Dosa Xpress

Seriously excellent value for excellent food. The lighting is a bit strange in the evening but that’s very minimal to the overall experience, would and have recommended to many friends who agree.

Total bargain for tasty, surprisingly filling, south Indian pancakes.
Dhosas seem to be having a moment. Or possibly it’s me just not noticing before?! Either way there’s now quite a few places in Manchester where you can pick a tasty crispy pancake (unfortunate sounding connotations with Findus crispy pancake nastiness found in freezer aisle).
I had a paneer masala dhosa which I really enjoyed, especially after dunking in selection of dips that came with it. Word of warning though, if you hate spice be careful as even the coconut dip had a small tingly spicy after effect. There was also a dhaal dip, a coriander dip and a spicy red one (?). There’s a least two types of pancakes as another girl had an oopthala (or similar) that’s a bit thicker and more like a naan. I’d probably try the mutton one next time as I had a taste and it was very tender and flavorful.
I also shared Dahi Puri for a starter, a thin savoury pastry filled with yoghurt. It sort of reminded me of a profiteroles with the round thin pastry case filled with cream filling. It was full of spicy flavour though and some potato at the bottom. I quite liked it but it was cold which I wasn’t expecting. I’d probably order chicken «lollipops» for a starter — battered spicy chicken drumsticks which I sampled and they were very tasty. The chickpea salad I tried some of was also good.
The only thing that let it down was the service. We were there for about 20 minutes just talking and looking at the menu before we started waving at them. To be honest this was fine as I hate when they want to take your order as soon as you’ve sat down. But there was a dhosa that got forgotten about and a few other things that seemed a bit sloppy. However one of the waiters was apparently on his first day and I’m sure will improve.
Plus, most importantly, it’s a total bargain. My dhosa was £4.50. The Dahi Puri was £2.99 and the mango lassi £1.99.

I do not know what to say about this place. In my opinion the food tastes very good. Although I have visited this place like 10 times and a couple of times I had to get a refund as the biryani which I ordered was stale and frozen. One of the waiters working there probably thinks that he is working a shop rather than a restaurant and therefore does not understand them meaning of courtesy. On several occasions I have requested a specific place of sitting and every-​time I was turned down saying that «Can’t give you that one as it is for more guests». Come on seriously it was 9:30 on all of those 3 occasions and we were the last customers how could have that place been taken later and finally in all occasions no one showed up on those tables.
Though apart from this hospitality nightmare the chef is a maestro he knows what he is doing. So in short delicious food and pathetic service.

Food was great… Absolutely amazing.
Customer service is shocking. Starters don’t come together and neither do mains. The food more than makes up for it. I think they just need to take a few lessons in making the customer feel more welcome.

this is the best place in manchester to get idli /​vada /​dosa. All freshly prepared cheap, and delicious. Personally I would stay away from the meat dosas as the combination just doesn’t sound right. Also the front door is really hard to open! If you go, you’ll know what I mean. Overall a great south indian café.

Here was me just thinking how nice it would be for Manchester to have dosas available from a budget-​type eatery when — as the exact fulfilment of my desire — up pops Dosa Xpress. Dosa Xpress is a South Indian café-​restaurant and takeaway offering several regional specialities — vada, dosa, idli, oothapam, sambar and so on — served as thalis with several distinctive tastes. For example, my Spring Dosa (£4.29) which has a cabbage and potato filling came with small servings of sambar and fresh South Indian, coriander and coconut chutneys. See the elegant thali presentation in my photos.
Dosa are rice and dhal crèpes, available here with a long list of (mostly vegetarian) fillings and customising dishes to your taste is also very much encouraged by staff. Dosas are good for you because they are nourishing yet very light and easy to digest.
Oothappam is a thicker version of dosa. Idli is a steamed rice and dhal cake with a spongy texture, traditionally served with sambar (spicy lentil and vegetable soup). Vada is a deep-​fried fritter of rice and dhal, again served with sambar or soaked in a yoghurt sauce.
Dosa Xpress also offer the more usual curries, rice dishes and breads.
I’ve only visited once, and so can only speak for the quality of the one dish I’ve tried. But Dosa Xpress really does smack of the real deal to me — authentic, interesting, vegetarian-​friendly, unadulterated food. On that last point, the digestive masala provided with the bill was a homemade mix of fennel seeds coated in sugar — such a nice, homely touch!
With around thirty covers, Dosa Express opened in Manchester five months ago, and they have another outlet in Derby. The décor is modest but pleasant — I personally found the statue of Ganesh quite touching, especially with evidence of recent offerings having been made.
There are various weekday lunch meal deals and the ‘Lunch Thaali Buffet’ for £5.99 on Saturday and Sunday.
As a vegetarian, many of Manchester’s Northern Quarter/​Cheetham Hill curry cafés tend to have limited menus focused mainly on non-​vegetarian curries and kebabs with sometimes only one vegetable curry and not much rotation of their menu. (See my Curry Cafés of Manchester list for exceptions.) So you can imagine why Dosa Xpress is such a refreshing change for me and goes straight in at #1 on my vegetarian-​perspective Curry Cafés of Manchester list.

Had dinner here recently.
I had experienced dosa before in India where it’s primarily served as a breakfast food and I enjoyed it then, the good news is that this place is very authentic!
For those not in the know, dosa is basically a big savoury rolled crêpe with stuffing which you choose. It’s served with several fresh chutneys and a daal (lentils with gravy — tasty), all in a big multi-​port tray. Makes you feel like Buck Rogers. It’s sort of the Indian equivalent of sandwiches.
The staff were really friendly and are eager to hear what you think of the food.
So should you go? Well if you’re keen for a big curry and all the trimmings then perhaps not. However, one of the other great things about this place is that it’s cheap! (£3−4 a dosa) So if you’re in the mood to try something different, with very little to lose, give it a bash — you’ll be adding a very common and authentic Indian dish to your culinary repertoire!