Chakalaka — Restaurant in Manchester

(Visited Oct 24) This must have been my fourth visit by now- I love Chakalaka. As well as the mouth-watering biltong, I opted for Chicken Skewers and Meat Soastie (see image). This made for a very filling combo!

Service was, as ever, friendly.

(Visited Jan 23) Chakalaka is often on the Confidentials app, where you can buy a food and drink voucher with a value that’s around double the price (e.g. £25 for £50).

This time around, I went for the Sweet Chilli Bites to start, followed by a Not Dog in a Boerewors Roll with Monkey Gland Sauce, which comes with fries on the side. This wasn’t my favourite dish I’ve ever had there- it was a bit bland and dry compared to others. I don’t think the ingredients of the Not Dog are very exciting, but I wanted to give it a try. For dessert, I had a Milk Tart.

Service was ever-friendly and accommodating. I think I’ll go for a Bunny Chow, next time.

(Visited Jun 2022) My friend and I paid Chakalaka a visit since we had a Confidential voucher: £25 for a £50 spend. Our first visit (in March) was so enjoyable, we bought another voucher (£30 for £50!) and returned in June.

The first time, I got Bangers n Pap with gravy and a side of greens. I also had some Biltong- a bowl of beautifully moreish dried meat.

On the next visit, I started with some very palatable vegetable Samoosas. I wasn’t able to get the Bobotie for my main and so decided on a Paneer and Spinach curry instead. I had this with a side of Pap and the Biltong again. This was a lot of food, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all! You can get a hearty meal for a reasonable price.

The drink selection is extensive for both drinkers and non-drinkers. We had the same server both times- he’s nice and attentive.

I’m looking forward to getting a Bobotie next time.

(Visited Feb 2019)

I came here for a couple of drinks during one of the Happy Hour slots (Sunday to Friday 4pm-8pm) and got a Gin Fizz as well as a Peaches & Cream for £7.50. Nice cocktails at a pretty good price for the Northern Quarter!

They also do snacks if you're...

Great food, great vibe! Traditional South African grub with a twist. Very tasty and good selection!

Edit: 4 years later and we just keep coming back! I've introduced friends here too. The closest I can come to showing a little SA food and culture in England ❤️ the staff are absolutely amazing! And of course the happy hour cocktails are to die for. My favourites are the Rooibos mar-tea-ni (try it! It's sooooooo good) and the pomegranate cocktail. Joburg sunset also gorgeous!

The chakalager is a great beer too on tap and even better on a 2-4-1!

This week though, for the first time in a little while, we were here and not just having drinks but food too. Half price mains from Mon-Wed each week and... Oh. My. Damn.

I was gutted that they'd just run out of the beef ribs as I really wanted to try them! Oh well. Next time! I ordered the lamb bunny chow and it was absolutely GORGEOUS, and I was pleasantly surprised by the flavours! Tasted very reminiscent of traditional Durban curry! The lamb was tender and beautifully spiced and cooked.

Tried a bit of hubby's wors roll and though I'm not a fan of wors (terrible South African I know!) It was actually lovely! Friend ordered the chicken sosaties and they were proper chicken sosaties - chunks of chicken with peppers and onions between. Deliciously marinated and cooked. Gorgeous!

I was a little bummed when I had ordered the beef sosaties in the last and they were minced beef - closer to a shish than a sosatie. Not bad, but not an SA sosatie so made me sad 🤣 Please do the beef sosaties like your chicken ones - cubes/chunks of beef/pork/whatever - the SA way. The chicken ones were gorgeous 👌

Edit: tried the beef ribs tonight and husband had the footlong wors roll. The food is always good but WOW! This was next-level amaaaaaaaazing 🤤🤤🤤

Love love...

We had the “monkey gland” flavoured wings for a starter, consisted of 4 wings which cost £6, I don’t think this was worth £6 honestly. They were nice, 2.5 stars out of 5 but nothing spectacular. They’re literally bbq wings & they could’ve been called exactly that instead of monkey gland flavoured wings lol

I had the Lamb curry for £13 + £2 extra for the lamb, it came with yellow rice that had raisins. The lamb, even though it’s literally sitting in a sauce, was so dry… but the meat was soft. The rice was undercooked and lacked flavour in all honesty. (we got this taken off the bill completely)

The kebab (pork and lamb) was def nice, I think the hot sauce was unnecessary though as the meat was flavoursome.

The service was slow, there was three separate tables that we arrived before, and they received their food before we did so we def had to wait quite abit. The drinks came quickly, which was good. The server with the curly hair was nice and attentive, he (-the bar man ofc) made my cocktail abit more sweeter when requested so I do appreciate that.

We got the curry taken off the hill, I didn’t realise it was 50% off so when my friend had complained about my mushy rice, we were told she’d comp by 50%… but it was alreasy 50% off the entire menu, so my friend complained about that, so our bill went from £37 to £29.50

Wouldn’t come back again, also wouldn’t go out of my way...