Mission Kabana achieved. Iâve been hearing people talking about Kabana in the Northern Quarter for so long, itâs achieved legendary status. And itâs not like I havenât tried, I really have.
Iâve been along before but not realised it closed at 5pm so my efforts have been thwarted. But eventually, I went last week for lunch, and again this week just to make sure Iâd sampled a few different things - all research of course.
The first time I went in for a sit down meal I overhead someone getting their food, and asking the manager to write out a voucher so he could give his friend a Kabana voucher for her birthday. What a marvellous idea, I would love a present like that.
Kabana is a tiny canteen style Indian restaurant deep in the Northern Quarter, where you order at the counter and then find a seat. Itâs usually really busy, and I almost had to share a table but found one at the last minute.
Thereâs quite a few small cafes serving Indian food around what is now the Northern Quarter, but originally they served the staff of the many Asian textile and clothing companies, which are based around Oldham Street.
Prices are really cheap for the quality of food, and they put out a pitcher of tap water on each table so you donât even have to buy a drink if things are really tight.
Thereâs a chalkboard of specials, and a standard menu on the wall with all the basics. When I ate there, the specials included two types of Lamb karahi (£4 on the bone, and £4.30 on the bone); chicken curry (£4), chicken channa (£3.90), dall (£3), cauliflower and potato (£3) and chicken biryani (£5).
Ladled out into a bowl, the lamb karahi on the bone was a really tomatoey, thick curry, where the lamb just slid off the bone. Iâve had this dish before where there was more bone than lamb, but not so here. With rice and a can of coke making the meal £6.50 this was a great bargain.
I saw someone else eating samosas and they looked really tasty, but I knew I wouldnât have been able to eat anything else. So I popped back in another lunchtime for a takeaway of samosas, with salad, yoghurt and chilli sauce. I asked for one meat and one vegetable, and I think the meat version really stood out, with dry spicy lamb mince tumbling out every time I picked it up. For £1.20, this was a tasty lunch and didnât actually taste unhealthy at all because everything was so fresh with no grease.
Good things are said about the chapatis, nan and kebabs, which are cooked fresh to order on the skewer, so this will be my next adventure.
Unlike other small cafes or takeaways, this place was spotlessly clean and was continuously being cleaned as I was there and water jugs refilled. Donât let the backstreet location, the plastic chairs or mismatched crockery put you off, this is a real gem.
Kabana, 52 Back Turner Street, Manchester, M4 1FP
T: 0161 835 2447