A-Z

·  Abdul's (Rusholme)

·  Afghan Cuisine

·  Al Quds

·  Al-Faisal

·  Al-Madina

·  Cafe Marhaba

·  Camel One

·  Caspian

·  Chappati Corner (Cheetham Hill)

·  Chillis

·  Falafel

·  Hunter's BBQ

·  Jaffa

·  Janam

·  Jazeera

·  K2 Curry Lounge (Cheetham Hill)

·  Kabana

·  Kabana (Cheetham Hill)

·  Kashmiri Spice

·  Kebabish

·  Kebabish Original (Rusholme)

·  Kebabish Xpress

·  Kobeda Place

·  Lahore Karahi (Cheetham Hill)

·  Lahori Kebabish (Cheetham Hill)

·  L'al Quila Express

·  Little Aladdin

·  Pasha Restaurant

·  Qila Khyber (Strangeways)

·  Rusholme Chippy

·  Rusholme Kebab House

·  Saajan Express

·  Saajan Halal

·  Saajan Halal Cafe

·  Saajan Original (Fallowfield)

·  Sadaf

·  Sanam

·  Sangam Fast Food Bar

·  Spice Kitchens

·  Taftan

·  Tastemaster's

·  This & That (Original)

·  This & That 2

·  Top Quality (Cheetham Hill)

·  Turkish Delight

·  Venus Foods

·  Yadgar 

·  Zam Zam

·  Zam Zam Tandoori

Turkish Delight

Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton.

First trip on 09/07/2010
This is an authentic Turkish kebab place right in the centre of Chorlton. The lamb shish kebabs are very good here, subtly flavoured and not at all dry. The chef's special is packed with donner, kofte (similar to seekh) and chicken mince. The special is a bit greasy, but the lamb donner meat is homemade (not the factory produced elephant's foot) and very tasty. The lamb kebab costs £4.50 and the chef's special is £5.20, so the prices are higher than you would pay in Rusholme. The salad is fresh, and the sauces are interesting - with a hot tomato sauce served with the chilli sauce and yoghurt. There is seating on the pavement at the front, and this is great place to eat on a nice day. The only slight issue is the packet bread. We were offered pitta or 'naan', and we opted for the latter. It turned out to be a tasty flat bread that was warmed on the grill.

Scores out of 10
Meat 8.5
Bread 7.0
Salad/Sauces 8.0
Service/Setting 8.0
Average 7.9

Jam Street Cafe

Upper Chorlton Rd, Whally Range.

Jam Street is a cafe throughout the day and a bar in the evenings - although alcohol is available before noon. Located on the same block as the Hillary Step in Whalley Range, this is also not far from regular Chorlton haunts such as Pi and the Marble.

It serves a decent fried breakfast, and has a very limited dinner menu (usually just one dish called 'tea'). It only has one real ale on hand pump, and there is a bit too much emphasis on the quirky cafe side of things. However, there is a great beer garden at the front, and drinking here in the evenings is generally a pleasurable experience. Also, the shabby cafe look makes a change to some of the polished bars that have sprung up in Chorlton recently.

Jerk Junction

170 Manchester Rd - Whalley Range/Chorlton.

Visit on 08/07/2010
This place was formerly known as Rhythm 'N' Rice. It is very close to the junction of Upper Chorlton Rd and Seymour Grove - hence the name. The food in here is West Indian, with main courses that include Curry Goat, Jerk Chicken and Ackee & Salt Fish, Oxtail etc. The standard smaller and side dishes are the usual stuff: fried dumplings, patties, rice and peas etc. We went for the classic Curry Goat with rice & peas. It was superb - essentially rice and kidney beans cooked in coconut milk, the goat was on the bone, making it succulent and very tasty. The portions were large, and they justify the £5.50 price tag. We ate on the decked terrace area - which is a pretty good place to watch the world go by. The staff were pretty surly; it's hardly Starbucks - "can I get you guys a mocha-frappaccino" style service. In fact almost no words were exchanged at all - but this is fine by us and not all that different form the usual Curry Cafe experience, in any case the food more than makes up for this. We feel that this place is worth checking out - perhaps next time we'll try the jerk chicken and pork from the barbecue.

Janam

Halal Takeaway
Portland St

02/07/10
This one took us a while to get to at lunchtime, but obviously we had to get there as it's one of the more well known kebab places in the town centre. However, unless you work nearby it's not easy to get here before dark - well at least without paying for parking. 

Anyway - back to the plot. Janam has a mixed menu, primarily consisting of pizzas, kebabs and fried chicken - but they also do samosas, spring rolls, onion bhajis and a few other things. The kebabs seem to be somewhere between the Turkish and Pakistani types - not heavy on colourings and with the more Turkish type salad, but with fresh bread, not pitta - hard to classify really.

The service was good and quick, aided by the choice of chicken doner, which is already cooked. The bread seemed to be coming off a converyor belt-like production line at regular intervals, so although it wasn't cooked on the spot it was fresh. It was soft, pliable and tasty, but not overly doughy and a bit of a high point. The meat was mixed - a bit gristley but pleasant and moist - possibly a tad greasy but never mind. Salad and sauces were good, and there was an offer on meaning all kebabs came with a free drink or chips. £3.70 didn't seem too expensive given the town centre location - lack of seating might be an issue if you were banking on eating in. As a result Janam will probably never be a 'destination' venue - the food's not quite good enough to go miles out of your way for, and there's a good chance you won't be able to eat in. However, if it were more convenient, we'd eat from here more often.

