This Manc Can Eat

05/09/2024

Parkhills Star, Bury - Full House Parkhills Star Special Kebab (£21)

*Food hygiene rating 5/5*

This place has been on the hit list for quite some time now. It's probably amongst the first few places that was suggested to me when I first started the page and theres no reason it's taken so long to get round to it other than I just havent reviewed anywhere in Bury yet. So when the opportunity came up for me to swing by here on the way back from working just outside Bury, I snapped up the opportunity to take a quick divert and give it a spin.

At first glance at the menu, theres quite a few Kebab options available - most of which cost around the £6-£10 mark, these are called "The Real Kebabs". However, my eyes were drawn further down the menu to the Special Mixed Kebab section where prices start aat £9 for a Kobida and Donner on Naan and top out at £12.50 for Chicken Tikka and Lamb Chops. Just a little below that was an even more special area where prices were £18.50 - £24 for 2x variants of their mixed Kebabs. I'll be the first to admit the price tag of £21 for a "Full House" was steep and I was hesistant to order it but given that its taken me so long to visit, I couldn't not get one of their show stoppers. This incarnation consisted of a Kobida, Donner, Lamb Chops and Chicken Tikka with 2x Naans.

After 10 mins or so, I was handed a foil tray full of meaty goodness and was sent on my way. My first thought was that it didnt weigh as much as I thought a £21 Kebab should way but I'll expand on it below:

The Donner - Whilst I was stood in the shop watching the boss man do his thing, I wasn't particularly taken back by the appearance of the Donner Elephant Leg at the back of the shop. Infact it looked quite generic and mediocre. However, when I got home and tried it, it was surprisingly nice. Thick, juicy cuts that were nice and fresh. Not a dry spot in sight!

The Kobida - I can't say I was a fan of them breaking this up into pieces for the purpose of getting it in the tray but I understand the need to do it. It wasn't the best or tastiest Kobida i've ever had but it was nice enough and the flavours worked well with everything else that was served up. One thing to note is that this is one of a very small selection of places that don't seem to charge through the nose for a Kobida these days.

Lamb Chops - Let's address the Elephant in the room. Chops of any kind don't belong on a Kebab. Period. They are a stand alone item that can be served with some sauce and salad and thats the extent of it - nothing with a bone (or bones) belongs in such a meal in my opinion. Now thats out of the way, I'll make you aware that I'm not particularly fond of Asian-style Chops and Steaks as usually they are dry and way overcooked for my personal preference. However, I was VERY surprised at these and i'd almost go as far as to say they changed my opinion entirely - They were juicy and incredibly flavourful. There were 4 of them in total and every one of them had a few bites of meat to them, they arent your everyday snide Lamb Chop where theres more bone than meat, these were damn tasty (they still don't belong in a Kebab though).

The Chicken Tikka - More good news here, the Chicken pieces were thick and juicy and packed a little zesty punch. There wasnt too many pieces of it but given the amount of meat in general thats included in this, it wasnt a huge concern for me at the time.

The Salad - Standard Salad stuff here - "You don't win friends with Salad"

The Sauces - Included with this bundle of hot meat was 4 tubs of sauces. 2 tubs of Chilli sauce and 2 tubs of mild sauce, which was more of a garlic yoghurt sauce. Both were nice and complimented each other when I poured all 4 tubs on to my mountain of meat. The Chilli sauce wasn't particularly spicy and was reminicent of a classic Kebab sauce.

Overall - Genuinely a refreshing change from a lot of the other (less than stellar) Kebabs I've had recently. Whilst I can't ignore the fact that the prices here are certainly at the top end of what i'd be willing to pay and I absolutely wouldnt go for this again away from the purposes of a review, everything was fresh, tasty and hit the spot nicely. I'd go as far as to say i'd make the effort to pay another visit next time i'm in the area or relatively near by. Whilst the Donner wasn't anything of note, it was far from the worst i've ever eaten and is better than a lot of what I have eaten recently.

7.5/10 (It would score higher if it wasn't for the prices being on the steep side).

05/09/2024

I've had a few messages over the last few weeks touching on the subject that most of the reviews being less favorable and I could be costing a businesses valuable customers.

My response to that is - Don't shoot the messenger. If a place gets a bad review, its backed up with evidence to show you why and its their own fault for serving substandard food. Its not my fault that they are serving dry or poor quality food at inflated prices. I'm just calling them out for doing so.

My intention has always been to praise and highlight those that make an effort and publically call out those that don't.

Don't want a bad review? Make an effort. Its not difficult to do the bare minimum.

