Lahori Butt Karahi — Restaurant in Manchester

If you want the short version - DONT BOTHER!

The full story below is for anyone who wants to know why! The food can't be faulted, it's tasty and if it was served together whilst it was hot it would be a really nice meal. The service, however, is terrible to put it kindly. The little man with the big ego who I'm guessing is the manager of the place has zero customer service skills. As soon as you walk in, he stands there like a security guard and as though he's confused as to why you've entered the premises. It's almost like they don't want you in there. We went in twice for a take away and once to eat in and every single time we tried to ignore the service,also gave them the benefit of the doubt that sometimes we can have a bad day,since the food was nice and its a local place to us however its instilled in their behaviour and there is no excuse for that.Its not that nice that you tolerate the lack of professionalism and service when your paying their unreasonable prices!

I'd have let this slide, but the last experience made me write this review. Firstly, we walked into short man who was again like the other 2 times just confused why we were there, told him I'm here for a takeaway and then I managed to get to the till. The guy behind the counter took ages to take a simple order and then gave me 2 totally different prices!Upon asking for salad and sauce - enough to cover the meal which previously was for a big family meal with barely any sauce- I asked for there to be sufficient sauce as I previously ordering just £30 worth of kebabs and then naans and chicken tikka and last time I was given 2 of the smallest dips I'd ever seen with such a big meal, to which he sarcastically nodded, I went on to say I will pay for the sauce if its an issue but just make sure I get enough to go with the meal.

The girls at the counter, the short one with glasses and tall one with attitude were both stood in the kitchen area listening to the order and then started laughing when i mentioned the salad and sauce from last times order- you'd think they'dapplogse for the inconvenienceand rectify it this time but thats clearly not their business ethic. The 2 women stood there giggling like school girls, I'm not sure what was funny except their faces and the fact that they didn't understand a single word that was coming out of my mouth!

Once the order was ready I paid for the food and noticed an extra £3 charge, I asked what that was for and he said " you said you'd pay for the sauces", I asked how much sauce he gave me, he gave me 2 imli and 2 yoghurt sauces in them mini containers and then charged me for a shady salad and the extra 2 yoghurt sauce -£3!! It's not the £3 it's the principle, how are you charging so much for the kebabs and then charging £3 for an "extra" shady salad and 2 tubs of the sauce!!Atleast make it enough compared to the order and then if I ask for extra feel free to charge me but it should be sufficient and come with the order just like it does at every other take away I woildnt need to ask or pay extra!! You'll see in the pictures that with the amount of food we ordered you'd think the amount of salad and sauce we got would come with the meal but that's what I got after paying the additional £3! It's not about the money, its about the principle, and these guys are clearly taking advantage of people regularly,that's why he so comfortably asked for the payment!

It's a shame that the service from the moment you walk in is an absolute shambles, if you can work it out from this last experience I'd like to make it clear that the eat in experience prior to this one was similar, the food is lovely if you can tolerate the side of attitude and absolute dumbness that you get for free, personally I wouldn't set foot in there again. I've left reviews on many many places, I'm a regular Google reviewer and always try my best to find the positives in every place, but this one is an AVOID. There's many alternatives on the same strip as these guys, use your...

Extremely Disappointing Service at Lahori Butt Karahi, Cheetham Hill .

I was really looking forward to visiting Lahori Butt Karahi with my wife for a weekend meal, but the experience turned out to be incredibly disappointing due to the shockingly poor staff behavior. We arrived to find the restaurant busy, which is understandable, but what wasn’t understandable was the complete lack of any system to handle customers. No one greeted us, no one explained the wait time, and we had no idea whether we should wait in a line or give our names for a table.

There was absolutely no guidance, and it felt chaotic. A simple solution like a waiting list or even someone acknowledging us when we walked in would have made a huge difference. Instead, we stood awkwardly in the way of the waiters, who didn’t seem to care that customers were lost or confused. What was worse, the waiters appeared frustrated, indifferent, and frankly rude. No one was smiling, and they didn’t seem interested in making anyone feel welcome. It was as if they were doing us a favor by allowing us to be there.

