My experience was almost identical to that of saralouise. Two friends and I went on a Friday night around 8:30pm, which shouldn’t have made any difference. As with the others, our popodoms and chutneys were on the table immediately. I knew what I going to order even before I opened the menu…panir tikka masala with garlic naan, so we were ready to order within five or ten minutes and did. Our drinks came right away. However, our food did not arrive for 45 MINUTES. There were many empty tables by this point and most of the dinner crowd had waned away. When my food finally arrived, I was very disappointed in the curry. Firstly, it looked awful. Every panir tikka I’ve ever eaten has been orange. This was bright red. Ok, so it means they added a ton of chili powder right? That could be fine. When I tasted it, it turned out to be just food colouring. There was hardly any flavor at all, besides a slight bitterness.

The naan was good, however, and the server was very nice during out interactions. For me, it ultimately comes down to the main course, though.

I must admit that my review seems to go against the norm. Upon my first visit to the restaurant, the staff were inattentive and seem preoccupied, although there were only a handful of tables in the restaurant.

We were given popodoms and sauces and ordered drinks.
It had quite an impressive menu, which sounded very nice, but wasn’t catagorised very well! It took 15 minutes for our drinks to arrive, and then the server dissapeared without offering to take any orders from the table. He returned 5 minutes later when we managed to get the attention of a passing waiter, who then asked him to come over. He offered no side orders or suggestions, and rushed off as soon as possible. All of our party were very polite, and as a waitress myself, it was a very poor service. I ordered a chicken tikka masala and pilau rice, with a naan bread side.

The food took around 20 minutes to come, not bad at all. The waiter got mixed up with the food he was serving, and gave us the wrong food. He pretty much dropped it onto the table and went to stand at the bar. The tikka masala was diabolical. It was bitter and tasted as though it was pureed chillis. The naan bread was nice and the rice was fine. I couldn’t eat my curry, and was physically sick when I tried. When our meals were finished, we were not offered deserts of coffee’s; the waiter simply cleared the plates and put the bill on our table.

It was shocking, as friends had recommended the place, but pour experience was horrible and I wouldn’t retuen there at all.

Must admit that although the Curry Mile get’s a kicking for being average at best, Lal Qila is amongst a handful that stands out for service and food. Mostly old school restaurants in Rusholme offering decent fare at very decent prices, it nevertheless is worth a trip there once in a while - just for the shear spectacle of it all. They say real Mancunians don’t eat here, but come night time (and into the early hours of the following day) the place has a vibrancy of it’s own.
Lal Qila do a very good Jal Freza (and you can ask to make it hotter should you wish). Like most restaurants along the mile, the moment you’ve sat down you’ll find a 4 foot high plate of poppadums and associated dips. Add a pint of Cobra to that and you’re away.
Also it has to be noted they are absolutely fantastic with kids (of all ages). Some restaurants (mainly the chains it has to be said) treat young children like Victorian street urchins, but here they’re made a fuss of (and of course the obligatory mints/lollipops help).
Recommended.

I went to ‘Lal Qila’ for the first time last night and I thought although the Curries weren’t the best I’ve had but the service was best I’ve ever had. The popadoms and chutneys were put on the table as soon as we arrived and drinks orders taken. We were in and out within 45mins.
All round a good experience.

Lal Qila is one of my favourite restaurants of the curry mile. I always had good experiences there, the food was always great and the service attentive. Prices were pretty reasonable too. I guess at this point I should note that i'm talking about experiences from a good 6 or so years ago.

One particular time I remember bringing my parents. No sooner had we sat down than they had placed a pile of poppadoms and some chuntneys on the table. They then asked for our drinks order, and promptly came back with the drinks - this was well within 5 minutes of entering the place.

We ordered food, it came in about 10 minutes, we finished, payed the bill and we ready to leave within about 30 minutes of entering. Now while this may be a little too fast for a nice sit-down meal, we could have been slower. It was our choice to be in and out so fast, and it's nice to find a place with service good enough to allow the option...