04/09/2024

The Ben Chippy, Moston - Ben Special Mixed Kebab (£10.99), Chips (£4) and a portion of Donner Meat (£5.50)

*Food hygiene rating 3/5*

Theres no back story to ordering from this place, it was literally chosen at random from one of the few places that are on Just Eat that I havent reviewed yet. As you can see from the photos... it's a decision that I regretted as soon as it arrived.

The Ben Special Mixed Kebab - Visually this isn't *too bad* on the eye. It looks like your standard mixed kebab thats been delivered by any of your typical takeaways with little to no effort in to how is presented once opened.

The Donner - Absolutely nothing redeemable about this and it was super inconsistent to say the least. Some pieces were bland and chewy whilst other pieces were bland and dry. It's not clear if this was supposed to be a Shashlik style Kebab as its not mentioned in the description but if it is, the meat wasnt covered consistently.

The Lamb - Super chewy if you're lucky to find any of it in here. It also tasted like stewed steak (Beef) rather than Lamb.

The Chicken - Similar to, but better than, the Donner. It didnt really have much taste to it but there was a fair few chunks of the stuff amongst the strips of Donner which seemed to dominate the majority of the Kebab.

The Seekh - One long piece of it in here and to be brutally honest, it had an odd taste to it - a little like washing up liquid. Its probably not the flavour they were going for but thats what was achieved in this one.

The Chips - Other than them looking like they were heated on the forehead of someone with a headache, £4 for a portion of chips is a bit on the steep side to begin with, let alone for this sort of portion size and this level of quality. To give credit where its due, they did dust it with Red Salt but thats like trying to polish a turd i'm afriad. They were soft, flavourless and got binned after trying a handful.

Donner Meat Portion - The photos speak for themselves really. I think the leather sofa in my living room is less tough and has more flavour than this. Luckily it was for my dogs but I can't say I didn't feel a little bad for subjecting them to this.

Honestly, I'm trying hard to keep this review as constructive as possible and not sound like I'm being a hater but this was far from a positive experience. Oddly enough the place has 200+ reviews on Just Eat and is rated quite highly (4.2/5 at the time of writing). HOWEVER, what struck me as more than a little suspicious is that a lot of the names leaving the reviews are repeated, often several times on the same day, rating them 5/5 and not leaving any comment to explain the score given. Call me what you want but that seems more than a little odd to me and if I had looked at the reviews beforehand, I wouldn't have ordered based on that seemingly sketchy behavior. Of course theres no actual proof that this is deceiving people - its just really odd to see rather unique names leave several reviews on the same day, suggesting theres been multiple orders (which in itself is odd behavior) and the reviews have no comments.

Anyway, the prices were on the border of expensive-but-reasonable "IF" the quality of the food was up to standard. Sadly there was nothing positive that I could say about any of it and I won't be going here again.

2.5/10

03/09/2024

Middleton people... We might actually have our first decent kebab place!

There's a bit to say about this so I'll write the review asap.

01/09/2024

Heywood Hut, Heywood – Heywood Hut Special (£9.99)
*Food hygiene rating: Awaiting inspection*

I had a week-long break from my diet and decided to over indulge in a takeaway. Not only did I order the Heywood Hut Special but it was accompanied by a 12” Garlic Bread and then another, smaller Garlic Bread which was thrown in for free for the order being over a certain price. Since I hadn’t had any form of bread or carb product for 2 months, I was happy to oblige!

The Heywood Hut Special (Kebab) – So this is a bit of a mixed bag from the get go. The breakdown of what this item is on the menu states it comes with Turkish Bread. I appreciate that’s quite a vague description but I didn’t expect a bog-standard thin Naan that tasted like it came from a packet. I also wasn’t totally unhappy or blown away from the initial glance inside the Pizza box it came in but I had to explore further.

The Donner – This was as generic as it gets and as you can see from the photos, had been on the spit for a little too long and had dried out a little. It’s far from the worst I’ve ever eaten but it was by no means tasty or acceptable to provide meat that’s dried out like that.

The Chicken Donner – Alright, this was a refreshing change of direction. This stuff took me back to my days in college where we’d head into Stockport town centre for a few pints or a night out and would end up at a place called Spice Land on the A6 (its not there anymore) the Chicken Donner here was EXACTLY how I remember Spice Land tasting and it did it for me. I appreciate there’s an element of nostalgia involved here but it was genuinely nice tasting and flavourful Chicken.

The Chicken Tikka – Unfortunately these little orange chunks were a let-down. They tasted quite watery as if they haven’t been marinated for long enough and were left in a bath of water and spices and they absorbed all the water with none of the spice or flavours. They were cooked properly but that’s setting the bar quite low in all honesty.