Scores out of 10
Meat 7.5

Bread 8.0
Salad/Sauces 8.5

Service/Setting 6.5

Average 7.6

City Centre Map

 - Curry & Kebab in green and Pubs in yellow.

Click to Enlarge

Qila Khyber

Rice & 3 (bottom), chicken kebab with chapatti and seekh on naan (top)

Bury New Rd.

20/07/10
Just a quick note - another naan down and it was very good - as was the rest of a chicken kebab, with the excepetion of the salad, not a major issue for some. Also one brave member of the party had a 'small' curry - which was £3. Plus a chapatti made it £3.50. Rice & 3 is £4.50 and a far better deal. It would be nice to get a 'small' curry option sometimes but unfortuantely it was so small as to feel like a bit of a rip off by comparison with the full rice & 3 for only £1 less. What's more, it was lamb on the bone and primarily bone. Lesson(s) learned.

14/07/10
Back again to test the final part of the equation - a tandoor naan. It probably sounds ridiculous to go somewhere just to try the bread but anyone who eats in these sorts of places regularly will know that proper clay over naan is a bit of a rare treat in Pakistani places, being more favoured by the Middle Eastern Kobeda guys. Anyway - it was time to give it a try, underneath a couple of seekhs (pictured). It was excellent, but there was a slight stumble at the final hurdle for Qila Khyber as the second naan, served with chicken was a bit under-cooked and doughy - and the salad was disappointing - a small quantity of a poor selection. It was more like garnish than an important component of a meal, too many onions and carrots and almost no leaves. There was a new guy serving today, hopefully he'll learn the ropes quickly as we really like it here and it's on the verge of being spot-on in almost every department. It might seem odd to say the kebabs had great meat and bread and yet didn't quite do it for us this time - perhaps our expectations were too high form previous visits. We'll definitely be back. 

07/07/10
Yet another trip in short period of time - we need to give it a thorough testing!  Intriguing food, including gosht methi and karela keema - really good and interesting too. We think we love it here - a few more visits and we'll know for sure. The ever-changing menu is a real pull. 

01/07/10
Return trip 3 days later, one rice & 3 and two chicken tikka + chapattis were ordered. The main purpose of the trip was to check out the bread and grills. They were definitely up to scratch, tandoor bread, decent salad, nicely marinaded meat, interesting sauces including a coconut/coriander chutney. The kebabs here are quite authentic, and might be a bit subtle for some people. Qila Khyber is probably the best allrounder - ie it's up there for kebabs AND rice & 3. This makes it almost unique.

28/06/10
A completely random find – and a very welcome one too.  This is a genuine rice & 3 and kebab place. We were told it has a complete range of everything – lamb tikka, chops ‘all the starters’ – however only chicken and seekh kebabs were on display at the front counter. We don’t really like this as we’ve been fobbed off a few times with chewy, reheated lamb so were not inclined to try it. However, we were also shown a range of six curries and rice in the usual metal trays, plus a huge and interesting looking container of steamed chicken. Whether they really have got everything they claim to have ‘in the back room’ remains to be seen, but there was enough interesting and good looking food on display to convince us to get stuck in. It was a curry day (when isn’t it?) and we opted for rice & 3 – a generous portion too. The personable but business like manager ladled on a good plateful of rice and asked if that was enough, which was a nice touch. The lamb on the bone, chicken masala and channa daal were also dished out in reasonable quantities and the fella then added some more as if it wasn’t quite meeting the weight requirement. This is all good stuff as sometimes we can feel a little like every grain of rice or tiny morsel of meat is being counted – and not in our favour.
The food was very  good. The chicken was probably the standout dish - flavoursome and rich. The lamb was tasty although very slightly tough – the continual slow heat it will receive throughout the day will sort this out, but we were in early. The rice and daal were very good – subtly flavoured and complimenting everything else. Coriander and chillies were available to add as we saw fit and we’re yet to try the bread – although we're hopeful.
Rice & 3 for £4.50 is a good price and great value.

Qila Khyber impressed and intrigued us and we will be back for the bread and grills. In true curry cafe style they had a printed menu which bore no resemblance to the dishes on offer or prices available and were shown the hand written one above - which apparently changes daily.  One of the quirks that fans of these places really like and others find unprofessional and disconcerting. We like it.

Rice & 3
Key Ingredients 16 (out of 20)
Other Food 8 (out of 10)
Service/Setting 8 (out of 10)
Value for Money 4.5 (out of 5)
Range 4.5 (out of 5)
Average Rating 8.1 (out of 10)

Kebab
Scores out of 10
Meat 7.5
Bread 8.0
Salad/Sauces 7.0
Service/Setting 8.0
Average 7.6

Coriander

Indian/Bangladeshi Restaurant
Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton.
(Definitely a sit-down restaurant - so it's in the sundries section.)
Coriander is quite unique in the Manchester curry scene.  It feels different to the other places, it’s a little bit out on a limb rather than being in a bustling area, it’s relatively serene inside, it’s not Pakistani and professes to make healthy food. If you really want to know what they claim to do there’s a hell of a manifesto on their website:
http://www.corianderchorlton.co.uk/
If any of the staff have read it remains to be seen, however the food was different from the usual stuff and much less oily.  The flavours were different too, with more citrus to them, whether this is a traditional Bengali thing we can’t say but to have something genuinely different in a city of very similar places is a welcome thing.
Now the important part… - The popadoms were good with different accompaniments than usual and more Indian vibe to them.  The tandoori stuff was differently spiced and very tastey – though it didn’t have that sizzle or steam of meatly freshly pulled form the grill, but it wasn’t tough and didn’t taste microwaved, perhaps it was partially cooked then finished off. In either case this was a bit misleading as the waiter was asked if it was cooked freshly and he said yes. However it was nice. The prawn and mushroom curry was a little bit disappointing, tasting of not much other than tomatoes and this vague citrus flavour that was in the other dishes. ‘grandmothers beef’ was good – slow cooked in coconut with chana daal.
Bread and rice were good - not much else to be said on the matter.
I’d return here, it’s different and you don’t leave feeling sluggish, oily or semi-dehydrated with excessive salt.  If the food were one notch better it’d be a real favourite. Recommended in this part of town though. There’s 20% discount Sunday afternoon and some deal on a Thursday too.

