Scene Indian Street Kitchen

After returning to Manchester after the xmas holidays it was time to take advantage of some of the 50% vouchers floating around. A few of us opted to go to Scene kitchen after hearing good things.
We booked and arrived to a lovely little booth tucked away. The outside area out front will be great in the summer having said that there was loads of people milling around with the Shisha under heated lamps!
We started with a bottle of the house white which was good. I opted for the onion barji for starters and with a few poppadoms to share. Both arrived with plenty of sauces and extra helpings. The onion barji was good with plenty of mint yogurt.
With some help from the waitress I then went for the chicken punjabi masala which wasn’t going to be too hot for me! We shared some nan breads and some plain and mushroom pilau. The curry was mega tasty on the first couple of bites but there after it had an overpowering taste of garlic which was a bit disappointing. Overall everyone enjoyed their dishes I think I was just unlucky with the over zealous addition of garlic

Recently discovered Scene and I wasn’t disappointed. We ate here after work and the food was very good plus the waiters coped adequately with our 20+ table, as expected on a quiet Thursday night. We pre-​booked the set menu (not my choice), no idea what the starter was but it was ridiculously good and the mains had a lot of flavour. I am definitely planning on returning to try the other dishes on offer.

Pleasant Indian restaurant in the building which used to house Strada. Food, service and ambience were all very average hence the 3 star review. I made use of a January half price offer, though this was a specific menu, there were sufficient choices. They do try to upsell at every opportunity with poppadum, side dishes, desserts and drinks. So what started off as a half price meal ends up costing as much or more as going anywhere else. My main course was a Dhaba Murgh, which was tasty though unremarkable. Had a lengthy wait to pay before leaving as there appeared to be only 1 card machine for the entire restaurant.

Great ambience and service, however let down by the food. I was one of many who went with the January 50% offer but I can’t help but feel they massively scrimped and saved…
My lamb curry had about 3 chunks of meat, the portion of rice was tiny and when I asked the server how many bhajis come out for the starter he said 4 but we only got 3…
What’s more they didn’t knock the popadoms off with the 50%.
It’s a shame as I was looking for a new Indian restaurant to be my «go-​to» but i feel slightly hard done by! I usually leave an indian restaurant feeling full to the brum but I still had plenty of room for toast when I got home!

I was really happy to see that Scene were doing a 50% off deal for January! I have been wanting to try it for a little while so booked a table for a group of friends. I always turn up stupidly early for everything so I arrived first and I was seated by the host in the bar area where I waited for my friends and ordered a limca which is a delicious Indian drink, like a sweet lemonade. When they all arrived we were escorted into the restaurant, I didn’t realise how big it was! Our waiter was awesome, he took such good care of us, we shared poppadoms and dips and ordered a selection of naans, bhajis and rice etc but ordered are own mains. The dishes weren’t huge but they were a great size. I opted for Chicken Lababdar which was sooo good, I got lucky because I’m pathetic with spice but this was alright for me to handle!
We waited quite awhile for our food and I was starving after a tough Monday at work but when you walk past the kitchen you can see them making every dish from scratch which makes it worth the wait! The food was really delicious, everyone in my group loved what they ordered.
They had a great selection of desserts, I had a Chocolate Fondant which was a delicious chocolate cake with ice-​cream that was warm and oozed chocolate sauce when you cut it open. I was so full when we finished but it was worth every mouthful!
They have a gorgeous Shisha garden out front which I really want to go back and try. This was a really good place to meet up with a group of friends or maybe a date. I liked that they specialise in really authentic street food, not a korma in sight!
I will definitely be back!

It was the first night that I hadnt chosen the place to dine …
I had never heard of this place but the shisha outside encouraged me. Walking in at 9pm I wasnt feeling particularly hungry so I opted to hover at the bar.
Immediately a waiter appeared and queried if we wanted food, we said just drinks for the time being.
He took our order, and stated last food orders were 22:00.
Because our drinks took awhile we ordered them at the bar too. Duplicate drinks soon appeared. A few guzzles later we left the snazzy high stooled bar and walked into the restaurant itself.
The room was so vast and Empty that I didn’t pay too much attention to the décor. because I felt too self consious.
Scanning the menu, a lot of it contained generic curries, I swiftly ordered the salmon tikka, followed by salmon passanda with garlic naan.
While we waited poppadoms were served with generic sauces. Tasty enough. The salmon tikka itself was perfectly cooked, and contained large chunks of salmon.
The mains itself was not very flavoursome and was overly creamy for me. Towards the end what I considered to be attentive staff were actually being pushy and wanted us to hurry. I ended up leaving enough food to make me feel guilty. I kindly asked the guy to doggy bag it, but he rushed so much he squished another bowl on top of my leftovers .
He smartly said «oh sorry you can have the other one». I declined.
Overall, a very snazzy looking place but felt waiters were inconsistent and I have been to better, cheaper and more flavoursome curry places.