After standing around and hearing countless “excuse me” from staff who were clearly annoyed by our presence, we finally managed to get a table. But the experience went from bad to worse. The waiters looked like they’d rather be anywhere but there—no engagement, no hospitality, just cold and mechanical service. The attitude was, frankly, appalling. We understand that it was a busy night, and the staff must have been tired, but this was beyond that—it felt like we, as customers, were a burden to them.

The final straw was when a staff member named Hannan (wearing a blue shirt) approached us after we had barely started eating and asked how the food was. Before I could even finish giving my feedback, he bluntly told us to hurry up and finish our meal because other customers were waiting for our table. This was incredibly rude and made us feel as though we were being pushed out of the restaurant as quickly as possible. We had barely spent 15 minutes at the table with food!

The entire meal was ruined after that. It’s hard to enjoy your food when you’re being made to feel like an inconvenience. The food, while good, suddenly felt heavy and unappetizing as we felt rushed and unwanted. We packed our food, paid for the meal, and left to eat in our car, feeling absolutely disrespected.

I understand that restaurants get busy, but basic courtesy and customer service should never be compromised. The staff at Lahori Butt Karahi showed no effort in managing the situation professionally or treating customers with respect. A little bit of organization and kindness could have completely changed the experience. Unfortunately, this left a bad taste in our mouths, and it wasn’t the food that did that—it was the unwelcoming and rude behavior of the staff.

We traveled all the way from Bolton, skipping hundreds of desi restaurants along the way, just to eat here and enjoy a special meal. Is this how you treat customers, by rushing them and asking them to leave so you can give the table to...

Where do I begin? Firstly, the waiters need to be trained to actually greet people who walk in. Secondly, the waiters need to either speak in Urdu or Punjabi (sorry, English speakers – not a great place for you to come!). I initially ordered 4 chicken biryanis, 1kg Karahi lamb, and told my "waiter" to go easy on the oil and add fresh green chillies, along with 8 naans – I had some guests coming over. I then asked for tea, which was on the menu, and was told they don’t sell it. I pointed at the picture in the menu, and the hesitation in preparing a cup of tea, which I was willing to pay for, left me confused. I spoke in Urdu and then waited. After 5 minutes, I was told only a portion of biryani was available. Pilau? Nope.

Okay, so my order was changed to just 1 biryani, with the rest remaining the same. Then I waited. Twenty minutes into waiting, another "waiter" started preparing a table for a group of people and didn’t even inform me of what was happening – I was simply expected to move. So, I did. Thirty minutes in, no updates, no water, nothing. I was tempted to leave at this point, but, unfortunately, decency crept in and I stayed. After an hour of waiting, I was finally told the food was ready. I paid and left.

My guests finished the food, and here’s the verdict:

Biryani – Oily, salty, and a portion for one. The waiter didn’t bother to explain the portion size. It’s academic now because, God bless me, my £9.00 spent on the biryani was my loss. It tasted more like chicken curry mixed with rice. A shame, as the rice was of good quality and had a kewra aroma, but that didn’t translate into the actual biryani.

Karahi – Oily and heavy-handed with the black pepper. Sweet onion sauce with pressure-cooked meat, which had not had a chance to marry up. Not good at all – £26 loss.

Naans – £1.20 each and actually good.

Complimentary salad and raita – Frankly, I don’t know why they bothered.

Go to Pulau Wala for rice – same price and a much better proposition.

As for the Karahi (calling it Butt Karahi is an insult to a Lahori institution!), go to Lahori Badshah at the end of the same row, or if you’re in the south, go to Abaseen. Avoid the Karahi here. Simply put, it’s serviceable at best, and if you’re hungry, you’ll eat it. In the words of Colin Powell, never again.

Overall – It’s a lame establishment, profiteering off a famous Lahori landmark.

My advice to the owners – Up your game, train your idiotic waiters, and the lady at the counter looks like she wants to commit suicide – either pay her more or replace...