Asha’s Manchester Restaurant #Review

Asha’s Restaurant Visit: May 2016

There are a lot of Indian restaurants in Manchester city centre. However, Asha’s restaurant located on Peter Street, inspired by Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle, was the obvious choice, as the restaurant group have an impressive resume and years of experience. WAFI City Dubai in 2002 was the location of their first opening. The Indian restaurant group now have 10 restaurants in 6 countries around the world! Therefore, they must be doing something right. I popped along to sample a Sunday dinner “Indian style” and I can now see why they are “hot” in the restaurant scene.

Décor was contemporary, modern and lavish. Opulent light features were impressive and really set the scene. The colour scheme of gold and deep purple gave the place a luxurious Indian feel. The mix of Indian family traditional yet contemporary theming to the restaurant makes this venue a good place to gather friends, family or hold corporate events.

 

To begin our Indian journey we sampled a selection of starters. The fried poppadum’s served with an impressive selection of home-made vibrant colourful chutneys. Also, the Venison Samosas tasted amazing. They were filled with tender English Country Estate venison, minced with green peas, raisin & spices.

 

 

Main dishes were delicious. Muscat Gosht consisted of Boneless lamb cooked until tender with whole spices in a rich and spicy gravy. The lamb was perfect mouth-watering, soft, and succulent and the spice level was well balanced.

My plus one opted for the Murg Korma that had tender chicken, cooked in a lightly spiced, creamy yoghurt and cashew nut gravy with garam masala. A fabulous choice for people who want an authentic Indian introduction to flavours and light Indian spices.

Barrah Kebab shared by both of us was extremely popular and well received. The dish consisted of Spicy British lamb chops marinated in ginger, garlic, yoghurt, cumin and garam masala. Again, the lamb was tender, fell of the bone and the spice provided a pleasant warm heat to the dish.

Our sides included nann bread, palao rice and Spicy Hand-cut Double Fried Chips. They were crispy, light fluffy and to keep it Indian they were spiced with masala mix.

 

To complete the delicious meal, dessert offerings at Asha’s included The New York Style Cheesecake which had a yummy almond and pistachio base and came with a serving of fresh seasonal fruits. The chilli Chocolate Tart served warm had a gooey chilli chocolate center served with a mango compote and homemade chilli ripple ice-cream.

 

Asha’s successfully create innovative cocktails while keeping true to their Indian roots and heritage. Firstly, we sampled the skilfully crafted Mai Chai that had a blend of Mount gay, wray and nephew, cardamom infused Cointreau, crème de banana and lime juice. Pictured middle was the Pedros cobbler that included pedro ximenez, Armagnac, Asha’s spice syrup and fresh lemon juice. Finally, was the Maharaja’s Mistress that mixed up a delightful sweet and aromatic combination of rose jam, curry leaves infused arrack and rum, balanced with champagne.

Asha Bhosle states that, “dining on delicious food in the company of good friends is the best recipe for happiness”. Asha’s restaurant understands this ethos and dramatically delivers. Importantly at Asha’s, it was not just the company that you dine with that was of significance, but also the people who worked there certainly made the place. True authenticity with heart that gave a homely feel which is at the epicentre of Indian life and culture. The Kumbh Mela Festival held in India is the largest gathering of people on the planet, around 100 million. Watch out Manchester and be prepared with authentic Indian food, drinks and hospitality like this Asha’s restaurant will certainly bring in these kind of crowds.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Melanie xx

Asha’s Manchester, 47 Peter Street, Manchester Central, Manchester.

http://www.ashasuk.co.uk/

0161 832 5309

mcr.reservations@ashasrestaurant.co.uk

Opening Times:

Restaurant:

Monday – Friday 12:00pm – 3:00pm then 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Saturday – Sunday 12:30pm – 11:00pm

Bar:

Monday – Friday 12:00pm – 3:00pm then 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Saturday – Sunday 12:30pm – 12:00pm