Mughli Charcoal Pit

came here on new years day it was packout.
food came quickly and nice size portions
friendly waiter/​waitresses so service was good.
prices for mains around £8.50 for a curry and £2.50 for a naan.
food was cooked well so overall a firm favourite for me
and am sure i will be back for more.

I lived in Manchester for three months and the only place I went for dinner more than once was Mughli (3 times). If I had had the time and had went there earlier in my stay, I would have gone there more than the 3 times.
Usually I’m not the biggest fan of Indian food. Whenever I have to choose between e.g. Italian, French, Indian or Asian food, Italian is the save choice for me. But that changed here.
Mughli has a very attentive and kind staff. They make sure that you do not need anything — however, some might see them as a bit pushy when it comes to appetizers and drinks, but if you say no, they respect that.
The food is fairly cheap. Every time I went there I bought a main course, rice on the side and naan bread for around 13 pounds. If you can’t eat all your food (which I couldn’t), they put it in a box and you can have it next day. 13 pounds for dinner and e.g. lunch the next day is cheap — especially when it taste as good as their food does!
I can recommend the butter chicken. It is absolutely fantastic. My guess is that everyone would like that dish, however, it is a bit spicy, but not too much.
Go there if you want to enjoy a fairly cheap meal of good quality!

Mughli is not your typical Indian restaurant but it is definitely up there with the best I’ve been to. The food is amazing (I would highly recommend the railway curry), the service is good, its a nice place and I always leave needing to be rolled out of the door. Where I live makes getting there a pain by public transport but it’s well worth it!
Further recommendations on food would include the fish masala, gunpowder chips, tamarind chickpeas and the halloumi menander.

I can’t believe I’ve been living and eating in the curry mile for 13 years and never been here before. Perhaps because it’s quirky Mumbai railway station exterior makes it look closed rather than enticing! Inside however it is modern, busy and vibrant, perhaps the most exciting restaurant I’ve eaten in in Rusholme. It’s speciality — in addition to a more recognisable Indian restaurant fare — is street food from across the sub continent. Food of people on the move, travelling or in need of a quick fix. Hence the railways theme. A refreshing surprise not to just be greeted with popadoms and chutney. Rice and naan never made it to our table as fast cooked tasty dishes arrived in quick succession without being hurried or pressured. We had Pani purri, Paneer Kati roll, Mixed grill, Aubergine mash and a chana side. Filling, exciting and a great sense of authenticity. Friendly and personal service around a fast working kitchen on view to the diners really added to a truly distinctive experience.

Mughli has a reputation as one of the top 2 – 3 Indian restaurants in Manchester. Located on the southern edge of «The Curry Mile» as the city has branded it, saying it’s one of the best just in this area of town is a pretty big deal. After having dinner here I can attest that the food is world class. Had the Sindhi which they list as a regional variation of the traditional Jalfrezi with mixed peppers, green chili (they spell it chilli) and dried fenugreek. Selected lamb as the meat. The lamb was cooked perfectly, tender, moist and succulent. The dish has a bit of serious heat but at the same time the fenugreek gave it a heady sort of flavor punch that really stuck with the dish. A side of garlic rice was laced with hot peppers as well and to drink an Indian lager that was on tap. The entire dish was sort of a pleasure rush of protein and flavors we don’t get in the states. I see clearly why they’re considered a great dining destination, and the place was definitely hopping by 7:00 p.m.
Only down side was service. Although pleasant and helpful it was easy to notice some help standing around while others were clearly stressed. My «chicken lollipops» I ordered for an appetizer never arrived and after some confusion I asked they just cancel the order. Probably for the best as what I had was more than enough. Still, even though the help has the right attitude there clearly seems to be some confusion about sharing the workload – hello, management and owners. Not a major deal, but not worthy of five stars for that reason. You get 5 when you hit *every* cylinder.
Unfortunately I was traveling by myself and my cell phone had broken down so was unable to take photos or check in. The dish was as lovely as it tasted. It’s unlikely I’ll be in Manchester in the near future but for those traveling through, the Curry Mile and Mughli in particular are well worth your visit.

It’s totally worth to visit to Mughli. The food is fresh, really flavorful and so good. Atmosphere and the service are like icing on the cake, making the dining experience even better. To me, most of food there are very spicy but «not Hot «…Flavorful find of spice. I had been there twice in 10 days and if my time allows, I would go there every day to try everything on the menu. Highly recommended place.

Nice food and lovely décor but the service was absolutely shocking! Took 20 minutes to get our food order in (despite asking to order) and other tables being served before us (that arrived after). Took 20 minutes to get the bill after requesting it and was very close to walking out. Won’t be going back which is a shame.

