Best Indian restaurant / curry house in Sheffield - Megathread

obviously it's all down to personal taste, but:

 

On Woodseats, I've been advised that Kashmiri Aroma is one of the best, but Viraaj keeps getting nominated for awards.

 

I'm being taken out for my birthday next month and can't decide which one to go for. I always look for the most authentic restaurant I can as I'm definitely not a tikka masala man and want as close to the real thing as possible.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

I’ve always found K.A a real cut above the standard curry house experience - the service, eating environment, atmosphere. The food is always top notch, the fish dishes and especially the curried lamb shank are well worth trying!

I’ve always found K.A a real cut above the standard curry house experience - the service, eating environment, atmosphere. The food is always top notch, the fish dishes and especially the curried lamb shank are well worth trying!

Thanks for the feedback!

Looks like KA is getting a visit next month.

And another crazy optimist has taken over this site on Middlewood Road: "Mughals - Taste of authentic Indian food with fine dining area..." The menu looks to be all balti, tikka masala, dopiaza bog-standard (pun intended) stuff, so it might do better than Two States...

Just how many different restuarants has been in that building? I can think of seven in the last five years.

Recommendation please:

Small group

Sheffield station/Wicker/'Cliffe

Weekday late lunch/afternoon

Asia/Middle East

Beer

Ta

On 9/16/2018 at 9:19 AM, glennC said:

not exactly in Sheffield, I recently visited Riverside Spice in Catcliffe and was very very impressed, this unassuming little restaurant on Main Street gave me the best Indian meal I have eaten for a long long time.

 

An extensive menu, great customer service and a nice feel about the place.

 

Highly recommended.

Oooh I was going to try this place but was unsure at the time. I may have to sample with my friend who lives nearby 

I think Akbar's on Meadowbank Road is very good, probably the best in and around the city.  I know they have one in West One too - same menu - but I don't think the food is of the same standard.  Whether that's because they are catering for a different crowd I don't know, but I go down to Meadowbank Road in preference, even though it's further.

There's no other Indian/Pakistani restaurant around here that can match it for the quality of the tandoori dishes, fish, lamb chops, etc.  And the freshly made giant nan breads are something else.  There's a huge range of curries, they tend to be more dry than Indian curries, being based on Pakistani cuisine, but they are very good imo.   And the prices are very reasonable.

2 hours ago, DerbyTup said:

I think Akbar's on Meadowbank Road is very good, probably the best in and around the city.  I know they have one in West One too - same menu - but I don't think the food is of the same standard.  Whether that's because they are catering for a different crowd I don't know, but I go down to Meadowbank Road in preference, even though it's further.

 

There's no other Indian/Pakistani restaurant around here that can match it for the quality of the tandoori dishes, fish, lamb chops, etc.  And the freshly made giant nan breads are something else.  There's a huge range of curries, they tend to be more dry than Indian curries, being based on Pakistani cuisine, but they are very good imo.   And the prices are very reasonable.

Are you talking about Akbars the chain? 

There are plenty of other ones of an equal or better standard - Ashoka for one.

29 minutes ago, makapaka said:

Are you talking about Akbars the chain? 

 

There are plenty of other ones of an equal or better standard - Ashoka for one.

Yes.  I'm talking about the Akbar's that started out in West Yorkshire, maybe 30 years ago now.  I remember taking clients (mostly Asian) there back in the 90's and they reckoned it was the best, most authentic, curry house in the area, although Aagrah used to have a good name up there as well (and Mumtaz in Bradford).  I used to wish they'd open one in Sheffield. The one at Meadowbank Road was their first one in this area.  But they have them in Leeds and Manchester now as well.  

We went to Ashoka last month, the one on Ecclesall Road.  It's good, but not as good as Akbar's in my/our opinion.  It's all about opinions of course.  

I've always found Akbars to be totally average, don't like the experience of being herded into the bar to buy overpriced drinks, the service feels rushed (bum on seats) and the place looks grotty, Ashoka is far better proposition for dining and the food is some way better in quality. 