Coriander

Ning

Oldham St.
This is a Malaysian and Thai restaurant in the Northern Quarter - close to the Frog and Bucket. Ning has a very good set menu deal that allows you to have two courses (from a restricted menu) for £12.95. The place looks great - with hanging lanterns and bright pink wallpaper along with black tables and simple chairs. The menu has some interesting dishes on it, particularly the Malaysian part. The chicken murtaback is an excellent savoury pancake, and the Basil Padprik is a very tasty stir fry. The service is good, and a large range of Asian beers is available. Ning is a decent restaurant that offers good food at reasonable prices.

Barbakan Delicatessen

Manchester Road, Chorlton
Right - bit of a departure this one, but it's food and it was at lunchtime so here goes.  Barbakan is a big favourite in Chorlton - primarily as a bakery and delicatessen, but we're not really in the business of pate and cheese reviewing - so we'll move on. They also serve food to eat immediately, the main hot options are the 'sizzlers' - which are essentially nice sandwiches, made on ciabatta and whacked in a hot sandwich press.  The beef sizzler was very good - the meat was cut thinly and was tender and tasty, with a good dollop of mustard, the excellent bread (as you'd hope) was suitably toasty and crisp and the addition of roast peppers and onions rather than salad made it work in the warmer format.  In terms of sheer quantity of food for your money (£3.25) its not as good value as a kebab, no real surprise there. But it was a very good sandwich and a viable alternative if you're not ravenous. The sweetener to the deal is the agreement to allow Barbakan food to be eaten in the Marble Beerhouse. A pint and a pub are a real bonus at anytime, but particularly by comparison with the crowded outdoor seating available at the premises themselves. We'd recommend combining the two into a leisurely lunchtime jaunt.

Taftan

Upper Chorlton Rd, Whalley Range.

24/05/10
Taftan is a bit of an oddity, it’s one of those Asian places that tries a bit of everything, which can make it off putting for those who just want Asian food. It advertises pasta and pizzas along with fried chicken and more conventional curries and kebabs. We partook of the £3.50 lunchtime offer of curry and rice. Chicken was the curry of the day and it was actually rather good – on the bone in a very authentic, ‘home-cooked’ tasting, sauce. The rice was just plain boiled. We also tried lamb parathas for £1 each, which was an eating experience somewhere between having a wrap, samosa and a pasty all at once. Not unpleasant but just a bit greasy, being strangely rich and yet pretty flavourless. Not particularly recommended. Ordering takeaways in the evening can be a bit of an ordeal over the phone, however they can also yield pretty good food if you stick to the karahi dishes and grills. Taftan is yet to gain our full confidence, there’s a bit of a hit and miss vibe about it, but we’re willing to persist for a while at least and see what it settles into. Currently it’s one of the better options around here – and it’s open all day.

Venus Foods

Anson Rd.

May 2010 visit
This is a kebab place attached to a Turkish supermarket. The lamb doner is excellent. It's freshly made - as opposed to the prepackaged elephant's foot - and has a nice savoury flavour.  The staff here refer to the doner as a shawarma, although it is doner on the menu. The bread is thick and tasty, and not of the the packet pitta variety. You get plenty of decent salad, and the chilli sauce is nice with a bit of a kick to it. On the down side, they do not serve yoghurt with the kebabs, and the place is also pretty expensive at £4.90 for donner kebabs. However, the food is worth it, and we will be back to try (amongst other things) the kofta kebabs.

Scores out of 10
Meat 9.0
Bread 7.5
Salad/Sauces 7.5
Service/Setting 7.5
Average 7.9

Little Yang Sing, The

George Street, Manchester
There's plenty of information about the Yang Sing and Little Yang Sing on the web - fires, relocations - yadda yadda.
In short this is a good, old style, Hong Kong/Cantonese type place. It does all the old favourites, nice Dim Sum, duck and pancakes and all the usual main courses. It's not subtle, it's brightly coloured and not much like like 'authentic' Chinese food - neither is it cheap. However, this type of cuisine has found a place in the hearts and on the palates of British diners and the folk at the Little Yang Sing know how to give people what they want.  It's not really our sort of place in that it's a bit too fussy and expensive for a lunchtime 'gnosh up' and the food's a wee bit too sweet and 'MSGy-fied' to really cut it as a top notch evening destination. However a few visits have proved it a reliable place for providing good versions of Chinese 'classics' - it's less 'chilli-fried lizard gizzard' and much more 'sweet and sour prawn balls' - which is often a relief.

The Briton's Protection

Very famous Manchester boozer. Really cosy - soporiphic some might say. One of the best in the centre, perhaps slightly let down by ale selection.

