Dishoom Manchester — Restaurant in Manchester

I want to sincerely share my insights and high light that Rafał (Polish guy) and Zoe (Oxford girl) are the reasons why I love this Dishoom and why I keep coming back regularly.

I met Rafał accidently - I was originally looked after by another waiter, when my egg naan arrived, which was different in taste than the ones I had before. The difference struck me to the point I started to look at the inside of my naan - here comes Rafał who spotted my "concerns" from distance and even though he had his section he approached me to check if all was okay. It appeared that my naan was served with extraordinary amount of cream cheese. Rafał obviously offered me a replacement if I was not happy, which was super kind but I was okay to keep the naan. Just at first I was a bit surprised to what I was accustomed to but it was still tasty! Next time in Dishoom I met Rafał again - on this occassion he was actually my server and he remembered what I had to drink last time and he asked if I want it this time too. That's a spot on!

Zoe - is so gorgeous, she was my server a couple of times and each time the experience was great! She is incredibly kind, chatty, I have impression she perfectly knows the menu and what to offer or suggest - And she talks about it with great passion.  She seems very genuine to the point she will try to engage in conversation or ask what are your plans for today and will try to find a common point, giving you some hints about e.g. what is worth seeing in Manchester (if let's say she talk to tourists). She impressed me so many times I can go on and on with examples.  This week I saw her 1st time in 2 or 3 weeks time ago and she remembered that at the time I was to have a dinner at Dishoom with my bf and she asked me how did it go. Same time I was a bit in rush sipping my chai and she asked if I would like to have it to go. - I'm speechless. Absolutely smashing it!

Rebecca or Mikheila - apologies in a any way lady in purple-pinkish hair and glasses? She was my server once when I dined with my bf. Despite the obvious of being super kind and attentive, she actually offered to taste all 3 curry sauces and to split the cheese part as I was so unsure which to order. Absolutely great touch and would not expect that. At the end she gave us 2 breakfast cards as a Bday treat. Wonderful!

These are absolutely the best servers I ever met in my life! I admire them and these kind of people I'm happy to tip and keep on coming back!

"The devil is in details". And the fact these guys pay attention to it, even in the middle of being freaking busy, they still keep a smile on and engage in conversation which naturally. They deserve a payrise or some really...

First time visiting here and was certainly not disappointed! Managed to book a table on the same day we wanted to go. The staff were all friendly and efficient. Our waiter advised that we have three plates each - one from the small plates, then one from either the grills or Ruby Murray or Biryani section then one from either veg side dishes or bread and rice. Me and my partner were a bit apprehensive as we thought the dishes would be tiny portions but they really weren't! We had 5 plates in the end which was more than enough. We started with the chilli chicken small plate which was delicious, it is spicy but it has such an array of flavours you could not stop eating it. The pieces of chicken are small but the flavours more than make up for it. Then we had the tandoori chaat which was also tasty - chunks of pineapple and potato with padron peppers - so many different tastes and textures. I had the chicken Ruby curry which was amazing, I don't like spicy curries and this was mild so it was perfect. The flavours were incredible and it was so rich with big chunks of chicken which was cooked to perfection. My partner had the Mattar Paneer which I tried a bit of - this again was absolutely delicious and rich in flavours with perfectly cooked paneer. We had the cheese naan and steamed basmati rich - it was the perfect amount to share. We unfortunately did not have enough room for pudding! There is complimentary tap water given when you first sit down or bottled at a cost. We did try a cocktail each - I had a Bombay Bellini which was okay - I wasn't blown away by the flavours so I probably wouldn't choose this one again as I don't think it's worth £11.50 personally. My partner had the 1948 Sour which he enjoyed - I tried a sip and it had really nice flavours which were not overpowering - definitely worth the price. Bluelight discount is not offered here but you can have unlimited House chai which is warming and comforting. The spice definitely gives you a nice kick in the throat! Coming here was a birthday treat for myself which my partner highlighted on the booking - the waiter gave me two free drinks cards for our next visit up to the value of £15 each which was a lovely gesture. We will definitely be trying our local Dishoom in Birmingham next! There is a 12.5% service charge added to the bill automatically - it is optional so you can ask for it to be removed if you wish. There are toilets available downstairs which...

The food was fabulous, as always, but our experience was greatly diminished by our server, ruining a special lunch occasion with my parents. I wanted to bring them to my favourite restaurant in Manchester - and although every dish was incredible, and we loved the decor and vibe, at this price point I would likely recommend just ordering takeout next time.

The front of house staff were great and friendly - we were quickly seated. The first things we ordered from our server after a brief spiel about the menu: tap water, a round of drinks and a starter dish. After she tapped our orders and mains, we basically never saw her again until she brought us the cheque over our dirty plates. She never brought us water (even though I asked her politely again), did not check on us once after we received the food (whatever happened to a simple - “how is everything going?”), and we never received our starter although the chutneys were brought out - but she still tried to charge us for it!

I also want to note the cafe was not even half full and there were plenty of staff on duty. I could see her chatting away with the other staff and gazing off while I was literally waving down the other servers passing by to request water! If you serve spicy food, shouldn’t you make sure your customers have drinks throughout their meal? She was, however, very attentive to a group next to us, cleaning their plates between courses and after their meal (they even got the opportunity to order a second round of drinks!). You can see in the photo their table on the left vs ours well after the end of our meal.

When I asked her to remove the starter from our cheque and mentioned I was a bit disappointed to literally have to beg for water, she did not seem bothered at all to apologize for forgetting so many things and laughed. I worked as a server for 8 years and have never, EVER, refused to pay a service charge until that moment. I’m also appalled that with an optional 12.5% service charge on the line (that I assume also goes to the kitchen, front of house), it wouldn’t be a priority to ensure guests have good…service. Based on the story of Dishoom and upscale sociable cafe setting, I would think checking in on your guest satisfaction isn’t an outrageous expectation.

I am unsure if I would return based on this experience. As much as I love the one of a kind black dahl and “Manchester” lamb briyani, not worth it unless you come prepared to be dehydrated...