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