Ziya

A contemporary and chic take on the Curry Mile offer comes to Rusholme courtesy of Ziya, with its glass balcony, twinkly lights and copper hues, a menu that offers a few surprises while “not forgetting the more traditional devotee”, plus a comprehensive cocktail and mocktail list.

There’s an emphasis on flavours and colourful presentation – in the dishes as well as the decor of burnt orange seating and fancy marble imported from across Europe. Since opening in 2014, Ziya has been stacking up the awards, even bagging the Best Indian Restaurant in Manchester title at the prestigious Asian Curry Awards. In 2022, the team has been treating customers to its Festival of India, creating a different thali for one week every month of the year, showcasing the very best cuisine of different regions (Bengal or Goa, Gujarat or Kashmir) through the tray of dishes, sweet as well as savoury. Other gastronomic surprises from around India include ghotala – “if adventure is what you like it’s a must try”, apparently, though you have to ask what it entails (we know eggs are involved) – and a lentil and kidney bean delicacy called dal makhini. There’s a number of dals and paneer choices if meat isn’t your bag, while fish includes a Goan curry and the seafood platter, designed for sharing, which features Indo-Chinese fish Manchurian, salmon tikka roasted in the tandoor and battered fish amritsari. Prawns get the Chettinad once-over – a distinctive culinary style and one of the spiciest and most aromatic in India – as does chicken. Another chicken dish is kolhapuri, cooking the bird on the bone and serving in a spicy masala. There’s also lamb kolhapuri, while lamb shank is used in the Kashmiri-style rogan josh, braised in Indian spices, onion, ginger and garlic, and best tucked into with rice or a naan. Even the breads have had a facelift, with choices such as tandoor-cooked chilli and garlic naan and peshwari naan, stuffed with almond, coconut, cardamom, red cherry tomatoes and sultanas. If you want to stick to what you know, there’s a stack of biryani dishes, while the “all-time favourites” sections include lamb madras and chicken jalfrezi.

The dessert list isn’t going to let you go home without trying one, from kulfi to gulab jamun burgers. Can’t decide? There’s a halwa platter or lassi shot to share. There’s also afternoon tea, with a choice of chaats, masala dosa and kathi roll, sweet treats, tea or coffee, and mocktails.

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