Akbars - Manchester

T 0161 834 8444
A 73-83 Liverpool Rd, Manchester, M3 4NQ
W http://www.akbars.co.uk/

The venue for the November monthly curry had been decided and the CurryCouncil were licking their lips in anticipation after hearing rave reviews about this highly recommended city centre restaurant.

The website for Akbar’s boldly states PROBABLY THE BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. Would Akbar’s live up to their hype?

Akbar's specialises in sizzling pan-cooked baltis from Baltistan, an extreme mountainous region North of Pakistan.

The five Council members present met inside the modern and colourful bar at the front of the restaurant. The restaurant does not allow for tables to be booked in advance due to the high turnover of customers each night. We had a quick drink of our cold bottled Cobra beer whilst waiting for our table with the other waiting diners.

After a short wait, we were taken to our table and were immediately disappointed. It looked like the waiters were trying to squeeze five of us on to a small square table suited for just four people. As quick as you can say “five more bottles of Cobra please”, the waiter sensed our disappointed and immediately offered to move us a more spacious circular table.

The restaurant was bustling and extremely busy with a mixed clientele including Asian families, large groups, couples and business men.

Drinks were served but a ghee-butter fingered waiter spilt half a bottle of Cobra across our table. A team of waiters appeared and immediately wiped away the spillages. Normality was resumed and we were happy again.

Poppodums were served with a good selection of dips and were very fresh.

A variety of starters were ordered and promptly served. These included a gigantic Seekh Kebab, which was succulent in taste and had just the right amount of spice. The Prawn and Chicken Poori (photo below) was also sampled by our party, this consisted of tender prawns & chicken, onions in a rich masala sauce, garnished with coriander and came served in a poori (crispy fried bread). Top marks all round for the starters.

The CurryCouncil turned the conversation to commending the restaurant on the food served so far and the stylish modern interior of the restaurant.

A variety of main courses were sampled including a Chicken Jalfrezi, Chicken Tikka Massala and our old school traditional favourite the Chicken Madras. The food tasted very fresh and the meat portions were plentiful.

The side dishes sampled included pilau rice and a large sized “family" naan, which was presented to the council impaled on a spiked metal "naan" tree and tasted great. The only minor criticism being that the naan quickly cooled and lost some of its heat due to the sheer size of the thing. It was so big in size that council member Smith’s head could not be seen throughout the majority of the main course (therefore gaining extra points!)

The final piece of good news of the evening was the total bill, with each CurryCouncil member having pops, starter, main course, naan, pilau rice, a shared portion of chips and 2 bottles of Cobra beer. The bill came in at around £21 per head (including a tip) and this represented good value for money.

In conclusion, Akbar’s certainly did live up to the hype and you may find it hard to find a better Indian restaurant in Manchester City Centre.

CurryCouncil Ratings

Food 9/10
Service 9/10
Atmosphere 9/10
Value for money 9/10
Originality 8/10

Overall 8.8/10

Rajdoot, Manchester

The currycouncil.com team have noticed that the Manchester Confidential website has reviewed the Rajdoot Indian Restaurant (located in Albert Square, Central Manchester).

Read the review here

Rajdoot
Manchester
Carlton House
18 Albert Square
Manchester
M2 5WD
Tel: 0161 834 7092
Tel/Fax: 0161 834 2176

http://www.rajdoot.co.uk/

British Curry Awards Update

The Indian Ocean restaurant in Ashton-under-Lyne has been named the best curry restaurant in the North West for the second successive year.

The Indian Ocean was one of ten spice restaurants throughout the UK honored on the 19th October at the 2008 British Curry Awards, sponsored by Barclays Commercial and Barclaycard Business. The biggest event in the curry calendar, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, was attended by more than 1,100 restaurateurs, MPs, diplomats and celebrity guests.

The Indian Ocean had been one of six restaurants in the North West to make it to the list of 100 establishments across the UK from which the ten winners were selected. This year’s British Curry Awards winners were chosen from a record number of more than 26,000 public nominations covering 3,000-plus restaurants.

The glitz and the glamour of the awards ceremony, hosted by impressionist and comedian Jon Culshaw, did full justice to an industry that pours £3.2 billion a year into the UK economy.

Nahim Aslam, owner of the Indian Ocean, confirms: “The Indian Ocean blends a passion for great food, brilliant service and a fun, welcoming atmosphere. We are extremely proud to be in Tameside and to be serving the finest curry in the North West. National recognition and accolades are mighty fine, but it is local recognition that warms the heart and nurtures the spirit of our wholly-deserving Indian Ocean team”.

Currycouncil.com congratulate the Indian Ocean on their recent success and hope to the revisit the restaurant in the near future.

Curry Announcement: Akbar's (Manchester)

http://www.akbars.co.uk/

The October curry (DMS) will take place at Akbar's in Manchester. Akbar's is sitiuated on Liverpool Road, just off Deansgate.

Please refer to your individual email/SMS invites for the exact details and confirm your attendance to Dave MS ASAP.

Indian Ocean Short Listed For British Curry Awards

The Indian Ocean in Ashton-Under-Lyne has been short listed once again by the British Curry awards for the best Indian Restaurant in the North West.

To celebrate, they are offering a free bottle of champagne for all diners the weekend of 17th and 18th October 2008. A table must be booked in advance and the offer applies to four diners and above (don't forget to tell them that currycouncil.com told you about the offer!).

The currycouncil visited the Indian Ocean in December 2007, read what we thought here.

Awarded Winning Zouk Tea Bar Hits Manchester

A The Quadrangle, Unit 5, Chester St, Manchester, M1 5QS
T 0161 233 1090
W www.zoukteabar.co.uk

Winner of countless awards, the team behind the Zouk tea bar and grill hope to take the successful concept used at its Bradford restaurant and replicate it with a new £1 million central Manchester premises.

The new 200-cover restaurant is due to open this October on Oxford Road in Manchester City centre, near the BBC studios.

Zouk is the brainchild of Amjad Bashir, along with sons Mudassar and Tayub. Together they have developed a new generation of restaurant that fuses authentic Lahore cuisine with a contemporary twist.

Bashir says, “Our clientele are greeted by friendly staff and entertained by live, open plan kitchen cooking. The atmosphere is informal and relaxed and lively global music is played including English, Arabian and Indian.”

“The menu boasts a wide range of healthy and contemporary dishes with a separate seafood menu, and desserts prepared by the in-house French pastry chef,” Bashir states.



The CurryCouncil are yet to review the Zouk tea bar and grill in Manchester, but hope to soon.

If you have visited the Zouk tea bar and grill and would like to submit your own comments then please click here (site registration is not mandatory).

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