The Seekh Kebabs – These long rods of meat were similar to the Chicken Tikka. They had a bit of a watered-down taste to them and whilst there was 2 of them, they were A LOT thinner than I’m used to and didn’t have much of a texture to them at all. Edible but just about.

The Chilli Sauce – The biggest let down of all in my opinion. I LOVE it when a place makes their own sauce as its almost always unique and has variations between places, even if its from a franchise. Unfortunately, it looked and tasted like this place was using a bog-standard bottle of Crucial Chilli Sauce and it just didn’t do it for me. I’ve got nothing against Crucial sauces, but this was just a low effort, run of the mill attempt at spicing it all up.

Salad – Meh, “You don’t win friends with Salad”

Overall – For £9.99, it’s a decent enough portion size but as I mentioned above, It felt very much like it was something thrown together with little-to-no consideration for how the flavours should be coming together and the textures involved. I wasn’t expecting a Michelin star meal but I do like a bit of effort to be made and this just didn’t hit the mark. The fact I was served dry Donner meat said all I needed to know about this place as I continued to eat my way through the Kebab and sadly that’s just one thing of a list of things that need some attention.

4/10

31/08/2024

Glodwick Chippy, Oldham - Mixed Shashlik (£7.50) & Chips (£2.50)

📍 40 Minton Street, Oldham, OL4 1RX

Also available to watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3U2ZTrfykaI

31/08/2024

The review of this place (Glodwick Chippy) has been uploaded and scheduled to be posted later this afternoon.

29/08/2024

Adanos Burger, Failsworth - Spicy Chicken Burger Meal (£7.49)

(Note: I asked for a burger priced at £5.99 but recieved a meal, hence referencing the price of the burger throughout).

📍 151 Oldham Road, Failsworth, Manchester, M35 0BX

Also available to watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wHTQ8TDV_wM

28/08/2024

The review of Adanos has been uploaded and will be posted tomorrow afternoon.

I'll get to work on the review of Glodwick Chippy as soon as I can :)

27/08/2024

YOH Burger & Desserts, Failsworth - Single Burger Meal with 24K Fries & Drink (£14.45)

📍 151 Oldham Road, Failsworth, Manchester, M35 0BX

Also available to watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PGVfncx6fDo

26/08/2024

I'll write a review of Parkhills Star when I get a bit of time. I've got 3 video reviews and 3 written reviews to post 💪

25/08/2024

This ones been on the list for about 18 months. Lets give it a whirl 🙌

24/08/2024

The importance of reading the label properly!

I spotted this in Spar earlier and thought I'd give it a try... not realising until after I had a few continuous mouthfuls that it has chilli in it.

Nice initial flavour, horrendous white pepper-esque after taste 🤢

22/08/2024

It's going to be a few days before I have the time to edit and post one of the reviews. However, whilst skimming through some of the clips, I found this and its exactly the sort of footage I want to post more of.

Every establishment (providing they have seating and a little area where I can park my hungry behind) will have a chance at a fair and impartial review and I'll showcase what i'm served like this (and other ways as part of the review video) - Good or bad.

21/08/2024

21/08/2024

Suggested by a follower, lets give this place a go!

21/08/2024

Next on the list

21/08/2024

First up!

21/08/2024

A slight, last minute change of plan. I'll be paying a visit to Oldham today 😉

19/08/2024

*sigh*

12/08/2024

Home made Keto-friendly no bake IRN-BRU Cheesecake 😍

06/08/2024

Smash Doner Shakes, Newton Heath - Monster Special Kebab (£15.99)

*Food hygiene rating 3*

Courtesy of some aggressive marketing via Facebook, this place has popped up on my feed quite a few times in the form of an advert and whilst I wouldn't normally entertain such a ploy, it looked decent enough with lots of mostly positive reviews and responses/comments to the advert so I though it give it a go.

Being me, I spotted something called "The Monster Kebab" and despite the price, I just couldnt stay away and had to order it. Unfortunately my current diet means I couldnt enjoy some parts of this meal as I have a limited intake of carbs, but I didnt let that stop me!

The Kebab arrived just over 2 hours after ordering and required a chase via phone. I was advised something wasnt working correctly and my order was on its way as we spoke. Thankfully there was some truth to that statement as the delivery driver appeared less than 10 mins later with a pizza box that weighed more than one of my kids. I had mixed emotions at that point as I was ravenous and was almost consumed by the hunger. Alas, I dug in as soon as I possibly could.

So then, this appears to be a Shashlik style kebab that I ordered with "hot flaming sauce" and "hot chilli sauce". I couldn't tell you which either were as it all tasted like a normal Shashlik sauce to me and nothing was spicy in any form.

