Reviews in Manchester

On Saturday night my wife and I were out for a friends birthday party at your restaurant. This was a party of 14 people, one of which was a girl who is connected to your business. Prior to the booking, menus were emailed around the guest list and everyone agreed that it looked nice and a good place to go, with main courses priced between £9-15. This was adorable for us and what we were expecting to pay on arrival. We were greeted and taken up to the bar in the lift by a member of staff, all very nice. The bar and place itself is visually beautiful, for which I congratulate you. I went to approach the bar and was told ‘someone will come to you and take your order’ so we went and sat down. It was about 8.30 and our table was booked for 9pm. Come 8.45 still nobody had come over. We were given a welcome drink which was a nice gesture, but I wanted a beer. I approached a member of staff and said could we order drinks please? She wrote it down and went off. 9pm, still no drinks, I was thinking ‘fine, they’ll probably serve us at the table seeing as its nearly 9’. It gets to 9.15, still no drink, and no call for the table, so I ask again and gets told ‘Its coming’. 9.30, still nothing. 9.40 and we were called to the table, 40 minutes late. So were sat at the table, 14 empty wine glasses and nobody’s been offered a drink. Great start to the evening! Bear in mind this is someone's pre-booked birthday party - and there was no effort from your staff to help us feel valued or important. It gets to 10pm (an hour after the table is booked) before someone asks us if we’d like a drink. I say to your staff that I’ve already ordered drinks, but you haven’t brought them. Oh very sorry, will get those to you now says the girl and walks off ignoring the other 12 people who also had no drinks! Then finally, several minutes later, menus were then put down ( after about 15 mins of us all sat there with no drinks!) …..And guess what…it was at this point we were told it was set menus of £25 per head. Our friend whose birthday it is says to the staff, ‘we don’t want the set menu, when I spoke to you on the phone you said we could order from the normal menu’ - but no, we couldn’t they said. Even the girl connected to the business couldn’t get you to serve us what we wanted! We not had planned on a £25 set menu, it was too expensive for us to be able to comfortably afford. But its a birthday and nobody feels comfortable saying that in front of her. This predicament was both unexpected and unwanted and could and should have been remedied at the time of booking by making it clear to us what was and was not available. So, we’ve got two menus in one menu book, ones a 3 course asian fusion, another a Thai banquet. Everyone wanted something off the Thai banquet menu. But then we get told, no, you can’t order from that one! Why give it to us then?! So, we have a very restricted set menu and suddenly the evenings much more expensive. Now, I love asian food but I admit I’ve never been to an asian fusion restaurant. Tikka masala with egg fried rice etc, hmmm - doesn’t really sound like asian fusion, more like a mish mash of dishes that don’t go! So, at this point we’re complaining to the manager/ manager in charge, where’s our drinks etc? What’s going on with the menu? He was fine and quite apologetic, but this lack of organisation and service was really having an impact on our evening, and my friend who’s birthday it was, was getting annoyed, understandably - almost to the point of tears. We all agreed to have this set menu ( don’t want to make a fuss when its someone birthday). Drinks dribbled in at different intervals, with no designated person serving us, just a very ‘ad hoc’ approach where some people got drinks and others were left waiting. When the food came ( long waits between courses) it was nothing more than average. My ‘duck fillet’ starter featured one small sliver of duck in four tiny individual cold pancakes. It was overly flavoured with mint and was quite unpleasant. Main course was a very small heap of spiced chicken ( chicken supreme it was called) dwarfed on a massive plate which I’d ordered with thai spiced mash. The mash was disgusting, salty, and consistency like Smash or wallpaper paste. That went straight back. My pudding (11.40pm when it arrived) was a horrible piece of bean curd cake with chocolate sauce, it tasted like a wet sponge - foul. Other people’s food went back, underdone steaks, tasteless curries, overcooked rice, unpleasant naan ( I’ve never had naan bread that I’ve wanted to spit out before!)….all in all, horrendous. and people left at the end eating on their own with cold side dishes, unacceptable. I've read some mixed reviews on Vermillion but you can be sure that this is being published on numerous sites, including my own blog which receives more than 100 hits per day. After complaining to the duty manager we had 25% off the bill. But still, for my partner and I this was still representing about £30 more than we wanted to pay. I am afraid to say that this was the single worst dining experience of my life, terrible, awful service and food that would’ve been better from the Golden Village takeaway in Cheadle Heath! The place was full but there seemed to be people sending stuff back around us. A really beautiful venue but 100% style over substance, and a huge waste of our money, not to mention time, over 3 hours at the table and almost a full hour late from the time we booked for (9pm) to the time we were sat down (9.45) and given a menu (10pm). Avoid at all costs, especially if you're in a large party. Chris Jones

Would not recommend this chain, the food was very bland and not the cheapest of places to eat. Great to have an open kitchen but not so great to see your mains waiting before you've had your starters! There are plenty of better restaurants in Manchester

We went to the restaurant twice last week! Its that good. The food is excellent, everything is fresh and its great that most of it is sourced on site. I had a few choices from the specials board, seafood chowder followed by rump steak with a mushroom and tarragon sauce. My boyfriend had the steak which hes claimed as the best hes had, quite a statement. The portions are extremely big so we shared a creme brulee, just lovely but the winner was the homemade shortbread with it. I wish they sold packets of the stuff!