Leo's

Barolw Moor Rd, Chorlton.
This is a nice little Italian restaurant. The food is a bit more interesting than the standard pizza and pasta dishes, although some of these are available. There is an emphasis on red meat and fish dishes, and for this trip the fillet steak was excellent and the lamb ragu was one of the best Italian meals I've eaten. The place does get very busy, and they have a tendency to cram people in a tiny bit more than is necessary. The staff are friendly and attentive, but the service was a little slow. The prices are not too high - three courses, two bottles of wine and two coffees came to £85. The decor is nice and simple, with plain wooden tables large windows at the front and lots of wood around the bar. Leo's is well worth a visit.

The Wheatsheaf

Oak St., Manchester

A minor refurb and the addition of two hand pumps has breathed a bit of life back into The Wheatsheaf.  It’s always been alright for a quiet game of pool and a pint of Guinness but the addition of the ale and a bit of a (sympathetic) spruce up has just tipped it over the edge into somewhere worth going, rather than just ending up. The Wheatsheaf stands out in the area as a place which is neither too young and trendy nor too rough or dodgy. Places like the Bay Horse are too far one way and Gulliver’s too far the other (don’t get them mixed up). It’s in the Smithfield bracket of a decent boozer, but is still not one to go to for a particularly lively night. Which suits at least one of the reviewers here very well.

Duffy's Bar

Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton.

Duffy's is an unusual bar. This used to be Uluru, and we suppose it's now an 'Irish themed' Lees pub - although there isn't much that's Irish about it beyond the name - certainly not the landlord. It seems a little strange to us to have a 'tied house' themed - as to an extent the brewery already is the theme. Normally themed pubs are either independant venture like O'Shea's or 'standard pubs' which happen to have a landlord or lady of a particular nationaility. Perhaps there's more to this than we can tell at first glance. Anyway...  There are four handpumps offering real ale, including one guest beer - which was Timothy Taylor on both occaisions. The place has polished wooden floors and a lot of football related memorabilia on the walls - both United and City, which again implies brewery rather than personal influences. The decor is a throwback to the 70s, with white plaster alcoves and artexing on the walls and ceiling. The small space outside is on the main road, and it is not a particularly pleasant place to sit. It doesn't feel like a new bar at all, and it's a slightly odd addition to the drinking scene in Chorlton given the usual offerings. However, if we're lucky it'll remain a good solid boozer and a nice change from the trendier more youth orientated bars.

Atlantic Fish Bar

Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton.
This is probably the best chippy in Chorlton. The portions are huge, with the fish being particularly large. The fish and chips are well cooked. The cod and haddock are coated in a crispy batter and the chips are nice and firm. The place is very clean and bright, and the staff are helpful. The massive servings are not very expensive, and we would be happy to recommend this place to anyone with a big appetite.

The White Lion

Liverpool St.

Difficult one this, it’s not trendy (loads of silly haircuts and tight jeans), which is a plus – and not rough (feels like a fight will break out any second) - that’s another plus. So has it become the promised land of just a decent, normal boozer? Well, not quite as the beer’s pricey and there are fruit machines and big teles.  I think you could analyse yourself in knots about this place (which is also a Chinese takeaway, to add to the confuciun). Best not to bother. It’s a decent old style boozer with a few hand pumps, tellies, fruit machines – nice old big bar, massive beer garden and two menus – English and Chinese. To explain a bit, the couple who run the place are English and Chinese, hence the mix of cultures, not that that’s a bad thing in this case. Also the Landlady is a vociferous and friendly character. We wouldn’t go miles out of our way to come here, but if you’re around and about it’s another decent boozer on the list.

Cask

Cask has been around a few years - it's a pretty decent place really, managing to straddle the gap between lively and too trendy reasonably well. Ironically, given the name, there's no real ale - which in our view is a bit cheeky. However there's a decent range of continental lagers on tap and in bottles. Not a regular venue for us, due to the lack of the bitter, but certainly one of the better places of its type - along with The Temple.

City Arms

Kennedy Street, Manchester
The City Arms is a welcome oasis in the city centre desert of decent real-ale pubs. It's one of the few old pubs that's managed to retain its identity, keep real ale and not become gimmicky. There's not tons of seating and it's (unsurprisingly) pretty popular - so don't expect a table. However, if you're in that part of town it's the only decent old style boozer and well worth a visit. A real gem and the best pub for quite a distance around it.

Gulliver's

Oldham St.

Gulliver's is an old stlye pub which is very differnt from the more modern and trendy bars in the Northern Quarter. There's no real ale but on the plus side there's loads of Karaoke. It's OK when nobody's there but when it's busy Karaoke and scuffling seem to be the major pursuits. If you want a change from the more expensive trendy bars this might be somewhere to visit but that's about the only recommendation we can make.

Buffet City

Portland Street, Manchester

This place does pretty mediocre, standard chinese takeaway type stuff. It's kind of like being in a MacDonald's too - big, bright and noisy. So why go? Well, you eat as much as you want for £5.50 a head. Like the other all-you-can-eat-buffet type deals the emphasis is on quantity and price being high and low (in that order) - which is undeniably attractive to those with big appetites and not a lot of cash. After 6PM the price hikes up to £8.90 and more expensive items, such as duck, become available for the evening trade. There's not much to say about the place other than the obvious - if you want better food go elsewhere and pay more. If you've not booked anywhere, you're starving, aren't that bothered about quality and want feeding quickly this is not a bad option and certainly preferable to most fast food outlets.

Map_Test

Loading...

Charango

Barolw Moor Road, Chorlton.

