Antalya Café

The Curry Mile is somewhere we ought to be proud of in Manchester. There aren't many other destinations in the city which boast over 70 different eateries across so many different cuisines; a great example of Manchester's boiling pot of cultures. We love the Curry Mile mainly because it's home to one of our favourite restaurants, the mighty Mughli, but we're also fully aware that there are loads of other independent businesses serving great food that we need to try. We're no experts, but Haz @mughli is a huge advocate of the Mile and happy to give recommendations. We're also lucky that our friends @mcrfoodies also know all the good spots and on this occasion took us out for a slap-up tea at Antalya Café, a Turkish grill that also doubles up as a shisha bar, if you're into that kind of thing.

Sweet mint tea was a great start to the meal and the best I've had in the UK since realising I bloody loved it our holiday in Morocco a couple of years ago. Bailey's Mars Bar Milkshake was a perfect Sunday afternoon post-hangover treat.

Antalya's food menu is reassuringly simple - clearly sticking to what they do best with great results. The main reason we were there was to sample the grilled fish, and this did not disappoint - beautifully crisp skin with tender flesh inside, a basket containing way more Turkish bread than we could eat and a tasty sumac-sprinkled salad.

The chicken kebab could be whiffed long before it was seen, the smell of charcoal cooked meat wafting over as the plate was brought to the table. The meat itself was spot-on with fragrant spices, flavoursome enough to compete with the copious amounts of houmous Bailey liberally applied to it.

Antalya's food may not be fancy but it certainly tastes good. The portions are mammoth and we loved sloshing the sauces all over everything; just the sort of meal where you stuff yourself silly and don't even care when someone points out you've got a load of food down your front (and I was wearing a white dress).

Service from a 'naturally' brilliant waitress who endearingly called me and Anna "honey" throughout the meal was also excellent and do you know the best thing, the bill for four of us came to under £40. Bargain. Considering I've seen a couple of comments made recently suggesting the Curry Mile's increasing number of shisha bars is a problem, we loved our shisha bar tea and will be back soon! In conclusion, we love the Curry Mile and want to support the hardworking businesses that make the place what it is so if you find a great place to eat there, do tell us as we want to know about it!