Brilliant atmosphere for a Wednesday night! Interesting addition of their «street-​style» food. Delicious food, definitely contending with akbars!

The other half’s parents came up for the weekend recently, and we hadn’t been to Mughli in a while — so a trip simply had to happen. We had booked in for 8.15 but (unfortunately for me, anyway) we ended up going at 9.15 due to additional people joining our party. However, they were very helpful when it came to changing the booking.
I’d already poured over the menu during the week, so had narrowed down my choices pre-​meal. However, as the others in the party hadn’t been able to do so, I was on the brink of being the hangriest I had ever been. And no, that isn’t a typo.
The far far on the table was okay, a bit like rice cakes with a hint of spice, so I was more than ready for the poppadoms to arrive. I liked the fact they were served individually, so I could quite literally grab a handful and get them down my throat. We shared some items as a table, including onion bahji, halloumi menander, and tandoori chicken. The chicken was really moist and delicious, and I loved the spice in the bahji. The halloumi was my favourite overall, as I still believe the balance between spice and the generally bland cheese works perfectly.
For main, I had the chicken laziz, which was anemic in colour but tasted delicious. It was quite peppery as opposed to spicy, so I regret not getting the chilli & garlic rice alongside. However, the Peter’s Bread helped both mop up the tasty cream sauce and add that extra spice.
Personally, I would give my experience a five, but some of the table had issues with their food (namely the spice levels), and four was the overall rating between the party. All’s fair in love and food, right?

I can’t believe I have left it so long to visit Mughli but I won’t be waiting so long for my next visit. The experience was great from start to finish. First impressions were good as unlike a lot of other restaurants in Rusholme, Mughli is very stylish inside. The menu is also interesting with a lot of different and ethnic dishes to try. I went for the halloumi meander to start, which was delicious. The halloumi had been battered and sprinkled with a few chilli flakes. The ginger dip that accompanied it was very delicate and added a lot more flavour to the dish. The mains were also good, the lentil dahl was light and full of flavour and the chickpea channay was a good discovery that I would have again. Mughli is well worth a visit and is head and shoulders above its competition on curry mile.

GREAT food! Clean, good local beer, perfect cocktails, cool atmosphere, really attentive wait staff. Couldn’t have asked for more.
Had a business dinner here, but would be perfect for a date as well. I had the chicken tikka masala and garlic nan, but my boss had butter chicken and he won. It was fantastic!

A friend from Tasmania and a friend from Byron Bay were in town for the weekend and wanted the full Manchester experience. Craving some curry mile goodness, Mughli was an obvious choice.
The reviews I’ve heard and read were fantastic and the online menu had me drooling even more than usual.
We planned to meet there. It’s pretty easy to find — walking onto the start of curry mile with Whitworth Park on your right, the board outside and slightly less tacky exterior makes it stand out.
I should point out that my friend from Byron Bay, John, is in his 60’s, looks like Santa and is the most calm, softly spoken, peaceful natured person you could ever meet. This information will become relevant shortly.
We entered into the restaurant area to be greeted by a very efficient man. He tried to whisk us off to one of the many available tables before I stopped him and explained that John had booked a table for 4:30 and that we were waiting for him to arrive. We were ushered over to a bench facing the bar.
Another member of staff then showed us to a bigger table and suggested that we wait there with some drinks. So we did. We were given menus, a jug of water and offered poppadoms.
The opening 10 minutes were a bit of a whirlwind. There seemed to be a lot of people around but none of them really knew what was going on. We settled on our table until I spotted John outside.
We had booked the table for 7 people (John had planned on bringing his family but his Granddaughter had been sick just before leaving). After collecting John from outside, we both walked into the restaurant to be greeted again. I explained that this was John and there would only be 4 of the originally planned party of 7 dining. We had already set up on a table for 8, so didn’t see the point in moving. We just huddled at one end.
Before John could catch his breath and well before we’d had chance to say hello properly after 3 years of not seeing each other, another man (perhaps the manager) came over with an ipad and quite bluntly exclaimed that there would be a fee for booking a large table and only half of the party arriving. We apologised. They let us off the fee suggesting that, «it’s OK this once but don’t do it again». Pretty ridiculous really considering John lives in Byron Bay, so there probably wouldn’t be a ‘twice’ and the restaurant was near enough empty, so it wasn’t like they were losing money by us occupying one of the bigger tables.
4 attempts were made in the following 2 minutes to take our order. We hadn’t even looked at the menu! More water arrived for us, which interrupted the long overdue catch up, staff offered poppadoms, someone came to gather the excess menus scattered around the unused half of the table. It was manic.
Once we were ready to order, John softly and slowly listed what he would like with an average-​sized pause in between each item. The waiter saw this as an opportunity to shout «next» and moved on to the next person. I had no idea what he was writing down because it didn’t seem like he was listening to us at all.
Anyway! It’s all upwards from here — we successfully ordered, we were left alone for more than 2 minutes and were excited for our feast.
The Railway curry — Fruity, spicy, tender chunks of lamb.
Peshwari naan — Lovely.
Chicken Saag — was the best I’d had.
Butter Chicken — also, lovely.
Poppadoms & Chutney Tray — I think this was my favourite bit! The chutneys were perfect. A mix of flavours, heats and an ideal way to wake up your taste buds.
The rice was great. It came in little buckets and there was more than enough for 2 people per portion.
Raita was a welcome refresher after forgetting to inhale in between mouthfuls of all of the beautifully spicy curries.
The bill — with 4 curries, 2 rice, 2 naans, 3 half pints of house beer, raita and a take away halloumi — came to just under £70. Not cheap but worth every penny.
I’ll definitely be back. I’ll know next time to devote full attention to the menu, my drink order and watching things fly onto/​off the table before attempting to socialise with my table mates.

