Mughli Charcoal Pit

TL;DR - Great food and great atmosphere.

After many years in Manchester we finally followed everyone's recommendations and came here and are glad we did.

We debated booking a table but the website seemed to discourage it for small groups, promising that they keep half their tables for walk ins. We came early on a Saturday evening and despite it being busy we were seated quickly.

Our food choices were pretty unoriginal - poppadoms and chutneys to start which were very nice. The mint yoghurt was much thicker than we've had elsewhere and better for it. For our mains I had a jalfrezi which was delicious and had lots of big pieces of chicken in. Sparky went for a lamb dish which he said melted in the mouth. We both had rice and naan alongside and the naans were delicious.

Service was prompt and friendly. Prices were reasonable - all in all, a great spot and one we'd happily come back to again and again.

Fantastic! Worth the drive from City Center!

The small plates were the best way to try a bunch of yummyiness!

We got there kind of late in the evening but the food was still prepared fresh and the service was great!

Came to Mughli for a work dinner and the service was fantastic especially considering we had a 10 person group. The atmosphere was cosy and I was served one of the best butter chickens I've had. Would definitely recommend for a dinner on the curry mile.

I want to preface my experience by recommending that you try any other place, rather than give this place your business. The way they do business seems to be highly unethical and they have no concept of good customer service. I would also like to make it very clear, this was nothing to do with the £25 they kept without any service provided, rather, with the way we were treated at this restaurant.

I had flown in from the USA to watch a football match and decided to dine with mughli afterwards. I figured it would be safe to make a reservation beforehand. Boy was I wrong.

They charged £25 for 5 of us as a deposit which would be refunded on our food bill.

Whilst I made a mistake and booked the wrong day in a rush, I called and asked if they could move the reservation. You would think this would be straight forward and the most ethical thing to do since 5 of us would have had a hefty bill anyways.

So I arrived on the day- Wednesday night- the restaurant had maybe 2 people inside. The so called manager (yaasir I believe was his name) refused to refund the £25 if we ate there. He said mughli online is different to the restaurant. He was extremely rude and had zero customer service skills. He didn't seem to care that we had come long distance.

Needless to say, they still hold my £25 deposit, and have not offered any service for it. If you ask me, this is the best definition of a scam.

Don't dine with these crooks. They think they are too good to give decent customer service. Sorry, you are not fooling me.

I ordered the hakka chili paneer as a pick up order, and the taste and amount of the dish disappointed. The amount given was a small plastic container, with 2-3 pieces of paneer, capsicum and onions. It was also a bit bland.
The other aspect was that the atmosphere in the restaurant was a bit aggressive. I understand that it is different times than serving a sit down service, but as a Hindi speaker, I can understand when you're berating your staff, or yelling at the Deliveroo riders. There was a young staff member there, however, who was very kind and helpful in finding your orders.

I'm sure we have all seen that stereotypical "hipster" dude who is seen at a coffee shop with his latest MacBook Pro while wearing clothes purchased from a thrift store, or who uses his latest iPhone to take and instagram (yes, that's a verb now) photos of himself with the homeless because his friends would think it was cool. Well, if that guy were a restaurant, he would look like Mughli. Why am I not surprised, then, that Mughli boasts of a clientele that includes the likes of Jared Leto?

Let me explain myself. Mughli brands itself as something akin to a street food vendor at a railway station in South Asia. Well, if you ever happen to actually see a railway station in South Asia and the street food around it, you will find nothing in common between it and the ritzy Mughli, just like the guy flashing his electronics with the white Apple logo has nothing in common with the homeless.

The pretension works for me, however. I quite enjoy experiencing comfort and luxury behind the façade of affectatious (yes, that also is an adjective now) slumming.

Mughli is one of the higher end South Asian restaurants on Manchester's renowned "Curry Mile" (a misnomer for so many reasons, including the fact that it's not a mile long, and that there are just as many - if not more - Middle Eastern restaurants and shisha lounges in this neighborhood as there are curry houses... parentheses are such a great tool for literary digressions, aren't they?).

The menu items and their descriptions are pretty standard, and generally do not appear to be too different from the offerings at other Indian / Pakistani restaurants in the area. The execution of these dishes is where Mughli shines (now, do you see why my rating is 4 stars despite my snarky observations about the pretentiousness of this restaurant?).