Scene is a great addition to the many bars and restaurants found in trendy Spinningfields. The restaurant is massive and has been done out stylishly with leather booths and dark wood throughout. It is an up market Indian and the menu reflects this. There are lots of traditional curries but also a good choice of more unusual dishes too. We had a vegetarian platter to start which was of a very high quality. I loved the chargrilled mushrooms and the chickpea pakoras were delicious. The service was attentive but not pushy and our waiter was very knowledgeable when going through the menu with us. I ordered the paneer butter curry which was lovely and creamy with a nice hint of spice. The peswari nan was also fresh and fluffy and not at all stodgy like some are at other places. Definitely a place we will return to

Not long ago Scene followed in the footsteps of Zouk and opened a beautiful Shisha garden terrace at the front of the restaurant. I’d been meaning to try it since its inception and when the sun made a late summer appearance last week I duly obliged. Incidentally this developement forms only half the story in Scene fairly short history as they plan to open another riverside cocktail lounge at the back. (which will also cater for Shisha as far as I’m aware.
Is it better than Zouk? It’s probably on par with it for sure, but it’s a different beast altogether. Comparing them would be like comparing two different sports. Sure they serve cuisine from a similar part of the world but the menu is different. The food definitely tastes different and the décor of the two restaurants is worlds apart.
One thing Scene has going for it ahead of Zouk is that the Shisha lounge is far more spacious and has a strange Arabian nights feel to it thanks to the large colourful comfy sofa couch/​cushion combo. The atmosphere was extremely relaxed and the demographic was a pleasent mixture of young professionals, erasmus students and local residents. In conclusion it was very inviting and I shall definitely be returning. The only slight blip was the fact that the staff weren’t as attentive as they were at Zouk but in many ways that’s understandable as Zouk is a lot smaller and more intimate terrace and thus its much easier to get the staff’s attention. Shisha prices range from £13– £38. The Scene special (£38) can be shared and obviously works out cheaper amongst four friends. The drinks are also reasonably priced. I found the Shisha to be silky smooth and whilst I’m in no way shape or form a smoker, relaxing here with a few friends once in a while is definitely the «Friends Central Perk» equivalent experiance in 2015.

I’d never been to an indian restaurant before until a staff leaving meal which we had at Scene.
I have to say the food was delicious and defiantly drove me to open my mind to trying new Indian food.
Staff was very attentive and friendly. The restaurant was nicely decorated in a modern way and was very clean.

I went here on a Saturday evening around 7pm with a large group. The food was authentic and tasty and, as someone who does not eat gluten or dairy, I loved that allergens were clearly marked on the menu — not all restaurants are as on the ball. The wine was good and the atmosphere in the place was excellent. The food was a little bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. I’d recommend to anyone who is a fan of Indian food to try this place.

I popped here on Friday night for a quick bite before an event I was running and have to say I’d give it a 3.5 if I could. The food was very good, the atmosphere a bit flat (but that was because it was 5pm on a Friday in a very cavernous restaurant — and I’m sure it’ll be better when busy) and the service a bit bizarre.
First off the food I had was excellent — having done a yoga class in the morning I felt smug and thought I’d keep on the health wagon by having all vege and my takkha dhal and saag bhaji were both really nice with a lovely hint of spice. My cheese Kulcha was tasty and I had a nice glass of white wine (all came to £20 with an opening 25% off)
So the food was great but the service was a bit off. First off the guy who served me who seemed friendly enough thought he had to explain the whole menu to me when Indian isn’t exactly massively exotic nowadays… painful, when all I wanted to do was chill out and browse.
Then the drink order was asked from me the moment he gave me the drinks menu, plus every time I finished things like poppadoms or main meal dishes he swooped in the moment my fork hit the plate. When I did try to get his attention at other times like ordering my food or wanting to pay the bill he was quite clearly chatting away to the other staff — so I’m not sure if it was his first ever time waiting on but it seemed like he had very little experience so could really do with upping his game (think he summed it up by asking me if I wanted the Sauvignon Blanc white seeing as that’s the only way it will come… hence the name)
But apart from weird service I think it’s a cool place and another good addition to the Spinningfields area!

