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.

Camel One

Pakistani/North Indian style - Wilmslow Rd, Rusholme

It's had lick of paint since last time

Most recent April 2010
The place has perked up a bit - but not that much.  We really wanted to follow the recommendation of mixed doner (from Will below) but we've found that deciding what to have before arrival often leaves you faced with something not very appetising. On this occaision the lamb doner was uncooked and the chicken doner down to the dry stumps, so we didn't bother:

Of the meat on the skewers the lamb looked best and was actually pretty good. I ordered chapatti rather than naan but this was forgotten and I got naan anyway - no big deal. The guys were friendly enough (usual loud TV on Arabic channels etc etc). The naan was decent and the salad sauces OK - the chilli sauce is still extremely strong with vinegar - I can actaully see this being more of an advantage with the doner than the relatively dry tikka kebabs - it's often nice to have something sharp to cut through greasy meat. It was all fine but we're in no big rush to return.
Scores out of 10
Meat 7.5
Bread 7.5
Salad/Sauces 7.0
Service/Setting 7.0
Average 7.25

Original review
Another iconic Rusholme establishment – and unfortunately another we’re not sure what the fuss is about.  The service is good but, like many places, a large TV was on very loud. Some of the meat behind the counter looked discoloured and dry, having been out there too long. So it's definitely better to look before making a choice. The chilli sauce tasted too heavily of vinegar and too much was sauce put on, drowning the overcooked meat. On another day perhaps there would be fresher meat, cooked better by another member of staff. Camel One is not a terrible place but it was pretty mediocre on the day and there’s no particular reason to suppose it would be much better at other times.
Scores out of 10
Meat 6.0
Bread 7.0
Salad/Sauces 6.5
Service/Setting 7.0
Average 6.6