Category Archives: Asian food

Zouk’s Slumdog Millionaire charity extravaganza

August 12, 2009 – 10:33 pm

ZOUK_30.07.09 030

There was lots of food, lots of drink and lots of cool belly dancers. Yes this was raising money for charity the fun way. None of this making people wear orange tabards, giving them clipboards and making them chase you down the street for your bank details.

No sir, there are more genteel ways of engaging people with a charity by plying your customers with food and drink – and this is what the lovely people at Zouk did to donate more than £1000 to Plan UK, which goes to help disadvantaged children in India. And after a bottle of vino Mr and Mrs Manchester Is Ace got giddy with the raffle and spent all our money on tickets, but didn’t win anything, except the warm feeling in our hearts. The organisation’s aim is to enable vulnerable children in some of the world’s poorest countries to live in a safe and secure environment.

read more »

Tags , , | Comments (4)

We welcome Zouk to Manchester

February 9, 2009 – 10:00 am

Zouk elephant

Over the weekend of Friday, February 6 and Saturday, February 7, a new Indian restaurant opened in Manchester. So what’s new about that, I hear you ask, when Manchester is full of curry houses? Well, a good question indeed, especially after my last two blog posts which noted THREE curry restaurants on the curry mile that have been fined for a truly disgusting lack of food hygiene.

Firstly, Zouk Tea Bar and Grill is in a great location with no other curry restaurants around. Secondly, it’s a sleek and sharp modern curry restaurant – and there aren’t many of these in Manchester. And thirdly, there is an open kitchen and I can tell you it looked absolutely spotless.

So are you on board now?

read more »

Tags | Comments (5)

Another two curry restaurants to avoid

February 8, 2009 – 5:17 pm

I have just discovered this website called Tandoori News, and got completely carried away reading it when I should be writing up all my recent blog posts. Anyway it turns out that Shahenshah on the curry mile (Wilmslow Road) has also been fined by magistrates for a horrific lack of food hygiene, back in August 2008.

The article says cockroaches were found in the kitchen and mouse droppings found on sacks of rice. They were fined £30,000 (£5,000 for each of six food hygiene charges), and £1,266.51 costs. This was also reported in the Manchester Evening News, where it says the magistrate said it was the worst case of filth in a restaurant they’d ever seen. Yuk.

read more »

Tags , | Comment (0)

Another Rice opens near Oxford Road

February 2, 2009 – 7:18 pm

Rice has long been one of the best things about that communist-era square called Piccadilly Gardens, along with Barburrito. Its handy boxes of rice-based snacks have seen me through many a lunch and teatime. And they also come in those white cardboard boxes, like Chinese food does in America, so you can pretend to be in an American soap (if you want?).

Now another Rice has opened, just off Oxford Road, to bring freshly made rice and noodle dishes to all those starving students and professionals too, if they can be bothered walking a tiny bit down Oxford Road.

read more »

Tags , , | Comment (0)