The Donner - Standard stuff here. It had a bit of a texture to it but wasnt store made/home made stuff and seemed to have been tossed in this sauce for a moment before being served up. As such, not all of the meat was covered and it had an inconsistent taste as a result.

The Lamb Chops - These were unexpected and a little surprise. One I personally wish wasnt included for 2 reasons. 1) They were garbage. 2) They were the only item that required using my hands which meant it got messy - they felt like they were out of place to me.

The Chicken Tikka - No issues here. They were actually really tasty. Soft, succulent and full of flavour. Zero complaints here.

Lamb Tikka - I'll be the first to admit, I had to go hunting for these bits amongst the vast amount of meat and when I did find some. It was sliced as if it was a piece of steak and was tough as old boots. It didnt have much flavour to it and was dry so I ended up sharing this with my dogs.

Seekh Kebab - Similar story to the Chicken Tikka really. Nice, juicy and flavourful. Just a little bit crumbly for my liking as it fell apart as soon as I took a breath near it but other than that - all good.

Chips & Bread - I didnt/couldnt try these as mentioned above.

Overall - I can't beat about the bush here and the photos dont quite do it justice. This absolutely lives up to its name and is a monster of a Kebab. The border created by the chips also hid quite a bit more of the meat so what you see in the photos is about an inch or layered meats and its pretty much edge to edge inside that box. Its a lot of food for the price and I reckon 2-3 maybe even 4 people would be happy with that between them if you include devouring the chips and bread too.

The taste and quality is a little inconsistent and the delivery time on this particular order almost had me eating my own hand but if you can overlook these issues, its worth a look if you're super, super hungry or want to feed a small country.

6.5/10

05/08/2024

Kurry Hut, Moston - Special Mixed Shashlik on Naan (£10)

*Food hygiene rating 5*

I'll start by addressing thd Elephant in the room, this didnt impress me at first glance as it's very different to any other Shashlik style Kebab i've had before. They are normally covered in sauce and deceptively deep red in colour. This wasnt and I wasnt sure what to expect from it.

The meats were nice enough but absolutely nothing noteworthy. It was all overpowered by the Cumin taste that this place is calling their Shashlik sauce. Unfortunately thats the only flavour that came through most of this Kebab and it didnt taste as if much effort was made in constructing the flavour of the sauce itself as it literally tasted like Kebab meat had been thrown in a wok with some oil, a spoon of Cumin powder and what can only be described as ALL OF THE ONIONS.

Speaking of Onions, I feel I should point out that this Kebab was so full of Onions that it felt as if it was a filler ingredient used to save a few pence by not throwing in as much meat. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, it just came across that way with how much Onion was in there.

All in all, it was edible and for a tenner it wasnt completely unreasonable for what I got vs the price it cost. I don't think id get it again from here which tells you all you need to know but it wasnt bad, it just came across as if a minimal amount of effort was made.

6/10

04/08/2024

King Pizza, Blackley - King Special Kebab (£15).

*Food hygiene rating 3*

I'm running out of places to review from one of the delivery apps so I chose this at random from a short list on places I haven't yet ordered from. King Pizza was the winner of this particular day.

I'll be honest, once it arrived, I thought it pictured quite well and I had high hopes based on it looking pretty good. Unfortunately that turned out to be a bit of a mistake on my part.

The meat and I mean all of the meat in here was completely bland. The Donner was the cheap and nasty stuff that has a mild peppert/garlic taste to it and has next to no texture to it. The Chicken was cooked well enough but wasnt seasoned in any way, essentially just grilled Chicken breast and thats all she wrote and the Lamb was chewy but void of any flavour. Sadly none of this was redeemed or perked up by the included Chilli sauce either. A genuine disappointment for the lofty price of £15.

I ordered 2 of these King Kebabs and tweaked the order for the 2nd one, which I originally planned on eating the following day as they had an offer on where the 2 kebabs ended up costing £18 in total and even with such a saving, it wasnt enough to redeem itself in any way. I suspect the paper the Kebab came in had more flavour than the Kebab itself.

3/10

01/08/2024

This appeared on my Facebook memories today. A cause I could really get behind 😋🐽

30/07/2024

Right then, I've got another date secured in the diary for food reviews. Sadly its on a day where Proper Scran isnt open so I'm putting together a list of places to pay a visit to instead but around the Chorlton area.

So far I have:
The Post Box Shawarma
Zaxxfried
Rounders
Bunzilla

I'll be limited on time so I might only get round 2-3 of these places rather than the whole list but if you can think of any more that you think might be worth a review, for better or for worse (remember, I review the good and the bad - it makes no difference to me), then by all means pop a comment below and I'll do some research :)

30/07/2024

I know munchboxes and the like have been around for ages but man are the prices creeping up. I just came across this one on TikTok and the fella is saying its amazing value for money.

