Wednesday 23 April 2014

The Great Kathmandu, Manchester.

As I said in my previous review of The Great Kathmandu last year, I've been visiting this restaurant for about 20 years, more or less since it opened in the early 90's. It has been a constant in my life, whilst partners, friends and houses have all changed. In all that time I've been eating the same thing; the Makhan Chara - butter chicken.
I know it's been over a year since my last visit (I consulted my own blog, it's a good record for me as I have a terrible memory). So the Sunday night curry club reconvened for another session, this time on bank holiday Monday, post camping. I was looking forward to this one. After a quick drink in Volta, we went over. It was already half full early doors, we bagged a table by the window, a great place to watch west Didsbury folk walk by.
Poppadoms and beers were swiftly ordered and always a large bottle of Kathmandu lager (made in the UK no doubt). This time, the poppadoms were better than I remembered. They were super crispy and freshly made, but why do the dips have to come in tiny little ramekins; Barbie doll size? With our lot, they were gone in about 2 minutes. 
Service was perfunctory at best, unfriendly at worst but we chose to ignore this and ploughed on to the starters. My choice the Tandoori Chops (£4.70 for half) were probably the best of the bunch, not up to Mughli standards (always a benchmark) but pretty damn good. Mrs Bacon's Boti Kebab (half £3.95) she reported were dry and a bit chewy.
Boti Kebab
Tandoori Chops.
Of the four of us, three of us had similar mains with the same sauce; it's essentially Heinz tomato soup but spicy and oh so bloody lovely and creamy. I've not found anywhere else to match it. It is quite salty, but by the end we were lapping it up like soup using spoons out of the bowls. The chicken was overcooked and dry though. I always have a garlic nan and it's always good, made with proper garlic, a rarity it seems.
Is The Great Kathmandu the best curry house around? No. 
Will I be visiting for another 20 years? Probably.  
6/10.


Great Kathmandu on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. Jinga tandoori starter is fantastic and if you ever break away from Mughli then I can highly recommend Tandoori Chicken Karahi. I prefer it off the bone.
    The Shakshuka Tandoori is my other fav. (Sorry prob spelt incorrectly)

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