Third time lucky May 2010
Saturday night and this time it makes sense - good food, plenty of 'atmosphere', the staff were efficient and friendly, the place very busy and even the lone ale was OK - this time Wainwrights.  It's never going to a favourite of ours but that presumably isn't their intention - if you're into this sort of place or just like new things you may well have a good evening here. - That's quite enough Charango-ing for us for a while.

Revisit April 2010
After ‘Anonymous’ below praised the place so highly we decided to go back to check – a younger member of the team dragged ‘Grandad’ back to Charango on a Wednesday evening – long after he should have been in bed. It was much quieter than the Friday, unsurprisingly – though there were a few tables of people chattering away. In fairness the menu looked pretty decent though the beer situation was poor. Down to one ale which was actually bad – freezing cold with a coagulating head, vaguely sour and poorly kept, which at £3 is a bit daft. It was the Dulcimer beer, Blonde on Blonde.
Clearly this isn’t a place for the beer drinker so there’s no point going on about it. It seems the sort of place for dressing up a bit, sipping cocktails with ‘the girls’, sharing tapassy-type nibbles and having salsa lessons – none of which is our bag. Though being on the side of the road that gets sun in the evenings and having the large outdoor area means this place will almost certainly be rammed all summer.
Assuming it's one group of people (or person) in charge of both Dulcimer and Charango, their differences make more sense - presumably Dulcimer's covering the 'folky beery' end of things and they're hoping Charango is seen as a bit more dressed up and cosmopolitan. If the naming convention is stuck with I'm looking forward to their third venture - 'Banjo', in which toothless red-necks drink burbon all day. Perhaps Chorlton's not ready for that one.

Original blurb...
This was, until recently, Ostara. It is now a Latin themed bar named after a small South American instrument. The place is noisy due to the loud music playing, and it was very busy when we were there. There is a large outside terrace, which was also well used.

On the plus side, the lighting in the place is subtle and low - which works well with the red painted walls. There is also one real ale on handpump, which is unusual in bars like this. The place is more set up for drinkers than Ostara, which was much more of a restaurant (serving seasonal British food) than a bar. The outside space will also be a bonus in the summer.

I'm not sure such a bar is necessary in Chorlton. It feels gimmicky because of the theme, and it is certainly far from an ideal venue for a few quiet drinks.

Orlando's

Barlow Moor Road, Chrolton.
This place is dreadful. It's bland in the worst kind of corporate chain sort of way. There are no real ales, and the interior lacks any sort of warmth - being very clean with white walls and modern dining room furniture.

However, there are some minor positive notes. We were given free mini samosas after we ordered the drinks, which was a nice touch. Also, the outside space is a good size and is well laid out.

Escape

Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton.
This is a fairly compact place opposite Chorlton bus station. The beer selection is not great, with only one hand pump for cask beers. Escape has a couple of huge hanging lamps as features - placed above the large leather sofas at the back of the bar.
The lighting is one decent aspect of this place as it seems to work well with the brown and gold/orange colour scheme. The staff and the regulars seem friendly, and it's not a bad place to hang out in for a couple of drinks. It's not outstanding, but such places are - by their very nature - few and far between.

Bar Lorenzo

Beech Road, Chorlton.
Bar Lorenzo is a tapas bar in the heart of Chorlton. It's small and narrow, and the place looks and feels like the genuine article. The photographs on the wall are a nice touch, and the tables, tiles and bar area all look authentically Spanish. The food is very good and the service is excellent. As expected a couple of Spanish beers are served, including Cruzcampo. This is definitely a good place to go if you want to have an informal meal and a few drinks - with wine or sherry probably being better options than beer. It's a bit too intimate and food oriented to be described as just a bar, but it is possible to drink here without eating.

Bowling Green

Brookburn Road, Chorlton.
This pub is a pleasant surprise. It should be awful - think Sky Sports and large gleaming bar pumps for strong lager and guinness - but for some unknown reason it's actually pretty decent. Maybe the fact that it's unpretentious in comparison with many other Chorlton watering holes helps. The punters certainly don't have the Nathan Barley attitude of many trendy Chorlton types. The addition of a couple of hand pumps is a bonus, and the bar staff are very friendly. It feels like a very normal pub and is all the better for it. You can get to it through the small graveyard at the opposite end of Chorlton Green to the Horse and Jockey, and it does have its own Bowling Green.

The Beech

Beech Road, Chorlton.
This was once a very good pub. It's in a decent spot and has a few hand pumps for guest ales. The place looks alright - particularly the small room off from front bar. From the outside it seems like a very traditional local boozer. Indeed, it's a fairly small place that should be perfect for a few quiet pints. However, there have been a few undesirables hanging around this place in recent years, which has led to a threatening atmosphere. The room at the back of the bar has a large TV screen, which is always a bad sign. There might regularly be a couple of real ales on, but this is far from a welcoming pub. Let's hope things change in here soon because the Beech is potentially a good boozer.

Hope Inn

Chester Rd.

This is a very traditional pub in an area just outside the city centre (between Castlefield and Old Trafford). The only real ale served is Hydes. The front bar area is small, and there is a larger back room with a dart board and bench seating against the wall. There are wooden floors throughout, and the place looks handsome enough.  On this visit the place was very quiet and the barmaid was friendly. This is a well looked after pub, and it has clearly avoided the kind of disastrous refurbishment that was so common a few years ago. A decent boozer.

Pub Crawls

There are clusters of decent pubs in and around Manchester which are ideal for linking together as part of a crawl. Below are a few suggested pub crawls that Flavours of Manchester think are worth trying out. The emphasis is on real ale and boozers with a lot of charm. These are not complete crawls in the 'Didsbury Dozen' sense: many of them miss out less impressive pubs along the way. Many of these pubs can be found on the Manchester & Salford Pub Map.