I’ve been to Mughli three times now and it’s a firm favourite already. Rather than reviewing each of my three visits, I will talk you through the most delicious things I’ve eaten there.
Fish masala: I find it hard now to order fish masala anywhere else, worried that it won’t match up. Flaky, buttery white fish with bright, sharp citrusy flavours.
Gunpowder chips: Yep, they’re chips and so I feel very Brit-​abroad ordering them in an Indian restaurant but hey. They’re delicious. Perfectly cooked sweet potato fries with a spicy, salty kick.
Halloumi menander: My friend was insistent that she does not like halloumi. I’m selfish and greedy so I ordered it anyway. I loved it. She loved it. Tastes like no other cheese dish I’ve had before.
Railway Curry: If I’m having Indian food I always want a lamb curry, with a dark, deeply spiced sauce that tastes like it’s been cooked for hours. Railway curry ticks all the boxes for me.
Aubergine mash: Like baba ganoush but a million times better. Spicy, buttery, moreish mashed aubergines that taste absolutely awesome wrapped up in a piece of naan/​roti.
Tamarind chickpeas: Spicy, sour and sweet all at once (though incredibly filling — order with caution), cooked with delicious caramelised onions.
Peter’s Bread: Fluffy, slightly chewy naan covered in garlic and chilli. Need I say more?
Service is good, with friendly staff who are more than willing to talk you through the menu and offer suggestions and recommendations. Also if you tweet them before your very first visit (as I did) they’ll give you some tips for ordering.

My visit was a late evening dinner with a friend. Mugli was still having about 15 diners and we were quickly seated. I liked the board which said «No Free Papadoms, No Pets, etc.»
Papadoms were ordered and served with sauces and condiments. Refreshing. We had for starters, Fried chicken pieces with a spicy mint dip and king prawns off the grill. Chicken nicely crisp and crunchy in a mixed spiced batter. The prawns were juicy and well cooked in the marinade. Massive.
For mains we shared a Seafood Biryani and Railway Curry. Biryani came covered with thin bread over the rice. Powerful flavours and low on grease. Fish and tiny prawns accompanied the biryani. Lamb in the Railway Curry was spot on. The sauce was a very thick paste. Would have been a touch saltier than i prefered but I would be tempted to try again with less salt next time.
Service was superb! Thanks Mugli. Be back soon.

Been here a couple times so my rating is based on both of my visits.
My first visit was for a Unilocal event so got to try several different things. Its been a while but I remember trying a fish curry for first time, I think a vegetarian dish, a biryani and a «normal» curry. Some of the food was cooked in the charcoal pit. It all tasted amazing.
My 2^nd visit was about a month or so ago. I had high expectations since my 1^st visit was brilliant. Unfortunately it was as good as the first time. Its still good but not «amazing». The service is OK. They did there best, recommending different dishes etc but we ended up getting the wrong food. Possible someone in our group got one of our dishes we picked but another one never seemed to appear at all.
It was a large group of us — about 18 ish — so can appreciate it wasn’t easy. However, it seemed to leave them flustered. And one of the waitresses seems to be in a bit of a mood!
So my first visit was a 5, second visit a 3 so averages out at a 4.

One of my favourites, if not my favourite restaurant in Manchester!
Mughli is unlike any other Indian/​Pakistani restaurant in Manchester — it’s modern, funky and exciting. The food is consistently great and they are passionate about improving their menu and atmosphere.
For fellow veggies I’d recommend the aubergine mash, gunpowder chips, halloumi, dhum biryani and the tarka dhal (my fave in Manchester — I often order this as a main). The breads and rice are always great too.
For booze hounds try the range of cocktails, they never fail to transport you out of drizzly manchester to sunnier climes… For a second at least! I like the Chilli Rocks and Long Island Lychee.
If you’re not sure what to order, ask the staff and they’ll be happy to recommend dishes suited to your tastes.
One of the few places I can’t stop going back to and never seem to tire of!

