Punjab Tandoori

Please read any of the previous reviews. There is not much too add other than
— it is a small place and therefore a reservation is advised
— the interior is inferior
— they have a new shop front which looks more like a computer shop than a restaurant (apart from the fact that letters are missing)
— toilets were very clean
— only one waitress was friendly (the rest was male and between uninterested and overworked)
It gets 4 stars because of its authenticity and food offering.

Been there last week and found completely changed, New interior decoration with best food on curry miles yummy. I am very pleased to have this kind of Indian restaurant in Manchester. Food really taste like proper Indian. I had butter Chicken and garlic naan which taste great. Popaddum and green sauce was superb. Excellent service by staff and very reasonable price. Will recommend to others definitely.

Our favourite on the what is now the shisha mile, trust me we have been in them all, many times.
A family run pukka gen Indian, serving some great veggie dishes too, ok it’s not the Ritz but the food is superb we are rarely disappointed.

OK, I am not the biggest fan of Curry Mile but I do pay a visit there occasionally. Yestrday was one such day when I was craving for Dosa (South Indian dish — crispy rice pancakes with a filling along with chutney and dal) and I heard that this is one of the only places that serve it.
Let me start with the good things as I am tempted to give this place 4 stars for the menu but I can’t because of the taste of the food (will get to that later). The menu definitely impressed me because they did have a lot of authentic Indian street food (Bhel Puri, Papri Chaat, Dosa, Uttamapam) which most places don’t tend to have. I ordered for Bhel Puri, Aloo Tikki and Masala Dosa. The first two dishes are extremely simple to make and they did a good job with it. The staff were friendly and willing to have a conversation with me about how they make it (I have this habit of asking how they make it to sense how authentic the place is, weird I know but the cook in me can’t help it).
Now coming to the things which landed this place two less starts, the glasses were dirty (why? how difficult is it to clean them). Even though the Bhel Puri was good the quantity was absolutely disappointing when compared to the price! The Dosa definitely was not up to the mark (It could have been much better) but the deal breaker was the slow service. I mean Dosa usually takes less than 5 minutes to make because most of the preparation is done from before (like pancakes) and they took 20 minutes to get my order even though I was the only customer there (seriously?).
Verdict: Definitely worth a one time try but I am not convinced if I would like to go there again!

As a vegan in Manchester it was delightful to find such an accommodating place! The food was delicious, I would both recommend it to friends and come here again.

Punjab is South Indian, and therefore unusual on Rusholme’s curry mile which is predominantly Arab and Pakistani.
I’ve eaten here just the once, a pre-​arranged visit at opening time to receive some tips from the Punjab kitchen on how to make idli, and also to sample their idli-​sambar. I’m really grateful to Punjab’s ‘pandit chefs from New Delhi’ for the advice, which I have yet to try in practise, but I could tell that the young cook who spent time with me knew what he was talking about.
However, Punjab idli-​sambar, which came served with coconut chutney, didn’t really hit the spot for me. I’ve been eating a lot of plainer Arab mezze food recently, and wondered whether it was just a case of my palate needing to readjust to the chili and other Indian spices. Then I thought back to the idli-​sambar I’d enjoyed at Tulsi in Bradford
which was much more to my liking — flavoursome, but plenty of milder spices as well as chili. Plus, I’m not really sure what the overpowering flavours of the Punjab sambar were — my server suggested it was the vegetables used in the soup.
Plus, when talking cooking methods, Punjab’s cook told me to skip the natural fermentation process for the idli, and just add one teaspoon of baking soda to the process. Respectfully, dear pandit chef, my understanding is that fermentation of the rice-​urad batter breaks down the starches into something more digestible and is an important part of what makes idli, dosa etc uniquely healthful. The chef actually knows well the traditional method, and gave me helpful pointers on the consistency of the batter (keep it thick), how long to ferment (24 hours in warm weather, perhaps two days when it’s colder) and that if the batter starts to smell bad, then it is overfermented and should be discarded.
Décor and service are both nice enough in the formal Indian curry house tradition. Prices are reasonable enough — around £4 for my idli-​sambar.
It’s dawning on me that this is my first visit a ‘proper’ curry restaurant in a long while. For most purposes, I think I prefer the relaxed ambience of curry cafés or the clean-​tasting mezze and bright décor of nearby Marmara Grill.
Would I come back? Maybe. And trips to other South Indian specialists in Manchester and further afield (well, Bradford or London, at least!) are also in order. In Manchester, Dosa Xpress and Lotus in Northenden are two obvious alternatives.
Disclaimer: Although I’ve reviewed over twenty of Manchester’s curry cafés from my vegetarian perspective, several of the other Unilocal reviewers have eaten (omnivorously) in far more restaurants — see Alfie B’s list for example.

