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123 Walton Street, Ads by Daily Info:   
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I like Uddins Manzil. I have eaten there twice in the last few months and will def return soon. The vegi dishes are excellent - maybe the best dishes in the restaurant. The service is great and the prices are very good. Overall - a bargain! Hussain, 04/01/09 A trip down memory lane into Jericho last Friday night yielded the sad news that most of Memory Lane's pubs are now shut. Thank goodness that Uddin's was still open as we sought a curry there for the first time in 25 years. It's possibly scruffier than ever and thre was definitely a bit of a pong. But I'm glad we stayed, as the welcome was warm, the beer cold and the grub very good indeed. The main feature was that the food had obviously been freshly made and included discernible ingredients other than meat and gloopy sauce: eg big hunks of ginger in the meat achari. Perhaps a bit oily, but tasty and a bargain. I'll be back again, and hopefully earlier than 2033! Uncle Gareth, 30/03/08 We went to Uddins Manzil on a Sunday evening (at approx. 20.00 o'clock) during the post-university-term break. The smell of urine at the entrance was rather ominous, as was the fact that there was only one other group sat at a table in the restaurant. The people in the group seemed to know the owners (family/friends?) and, as we walked sheepishly into the smelly establishment, they all stared at us as if we were intruding (very awkward indeed!). After a very long wait, our drinks order was taken. I asked for a beer, and my two friends asked for a mango lassi and a glass of water. We also asked for popadoms. After another very long wait they brought the drinks and popadoms. The water was ok, my beer was a warm can of Tesco-branded bitter which, to my surprise, had been unashamedly cracked open at the bar in front of us and poured into a pint glass. The lassi was so sour it actually tasted of cheese. The popadoms themselves were ok, but the dips were ridiculously watered down, and, what is worse, fermented to the point I would have sworn some of them fizzed in my mouth! We immediately asked the waitress to cancel our order-- we wanted to leave right away! The most outrageous thing is that she said 'fine, don't pay for the popadoms and drinks if you don't want to, we know they're expired, but at least pay for the main course you've cancelled, because we had already started preparing it in the kitchen'!!! Possibly the worst restaurant I've experienced in Oxford in my ten years here. Manu Bardo, 06/10/07 We went here after a sat night out in the pubs of Jericho and were very impressed with the fact that we were welcomed until 12.30am. The service was friendly though we did wait 45 mins for food and there was only one other party in the place who ordered after us. The toilets are in desperate need of updating but the food when it did come was tasty and good portions. My friends weren't impressed with the flatness of the naans but i felt they were definitely homemade..a good point, overall, 7/10. sitt, 07/07/07 On the basis of the previous review we decided to give the Uddins Manzil a try. Having recently moved to Oxford, we had previously been disappointed with the Indian cuisine here, in particular Chutneys, which tasted like a supermarket curry and felt more like a Mediterranean restaurant than an Indian. We thought Uddins Manzil, looking more like a traditional Indian establishment, would provide a better curry experience. From the outside it looks a bit run down, primarily as the yellow sign is only half illuminated, but it seemed alright with a look though the window, so we gave it a try. First impressions were promising, it was comfy and we had a four person setting for the two of us. We got the menus and while waiting for far too long for them to take our order, we had a chance to admire the surroundings. As the menu stated that it was established in 1971, along with the dinner service and cutlery, we had high hopes for the food. The menu had a good variety and there was also a reasonable selection of drinks, but it did take far too long to get served. Initially there was only one person serving with 7 settings, which was too much. Eventually a second person turned up and took our order about 30 mins after arriving. The poppadoms and pickle tray to start were below average, although there was a reasonable selection of pickles, there was no onion salad and the poppadoms were greasy and some of them were stale. After another long wait the main course arrived. First impressions were of small portions with the Patia having very little meat and both being very oily. We ordered a special chicken Korai and a pilau and a mushroom rice. The rice was actually couscous which was rather interesting, and actually spoilt the meal. Otherwise the flavour was better than we had at Chutneys but still does not compare with those I have tasted in other parts of the country. But the main dishes were far too oily to taste good and combined with the couscous made for a very disappointing meal. In terms of service, the staff were slow and a couple next to us waited 45 min for their starters and looked decidedly unimpressed. They were also uncommunicative and upon paying there was no communication at all from asking for the bill and leaving, not one please or thank you. So overall, the prices were reasonable but the rest of the experience is one that I will not repeat. The service is slow and unfriendly, the food is very oily with below average flavour, the rice, if you can call it that, is dreadful. Kent, 18/02/06 Although it is one of the more unremarkable looking Indian restaurants in Oxford, Uddins Manzil on Walton Street (opposite Raul's cocktail bar) has, according to its receipt, been established since 1971, so it must be doing something right. It seems to be a great place either in a group situation or as a romantic meal for two. The restaurant itself is fairly small but could cope with reasonably large groups (up to 9 or 10) although they mainly tend to be drawn further down Walton Street to Jamal's (thankfully!). Uddins is most definitely for people who can cope with quiet conversation, as it is generally fairly hushed, and the diners tend to be quite restrained. As with all restaurants, Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights. As for the food itself, it really can't be faulted, other than the portion sizes, which can disappoint those who have only ordered a main course. However, I can recommend the pickle tray, which seems to offer a wide selection of flavours, from sweet coconut to spicy chilli. The poppadums were also very fresh and crunchy, which was nice! The Sheek kebab was one of the best starters I've had, and unlike many others, was not at all greasy, nor overly hot. For our main course, I tried the Chicken Passanda, a very mild dish, similar to korma, but at Uddins made with a great variety of flavour, sweet sultanas and a very rich and creamy sauce. My partner tried the tandoori mixed grill, which although reasonably priced was smaller than he expected. Despite this, the quality of the meat was very good, lean and even the lamb which has a tendency to be slightly tough, was very tender. The flavour was also very good, and had a genuine tandoori oven taste, as well as a nice blend of spices. Both meals showed Uddins' ability to make a tasty dish without over-riding the flavours with chilli. Along with the main courses, we shared a pulau (presumably the same as pilau!) rice and garlic nan, which was actually fairly sufficient for both of us. The nan bread could have had slightly more garlic, although equally this could be a matter of personal taste. In the past, I have found the peshwari nans to be delicious here, although at times a little too sweet. Drinks are fairly reasonably priced, but the real bonus is that there is the option of taking your own and paying 75p per head cork charge, which really can make it a much cheaper night, particularly if you fancy a boozy night out! Amongst the other money-saving tips, there is a student discount of 10% offered from Sunday-Thursday. Uddins does also offer a take-away service, but with such cheap cork charges and with the added discounts, it hardly seems worth washing up. You can get a 10% discount if you come to collect your take-out, which does offer an added incentive, and at the time of writing, they are also offering a free bottle of wine on orders over £25. All in all, the quality of food is difficult to fault, the portions are by no means meagre, and the service and staff are excellent, all of which makes the prices seem even more reasonable. Lara Sewell, 25/05/04
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