Has to be a good choice for anyone, I found possibly the best curry I have had in years here. The street food is really something too. The staff are friendly and provide good knowledge, which is fairly essential these days. My friends all loved our visit here and to be honest I am planning a second visit in a couple of weeks.
The place is clean, and to be honest even the cocktails are something even if a little more expensive than I would normally pay, but for a special event well worth it.
I can’t say enough about how good the butter chicken was.
*Note: there was a couple sitting next to me who complained about how spicy the food was. If I am honest the spicing is amazing even the ‘mild’ dishes taste amazing with distinct flavours and not to much heat. If I had my way I would of recommended the couple go find some fish and chips or something as they clearly just wondered into the wrong place, or maybe they just failed to read Unilocal for a non spicy restaurant recommendation.

Had a super fun time here with the Unilocal Curry Club! Lovely to meet so many nice people.
The menu is very appealing with street food and grill options which means you can small plate it if you don’t fancy a whole dish of curry.
Meal got off to a good start with some great mango lassi (served in jugs: I’m a big fan of beverages that come by the jug) and poppadoms with quality dipping trays with unusually thick raita which prevented me from making my standard terrible mess.
The size of the group had the servers quite flustered and starters arrived haphazardly and, as it turned out, incorrectly. We got our okra fries and halloumi (both very tasty, I liked the spicy crust on the halloumi although it was a little salty) but never saw the bhajis we ordered. However, sweet potato fries appeared instead and tasted delicious — the Indian spice was the perfect twist on these now ubiquitous fancy dining items.
I wasn’t sure what to pick for a main but after saying I liked onion-​based curries and chicken methi is one of my favourite dishes I was recommended the dhaba chicken which is indeed basically a combo of the two. I found it a little bitter and it was also very oily, but then again I ate all of it so it clearly was still decent. I tried some of Andrew Y’s tandoori chicken which was was very moist — good — although perhaps that was a factor in its lack of real depth of flavour. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try the aubergine mash side that had been recommended because we didn’t realise until far too late that it also never turned up. You definitely need at least one naan each if you don’t have rice/​paratha etc because they are not very big. It was also most disconcerting to see the waiter fingering each one to work out what flavour it was as they were being distributed!
Value for money wise, we had a generous discount but generally I think the prices are reasonable. That said, bear in mind that while many of the main dishes are £8.50−9.50 that is without any rice or other sides. You’re probably looking at £20 a head with drinks/​starters.
Overall, Mughli is an above average curry house which is clearly trying to produce quality food and an interesting menu. They definitely need to work on their service with big groups (that’s the main factor in 3 rather than 4 stars) but it’s a safe bet on the curry mile.

I’ve been lucky enough to eat at Mughli twice in a month and both times were out of this world. I have to admit I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy food, and there were some dishes that certainly had me gasping a bit for a glass of milk, but every, and I mean every, dish we were served was utterly delicious.
The interior is decorated to a top quality finish, the staff were fantastic and so the whole experience there was a credit to the owners, a top notch restaurant on the Curry Mile (the benchmark to beat most definitely).
Tip: you could quite easily fill yourselves up on a few dishes from the starter choices (that’s as far as we could manage on our first visit and was the restaurant manager’s suggestion as first-​timers). But on the second time round we reduced the number of starters and tried the main courses too. Ask the staff for suggestions if you’re unsure, they’re more than happy to help.

We went on a Sunday night. There were few people so finding a table was quite easy.
Overall the staff was mixed as far as service goes, some were great, some didn’t seem to care too much — we probably spoke with 4 different people while at the table, one for menus, one for drinks, etc. When we finally ordered our food the waiter was quite helpful and gave us some good recommendations.
The starters were okay. I had the salad which had a big of egg smell to it — off-​putting a bit. The basket of samples was good and all the items were tasty. My friends didn’t like the juices — they were hoping for more fresh-​squeezed varieties, but I had the watermelon cocktail (na) and I only wished it was taller. It was so refreshing and tasty.
The naan was fantastic, esp. the garlic naan. The curries were also a big hit — we had a chicken and lamb (under recommendation) and they were nothing short of perfect.
When the bill came we were surprised that the naan was 3 quid as we ordered 4 servings to cover the 2 curries. This made the meal a bit pricy for 3, coming it at almost 50 pounds. With 2 students and 1 Unilocaler they still wouldn’t accept a 10% discount. Something about that we had to order 3 main courses to receive the 4.5 quid reduction. Kinda silly and off-​putting if you ask me.
Nonetheless, the curry is very good here and worth every P.