On 12/13/2018 at 10:43 PM, Brooker11 said:

I've always found Akbars to be totally average, don't like the experience of being herded into the bar to buy overpriced drinks, the service feels rushed (bum on seats) and the place looks grotty, Ashoka is far better proposition for dining and the food is some way better in quality. 

As I said, it's all about opinions.    

 Akbars was the choice of most Indian/Pakistani clients that I worked with, because the food is much closer to what they would normally eat at home, than the Westernised, mainly Bangladeshi run, places.  It sounds like you've been many times to Akbars, which If you've always found Akbars to be "totally average" then I wouldn't keep going back if I were you, because it's not going to change.  They've got a set way of doing things that obviously works for them, which is why they've opened up branches now in several towns and cities.  It was just a little concern some years ago in Bradford.

We don't particularly like the West One Akbars at all tbh.  We also find it rushed and noisy.  Probably reflects the city centre location, which is a shame.  We had similar poor experiences at Aagrah in Leopold Square.  We'd booked a table there one night for 4 of us at 9pm.  We had to wait over an hour to be seated - why?  Because they'd taken walk-ins off the street and had no respect to reserve a table for people who had booked in advance.

Anyhow..back to Akbars...

I can't say we've felt "rushed" at all at the Meadowbank Road one.  In any case, if you're not ready to sit down at the table you can always say so.  But every time we've been we've been seated in the bar for a good 15/20 minutes before a table has come free.  The Meadowbank Road branch is a bit dimly lit and we don't like that about it - but ultimately it's about the food.  I've said before on here...look, if someone's idea of a good "Indian" is pappadoms, onion bhaji's, chicken tikka masala and rice (or chips), then don't bother going to Akbar's - seriously - there are places that you'd enjoy far better.  If someone has a little more eclectic taste then I think Akbar's is quite unique tbh.  

I am not knocking Ashoka for one moment.  I think it's probably the best one in and around the city centre.  But I'm afraid it doesn't compare in terms of the choice/range of food to Akbar's and in our opinion the food at Akbar's is better.  We like the tandoori dishes especially, at Akbar's you have a big range of these, including two different tandoori fish dishes, pakora and machli - there are no tandoori fish dishes on offer at Ashoka.  We had the lamb chops starter at Ashoka when we went a few weeks ago - they were nice - but they were nowhere near as good, in terms of flavour or succulency, as the ones at Akbar's.  I think Ashoka is a lot more "mainstream" than Akbar's.  It serves up nice food in a "traditional curry house" style.  It is much more Westernised - in fact they even "Sheffieldise" it to appeal to the locals.  It's a small, poky place too.  And considerably more expensive than Akbars.

You pays your money, you takes your choice.

rajdhani by the Dore train station is the one I enjoy going to the food is really nice

On 12/17/2018 at 9:01 AM, Snooker147 said:

rajdhani by the Dore train station is the one I enjoy going to the food is really nice

We've been about three times to this one and to be honest we've never been impressed.  We went when it was first open - we thought it was "o.k" nothing more.  And we've been back a couple of times since with friends, as they had booked it.  On one occasion I had a chicken curry of some sort and it was about 90% potato and 10% chicken.  We had a lamb dish as well which had tiny pieces of meat in there, about the size of a 5 pence piece .  So, there was a "value" thing which they didn't quite come up to.  But also, the flavours were very bland.  That was our main criticism of it.  

To be honest, that's our main criticism of most of the Indian type restaurants that we go to.  Few of them use fresh spices and the food is deliberately bland, possibly to cater for local tastes?  If you visit a restaurant where they grind fresh spices then the flavour of the food is totally different.  That doesn't mean the food is  "hot and spicy", it's about depth of flavour.  If you're familiar with London and the restaurant scene around Southall, Brick Lane, etc., where there are lots of authentic Indian/Pakistani eateries, you'll know what I'm referring to.  

Rajdhani is a nice place to go and sit though - I'll give it that.