Reviews in Manchester City Centre

Fab food. Very busy at lunchtime but worth every mouthful

This has got to be the worst restaurant I have ever been in We were made unwelcome when we arrived, they claimed not to have our booking, even though we pointed out in the ledger! We then waited an hour for our table, the staff only wanted to push drinks on us and would not take the order. At this stage we realised that they had very little staff and could not cope with the Saturday evening crowd.This included the chefs serving in the restaurant! We waited two hours and still no food! At this stage I asked for the drinks bill as we wished to leave this took a further half hour, and during this time we were closely watched by a group of doormen, this was very intimidating for a mature family group. The "Famous Raja brothers" then charged us 45 pounds for the six drinks we had! I cannot comment on the food as we never had any! ENTER AT YOUR PERIL!

very good food, good quality service

Only 3 staff waiting tables on a fairly busy Wednesday Night. I've visited stock a few times and everything's been near perfect before, this visit however was a bit of a let down. The staff that were working were reasonably helpful, the food seems to have become a bit rushed and my partner's gnocchi had the same sauce as my steak (although advertised differently). The food had to be sent back both at the starter and main course because it had gone cold. Lavish, exquisite surroundings but just a bit of a poor performance on the night

Great place, great value. Enjoyed!

Pleasant atmosphere, good service, lovely rice!

VERY DISAPPOINTING! On arriving there was no one on the front desk so we were left to wait for ten minutes before being seated. We ordered some water whilst looking at the menu, I think they sent someone to Buxton to get it judging by the time it took for the waitress to bring it to the table. We ordered and then watched our food sit on the side for ten minutes before the waiter noticed it. The order when it eventually arrived was wrong, I ordered the CHURRASCO but got a plain sirloin instead. On sending it back I watched the chef butterfly the steak, dip it in the marinade and put it back on the griddle! On pointing this out to the waiter he assured me that a fresh steak had been cooked. Utter rubbish, the staff seem to forget that there is a lovely open kitchen at Gaucho. We did complain to the Maitradee who did not charge us for the steak. I have eaten at Gaucho twice before and I thought the service and food were excellent. This time the service was insultingly bad. The new decor looks tacky, the black and white furry fake cow skin seat covers really do look appallingly bad. The treatment of customers is way below the standards of the restaurant Gaucho used to be. The food was average and overall experience very disappointing. I have recommended Gaucho to friends before, this time I will be warning them, a lack of basic service ruined a birthday celebration. Never again.

Love the vegan options and great service

My fiance took me here for a romantic meal and I was overwhelmed with the incredible service and food! The waiters/staff couldn't do enough for us and were happy to arrange flowers and extras that my partner asked for to make the evening really special. The food was superb - a really wide choice of dishes, something for everyone I would imagine, and the quality was great too. Service was quick and efficient, atmosphere was lively but not intrusive or too loud. I was impressed to see Giovanni himself helping out and making sure things went smoothly. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for somewhere offering a mix of class and top quality modern cuisine.

China City is by far the best Chinese restaurant in Chinatown or in Manchester. The food is top class, always hot, always good portions and always friendly and polite staff. I have been going in this restaurant for years with my partner and we never fail not to enjoy our meal. The £4.95 deal is great if you go between noon and 4pm but anytime there you can be guaranteed a lovely meal and a warm and friendly welcome in a traditional Chinese restaurant that's not beyond the cheapest budget

Ning is everything I want on a night out weather it’s a special occasion with friends or a chilled out week night evening - chilled out atmosphere, friendly service, fab food and great interior design. The starters are amazing, I wish I could order the prawn & tofu fritters for starter, main and desert. The wine list is innovative but not pretentious, and I love it that you can go glam with one of the seasonal cocktails. Service is attentive and friendly but not in your face and the bill always surprisingly reasonable for the high standard of food. I recommend this place for every occasion.

i have to say i was disappointed with east is east riverside, decor and service was good but to be honest food was terrible, i eat out a lot at sum of Manchester's nicest restaurants, and if this is trying to compare to akbars it has no chance, simply the food was inferior, bland no taste, it was obvious to me the chef was not in the same league, with all respect i had better from a take away... i filled my comment card out being honest, if you want excellent food then go to akbars, for me i was really dissapointed.....

All the comments about food here are quite right - it's an excellent restaurant with good food. However, they've now started to refuse to serve tapwater (they said it was contaminated, and we had to buy bottled!!) even when spending £45 on a meal for two. Drinking water that's been driven around Europe is not my thing when we've got so much of it here. So great restaurant, but with some really daft ideas creeping in (they never used to do that).

Went to Gaucho for a special birthday - was left disappointed. The food was nothing spectacular, the staff were distant and the seating plan catered for the masses. For the food and service, it is grossly overpriced and there are much better restaurants in Manchester

Food of good quality and restaurant staff friendly and helpful. Pity the same cannot be said of casino staff, in particular the ones at reception. Object also to having photograph taken just to have dinner with friends. Will not be returning when there are other, superior restaurant's, in town that do not require my photograph and address.

oh my god... don't come here!

Five members of Cheshire Curry Club visited Akbars last Thursday. We had heard so many good reports that we had to try it for ourselves! We were not disappointed! We got in at 7.30pm and only had to wait 15 minutes for a table which was not a problem because there is a large well furnished section where you can have a relaxing drink before having your meal. Our party of five ordered poppadums, mixed starters for five and our main courses were the seafood special, Chicken Makhani, Lamb Bhuna, Kahrai Chicken and Lamb Ghost. We also ordered a nan bread which was bigger than a tennis racquet! The food was prepared to a very high standard and the waiter who dealt with our order was friendly and knowledgeable. Also with ample staff you don't have to wait long between courses.The total bill which included two rounds of drinks as well as Brandy and coffee came to £102. A veritable feast for just over £20 a head. The restaurant is also furnished to a very high standard and all in all we gave it 9 out of 10 which is very high for our membership. In fact it is the highest we have ever rated any of the restaurants we have visited.To give you some idea we rated the Masala Lounge in Sale 8/10, the Gatley Tandoori 8/10 and the Original Third Eye in Didsbury 8/10. Some restaurants have rated less than 5 so to rate Akbars so highly gives you an idea of how impressed we were! Thank you Akbar for a lovely evening!

Excellent food. Friendly and efficient service. Always a pleasure to visit!!