Asha’s

We went back to Asha’s early this week and compared to what happened last time, there was a remarkable improvement. For starters, it was a Wednesday night and Asha’s was packed. We were looked after by Sudhir, the manager and Sumit. Both of them had a good knowledge of the menu and the dishes and offered helpful recommendations.
We had a portion each of paneer ka soola and vegetarian kebab platter to start with and got mango-​ginger lassis to drink. We were also recommended to try the dal makhani with the paneer. The dishes were very well made, however I was not a fan of the mustard oil marinaded and grilled pineapple, but that’s just me and my taste buds.
For the mains, we had an artisan bread basket, a rumali roti, a muscat lamb curry, a sub kehkesha (mixed veggie), a hare baingan ka bharta (aubergines) and a jeera rice. I am not a fan of aubergines but based on the general opinion of the family, it was well made. The muscat lamb was amazing and I could go back just for that. I think the bread basket is a nice concept in which you pick upto three different breads (nan, roti etc) to share. The sub kehkesha was excellently made and it went very well with the breads.
Overall we had a much improved experience and it appears they are on the right track as it was evident by how busy they were on a Wednesday night.
I hope they continue to maintain these levels of service and quality in the days to come.

Asha’s sets itself apart as a fine dining and contemporary Indian restaurant and focuses on an intimate dining experience rather than your traditional Indian restaurant.
The interior hints at it’s Asian origins but does not scream it from the rooftops.
Upon inspection of the menu we realised that this is part of a chain of restaurants setup by Asha Bhosle who is a famous singer especially in Hindi Cinema.
The main restaurant upstairs was completely booked and reservations were need which itself is not surprising in Manchester on a Saturday evening though we did arrive quite early (around 6pm) the staff were very accommodating and offered us a table in the downstairs bar ‘BolliBar’ this was very welcomed and we headed downstairs. BolliBar is a little less fancy and intimate than the upstairs seating but is still pleasant.
We ordered the Mushroom Kurkure and Murgh Malai Kebab to share as starters. the kebab was quite tasty being slightly smoky, which made me think it may have at least been finished off in the tandoor and served with an apple chutney. The Mushroom Kurkure was nice but didn’t stand out as much though it had an interesting creamy sauce made with cinnamon which made it a bit more interesting.
We had ginger mango lassi’s with our starters which were extremely tasty, at first you could barely taste the ginger but it came through once you gave your drink a stir and it wasn’t too strong a taste as it can often be if added freshly.
I chose the Muscat Ghost as my main and this was by far the highlight for me. I’m not sure if Muscat in this instance refers to the dessert wine or the city in Oman as I’ve noted since on the website for Asha’s Restaurant that they have several locations in the Middle East nearby to but not in Oman itself. Either way the Ghost did not disappoint it was spicy but not hot and the gravy was rich an moreish and it did have a hint for me of port or a deep red wine but this is likely just the mix of spices used.
There are a few things which meant they dropped to the 3 stars you see which had nothing to do with the food which on it’s own warrants a 4 star rating. Firstly a second round of drinks were brought out to us by mistake. They also made a mistake with the types of bread we ordered with our meals. So its more about a concerning lack of communication between the staff. Now that being said in both instances they happily took the fault themselves and we weren’t charged for these mistakes and in fact we had a second round of drinks without being charged for them and ended up with an extra bread, but in a fine dining restaurant you don’t expect these kinds of mistakes to be made.
The prices were also a little higher than normal though not ridiculous most curries being £15−16 which increases your expectations of the food and whilst everything was very nice it wasn’t spectacular and I have eaten just as well in some well known suburban Indian restaurants at two thirds of the price. This could be explained by it’s city centre location but these factors wouldn’t draw me back in immediately.

I have to say this place really impressed me! Having only been open less than a week it was rather quiet when we visited on Tuesday evening but the décor, the quality of the food and the service were all exceptional. My only criticism would be the modern music in the background as it would be more ambient and fitting to play traditional Indian music.
They’ve clearly spent money on the décor… gold curtains and black and gold tones throughout. The toilets even get a thumbs up! The bar area downstairs is lovely and don’t be fooled as you walk past thinking no one is in there… the restaurant is upstairs tucked away. I ordered a jalfrezi and it was delicious, cooked to the strength I requested and the breads and poppadoms were ace too. The staff were very accommodating and happy to give recommendations. Overall I would definitely recommend this curry house and I will be back when I’m next in Manchester!