The masala chicken biryani, which is a "must try" according to the restaurant menu, is indeed an outstanding dish. This spicy chicken and rice dish is strewn with pomegranate jewels and fresh cloves of garlic, which enrich its flavor profile, and is finished in a pot sealed with putty dough to prevent the air and moisture from escaping. The biryani is served with gravy and yogurt raita. While the gravy is a totally redundant condiment, the raita does serve as an enhancement to the already flavorful biryani. This dish is so dissimilar to every version of biryani I've ever had (and I grew up in South Asia) that I almost don't want to call it biryani. Whatever it needs to be christened, it is absolutely delicious!

I don't find any of the desserts here particularly exciting, but a cup of the desi chai (traditional tea) is a great way to finish off a meal at Mughli.

After hearing all about the incredible Indian food in the UK -- and mostly striking out when ordering my favorite dishes over here -- I finally found the Holy Grail at Mughli.

Let me explain. At home I get chicken tikka masala that is outstanding; it's rich, creamy, savory, and just the right hint of sweetness. When I have gone to the curry houses in Oldham, however, I've been served a fluorescent red concoction of CTM that should rightly be called "sweet and sour chicken without the breading" -- it's that sweet and that color. That's just wrong. I don't care what else they put into it, nothing will save that dish when it's that sweet. (But apparently the folks that frequent those places love it like that. Go figure.). Is it a peculiarly of the Oldham or Manchester area? Or is it like that in the whole UK? I was beginning to think so...

But if any place should have authentic representations of chicken tikka masala, I reasoned, it would be on the famous Curry Mile. So a friend and I ventured out to see what the fuss was about, regarding Curry Mile, and hopeful for a good meal.

I chose Mughli because of the high Yelp score, basically, and it seemed like it had the dishes I wanted to try.

After a very short wait we were seated. For drinks I wanted a beer, but the brands listed were unknowns to me. However the waiter suggested what is apparently the house beer, and it turned out to be spectacular. (Note that I like smooth non-hoppy beers). We ordered both the chicken tikka masala and the butter chicken, with white rice on the side.

As soon as it arrived I knew there was hope; the color was a deep orange rather that the fluorescent red that other places peddled. And it was blended. Some other Indian restaurants leave the ingredients "chunky", which doesn't work for me.

One taste of the sauce and I knew that it was done right. Like I said before, rich, savory, flavorful, and just the right hint of sweetness to balance the dish. Saved.

I have a feeling that if they can nail the CTM, they will do justice to the rest of the menu. I highly recommend this place.

I stop in here on nearly every visit to Manchester's "Curry Mile," and I must say, I have never been disappointed. Make sure you order something of the charcoal grill, otherwise you might as well go to one of the many other good curry houses here. I usually have the Butter Chicken, it is the BEST.

The attentive service may seem a bit overbearing, but it's better than the alternative. All you have to do is look quizzical and a waiter will be there.

Overall, this place is awesome, beers are cold, food is hot, and you will leave with a happy belly!

The other half's parents came up for the weekend recently, and we hadn't been to Mughli in a while - so a trip simply had to happen. We had booked in for 8.15 but (unfortunately for me, anyway) we ended up going at 9.15 due to additional people joining our party. However, they were very helpful when it came to changing the booking.

I'd already poured over the menu during the week, so had narrowed down my choices pre-meal. However, as the others in the party hadn't been able to do so, I was on the brink of being the hangriest I had ever been. And no, that isn't a typo.

The far far on the table was okay, a bit like rice cakes with a hint of spice, so I was more than ready for the poppadoms to arrive. I liked the fact they were served individually, so I could quite literally grab a handful and get them down my throat. We shared some items as a table, including onion bahji, halloumi menander, and tandoori chicken. The chicken was really moist and delicious, and I loved the spice in the bahji. The halloumi was my favourite overall, as I still believe the balance between spice and the generally bland cheese works perfectly.

For main, I had the chicken laziz, which was anemic in colour but tasted delicious. It was quite peppery as opposed to spicy, so I regret not getting the chilli & garlic rice alongside. However, the Peter's Bread helped both mop up the tasty cream sauce and add that extra spice.

Personally, I would give my experience a five, but some of the table had issues with their food (namely the spice levels), and four was the overall rating between the party. All's fair in love and food, right?

I love this place! For me it's the best Indian food you can find on the curry mile! The butter chicken is delicious and the Peshwari naan is great as well.
I enjoy having the mango lasi which tastes really good, not to sweet but fruity.
The service is good as well and I come here quiet frequently! It's a great choice for anyone who likes to have good food for a good price.