Sher Akbars - My First Restaurant Review

Sher Akbars is an Indian restaurant in Chorlton, Manchester and has been open for about 6 months. 

My mum loves the food there and always says it's her second kitchen! I also love it. We usually go to Sher Akbars about twice a month and for special occasions with my family. 

I went there recently with my cute 2 year-old brother, my brothers dad (MB) and my mum (BA). Well I need my mum to pay!

When I first went in the staff were very welcoming to us. Inside there's a lot of chrome and black and white but candles, lights and mirrors make sure the restaurant is not too dark.

The staff sat us down at a booth with a mirror on the side. 

 "Not too hot please waiter, I'm just a baby you know!"

We ordered poppadoms with 4 dips that come with it and some drinks. 

My brother dove straight into the poppadoms. The dips were mango chutney, mint yoghurt, spiced pickled onions and a spicy green chilli sauce. The green chilli sauce had coriander, green chilli, tomato, and garlic. I enjoyed this one the most because it was the spiciest.

For starters I ordered a lamb tikka with salad, BA ordered the chicken and chana puri and MB ordered the lamb chops tikka. 

 lamb tikka

chicken chana puri

 tikka lamb chops

Tikka dishes are cooked in a spicy yoghurt paste in a clay oven. Chicken and chana puri is a diced chicken and chickpea curry served in a slightly sweet deep fried bread. BA thought the puri was more like a pratha which is a butter chappati. MB said the lamb was succulent, they were well cooked and well seasoned. My lamb was tender and spicy.

The staff were very attentive and approachable. They have good menu knowledge and can recommend dishes to try. They will talk to the chefs about ordering off the menu.

For our main course I ordered the staff special which was lamb karahi, BA ordered the chicken saag (BA ordered off the menu) and MB ordered the lamb rogan josh. Between us we order a pilau rice and a big naan bread. 

lamb karahi

 lamb rogan josh

chicken saag

pilau rice

naan bread

Karahi is a dry curry which is fried with onions, spices, tomatoes and chillis. Saag is the Punjabi word for spinach. A rogan josh is typical Indian curry using tomato, onion and garlic. It usually has a lot of sauce and could be described as a spicy stew.

BA thought the chicken saag was very salty. My karahi wasn't over spiced so I could still taste the other ingredients. It looked very appetising. We were disappointed that the naan bread was a bit hard in places.

When we got the bill we were given a tablet. When water was poured on to it it grew into a cloth. We were also given 4 Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolates. They were lovely!

I give Sher Akbars a Kaius score of 4/5 which is brilliant. 

Tatton Park Food Show.

This weekend I went to the Tatton Park Food Festival. It was a lot larger than the last one I went to in Warrington. The weather was horrendous it rained all day and the ground was muddy and in parts like a swimming pool!

I'm relaxing on the beach with my freshly squeezed lemonade.

All the stalls were outside although some were under gazebos. The big tents had cookery demonstrations in and were absolutely packed due to the rain.

There were over 150 food and drink stalls. A couple of the stalls had demonstrations of food preparation equipment. I bought a whisk for my grandma which is good for people who have arthritis. 

Montezuma's chocolate from Brighton. It was packed in the stall we left and later on when we came back it was empty so the staff had time to chat to us. We tried some of the chocolates on display and I bought a yummy dark chocolate and chilli bar. The lady behind the counter bought out special samples of their chilli and lime milk chocolate bar. It had a spicy and sour taste which was very unfamiliar for me to find in a chocolate bar.

More people were interested in the cows rather than the frozen yoghurt stand! 

CHURROS!!!!!

Churros are a crunchy pancake stick served dusted with sugar and cinnamon with a chocolate sauce dip.

This is what churros look like being deep fried. The come out of the metal tube and fall into the oil. They only take 10 seconds to cook because the oil temperature is very hot.

The finished product. Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!!

We went back for seconds later so we could take them home and share them with the family. 

Lanfaes dairy ice cream. I had mint choc-chip and my auntie had lemon cheesecake. She said it was the best lemon cheesecake ice cream she'd ever had. We spent a lot of time chatting to the man who makes it and they make over 100 different types of ice cream!

We had Jamaican jerk chicken for lunch. 

I was drawn to the smell. I just followed my nose. It tasted as good as it smelt.

Tea made from dried fruits and flowers. It didn't smell like normal tea, I would have loved to try some but they didn't have any samples brewed. 

End Of The Rainbow cakes is a firm based in Oldham. At the last food festival festival I had their chocolate chilli cake and they recognised me.

I tried the chocolate chilli cupcake. Boy it was delicious! The best thing about End Of The Rainbow is that they sell the cupcakes for £1. 

We bought the maple syrup popcorn.

 My auntie tried the caramel rum.

Fresh coconuts. The barman cut off the top of the coconut and poured rum in it to make a coconut cocktail.

They were huge.

Iced coffee prepared by a man showing off his electric whisk.

Assorted cakes.

Chocolate brownie cake pops and carrot cake pops.

Bottled cocktails. My auntie tried the mojito.

Jamaican sauces and fudge. 

Unfortunately due to the weather we ended up muddy and soaking wet. So the camera didn't come out as much. Things that we missed:

• A chocolate cake made from red and white cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, apples, courgettes and cucumber. I only found out after I had tasted it and it tasted like real chocolate cake.
• We got free ponchos from Castillo del Toro.
• There was free energy drinks.
• I tried candied pineapple. It was really sour. 
• I tried a very strange prune brownie.
• I tried so many jams and sauces on crackers.

I can't wait for the Manchester Food and Drink Festival at the end of September. It will be nice to see some of the stalls again and say Hi.