Anarkali Indian Restaurant

Anarkali Indian Restaurant

Last night I returned with eight friends to the Anarkali in Levenshulme. Being near Rusholme and pretty rundown (or is that up and coming?) Levenshulme isn't noted for its Indian (or any other) restaurants and on a Monday night we were the only people in there.

The restaurant isn't anything special to look at and their selection is pretty much what you'd expect from a "standard" Indian that is also a take-away. OK, so far I haven't painted anything special, but here's what it has going for it:

• Staff are very friendly and accommodating (OK so we were the only people there and the previous visit on a Friday wasn't very full either - but I think friendliness is a big plus for a restaurant)
• Food was very good. It wasn't 5 star, but compared to other Indian restaurants I've been to I found everything I tried very palatable and interestingly flavoured rather than just hot or bland.
• Good variety of dishes and every style had at least one and sometimes three vegetarian versions, e.g., of the 12 Karahi Specials on the menu one was Mixed Vegetables, one was mushroom and one was Dal Chana (split chick peas and lentils)
• Value for money - 9 of us ate last night most with starters, a bottle of wine and 6 Cobra beers and it came to £76. The previous time we ate the bill for 8 was still less than £10 each with drinks.

On arrival we were given 2 plates of pappadums and pickles, so about 2 each. For starters I had Aloo Kebab (potato with green chillies, fresh coriander, herbs and spices fried with a salad) which were 2 round patties about the size of fish cakes. They were very good, and the herbs really lifted the taste.

Then I had Karahi Mixed Vegetables. The vegetables were potato, courgette, aubergine, etc. and it was served in a mini wok on a little wooden base. The dish was at a very high temperature and the contents were sizzling and spluttering impressively. The mix of garlic, ginger, tomatoes, green chillies coriander and herbs was fragrant and spicy, but still subtle enough to let you taste the coriander and other herbs, warming rather than hot and I enjoyed it very much.

To accompany we had 2 nans and 4 portions of rice between us. I also tried someone's side order of Daal Tarka (lentils in butter and fried ginger and garlic) it had a delicious smoky flavour and I wished that I had room left for more.

One last thing, we tried to order a jug of lhassi but were turned down - as Monday nights are quiet they hadn't set any yoghurt - it's good to know they make their own.

Recommended and good value.

Dave Wardell