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 - Curry & Kebab in green and Pubs in yellow.

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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.