Overview
Bundobust started in Leeds and expanded to Manchester, London, and Liverpool on the strength of a very simple proposition: properly made Indian street food, vegetarian, affordable, deeply flavoured, alongside an interesting and well-curated craft beer selection. It works. The Piccadilly branch in Manchester's Northern Quarter sits in a long, narrow room with communal benches, an open kitchen, and the sustained hum of a place that knows what it's doing.
The founders, a restaurateur from Bradford and a craft beer importer, built the menu around the kind of street food you'd find in Ahmedabad and Vadodara: chaat, bhel, dabeli, dhokla. Not north Indian restaurant food. The kind of thing that's sold from carts and eaten standing up.
What to Order
The tur dhal is the anchor, warm, well-spiced, deeply satisfying in the way that very simple food done carefully is. The bhel puri is brilliant: puffed rice, sev, tamarind chutney, fresh coriander. The okra fries with house chutney are a permanent fixture for good reason.
For beer, the rotating taps change regularly and favour interesting British and European craft breweries. The pilsner from whichever brewery is on that month is usually the right call with the spiced food. They also do a very good lassi if you're not drinking.
The Vibe
Unpretentious, a bit loud, always energetic. This is not a quiet dinner conversation place, it's somewhere you shout over the noise, share everything, and find that an hour has disappeared. The communal tables mean you might end up talking to whoever's next to you. In Manchester this seems to happen more than in London.
Ideal for the early part of an evening out, eat here, then continue into the Northern Quarter for whatever comes next.
Practical Notes
- Walk-ins welcomed; they don't take reservations. Queue can form on Friday and Saturday evenings.
- Fully vegetarian menu.
- Open from noon most days; check their website for exact hours.
- Piccadilly Gardens is a 3-minute walk; Market Street tram stop is nearby.