City Centre - Northern Quarter
The Castle Hotel
Crown and Kettle
Bar Fringe
Smithfield
The Angel
The Marble Arch

City Centre - Oxford Road
The Briton's Protection
Peveril of the Peak
The Temple
Lass O'Gowrie
Salutation
Sandbar
Kro Bar

Salford - Crescent
The Crescent
The New Oxford
The King's Arms
The Mark Addy
The Old Black Lion
The Eagle
The Dutton
The Derby Brewery Arms
The Queen's Arms

Chorlton - North
Hilary Step
Jam Street
Pi
Marble Beer House
Dulcimer
The Bar
Oddest

Greenland

Horse and Jockey

Chorlton Green.
This used to be a slightly rough place where kids went to drink. After an expensive refurbishment it has become a bit posh for its own good, styling itself as "the Inn on the Green". The exterior still looks quite impressive - with a large beer terrace overlooking Chorlton Green in front of the half-timbered facade. The low wooden beams have also been retained.
The emphasis is now solidly on food. This is served throughout the pub and in a separate dining room. There are a few decent beers available, but this pub feels very much like it has been sanitised. Everything is too clean and shiny and new. Not a great place for a few pints unless you are outside in the sunshine.

Manchester Curry Cafe Map

Click to Enlarge

Other Food Venues

The following are either not lunchtime or not curry/kebab places that we thought we might aswell mention:

• Introduction
• Adelphi Cafe
• Afghan Cuisine
• AQSA Chippy and Spice Grill
• Atlantic Fish Bar
• Barbakan
• Buffet City
• Cedar Tree, The
• Coriander
• Darbar
• Halal Bites
• Jerk Junction
• Leo's
• Little Yang Sing, The
• Ning
• Original Third Eye, The
• Panicos & Yianni's
• Tibetan Kitchen
• Yakisoba

Pubs

Good Pint, Bad Pint - left great pint from the Marble Beerhouse against unnamed disaster

• Introduction and Full List
• Pub Crawls
• Manchester & Salford Pub Map
• Angel, The
• Argyles
• Bar, The
• Bar Lorenzo
• Beech, The
• Black Lion Hotel
• Bishop's Castle Beer Festival
• Bowling Green
• Cask
• Castle Hotel, The
• Charango
• City Arms, The
• Crescent, The
• Crown & Kettle, The
• Derby Brewery Arms
• Duffy's Bar
• Escape
• Fringe, Bar
• Gulliver's
• Hope Inn
• Horse and Jockey, The
• Jabez Clegg
• King's Arms, The
• Knott Bar
• Kro Bar
• Lass o'Gowrie
• Marble Arch, The
• Marble Beer House
• Mark Addy, The
• Monroe's Hotel Bar
• Mother Mac's
• New Oxford, The
• Odd, Odder & Oddest
• Orlando's
• O'Shea's Irish Bar
• Ox, The
• Pi
• Sandbar
• Sedge Lynn, The
• Trevor Arms, The Famous
• Trof (Northern Quarter)
• Wheatsheaf, The
• White Lion, The

Curry Cafes

• Introduction
• Manchester Curry Cafe Map
• Northern Quarter Curry Cafe Map
• Al-Faisal
• Cafe Marhaba
• Chappati Corner (Cheetham Hill)
• Chillis
• Hunter's BBQ
• K2 Curry Lounge (Cheetham Hill)
• Kabana
• Kabana (Cheetham Hill)
• Kebabish
• Kebabish Xpress
• Little Aladdin
• Qila Khyber (Strangeways)
• Taftan
• Tastemaster's
• This & That (Original)
• This & That 2
• Top Quality (Cheetham Hill)
• Yadgar
• Qila Khyber
• Taftan
• Tastemaster's
• This & That (Original)
• This & That 2
• Top Quality (Cheetham Hill)
• Yadgar

Kebab Houses

• Introduction
• Abdul's (Rusholme)
• Afghan Cuisine
• Al-Madina
• Al Quds
• Cafe Marhaba
• Camel One
• Caspian
• Chappati Corner (Cheetham Hill)
• Chillis
• Dubai
• Falafel
• Jaffa
• Janam
• Jazeera
• Kabana (Cheetham Hill)
• Kashmiri Spice
• Kebabish
• Kebabish Original (Rusholme)
• Kebabish Xpress
• Kobeda Place
• Lahore Karahi (Cheetham Hill)
• Lahori Kebabish (Cheetham Hill)
• L'al Quila Express
• Pasha Restaurant
• Qila Khyber (Strangeways)
• Rusholme Chippy
• Rusholme Kebab House
• Saajan Express
• Saajan Halal
• Saajan Halal Cafe
• Saajan Original (Fallowfield)
• Sadaf
• Sanam
• Sangam Fast Food Bar
• Spice Kitchens
• Tastemaster's
• Turkish Delight
• Venus Foods
• Zam Zam
• Zam Zam Tandoori

Kro Bar

Oxford Rd.
The original part of the Kro empire. This bar is in the middle of Manchester University's campus. As such you do find a lot of students drinking in here - which isn't really a problem. The bar area is a bit too bright, but the bar is fairly well stocked. Upstairs is a better bet for a drink. The two linked rooms are rather grand with high ornate ceilings, fireplaces, large mirrors and subtle lighting. I'm not certain, but it seems likely that this was once a large house. There is plenty of outdoor seating in the beer garden at the back and the terrace at the front. There is also an eating area with a range of benches that looks like a canteen.
Not a particularly inspiring place to go, but if you get a space upstairs you can spend a pleasant enough evening in here.

