By Neil Sowerby
THERE’S a touch of chutzpah about having a restaurant chain named after you when you are not even some famous chef, but if you are a legend among Bollywood legends and the most recorded artist ever you can get away with it. Big time. Especially when this international dining brand new to Manchester delivers such a good product on the evidence of a couple of soft launch meals.
The actual VIP launch party of Asha’s in Peter Street offered a scattering of stardust, Corrie stars and their ilk, but the centre of attention was firmly Asha Bhosle, at 82 fresh from her latest singing tour of the States and radiating the charisma of movie royalty.
Since her 1943 stage debut she has been a playback singer (pre-recording the soundtrack) on over a thousand Bollywood flicks and even found time a couple of years ago to take on an acting role. Goodness only knows how she found time while juggling her joint passions of singing and food.
With an estimated 12,000 songs in her repertoire across the years it must be hard to come up with a setlist. Her sideline of inspiring eponymous restaurants began in Dubai 13 years ago and now extends to 10 in total, mostly in the Middle East, the latest in our city.
What does it bring to the party? A certain adventure with raw materials. Most Indian restaurants shy away from venison and duck (the dense, sharp duck vindaloo is a winner. A definite fresh feel about dips and chutneys (try the papapya and green apple examples) all made on site like the breads, which are terrific.
Thank heavens there’s no modish bending the knee to street food or trawling every region of the sub-continent. Asha comes from Maharastra and you feel the essential spicing and cooking techniques are rooted in that hinterland of Mumbai.
The drinks are a major bonus. So often a disappointment in even the best Asian restaurants. Not here. A limey dry Tim Adams South Australian riesling was a perfect spice match, while Asha’s have cannily enlisted cocktail guru and gin ambassador Jamie Jones to concoct a list that partners the food and also pays homage to its spice quotient. He in turn has hired a roster of bartenders to carry out his brief, which should make the basement Bolli Bar a drinks destination in its own right with some terrific accompanying appetisers.
The look of both floors is radically different to its previous incarnation as the Baby Grand. The £2m spent by UAE restaurant group ARIL, who run the chain, has not been lavished on Maharajah bling and the like, though there is a plethora of gold, including some faux battered light fittings. So upmarket ostentation, but understated, across the 100-cover venue.
Apparently Bhosle’s influence extends to both the walls and the dishes. "Asha wears crystal beads with every performance," says Susan Potter, International Group Director of Asha's, "so you'll find beads throughout the venue along with Asha's signature colour, okra, which relates to saffron.
There is also, inescapably in contemporary Manchester, sections of exposed original brickwork and cast iron columns from the industrial past of this Grade II listed building. Do any of us miss flock wallpaper and shiny posters of the Taj Mahal?
Asha’s, 47 Peter Street, Manchester, M2 3NG. 0161 832 5309 http://www.ashasuk.co.uk