Really impressed with this place. Service, food and the look of the restaurant all very good. Prices were reasonable, although it was one of those menus where some items seem ridiculously overpriced but overall it’s OK.
Rich and I arrived a little while before Nat and Andy and were made to feel very welcome. One of the staff members came to open the door for us — great customer service, though laying it on a bit thick for my tastes.
I had a few pints of Lal Toofan (I hope I’m spelling that correctly) which was supposedly an Indian lager. It tasted like all other lager to be honest but I was pleased that it was £3.30 a pint, really cheap for restaurant beer.
On to the food. We ordered starters to share comprising lamb chops, lamb tikka, King prawn tikka, and Kashmiri kebab (if my memory is correct). Lamb chops were excellent, definitely my favourite and something I would order again if I return.
For my main course I had paneer saag (of course) and it was as good as some of the best I’ve had. Pilau rice was fine, a bit dull but I don’t really love rice and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. I was also a bit disappointed by the garlic naan as it was a bit dry and the raw garlic flavour was really strong and off putting.
Service was really friendly and it seemed as though they were keen to chat about how everything was, which is good to see in a new business. Although I never usually venture to Spinningfields I would happily come here again.

Scene is quite an unusual looking near restaurant in Spinningfields, it’s split into a bar one one side and then a restaurant featuring various cool wooden structures on the other.
I thought the food was really nice, the lamb chops starter was absolutely delicious although they were all pretty good. I had a chicken makhani which was very creamy and perfect comfort food. I also thought Emily’s saag paneer was particularly tasty, but the guys’ lamb curries were good too.
We were struck by how keen the staff were to make sure we were enjoying our food. Food and drinks plus our order and the bill all came promptly.
Great addition to this chain-​dominated area!

I missed the soft launch of Scene so was happy to receive an email from them about a 25% off food offer. I do like a good curry so was looking forward to going. (You can book a table online easily).
Before everyone had arrived, we sat near the entrance where there is a bar and some seats/​tables. It was a Tuesday evening so was quiet. However, when everyone arrived, we walked towards the main restaurant part and it was much nicer — for a start there were several other people eating and I liked the décor.
The menu is a bit interested in that almost like an A3 size piece of paper with menu items on both sides and folded so its like a leaflet. It means that, depending how you turn it the items are upside down so you have to keep turning it over.
Within minutes of sitting down, a waiter came up and asked if we wanted poppadoms. Yes please, of course we do! :)
Between the 4 of us, we decided to share the starters aka Street Corner. We picked a dish each which included the lamb chops, king prawn tikka and I think also the lamb tikka (?). They were all good but the lamb chops were the best. Recommended.
For main, I went for lamb rogan josh and then shared sides of rice and garlic naan bread. The lamb rogan josh was really good. Not too spicy — actually not really that spicy but thats Ok with me. Although I do like spicy things — just not too spicy! Rather have the flavour than the heat.
We were all very full so none of us went for a dessert.
Lovely food. Great friendly service.

This three star is not because I don’t like the place I just think it can improve with a few simple changed.
Obviously as you walk in your greeted with wonderful smells and a lively welcome from staff. However the seating as you walk in seems a little crowded and disjointed, when I walk into a place I want to walk past the kitchen see what’s going on then be seated. In here they kinda want to sit you at the entrance which in sure is to make the place look fuller but you really don’t need to do that kind of technique.
The space is lavish and you should definitely use it more appropriately! Ask people where they want to sit if its not too busy etc.
Now the real reason I’m giving them a 3* instead of a 2* is the food it was frankly lovely. I tried lamb as I always do in a restaurant for the first time and it was great! Cooked lovely and I finished everything! (Normally a doggy bag kinda guy!) lamb chops were great! Slightly thin but I’m not one to pick holes.
Price is reasonable, foods nice, and I think once they get past the teething problems any new place goes through I’ll re-​review them happily to a ⁴⁄₅!

Poor food and atmosphere and lacks attention to detail i will not be coming back in a hurry.