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Spicy
Hut Indian Restaurant Manchester - reader comments |
| "Excellent
food all around at Spicy Hut and I was impressed
with the service. Poppodums and chutneys were provided
straight away and tables cleared promptly, even though the
restaurant was very busy. The size of the portions
was excellent and the waiters were quite
knowledgable about the menu. The food was served
hot with the plates being warm as well. The sizzler plates
were a real treat. A good dining experience."
-
shahin, manchester - Member since Oct'09 (9/11/09 - visited
on a saturday evening) |
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| "We
visited Spicy Hut on a late Saturday evening after going to
a concert. We were hungry and I have heard the Spicy Chops
were great so we decided on this place. The Spicy Chops were,
as expected, really nice, very tasty, but I can't say
that for the rest of the menu. We ordered Chicken Jalfrezi
and Chicken Balti, rice and naan bread, in addition to the
chops. The chicken in both dishes was overcooked and falling
apart, and the pieces that were intact were very small - I
have been to many Indian restaurants and never had such small
portions. The Jalfrezi dish contained far too many chillis
than is normally used in this dish. The naan bread was very
average and the presentation left a lot to be desired. We
didn't get any wipes for our greasy hands, which again I have
always been given at an Indian restaurant. The staff were
friendly and we had no problems with them. On the whole, I
would say it's a place to go if you are so drunk that you
can't tell the difference between a good and less than average
restaurant, or if you are on a budget - but there are loads
more restaurants on the Curry Mile of equal standard. The
lamb chops are the only things I would go back for." -
tina k, stockport - NEW MEMBER (28/6/09 - visited late on
a saturday evening) |
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"If
I hadn't seen Spicy Hut regarded as one of the top 15 restaurants
in Manchester on Restaurants Of Manchester, I wouldn't have
dreamed of giving this place a review. In fact, I wouldn't
waste a review on any 'restaurant' in the Curry Mile. It'd
be akin to judging the quality of a Burger King, a Mcdonalds
or a Pizza Hut. You just don't eat there because of the quality
of the food. You eat there because it's cheap, quick and convenient.
Lets face it, the only reason you would go anywhere near the
crime against tastebuds that is the Curry Mile is because;
(1) It's cheap. Marketed towards the huge population of skint
students who gorge on Subway, KFC and Pot Noodles and have
a palate as refined as a barrel of crude oil. (2) They're
open as late as your average kebab shop and you're not left
with the washing up or the stale morning after smell associated
with a take-away. (3) You can take your own booze. Enough
said.
So while I have nothing horrendous to say about Spicy Hut
as a whole - the service was quick, the portions
were OK and the decor wasn't too offensive - there
is actually nothing particularly good to say either. It's
just your typical 'meat and sauce' establishment. Not the
best quality meat combined with not the most imaginative sauces.
The huge empty jars of Pataks curry sauces left outside the
majority of these restaurants for the binmen to collect the
following day are testament to this fact. The meat was a little
dry and overcooked, the sauce was the definition of mediocre
and I'm quite sure that I have never seen so many chick-peas
in a curry in all my life!
If you want a take-away quality meal for under a tenner, that
you can eat at 1am while drinking your own beer without worrying
about the washing up; go for it. If you would like a quality
Indian restaurant that you wouldn't be ashamed to introduce
people with a more refined palatte to, then spend a few pounds
more, prepare to make a reservation, leave your cans of Carling
at home and book a table at any of the Indian restaurants
in Manchester city centre.
One of the best restaurants in Manchester? The Spicy Hut isn't
even one of the better restaurants on the Curry Mile" -
'max fine' 14/6/09 (visited on a thursday evening) |
|
| "Food
magnificent and staff extremely friendly. We go
back time and time again because it's so consistently good"
-
eric craven, wallasey 14/12/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
|
"We paid a visit to the Curry Mile last night, as we had a
friend in town, and every visitor wants to see Rusholme, as
part of the experience of seeing town, and I can see why,
as it's unique, and is indeed an experience.
In anticipation of this visit, I looked on Restaurants Of
Manchester to see which was the most suggested curry house,
and the small, Spicy Hut, right at the start of the
Manchester end of the curry mile, was the chosen one, and
had very few bad reviews on here.
However, from the off, there was indeed nothing bad, but
also, nothing particularly good either. That's the story
here, as with pretty much every place on the curry mile these
days. Reliant on location, not food.
We were given poppadoms and dips without ordering, which is
fine, although I didn't see the bill, so I'm not sure if we
were billed for these. If so, they shouldnt be given to you
without being asked. If they are freebies, then that's great,
and brings back the good old days of Rusholme, where everywhere
did this, before the students cottoned on and started going
for the free poppadoms and then leaving!
Anyway, the decor is very DIY, tidy but a tad tacky,
complete with fish tank, and cheesily patterned crockery and
really is a throwback to curry houses of the mid 90's.
If traditional, old school Indians is what you like, then
this fits the bill in terms of appearance. Personally, I find
it like being in a time warp, and is semi comical.
Our starters of Chicken Shashlick and Fish Tandoori were fine,
well cooked, tasty enough, and no problems at all. Nothing
notable or special, but fine enough. One point is that
the mushrooms in the shashlick seemed tinned, which was disappointing.
The mains of jalfrezi, samber and bhuna were a similar story.
All OK but nothing to note of. My jalfrezi had a lot of peppers
and onion, which was nice as a lot are just very saucy, and
the fresh chillis were good aswell. The Samber was OK, but
very saucy, tomatoey, and the chef clearly got carried away
witih the tomato puree, to the point that it almost tasted
like half Indian, and half Italian. Finally, the bhuna was
nice enough, very saucy, again a just a little tomamtoey,
but no real issues.
