Kabana, Manchester

Kabana is without doubt the best curry house in the Northern Quarter! (if not the North West).

Not sure if the earlier reviewer really knows their curry, the quality of food at the Kabana is acknowledged as being better than This & That, the only difference is the Kabana is a little bit more expensive.

Anyone who doesn't believe me needs to go to both places on a sunday and try the Nehari (traditional delicacy) - you'll taste the difference.

I like this place second best in curry shop in N. Quarter.( my favourite is This and That). This is another secret curry place! The place is plain and fairly clean. The foods are yummy and fresh. I did not like to buy extra salad as This and That gives you a some garnish for free.
But if you want to try another curry cafe, this is good place to go! Enjoy your curry. ( N.B. The portion is massive, so please make sure your stomach is empty)

I was reccomended this place by some indian friends of mine about 6 years ago when I first visited manchester. And when I approached the restaurant I thought they were having a joke - a backstreet cafe, plastic fixed seating, minimal decor, menus nothing more than scribbles on a white board and school dinner style crockery.
However I had never in my life tasted such delightful, mouth wateringly tasty indian food. Unlike other indian restaurants, they use traditional gudjarati home style recipe. Since that experience I have been disapointed with every single other indian restaurant, to such an extent that I have given up the search for one on par with kabanas.
Six years on, the nearest dish I’ve gad to it, is at one of my indian friends weddings, but even then, it didn’t compare.
Today I am visiting manchester again. And guess whats first on my l,ist of things to do?!

The food was GORGEOUS! Two portions of curry, two nan, and two cans of soft drinks was about £10.

The place is very basic but clean. The waiter/cleaner does his job very well and was very friendly to customers. He reminds me of Bubba from Forrest Gump :-)

By the end of our meal, we decided to get take away for later at home. We ordered a cheese… Read more nan, and guess what: it did not survive our 15 min journey home. We kept on munching it on the way home. It was the BEST nan bread I’ve ever tasted in my life! It has coriander, cheese, chilli, and on every bite we taste all the cheese and herb and spices. You just have to taste it to understand the wonderful 'experience’!

The curry is nice and tasty and authentic. I would say that it is a curry house who is not afraid to be authentically tasty! A lot of curry place in Britain would make their curry milder for the British tongue. This one doesn’t!

Kabana opens Sun-Fri until 5pm.

I agree with the other reviews this place is the best of the bunch of these Indian restaurants in the Northern Quarter, the chapatis are always freshly made and the dal superb! - it only opens during the day and unlicensed, but if you fancy a no frills good quality curry on Formica tables with jugs of cold water for well under £10 a head then stop off here. I tried the well known 'Rice & Three’ round the corner after a friend recommended it but not a patch on this place - good honest Indian food, reminds me of the places I used to go to in Bradford in the 80’s.

This is a fantastic little secret that Manchester has hidden away. Obviously Manchester has many curry houses but Kabana is very special as it produces “real home-style” or “staff” curry instead of what you would normally see on a typical Indian menu. It is not a posh restaurant by any means as it is a very basic un-modernised cafe but with no frills even for a cafe. The food is what all curry houses make for their staff but not for the customers. I rate the food 5 out of 5. I cannot get proper / real Indian food in my area so when I visit Manchester I always stock up.

Don't let the back street location and 'greasy spoon' look of this curry house fool you; Kabana makes some of the most delicious curry I've ever tasted. This places is usually only open during the lunch hour of week days, and attracts many of the arty types who live and work in this area. The menu varies slightly each day. Definately one of the Northern Quarter's best kept secrets.