Sandbar

Grosvenor St.
This bar is superb. It has a great range of beers and a genuinely interesting interior. There are local cask ales, real ciders and a wide selection of european beers available on draft and in bottles. The place occupies a couple of old houses - the old exposed staircase is even used as extra space to store bottles. There is a rather ramshackle arrangement of different rooms, with each one having a different character. The front bar is light (due to huge the windows) and very lively. The back bar is quieter and a bit more civilised. The enclosed 'yard' area is fairly dark, and it has a stone floor and a huge bench for seating. There is a new smoking area/beer garden next to the main bar. Outdoor seating is aslo a feature, with a decent amount at the front and some round the back near the yard entrance. Sitting outside Sandbar on a summer's evening is a very pleasant experience. The toilets are unusual and worth noting. To get out you have to open a door plastered in posters, which is not an easy feat when faced with it for the first time or when drunk.

As with most great bars, Sandbar gets very busy at the weekend. It's big enough to accommodate a large number of drinkers, so there is usually somewhere to sit or stand. The punters here seem to be a pretty decent bunch, with a similar mix to that found in places like the Bar in Chorlton. Sandbar is easily one of the best places to drink in Manchester, and it is currently vying with Fringe to be the best bar in Manchester.

Kro Bar

Oxford Rd.
This was the first part of the Kro empire to open. It's a pretty decent bar. There is a good selection of bottled and draft beers, including three handpumps for real ale. The upstairs is impressive - with large rooms large tables, wooden floors,  

Jabez Clegg

Portsmouth St, near Oxford Rd.
This cavernous pub is located on the Manchester University campus, set just back from Oxford Road. It's not a great place for a drink - the clientele largely consist of bored students who lack the energy to head into town. The bar staff all seem to be about 16 years old and aren't happy to serve people. There are a couple of real ales available, but this hardly makes up for the lacklustre punters and staff. The place looks okay because the large main bar has lots of exposed brickwork. It feels like the sort of pub where it would be alright to watch an important football match - which is not a great recommendation. Something strange also happens in here at around 10pm. The drinkers are ushered out of the place and it is turned into a club. This is yet another reason to avoid Jabez Clegg.

Argyles

Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton.
It is reasonably well placed as a stop off point between the 'four banks' area and Beech Road (albeit much nearer the former). Argyles (sans apostrophe) is a very modern looking bar, and as such it lacks any real warmth. The interior is quite stark, in the style of some city centre bars that were popular in the 90s (think Berlin, Prague V or Dry Bar). The cocktail menu is extensive, but there was only one hand pump serving real ale when I visited. The bottled beer selection was also pretty uninspiring.

This bar is fine for a quick drink, but not really the sort of place you would want to spend an entire evening. The menu looks alright, and there is a decent beer garden at the back of the building.

Northern Quarter Curry Cafe Map

Click to Enlarge

AQSA Chippy & Spice Grill

Great Stone Road, Stretford.

JUNE 2010 - They had no curries or kebabs (except elephants foot doner) - I left. Seems they're concentrating on the chippy sifde of things, shame.

Well no sooner did we review Yianni’s than it closed – days later it reopened as AQSA (an Islamic holy place in Jerusalem – if you’re interested). It’s a bit hard to tell what’s going on here. After literally 2 days closed this place has reopened as something else.  Seemingly a Pakistani kebab/chippy place. Which is something we’ve never encountered before, hence it's in the sundries section. They’ve kept most of the fixtures from before – even the menu on the wall, presumably that at least will be changed in the near future. The only obvious difference from the front is the removal of the grill (precisely what I’d do when opening a ‘Spicy Grill’!). however in its place is pretty much the only thing better – a tandoor. The draw back to this is that it seems everything will be cooked in the tandoor and to save time the large seekhs or kobedas (hard to tell) were pre-cooked then microwaved. It wasn’t until this process was happening that I saw the fresh stuff hanging up in the fridge - skewers of meat, chicken legs and chops. Onion bhajis wand samosas looked home made and rather than the usual microwaving were crisped up in the chippy fryer. I love it when a plan comes together!  I’ve really no idea how this place will work out – it may try hard and be good or lower standards and end up pre-cooking and microwaving everything. Hard to tell at the moment. Lets hope the latter.

Manchester & Salford Pub Map

Click To Enlarge

Darbar

Wilmslow Rd. Rusholme.
Darbar has unfortunately gone the way of many Pakistani places that are trying to shed the old-fashioned (poor) curry house image.  Understandable in itself, but is not achieved by sticking a massive tele on the wall, having silly flashing lights and hiking up the prices. – Thankfully the chef remains the same and is one of the best around.  On its day the food is as good as I’ve ever had of this type.  However you have to order the right thing. There are certain expectations of what dishes curry houses will have available – so even though Darbar has the traditional stuff they still have the base sauce curries too – which are OK but unremarkable.  Stick to the fresh grills – juicy and subtly marinaded and the ‘chef’s specials’ – Karahi Gosht on the bone, Nihari, traditional Korma, Handi, etc and you’ll probably have an excellent meal.