We didnt order the 'trademark' sizzlers, but saw a couple,
and whilst it drawed attention, seeing your meat and veg being
flambeed at your table, whilst being a novelty, surely won't
really add to the flavour, and the sauces to go with it will
be the same as the other curries in there. Perhaps I shouldn't
comment on somthing I only saw, and didnt taste, but novelty
does come to mind, a bit like the fish tank.
The whole bill for 3, including drink each, was £45,
which is cheap, but no cheaper than anywhere else really.
The staff were attentive, very friendly, and overall,
no problems at all and a nice bunch of lads.
So, across the board, this place really is very average,
like everywhere on the mile. The only reason to go to
Rusholme these days, is for the experience of the Asian culture,
and the bright lights, not for the food.
A very average, but acceptable 3 our of 5" -
Chris Handley, Salford 30/8/08 (visited on a Fri eve) |
|
"We
went here to celebrate my daughter's 20th Birthday - but
low key. The reception was excellent and while it
is a fairly small restaurant we got a table straight
away. I chose this restaurant based on the reviews on this
site and the restaurant website. I did think that if it
looks too good to be true then it probably is. How wrong
I was. This is the best Indian restaurant I have ever
been too and, I mean, ever! The service, always an issue
in Rusholme, was superb and some of our so called five star
restaurants could take some lessons. The speed and efficiency
of the service, married to a terrific sense of fun made
this a great night out for everyone. The menu is great
as it goes into detail about how the sauces are made and
not having multiple listings for different meats as others
do. This means that you concentrate on what is important
in Indian cuisine - the taste. Superb! However it
gets even better - the sizzlers! This is meat that is flambéed
at your table and then you choose your own sauce to accompany
it. I'll be having this again and again and again and again!
As you may have gathered, we are already planning on going
back as soon as we can and, at these prices, that will be
sooner rather than later. I can't recommend this place to
you enough. It is truly out of this world!" -
roy calder, glossop 11/8/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
|
| "Went
to Spicy Hut by comments on this web site. Very disappointed
with the food, it all looked and tasted the same. Won't
go back" -
pauline smih, newcastle 9/8/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
|
| "Visited
the Spicy Hut based on reviews from this site. These proved
to be incredibly accurate. Decor not much to shout about
but what a meal. The sizzler range is a must. The
waiter even warned us when we had clearly ordered too much
food. He was right and I was wrong. The mixed meat starter
was ample for both of us and a nan bread would have been wasted.
Value for money is outstanding" -
barney clegg, bothel, cumbria 20/7/08 (visited on a friday
evening) |
|
"Whilst
there are many curry houses in Manchester, Rusholme has
the biggest reputation thanks largely to the huge concentration
of restaurants in such a small area. Sadly, most of these
are little more than glorified fast food joints in need
of a paint job, the money for which has been spent on the
bright neon lights outside instead. Aimed solely at bargain
hunters, students and drunken late night revellers, they
do battle with offers of free drinks and poppadums. This
is where Spicy Hut shines brighter than the glowing neon
lights that surround it. There's no need for incentives
to get you through the door, in fact prices are slightly
higher than many on the Curry Mile. Focus here is aimed,
rightly, on the quality of the food with curry connoisseurs
and those 'in the know' quickly becoming regulars.
To start with,
Spicy Hut provide good quality Indian Salad and Popadums
- none of your usual Rusholme brown lettuce and soggy Pops
here - and the menu card is very descriptive, detailing
the exact ingredients for each dish and offering a 'Spicy
guide' for curry novices, with choices of 'Very Mild', 'Mild',
'Sweet and Mild', 'Medium to Mild', 'Medium', 'Hot', 'Hot
and Sour' and 'Very Hot' dishes. There's also recommendations
for curry beginners (Spicy Hut's Special Corma), heart patients
(Garlic & Ginger curries) and weight watchers (the Sizzlers).
There's Pakistani specialities that can't be found elsewhere
in town, whilst their famous Handi dishes won them National
Curry Chef awards.
The staff have
a great sense of humour and make you feel very welcome.
They're also very helpful if you need any further assistance
with the menu or dishes tailoring to your requirements.
For those less-adventurous souls in your group, European
dishes like Fried Scampi, Fried Chicken, Omelette and Fish
Fingers can also be ordered.
Being fully licensed,
there's plenty of (mainly bottled) beers to choose from
with a pint of draught Cobra at £2.90. There's also
a reasonable choice of wine, each bottle reasonably priced
(£9.50 for Jacob’s Creek Shiraz for example).
The trademark Sizzling
Flambees are worth the journey alone, both for taste and
spectacle. On our visit we opted for a Lamb Shashlik Sizzler
with Badami Passanda sauce (£9) and a Chicken Shashlik
Sizzler in Spicy Hut’s Special Korma sauce (£8.70).
Both were cooked to absolute perfection, the process assisted
by pouring alcohol over the dish at the table and then setting
it alight.
The portions were
extremely generous (8 large pieces of meat for both dishes)
and we found ourselves unable to finish the Pilau Rice (£1.60)
and Garlic & Cheese Naan bread (£2.60) we'd ordered
as side dishes. As the sauces come seperately, the Sizzler's
are ideal for those who are not big curry fans or for those
on a diet. Talking of which, we should go on one after last
night's feast!
Whilst it may
not be as swanky as it's city centre rivals, the food is
certainly better than most of them. As the Curry Mile can
be very hit and miss, it's important to visit the right
restaurant. To fit that bill, you can't get much better
than Spicy Hut!"
-
Restaurants Of Manchester 27/9/07 (visited on a Weds, after
11pm) |
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