The food was very tasty, the service good, and the prices reasonable. The place was busy as well, which is always a good sign. If I had to make a complaint it would be that the drinks were a bit overpriced. They also pack you in petty tight. I’ve not had much experience with The Curry Mile but I figure I found one of the best spots on my first go-​round.

(Realised that my review of the restaurant ended up on the Unilocal site as a review for the Manchester CMYE (Community Manager Unilocal Event)). For the review of the actual CMYE go here —
I am «re-​posting» this and just editing it so its just about the restaurant.
The main waiter/​owner (??) seemed very laid back with the ordering etc but we may have not made it easy as we didnt really know what we wanted and how much. Think it was OK in the end. Starters came pretty quick. They tasted OK but were very spicy. Poppodums and the chutneys were very tasty but you cant really mess that up! We were wondering how hot the main dishes were going to be since the starters didnt have any chilli symbols next to them in the menu.
When the main dishes came — a bit of a long wait — it was OK as the dishes were not too spicy. I had lamb tikki masala which was OK. Not loads of lamb and nothing special. I also tried the chicken tikka masala but that was pretty dry — as chicken can often be. The rice which was a side dish was, I think, overcooked as it was a bit hard and clumps of it stuck together. It was supposed to be paella rice but was more like boiled race mixed with a tiny little bit of paella rice as it was mostly white in colour.
It was one of those restaurants you can bring your own booze but there was a lack of bottle openers. Maybe we should have bought one along? Some people managed to open with forks or keys or lighters. I tried but ended up cutting my hand! Opps. I had to get a couple plasters and they were nice enough to help me with that.
Another thing to comment on is the toilets. It depends what you expect for a toilet in a restaurant on the curry mile but they were dirty and the lock was a bit iffy. I heard that the lock in the ladies didnt work at all. You would expect also to have some sort of liquid soap in a toilet used by public but it was some old looking bars of dirty soap that looked like it had been there for months!
I wouldnt say I am the greatest expert in curry but I have been to other restaurant on curry mile once and twice and of course curries elsewhere and have certainly had better. 2 stars out of 5 may seem harsh but judging the restaurant as a whole — food/​service/​toilets.

