Spicy
Hut Indian Restaurant Manchester - reader comments
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"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) |
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"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!"
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roy calder, glossop 11/8/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"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) |
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"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) |
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"Best curry along the curry mile. Can't fault it
- go every week nearly " -
sally, manchester 19/4/08 (visited on a sat evening) |
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"I am a regular diner at Spicy Hut and I have tried almost all the
dishes on the menu, whereas the general curries are ok but
the speciality (traditional) curries are fantastic, as are the sizzlers.
I only recommend my friends to try the speciality curries" -
sam, stockport 15/4/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"The owner, Shep, is excellent, as are the staff. Food exquisite
and service brilliant! Always a warm and friendly
welcome. Have tried many different restaurants but none compare
to The Spicy Hut. Outstanding as per usual!" -
keith durrington, salford 22/3/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"A great place to go. Food was like it was cooked
by my mother!" -
ali chaudri, stockport 19/3/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
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"A lovely warm and relaxed feeling inside with a good selection of
drinks, a wide selection of dishes and cooked
to perfection. You will feel at home for comfort and feel
like you are being treated to a top notch meal with
the food! I would highly reccomend it to everyone" -
ben chudleigh, manchester 14/3/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
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"Always great food and drink and the staff
are great. Takeaways are also great!" -
jackie barnes, rusholme 1/3/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"I have, with friends and family been visiting the Spicy Hut for the
last 9 years. We have not tried any other restaurant in Rusholme because
we have found the best. We are constantly recommending
the place to other people. When my friends come over from the U.S.
to Manchester, that's the place they have to go. The Lamb Chop Tikka
is a must! Delicious. There are varieties of starters and curries
for all our different tastes. We have never been disappointed... Excellent!"
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Ray Leech, Stockport 12/2/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"Was recommended by colleagues. It turned out to be a wonderful
experience. Well recommended!" -
usman saleh, bolton 10/2/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
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"We travelled from Macclesfield and come every week to the
Curry Mile and have to admit that this is one of the best.
I didn't know what to expect but was very pleasantly surprised. Definately
recommend to try!" -
dousth miah, macclesfield 4/2/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"Me and my partner visited the Spiy Hut on a busy Saturday and we
had to wait for 15 minutes for a table but it was worth waiting for
as we really enjoyed the food, especially the Chicken
Handi. I have never been to a restaurant where the service
is so fast. Sat down and there were popadoms, it felt as
if we were regular customers." -
carl, stockport 29/1/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"Excellent and very, very friendly, they make everyone
welcome and we travel 36 miles in total to eat there, thats well worth
the distance." -
Tony Whitworth, Glossop 25/1/08 (visited on a friday evening) |
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"Good food if you order the sizzlers. Other than
that the curries are quite standard for Rusholme.
They charged us twice for the drinks, which seemed
blantantly done on purpose. A bad end to what was a good night." -
gareth brice, manchester, 9/1/08 (visited on a tues evening) |
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"The food is excellent, The staff are extremely keen
to assist at all time. Very hygienic and great value for money.
Simply a great evening all round. Just go see for yourself... You
will not regret it." -
james o'shea, stretford, 8/1/08 (visited on a monday evening) |
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"Great food and atmosphere also quick service. A
bill with mints to cool off." -
mohammed iqbal, huddersfield, 8/1/08 (visited on a sat evening) |
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"A friendly and relaxed place to eat a decent meal
with good sized portions." -
mrs awan, birmingham, 7/1/08 (visited on a thursday evening) |
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"We were walking down Wilmslow Road's Curry Mile corridors and was
annoyed by being approached by every restaurant to come in. As we
passed Spicy Hut, we were not approached and it looked lively
inside so we decided to give it go and were glad we did. We were impressed
as we sat down the popudoms were brought straight away and for free,
we just then only had to pay 50p per head for the dips. Our order
was taken and when we received the food it was very tasty
with a generous portion. (Chicken Mesti for me and my partner
had Lamb Handi). It has become one of my favourite restaraunts to
visit in future" -
carl edwards, manchester, 29/12/07 (visited on a friday evening) |
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"Friendly service and clean restaurant, with added
humourous touch for our youngest child. My wife received a free wall-clock
as a Christmas Present, which, as we are not local and our first visit
was a lovely touch. We were made very welcome" -
peter hill, coniston, cumbria 6/12/07 (visited on a Weds after 11pm) |
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"We came to the Spicy Hut from the web site recommendations, and can
report we were not disappointed. Excellent top notch Indian
fayre" -
richard, macclesfield, 19/11/07 (visited on a Sat evening) |
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"Great food, cooked perfectly, my partner was also
very impressed, she cant wait to come back" -
james davis, manchester, 16/11/07 (visited on a Sat eve) |
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"I'd heard really good reviews about this restaurant but can be quite
hard to please when it comes to a good curry. This place lived
up to the excellent reviews. It was the best Indian
food I've ever tasted and we were made to feel very welcome.
We arrived about 6pm but by 7pm and they were queuing to get in -
a good sign! The waiters were partucarly nice to my 9 year old son,
making a fuss of him and checking he was ok. The chef even asked the
waiter to check that his food was cooked as he liked it and wasn't
too hot for him. The Handi was amazing as was the Tandoori Fish Sizzler.
Portions were enormous. Although I live about 15
miles away this restaurant is definitely going to become a regular
for my family. Thank you Spicy Hut for a great evening! I've never
reviewed a restaurant before but this one was special enough to make
me do so" -
Katy, Cheshire 5/11/07 (visited on a Sat eve) |
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"Friendly relaxed atmosphere, excellent food,
clean and value for money. You get
what you pay for. Taking everything to acount it was a wonderful experience!"
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Farhang Afsarpour, Didsbury 25/10/07 (visited on a Thu eve) |
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"I have been coming to the Spicy Hut for six years. Every meal has
been fantastic. When I asked Sheps how he managed
to keep the quality so high, he said, "Our test is: if we could
not eat the food ourselves, then we would bin it and start again".
With a quality standard like that, how can you go wrong? I now live
in Austria but still visit the Spicy Hut whenever I am back in England!"
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Steve Buckel, Braunau-am-Inn, Austria 20/10/07 (visited on a Fri eve) |
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"Well everything went quite nice. We were served
free papadoms but had to pay for the dips and salad. Service
was quite good and one of my mates also ordered the Paddy's
Special Sizzler which was a massive portion and now I know why its
called Paddy. The most amazing thing I saw was the way the waiter
flammed it, the whole sight was amazing. I also recommend to most
of my mates to go there and give it a go" -
Andy, Wilmslow 17/10/07 (visited on a Fri eve) |
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"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!"
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Manchester Restaurants 27/9/07 (visited on a Weds, after 11pm) |
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"Very good Indian restaurant with friendly
staff and wonderful Sizzlers. And if you don't like the Sizzlers
hot you get advised to choose one sauce to go with it (to cool it
down)" -
Ingun, Manchester 27/9/07 (visited on a Tues eve) |
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have tried many curry houses in Rusholme, and although we've found
a few decent ones, this is the only ont that stands out as excellent.
All the food is fantastic, and never too
greasy. The rice is perfect, especially the Lahori fragranced
rice. My only minor niggle is that the hottest dish on the menu is
a vindaloo and it isn't particularly hot. However, it is the tastiest
vindaloo I've ever had, so I can excuse the chef. I'm also sure they
would add extra chilis if I asked. Try the Handi or the Achari" -
Mike, Manchester 30/8/07 (visited on a Fri evening) |
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