Sorry my guy, its absolutely not!

27/07/2024

Anatolian Express, Prestwich - Mixed Doner (£9)

*Food hygiene rating 5*

The misses isnt a big fan of Kebabs at the best of times and isnr a big meat eater. However, she does surprise me from time to time by wanting something Greek or Turkish for tea and i'm always happy to oblige. A quick browse of one of the delivery apps and Anatolian Express caught our eye.

The mixed Doner - At first glance, I was a little confused about how this meal was served as it arrived deconstructed and wasnt quite what I expected. Folded bread on the side, a moderate amount of Donner Meat and Chicken Donner covering a pickled mixed salad, very similar to what you'd typically get when ordering a Shawarma from somewhere with 2 pots of sauce on the side - A thin yoghurt sauce and a nicely spiced chilli sauce.

The Donner was nice enough but wasnt anything to write poetry about. It tasted like bog standard Elephant Leg meat Donner with nothing added or done to it to jazz it up. I'll be honest, I expected this to be grilled for a few seconds after being shaven off the spit as the chargrilled flavour adds so much to it and suits Greek/Cypriot/Turkish flavours so much. Alas, nothing was done and it was as average as it gets. The Chicken Donner was much nicer and had a nice bark to it, though again, it would have benefitted from a little extra TLC to make it extra special.

The salad, though hidden from view, was really nice if you're into pickled Red Cabbage. It was tarty but refreshing, especially when paired with a bit of meat on the fork. However, it can leave your mouth a bit sore if you try and tackle it by itself without anything else breaking up the sharp flavour.

All in all, it's a nice Kebab and not overly expensive (without factoring in the delivery app fees) but the costs do start to mount up. On one of our orders, we somehow spent over 30 quid on 2 kebabs and a side dish, thats more than i'd be willing to spend on a meal that size but alas, the world is more expensive than ever and its getting harder to find a place that is great value and really tasty. Since ordering from here, the misses almost exclusively wants to order from here and that speaks for itself as she's quite fussy when it comes to food in general, let alone from a takeaway.

It might be a hot take but for me it was nice but nothing groundbreaking and doesnt do enough to make it special in my book. It was nice and i'd have it again if I wanted a light bite as to be honest, it wasnt filling but ticked most of the boxes for a suitable light meal, though i'd prefer it to be just a tad cheaper for what it is.

6.5/10

26/07/2024

Taj Balti House, Royton - Taj Special Mix on Naan (£12) & Taj Super Special Sandwich (£12.50).

*Food hygiene rating 5*

After browsing one if the delivery apps for a little while. I decided on this place based on nothing more than the description and price of their Kebabs. It's no secret that I basically look for the showcase meal (usually the biggest and best kebab or burger) as thats generally the standout item from a place and typically its a dish the establishment is proud to produce.
I'll admit the 5 quid delivery fee is a bit steep but fortunately that was offset by a 20% offer they had on.

The Taj Special Mix - This is their chosen name for your standard mixed Kebab. As you can see from the photos, it looked like it could pack a punch as I ordered it with chilli sauce and theres a lot of chilli seeds on display amongst the meat. Sadly this was just for show as the contents of the kebab in their entirety was bland. Well, thats not strictly true as there was a strong salty taste that over powered anything else but in all honesty, that was pretty much the only flavour coming through anyway so its possible the salt was just doing its job to make it taste of 'something' rather than nothing.

The sauce was thin and added absolutely no flavour to it at all and the only saving grace of it was that the Shish had a little kick to it but the rest of the meat as void of any flavour at all.

The Taj Super Special Sandwich - Similar to the non Shashlik version of the same kebab. This wasnt the best experience.

The Shashlik sauce did absolutely nothing to add any flavour to the meat here. The fried onions were OK and arguably the best part of this Kebab. It tasted as if the meat had been thrown in a wok for a few seconds with some Onions and Cumin and the chef thought "job done". I'm grateful that it wasnt swimming in oil like these sort of Kebabs usually are but thats the only saving grace here. However, as you can see from the photos, the Kebab was quite dry for one of this kind and the sauce was inconsistent when it came to covering the meat as a fair few strips of Donner meat had a red edge but plain middle section which suggests it was quickly thrown in and out.

Overall not a great experience to be honest. Whilst I appreciate the thought process of "this is a curry house" the comment still stands that the restaurant backs the food on their menu enough to make it for their customers and this leaves a lot to be desired.

4/10