I didn’t want to be the first to break Punjab’s five star run, but I can imagine while others might have reviewed it as part of say a couple or a small group of friends, I’m judging it as one of a large party of almost twenty. And they weren’t too equipped to handle us…
As Andrew Y has rightly said, being squished right up against the wall so that going to the bathroom was akin to doing so in Economy on a flight or at the cinema wasn’t too hot. What was hot, however, was the food, and if I were to break down my review like a full-​on food critic I’d say three stars for the service, five for the eats. There are all sorts of South Indian options on the menu as well as what you’d ordinarily recognise, and some really interesting chef’s specials. But be warned, the starters are not for the faint hearted, and it’s a shame they haven’t given them more of a mass appeal.
My fish tikka sizzler, however, was AWESOME. I would happily eat that every day, whether or not the spices agreed with my system. Hey, I’m sure I’d build up a resistance! Chunks of delicious white fish coated in a bhaji-​esque batter and cooked with onions, served on a hot plate — I was in pescetarian heaven. I took the liberty of dipping my naan bread in the brunette (Alexa G, look her up, people!)‘s korma sauce which I must say is one of the most interesting milder curries I’ve ever tried. And don’t miss out on that peshwari naan. It’s sweet heaven, in fact I’d quite happily have it for dessert, plus it complements the spicier dishes perfectly.
Mostly the service was functional and efficient, if not too friendly, but there were times when we asked for water and obtained it half an hour later, they only provided us with one ice bucket for our drinks claiming there were no others, and surely they had a spare bottle opener in the kitchen. Surely? Still, it gave everyone a chance to show off their lighter/​fork/​teeth skills…
One particular member of staff was very surly and if it weren’t so entertaining, he could have ruined the evening. Asking my lactose intolerant friend whether she was «happy now» when presenting her with the boiled rice she’d requested ages ago, if sarcastic is just intolerable, and if it’s just a phrase that was lost in translation, well, so be it. But it’s not her fault she can’t eat dairy, and she asked nicely!
Overall the food was the star of the show, it was impressive, plentiful and delicious. I’ll be back as part of a smaller group to see if there’s any difference. While Punjab’s grub spiced up my life, its service felt somewhat flaccid. Next time, Akbar it is!

It does seem that the curry mile often values having a lot of curry houses on it over having a few good curry houses on it. New ones seem to come and go more often than a carrier pigeon with dependency issues, so it’s nice to find places that excel and are clearly here to stay.
Punjab Tandoori ranks amongst the top restaurants in Rusholme, with an excellent menu, delicious food, and superb staff. They are more than willing to accommodate any issues you may have and make you all feel welcome, which is a strange thing to have to point out for a business in the hospitality trade, but it seems many places now forget that being nice to customers is a relatively good idea. The prices are slightly higher than elsewhere, but I’d posit that it’s worth paying for excellence.

This place is probably one of the very few places in all of Curry Mile to get a rating of 5 stars! It has the best curry that all of that Mile could offer! Personally, having Indian roots, this place replicated home food to me and I can tell you people, that the cuisine is perfectly Indian and leaves you well satiated. It has the right amount of spices that doesn’t trouble your stomach the next day and also savours your taste at the same time. I would suggest the Chicken do pyaaza– a chicken curry with spices and onion and the Chicken tikka masala to be very much relished under this roof. The starters offers you loads of chic pea salads as well as fried or roasted meat. A definite thumbs up when you’re visiting the Mile and you will leave without a complain!

Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt the best curry house on the curry mile.
I am not a huge fan of curry mile. Much like Brick Lane in London, its reputation comes from quantity not quality. I don’t mean the quantity of curry on your plate but the quantity of average curry houses lining the street. Most of the Indian restaurants along this road are at least average, and I have only once or twice been really disappointed but Punjab is the only place that I would rank up there with the top curries in Manchester, alongside Moon (Withington), The Great Kathmandu (West Didsbury) and Lal Qila (Deansgate Locks).
The best thing to be said about curry mile is that the prices are relatively low and, I have to be fair, this place is a pound or so more expensive than its lesser rivals. If its 10% more expensive though, its 50% nicer. I am a fan of very spicy curries, and I’m forever suffering from the tendency to receive a pot of chopped tomatoes and an obscene amount of chilli as a Vindaloo. This place does a range of spicy curries all brimming with distinct flavours. It also serves more options than most, including my favourite, the white fish Jalfrezi. For me, the nicest individual curry dish in Manchester.
Whilst many of the other curry houses of curry mile all seem to have a large empty characterless feel stemming from their large empty characterlessness, this smaller restaurant is always busier than most and feels family run and genuine. The staff are very helpful and will even make curries not on the menu to your specification. You are also allowed to bring your own alcohol. An absolutely lovely restaurant well worth visiting!

My favourite curry house in Rusholme, been going for years. good vege choice, and seems more substantial and genuine than many of the others here. Its not been done up all trendy, just does what its good at, consistent standards and not too big inside.