Butter chicken was born in a Delhi kitchen the year India became independent. The chef who learned there cooked for Kennedy and Khrushchev. His son cooks for you — on Wilmslow Road, six nights a week.
Most restaurants have a story. This one has a family tree that runs from a clay oven in Old Delhi to a corner of Wilmslow Road.
In the year of Independence, a small kitchen in Old Delhi put a clay tandoor at the centre of the room. Tandoori chicken, butter chicken and dal makhani all came out of it.
At the Moti Mahal tandoor, Chef Arun’s father cooked for —
Indian from the father’s side, Nepalese from the family’s other home. The third eye sits between them — the menu is both.
The tandoor recipes of Moti Mahal: yoghurt-marinated meats over charcoal, then finished in the buttery makhan sauce the kitchen invented.
The family’s other home. Steamed momocha with a fiery homemade sauce, chwela from the clay oven, aloo tama with bamboo shoots.
Boneless chicken from the tandoor in a buttery sauce of oriental spices, chopped tomato and cream. Tear the nan, go in.
Steamed chicken dumplings, pleated by hand, with the house’s own spicy sauce. Order two plates; nobody shares.
Tandoori chicken, seekh kebab, chicken tieka and boti kebab straight off the skewers, with nan.
A whole chicken slow-cooked in a homemade sauce, with a biryani of prawns, minced lamb, kidneys, nuts and raisins. Pre-order it when you book.
The Original Third Eye’s own nan — stuffed with potato, cheese, herbs and spices, blistered in the tandoor.
“The food of presidents and film stars.”City Life — Manchester Evening News
Crowned Best Restaurant of the Year for Manchester, written up in National Geographic Traveller, and recommended by the people who know Didsbury best — the ones who keep coming back.
Birthdays, meetings, family dinners — book the room and we’ll take care of the rest.
Indian and Nepalese wedding catering across Manchester, from mehndi to the reception.
Gardens, venues, open spaces — the food, the staff, the equipment and the setup.
Order ahead for delivery within three miles, from £150. Not available at peak times.
661 Wilmslow Road,
Didsbury,
Manchester M20 6RA
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
| Wednesday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
| Thursday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
| Friday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
| Saturday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
| Sunday | 5pm – 11.30pm |
