. The menu itself was difficult to read due to the low lighting and the confusing layout. It was like a maze, with columns and rows that didn't make sense. I had to carefully navigate through the menu to find what I was looking for. It was a frustrating experience, and I wish the restaurant had a better-designed menu.

After having not been to the curry mile in just over a year I decided to venture back. When my…read morefriend asked me which restuarant we should go to, this was my first choice. The decor is crisp and fresh with white and green chairs, walls and table decorations to match. The staff are always welcoming and very friendly, they wait on you hand and foot and are happy to suggest items on the menu or adjust dishes to your taste. I ordered the mixed starter which was comprised of a selection of five different small Indian nibbles, perfect to get the taste buds tingling before the main course. For main I had the lamb rogan josh, the meat of which was so tender and the flavours of the curry were absolutely superb. I do not have a bad word to say about this place. Definitely a must if you're visiting Rusholme.

Really disappointed in this place, which we were so excited to try and walked 3 miles to get to on…read morean (of course) sprinkling mancunian afternoon. Chicken tikka masala tasted like butternut squash. Is this supposed to be the dominant flavor of a dish which I've been eating my whole life? It was weird. It also lacked any hint of heat. Garlic naan had no hint of garlic. Perhaps our waiter forgot that we specifically asked for garlic, which leads me to the biggest downer of this visit: customer service. Service was BAD. We were two of the four customers in the entire restaurant and everything was so slow to come out, drinks were forgotten, and no one ever came to ask if we might need anything else. We basically got unwanted houseguest vibes. So all in all, a disappointing stop to curry mile. I hope the other restaurants are better. This wasn't worth the mileage on my sneakers.

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.

Swadesh wasn't totally meh but nor was it totally a-ok so I'm erring on the side of caution. I…read morenoticed the other week that they have a £4.90 lunch box which was very exciting as lunches for £5 or less are my favourite thing. I was also excited when I walked in off grubby Portland St to find an elegant interior and smiling waiter. Bit disappointed then to find that the lunchbox is not some kind of Indian bento box featuring, I don't know, chutneys and the sound of a sitar playing or something. It's just the lunch buffet. But then again, that's not actually a bad thing in theory. In execution, none of it was particularly good and it was all strangely the same colour which was a bit off-putting. The poppadums were soft, which was just weird However, as it definitely didn't give me food poisoning I am likely to return given its proximity to my work and low price. For the money though, Kukoos is a much better choice in the area for Indian food at lunchtime. Dinner wise, I'd say Swadesh is probably pretty good.

Holy moly this place was superb…read more My boyfriend and I were in town visiting my bestfriend and his girlfriend who were in the UK on holiday when we happened upon this gem. Not too hard to do, since we stayed at a hotel just along the alley from Swadesh, but boy are we glad we decided on dinner here. The atmosphere was that of a pretty fancy restaurant where you'd think the staff and customers alike would be pretentious, but that wasn't the case at all. This place was really great, and the staff was great to boot. The prices were just perfect where we could all order various dishes and not feel as though we were going to break the bank by doing so. We started out with some poppadoms and chutneys as a started. Well pleased with that. After that, my boyfriend and I went with a vegetarian mix of goodies, including onion badjis and grilled halloumi. By the time we finished that, we knew we were in for a treat when the rest of our food came along. I stuck with ordering vegetarian dishes, which included saag paneer and an okra dish and my boyfriend ordered a chicken curry. We decided to share the lot and surprisingly, my boyfriend, who is a meat lover, really liked incorporating vegetarian in to the mix of dinner and plans to do it again when we go out. My bestfriend and his girlfriend ordered mixed vegetarian entrees and really enjoyed theirs as well. As we had been drinking a bit before we decided on dinner, we kept with water for the evening which the staff kept flowing without hesitation. All in all, it really was probably one of the better dinners I've had in a long time. I haven't had a good Indian meal in a few years, so I was really happy that we all enjoyed it so much. Should we find ourselves in Manchester again, this will be a must on the list of places to eat.

one star for this occaison I decided to go back to the restaurant and ordered a takeway curry. The…read morecurry was far too spicy and made so very ill for 3 days. I am not at all impressed with the restaurant again. I doubt I shall ever go back. :(

Can't complain about the food (good choice -fluffy rice and breads well and evenly spiced food) but…read moreyou can complain about the price for reasonable food. It's expensive.Good location -very central -I think it used to be a bank so is an impressive building.Good draught beers.

