Akbar's

We visited Akbars in Manchester last Friday for a birthday celebration. We chose Akbars as it is regarding as one of, if not the best in Manchester. My previous favourite was EastzEast but I had been told that Akbars was even better so we decided that we should try it. What a mistake!!!

I was absolutely shocked with what we received, and I don't know how all the food websites can rate it We visited Akbars in Manchester last Friday for a birthday celebration. We chose Akbars as it is regarding as one of, if not the best in Manchester.

I was absolutely shocked with what we received, and I don't know how all the food websites can rate it highly after our experience.

The first problem was having a tower of poppadoms dumped in the middle of the table when only a couple of us had plates, we asked 2 - 3 times for plates but the waiter wanted to take our orders first before giving us any. By the time we got plates they were cold.

The majority of us picked the same starter as it sounded great on the menu.Chicken Nambali - "Breast of chicken pieces marinated, grilled and finally garnished with melting cheese served with friend onions peppers tomatoes and onions."

The reality of this dish was one or 2 chunks of bland UNmarinated, ungrilled chicken in a dish full to the brim with melted cheese with some tinned potatoes on the side of the plate. No onions, no peppers, no marinade and almost no chicken. This dish would have been better spread on a piece of toast!!

The currys that we chose also had their problems, mine to be honest was lovely " Lamb Paneer" but I didn't have rice with this because my rice was so cold and dry that it looked more like cous cous. It was possibly the worst rice I have ever been served in an Indian restaurant. I heard comments from others around the table about curries being swimming in grease and not being able to taste anything but oil.

Considering the reviews I have read and even the word of mouth opinions from people I really could not believe that this was the same restaurant and will certainately never be risking a night out here again. I think I will stick to EastZeast of Zouk from now on as they are in a different league, in fact my local takeaway is in a different league to Akbars!We have sent this to Akbars but have been ignored.
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Gor
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Thursday, September 10, 2009

This is quite a good place....light years above a typical curry house. The starters are the real stars. WELL above average. Some of the mains are pretty much the same old tired war horses you've had a million times in a million different curry houses....but none are worse than average, and some are quite good.

Overall, I'd say the place is very much worth your custom.

There IS one thing they do here which REALLY annoys me. When you enter they ALWAYS ask you to wait at the bar. Then, after you buy the inevitable drink, they show you into..........an empty restaurant. This is at 5pm, when nobody is yet there. The place does fill up, but this "Let's get the mugs to buy an extra drink" trick is almost enough to put me going to what is otherwise a very nice place.
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Adam Roberts - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Ok we have eaten the only 3 places that do good Asian food in Manchester many times which are the two East to East Blackfriars St ,and the Princess St restaurants which are excellent (Princess St best) but getting back to the Akbar we were down there last week a party of about 10 you could not book a table which we found very frustrating as some of our party had a train to catch we had to wait about 1 hour and you are treated like cattle after you have tasted the other two restaurants mentioned you will see the food is not all that all very similar tastes and cheap cuts of meat used and of course you end up with a massive bar bill if not careful be warned.Come on Akbar lets set the standard.
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Mr Steve Barrow
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Pretty good food in a nicer-than-average atmosphere. That's it, in a nutshell. The service is fast and friendly. The food, to be honest, isn't that much different from what you get at any one of 10,000 curry houses in the UK....but it's perfectly good. The surprise, considering the upmarket decor and ambiance, is that it's quite inexpensive....a nice surprise. I have no problem recommending this place. Just don't expect to be knocked off your feet by the food. Still, I can't really think of any place in Manchester that is any better. I go to Akbar every now and then, as the atmosphere is a MAJOR improvement on the typical tacky curry house.

I sure wish just ONE of these Indian places would produce world-class cuisine, instead of all sending out essentially the same dish over and over and over again.
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Sunday, June 01, 2008