Swadesh

A just popped in visit for a quick bite, unfortunately they had other ideas… Food was great but alas service was painfully slow and that was just with 7 tables in I’d hate to see it busy.

Came upon this restaurant by accident while looking for lunch in Manchester. Excellent lunch buffet in both quality and quantity. Good value too. Great variety of dishes. Courteous service. Appealing décor. Near a few hotels. Highly recommended.

A. Mazing food. I’m from Birmingham and I know my curry. This is into top 3. Just behind Veeraswami in London. Great service too

Holy moly this place was superb.
My boyfriend and I were in town visiting my bestfriend and his girlfriend who were in the UK on holiday when we happened upon this gem. Not too hard to do, since we stayed at a hotel just along the alley from Swadesh, but boy are we glad we decided on dinner here.
The atmosphere was that of a pretty fancy restaurant where you’d think the staff and customers alike would be pretentious, but that wasn’t the case at all. This place was really great, and the staff was great to boot.
The prices were just perfect where we could all order various dishes and not feel as though we were going to break the bank by doing so.
We started out with some poppadoms and chutneys as a started. Well pleased with that. After that, my boyfriend and I went with a vegetarian mix of goodies, including onion badjis and grilled halloumi. By the time we finished that, we knew we were in for a treat when the rest of our food came along.
I stuck with ordering vegetarian dishes, which included saag paneer and an okra dish and my boyfriend ordered a chicken curry. We decided to share the lot and surprisingly, my boyfriend, who is a meat lover, really liked incorporating vegetarian in to the mix of dinner and plans to do it again when we go out. My bestfriend and his girlfriend ordered mixed vegetarian entrees and really enjoyed theirs as well.
As we had been drinking a bit before we decided on dinner, we kept with water for the evening which the staff kept flowing without hesitation.
All in all, it really was probably one of the better dinners I’ve had in a long time. I haven’t had a good Indian meal in a few years, so I was really happy that we all enjoyed it so much.
Should we find ourselves in Manchester again, this will be a must on the list of places to eat.

Swadesh wasn’t totally meh but nor was it totally a-​ok so I’m erring on the side of caution. I noticed the other week that they have a £4.90 lunch box which was very exciting as lunches for £5 or less are my favourite thing. I was also excited when I walked in off grubby Portland St to find an elegant interior and smiling waiter.
Bit disappointed then to find that the lunchbox is not some kind of Indian bento box featuring, I don’t know, chutneys and the sound of a sitar playing or something. It’s just the lunch buffet. But then again, that’s not actually a bad thing in theory. In execution, none of it was particularly good and it was all strangely the same colour which was a bit off-​putting. The poppadums were soft, which was just weird
However, as it definitely didn’t give me food poisoning I am likely to return given its proximity to my work and low price. For the money though, Kukoos is a much better choice in the area for Indian food at lunchtime. Dinner wise, I’d say Swadesh is probably pretty good.

What an amazing restaurant! Freshly cooked food to a very high quality and a friendly service to boot! I do love my curries, and eat olall over the uk, but this place is certainly up there in my top 3! Reasonably priced too!

Let me say this upfront The 2-​stars I’ve given the restaurant is not based on the food but on the treatment I received on both occasions that I went therenothing major, but if I ever get the impression that I’m not valued as a customer, even the best cuisine can mean nothing to me. The first time, I went for a takeaway and I strongly felt the manager lied about what I was entitled to take. You’re allowed to take anything from the buffet trays including salad, but there was a small plastic placed on the table for those keen on salad and the guy (perhaps having a bad day) said I had to pack my cold salad with my hot curry-​smeared meal. When asked what the plastics were there for, he unconvincingly said, for show. Yeah right, for show indeed.
I put that behind me and went there again at lunch time this time to dine in. On getting there, I noticed you had to sit at the lobby area and a staff would come take you to an available seat. I sat patiently and watched as he came for the two groups of people before me. I thought he would do the same for me but was I wrong. He, including his other staff members, just walked around, sometimes even looking in my direction, and never came around to say table for one?. It was lunch time and didn’t want to exhaust my 1hour break waiting to be seated so I called on one of the staff, who then acted a little surprised as if oh so you’d like a seat? and took me to seat. I had initially thought that the delay was due to all seats being taken, to my surprise there were countless of empty tables and seats. I was annoyed! I was very annoyed!
Ironically, once seated, the staff were friendly and smiling all over the place. And to be honest, i have no doubt that as a whole, it is a friendly restaurant with friendly staff. I just cant help but wonder why they walked back n forth the lobby and even sometimes glanced at me without coming to ask me to a seat until I had to do it myself. For me, that’s a fail!
So for those reading this review to find out how fine the food is, I’d say yeah food was great when I visited. Good variety and tasty, tooenvironment neat, tidy. just couldn’t overlook how I felt personally. I can sometimes excuse a poor meal but I’m so intolerant of bad customer service. I’m hoping it’s just a two-​off and that I’ll feel more valued next time, cos yeah I’ll revisit the restaurant

I went during the day and they had a fabulous buffet on which virtually had something for everyone. We were in a large party and the staff accomodated us and proved excellent hosts. The food was amazing and when I asked if they had any Saag they went off and came back with a bowl for me. Great place.

Probably the finest curry house in Manchester if not the whole of the North West. The food is varied and amazing coupled with plush surroundings and engaging and friendly staff.
Absolutely 1^st Class.

I found this Indian on my first trip to Manchester and it was just a few minutes walk from The City Inn hotel.
I arrived at 1730, just as they were opening. The interior was contemporary, sophisticated, but welcoming. The menu was interesting, with much variety. Veggies are well catered for and alcohol free beer (Cobra) is also served. Service was quick, with medium sized portions being presented. This was a relief, as I often can’t finish my meal, in an Indian.
The food tasted excellent and at the side of the main room, you can look through a large glass wall to the kitchen (if this interests you). The bill was the amount I would expect and I was pleased with the overall experience.
Highly recommended!