Northern England is home to some of the best South Asian food anywhere in the world, including the…read moreIndian subcontinent itself. Manchester is home to the iconic Curry Mile. In these competitive environs, Akbar's holds its own with its gigantic naans and its flavorful curries. The offal-based offerings, such as maghaz (sheep's brain) masala and chicken liver tikka, are my personal favorites. The maghaz has a creamy, buttery texture and loads of flavor. The perfectly chewy naan is a great accompaniment to both dishes. A steaming cup of the sweet and salty Kashmiri chai is a perfect way to finish a meal on a cold Manchester winter evening (I usually find myself in Northern England around Christmastime).

This is a fantastic place and I wish I'd known about it earlier! However, there are a couple of…read morecatches one needs to know about! For example, bookings in small numbers are not allowed, so if your party is less than 10 you would have to wait in the lounge. Moreover, you wouldn't be put in the queue for tables until all the people from your party have arrived! Once they have, you are given a device which will start flashing once your table is ready. For us it took just about 30 minutes (on a Thursday evening), so make sure you have no other plans this evening or come earlier. The place was full, we load to squeeze behind other guests backs - shows how popular the place is. Our waiter was very friendly and made us feel welcome immediately. Despite the venue being packed, food arrived quickly, and it was just delicious - couldn't find any faults! For those who feel adventurous, there are chef's challenges with spicy food (I heard you get s free dessert if you finish it- however , can't vouch for this). I have tried a tiny piece of this challenge from my friends plate, and almost cried from the amount of hot spices! Despite the wait, very enjoyable experience, and prices are more than friendly, which is very unusual for the city centre.

Absolutely stella venue…read more This building is in a class of its own. Old school cottage full of character. Well kept. The bar is situated in this side with the buildings interiors in all its glory. The main seating is through the bar and build in a more modern setting. Very well set out. High end tables and posh. Food is in a league of its own. The duck for starter and the mix platter is what we started with. Lush and full of flavour. Obviously this is with the poppadoms and dips. For mains I asked for something with a madras level heat and what he would recommend. I had something that wasn't on the menu but was a local curry to one of the chefs origins. This was amazing an explosion of flavour with the right amount of heat. The other half's meal was equally as tasty. Sides were just as good. Far too much for us to finish. We were stuffed after this with no room left for desert. :-( Great meal with drinks to accompany in the perfect setting for a couple to have a quiet romantic evening. Well recommended.

As far as Indian restaurants go, this is the bees knees. They serve absolutely authentic Indian…read morecuisine in a superb setting with as little fuss as can be managed. There is an incredible range of different indian styles of cooking and The Cottage appears to cover them all, from mild and unbelievably aromatic to "burn your wig off" strong. The drinks selection is very limited, but not bad for a restaurant, but..... This is where we went wrong. The last time I had a meal here, we took some of our children for a birthday meal and paid out over £120 for just a few of us. This is OK in central London or any equivalent city, but not in a quiet part of Warrington! To summarise, I would recommend this to anybody who really enjoys indian food and especially curries, but be prepared to pay for the experience. Just an "extra"; There is a plaque on the outer wall stating that Oliver Cromwell "stayed near here" when planning a lot of his campaigns during the civil war. The truth is vague, he definitely stayed in the "Spotted Leopard Inn", but nobody knows where exactly that was in this street. The Cottage, in the 1900's was the directors dining room for management from Rylands Wireworks which used to be next door, where now stands a huge Sainsbury's and its carpark!

Great place with a lovely atmosphere and friendly staff. Came here for a quiet birthday curry and…read morewas not disappointed. We got the banquet menu which was so much food for 2 people we had to take some home!! The starters were the best part with the mains being a little too much and also some of vegetarian curries weren't too tasty for me! However I would return for the starters and cold beer! They have other kingfisher and cobra on tap- perfect to accompany a curry!

The New Himalayas in Levenshulme is often overlooked. It's proximity to Nawaab certainly doesn't…read morehelp. And while selfishly I'm quite pleased that it's never overcrowded, it's a shame that it doesn't receive the attention it deserves. Specialising in Nepalese food the menu is generous, offering a good range of curries and sizzling specialities. All tastes are catered for from mild to spicy to hot. The services is very good and you're always sure of a warm welcome. A local take-away service is also available.