| Shimla Pinks |
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Dolefield, Crown Square, Manchester M3 3HA
www.shimlapinksmanchester.co.uk
It makes you think, why? ***
We have always thought we knew our Indian and Asian Restaurants, but we discovered this one with some difficulty!
We had a customer who left us with a note of his requirements on the back of an A5 menu, we read and thought yum
BUT… the only clue we had was the above logo printed on the page, well come on that’s what the Web is about, quick Google and we’ll find it…. Half an hour later we have found a Shimla Pinks in Birmingham, then we find a website for two restaurants in Leicester and Nottingham, clearly it’s a chain, eventually on the basis that “John did not journey far afield” we find “Shimla Pinks in Crown Square in Manchester” (note here Jazz & Co – “Flash websites” might look, well, flash but they are not very search engine friendly.)
We like the ideas on the website and along with what we had seen on the “Gourmet Banquet” menu and decided to investigate, however being a Yorkshireman I had to first wait for the “Privilege Card” which I signed up for from the website, I mean even if the prices are low, a 15% discount, well…
The card came soon and last Sunday evening we went to Manchester, located our target and the troops headed inside whilst I went “to park” the car. Outside the restaurant there were three empty disabled parking spaces, but the other slots where taken, so I did a couple of round the block circles gradually getting further away, but the only spaces were disabled ones (plenty of them too! – I think disabled perking (sic) perhaps needs a re-think) Eventually I went into the NCP at Kendal Milne’s ( as I, sadly, still think of it!)
On return to the restaurant I found we had managed to find a nice relaxed seating area and drinks had appeared and a conversation with the waiters and two Indian gentlemen sitting alongside us was in full swing, oh yes and by the way Shimla Pinks has it’s own Car Park…
We decided against the Buffet Menu that was going on at the other end of the restaurant, as the Senior Management felt that having done some cooking and stuff on the occasional evening we don’t go out it was their due to have the food brought to them!
Not only that but they insisted on an upgrade from the merely Gourmet Menu to the Executive one (they claimed it looked nicer with fish and things on it – but I reckon they felt Executive more fitting to their status).
Nonetheless it was a good choice, we in fact had a discussion about what to order largely because we normally get lots of everything and have what we don’t eat as a take-away, even if we don’t get to finish it, our cats enjoy the less spicy bits! Shimla Pinks explained that they don’t do this with the banquets as you end up with little dishes galore, (I guess understandably, they don’t do it on the buffet either!) So we were advised that two portions would be adequate for us rather than three, but nonetheless we ordered extra paratha bread and rice with currants, nuts and cream
Papadoms to start were light and crisp, followed by a selection of Starters including Murgh Malai Tikka (Chicken marinated in cream & cheese and grilled in the tandoor) Fish Amritsar, Vegetable Pakoras, Cubes of homemade cheese with mint and fennel, Minced Lamb Kebab and Aloo Tikka. Unfortunately the Monster decided she liked all this rather than just the papadoms and rice she normally eats at Indian restaurants, this of course mean’t less for me.
We moved on to main courses and again a nice selection, C hooza Makhani, (tandoor grilled chicken in a tomato and and meat sauce), Chicken Nentara (Chicken Cubes in a spicy tomato, coriander, fenugreek sauce with spring onion and ginger), Harrey Masaley Ka Gosht, ( Lamb cubes in a wonderful sauce – look at the menu on the website for a less accurate description!), Prawn Rogan Josh (management’s fish fetish again but good anyway), with Aloo Gobhi Bhuna and Vegetable Jalfrezi, Paloo Rice and Naan. Plus of course the Shahi Pulao (£2.50) rice and Lachcha Paratha (£1.75) we had ordered originally. Again even the monster decided there were several things she liked here and tucked in, frankly the menu descriptions don’t help here, a bit more “cuddly spring lambs” and “ chirpy Easter chickens” might make her think twice.
The Shahi Pulao rice (The finest of Basmati rice cooked with pure flavours of saffron and kewra then replenished with fresh cream and dried fruit and nuts ) was applauded, but all in all everything was good or better, nicely presented with prompt but not too quick and very pleasant service.
The highlight of the meal however was that rather than an Indian sweet ( I am not a pudding man, and generally prefer the savouries anyway) you get an option of a liqueur!!
The Gourmet Menu cost £14.95 and the Executive menu is £19.95
The low point of the evening came when we got back to the car and had to pay a ransom of £13.50 to NCP to get it free, honestly I only wanted a parking space I hadn’t intended to buy Manchester
*** The two Gentleman whom we spoke to before we had our meal turned out to be Jazz Pannum and his father. Mr Pannum Senior is the owner of Shimla Pinks and from them we learnt that the name is a reference to the Indian equivalent of our “Sloane Ranger” and went along with the idea of blending the contemporary with the traditional, which you can see is very much their style with food prepared to high standards and modern standards of décor and ambiance.
Mr Pannum had started out in Scotland and established a chain of eight Shimla Pinks restaurants across the country although now the other restaurants are operated separately and only the Manchester branch is directly run by the family. The spectacular Bar is shown below:
Saving the Best for last it seems that within a few weeks the Shimla Pinks in Crown Square will be closing…..
But a new and even more spectacular Shimla Pinks will be opening nearby, we will keep you updated
*For anyone who is interested this item has been written using OpenOffice “writer” software and posted directly from that program using an extension created by Sun into our WordPress Blog, (way easier than Ms Office)