By far the best kofta kebabs in manchester. I had mine with the cous cous salad, yogurt and uber fresh chilli and tomato sauce. Oh and its a restaurant as well. Deniz youre the man

We went on a extremely busy Friday night, great service but the food was far from great. Tough calamari and a disappointing pasta choice, huge portions of sloppy tagliatelle with a awful creamy tomato sauce. My stomach was churning all night! On the positive side we sat near the kitchen and the pizzas looked really good!

My wife and I just happened across the super Turkish Delight restaurant in Chorlton and were absolutely delighted with the food. For my wife it was sword fish kebabs and I had a delicious mixed grill. To cap the enjoyment, the bill came in a little treasure chest containing Turkish delight.

A good, varied menu and exceptional service. Staff were more than willing to help us navigate our way through some unknown dishes. Happy to recommend.

This restaurant is very expensive and the food is ordinary and nothing special. I will not be going again they charge £1.60 for a glass of tap water to clearer the taste of the food from my mouth. The starter took over an hour to arrive and when it did it was 4 small skewers of chicken and this cost £6.50. The main course was no better at £8.50 I had chicken, spring onion and ginger. This was cold and only a little ginger. Not a very good restaurant.

I have been to karims on several occasions and i absolutely love the place.The sweet coloured rice i haven't a clue what it is called and the curried mixed vegetables are fab, i would recommend this place to people who love variety and great tasting foods.

I would not recommend this restaurant. Maybe it is because i am arabic and i know what good arabic food should taste like. The service was terrible and the food was tasteless. I can only imagine a naive pallet would appreciate this experience. Never again!

Went to Loch Fyne in Didsbury last week, was quite busy and had high hopes for the evening... These were soon dashed however by the uncontrollable air conditioning which was blowing either hot or cold air out very strongly directly above us. The starters weren't that great, mediocre soup and rather chewy squid. The lady next to me ordered mussels which must have been caught dead as they were all closed when she got them, this worried me slightly as that was what I ordered too. No need to worry though, mine were brought and they were all open - though sadly for me, they forgot to put any sauce on. The Manager came over to apologise, apparently the chef has just missed the pot out that my mussels were in when he was dishing them out..... my mistake, I thought that they mussels should have been COOKED in the sauce to absorb the flavour. All round the atmosphere was chaotic with sub standard service and food. Beyond hideous.

Great food, relaxed atmosphere and good value. Quite a small menu but lots of unusual dishes to try. Food tasted really fresh and healthy and although the service is perhaps slower than a typical curry house the relaxed atmosphere and the quality of the food mean you don't mind waiting a little bit longer. There is also a selection of homemade puds which are very tasty. Overall highly recommended.

visited this place last week had the scallops and pig cheeks fantastic service was the best I've had in Manchester taking my wife next week for her birthday

One of the best Pizza Express Restaurants I've been to. the food and service was amazing and the restaurant is a beautiful in a great location. Highly recommend to anyone!

We've been going to the Eastern on and off for about 5 years and it hasn't changed much. The food is brilliant and the chaps working there are so nice. The chef cooks the food there and then, there's not pre-made sauces or anything. A lot of Indian restaurants that I've been to simply put cream into hotter dishes to make it a bit milder, but here, you get the sauce you want, without the kick - if that's how you want it. My other half likes really hot dishes and they have no problem sorting that out either. If it's not on the menu, you just need to ask, they really are great. It's really reasonably priced and easy to get to/from with the tram pulling up pretty much outside. There's also a bus station across the road and black cabs outside - if you prefer to have a few drinks with your meal. I would definitely recommend this place without a shadow of a doubt - pretty sure it's my favourite Indian restaurant in the area......give it a try.

Hi just to say as family we got to the Bilash great staff in there kid friendly!! mint food !!!

Go to the grapes on a regular basis, for either a night out or for a family meal. the carvery is outstanding and even a bog standard baguette with chips is melt in your mouth stuff. would definitely recommend to anyone x

Absolutely top class - food is always faultless, with new dishes often added alongside the classics. Service is excellent, staff very professional. I have eaten all over the world, but China Cottage takes some beating. It is always good, never has an off-day - and we've been there plenty of days!!