Knott Bar

Deansgate.
A largish venue near Deansgate Station (formerly Knott Mill Station – hence the name of this place) and part of the complicated ‘Marble Group’. That might seem superfluous detail but if you’ve been to any of the others you’ll know what I mean – decent food, ale selection and a vaguely slap-dash vibe – but in a very controlled manner. It’s certainly one of the better places in this area – near ‘Deansgate Locks’ and ‘Aqua’. Sittng out on the balcony, on the upper floor, is a bit of a treat in decent weather and gives nice views of the cobble lined canal heading off into Castlefield and along Deansgate itself . It’s usually pretty busy here and is pretty good.

Yakisoba

Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton.

This restaurant offers reasonably priced Asian food from a range of different countries - including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and China. It suffers from a lack of seating, with diners being somewhat crammed into a long narrow space. When it's busy in here you really know about it.

For this trip, the service was generally good because the staff were attentive - especially when it came to ordering drinks. However, there was an issue with the starters arriving at different times - one being served a good 10 minutes before the rest. The food was good - one highlight being the Vietnamese beef stir fry dish. The crab and king prawn roll was poor, but the other dishes were all of a decent standard. The central idea of Yakisoba is to have a bento box with a rice or noodle dish. This make the place a bit more interesting, and it involves getting a small box with different sections containing crackers, melon, miso soup, sweet cashew nuts and salad. The box is accompanied by the main dish. The main courses cost around £8.95 to £10.95 (£5.50 for takeaway - bit of a bargain), and starters are about £2.95 to £4.95.

Yakisoba is a nice place to go for a meal out in Chorlton, and the it won't cost you a fortune. It is best avoided at the busiest times, and - as with all places - you need to choose your dishes carefully. Finally, the food is available to takeaway, and many people use this service. It is one of the best 'oriental' takeways in the area.

Mother Mac's

Back Piccadilly.
This is one of a select group of hidden boozers in Manchester - places like the Jolly Angler, the Egerton Arms and Corbieres all spring to mind. Mother Mac's is tucked away behind the bustle of Piccadilly in a very dodgy looking back alleyway - it's not really a fully fledged street. This place is very old-fashioned, which lends the pub an air of authenticity that you rarely get with places in the city centre. It's a very traditional back street boozer, with only Hydes beer available on hand pump. This might not be a real ale haunt, but it is a good place to go for a few quiet pints when in town. The clientele is unusual, with a number of old Irish blokes there for the last visit and no youngsters at all. A genuinely interesting pub.

The New Oxford

Bexley Square, Salford
For some unknown reason this place was opened as a 'Continental Real Ale Bar'.  Which basically means it's great for beer but decorated like some sort of European cafe - this seems a bit out of kilter with its otherwise 'real ale' vibe and clientele.  That asside, it's a good little place. The beer selection and quality is usually excellent - both cask and bottled. All other things can vary - from staff to punters to food. - It could be great when it's fully bedded in and definitely a welcome stop-off between The Crescent and The Kings Arms.

The Angel

Angel St/Rochdale Rd.
Formerly the Beer House, this has been named the Angel for well over a year. It was a genuinely great real ale pub for a number of years - although the final stages of the Beer House saw the place truly fall from grace. It reopened with an impressive menu, but without completely surrendering the boozing element. Much of the menu has gone - along with the chef - and the pub seems to have settled down as a decent drinking venue. Real ale is certainly back on the menu here: the beer and cider range is impressive, boasting around 8 handpumps. The lighting is subtle, and - combined with an attractive interior - this makes the pub a good place for a few quiet pints in the evening. The location means the Angel is on the edge of town, but this is no bad thing as it avoids crowds of idiots. It certainly does no harm to the nearby Marble Arch.

Current Recommendations

Rusholme Kebab:
Pakistani/North Indian – Saajan Halal – just gets it right nearly every time.
Honourable mentions to:
Lal Quila Express

Middle Eastern –Zam Zam - consistently good, £2.99 kobeda is a winner.
Honourable mentions to:
Kobeda Place
Jaffa
Afghan Cuisine

Town Kebab:
Marhaba, as the only place that does tandoor bread it’s an easy winner.
Honourable mentions:
Janam
Kebabish Xpress
Tastemaster’s – not incredible but better than you might think

Cheetham Hill Kebab:
Lahore Karahi
Honourable mention: 
Qila Khyber

Northern Quarter Curry Cafés:
This is really difficult as the 5 mentioned are all good, all have devotees but all have off days too:
Yadgar
Honourable mentions:
Kabana - Sunday Nihari and chops a particular favourite.
Al-Faisal
Marhaba
This & That  -though it has been a bit up and down.

Cheetham Hill Curry:
Top Quality – Cheaper and better than the competition. Special mention for the chicken biryani + 3 on a Friday.
Honorable mention:
Qila Khyber

Chorlton:
Zam Zam Tandoori - There's not much comptition and the tandoor naan would win it on it's own. However add in £3 tikka kebabs and good Pakistani dishes and Zam Zam is well in front.

Fallowfield:
Saajan Original - Almost Identical to the Rusholme Saajan Halal with less competition

City Centre pubs:
The Marble Arch - Classic historic boozer without equal
The Castle Hotel - A ramshackle old Robinson's pub with bags of character

City Centre bars:
Sandbar - A really good bar with a great range of beers and plenty of charm
Bar Fringe - The jewel in the Northern Quarter crown

Salford pubs:
The Crescent - A Salford institution that is still going strong. A haven for real ale fans
The Kings Arms - An interesting and attractive pub very close to Salford Central station

Salford Curry - Ok there aren't any (except possbily Halal Bites) but on that side of town This & That 2 is the nearest.

Chorlton pubs & bars:
Pi -This place is intimate and has an extensive beer menu, with hearty food on offer and excellent service.