Such an awesome place in the NQ! Superb twist on South African cuisine with more than enough to sate both ex-pats and English alike. Great drinks specials with generous and well priced meals. The maize balls and chilli bites are particularly worth an order - though everything is great. Friendly and attentive service too.

Really enjoyed coming to Chakalaka for lunch. It wasn't very busy on a Friday so managed to get a table for 2 very easily. We ordered the biltong mac & cheese, jaffle, lamb bunny chow and chicken sosatie, all of which were absolutely delicious! I have no idea if it's authentic and I didn't know what to expect but the food was great and I would definitely come back to try other things on the menu. Our server was also friendly and very helpful when we had questions about the menu, and the restaurant are good with allergies as my friend had a seafood and nut allergy, but they don't include nuts in their dishes and I don't think there's any seafood dishes either.

Food was great. Really happy with the experience! Only thing to note is that the menus have been updated (see photos) with price changes and but their website still shows the old info.

Highly recommend this place, as a South African. Sixth time here and doesn’t disappoint. Both meat and veggie platters are really good. Drink selection just the same as back home!

Been I'm here a few times and it's mine and my partners happy place! Staff are always incredible, food is to die for and the drinks are dangerously delicious!! I live down south and we always come here when I visit! Can't wait to move up here so we can get a constant supply of their amazing biltong!

Having tried various places to eat on a bank holiday to discover it fully booked or rude staff we struck lucky with our 5th attempt. It was so refreshing to be greeted warmly and informed there was food available. Our friends were vegan and this place had plenty of choice surprisingly for them! We were lucky enough to arrive during happy hour 2 for 1 cocktails. I chose a brandy mojito which was beautifully made. For starters I really wanted to try chicken wings or the mac n cheese but I adore biltong. When this arrived it was just like the stuff my friend used to bring back from Malawi. Conveniently it came with a paper bag providing a means for snacks later and kitty treats. For mains everyone order a bunny? A thick slab of bread stuffed with various meat such as lamb or chickpeas. I had a bobadi? Dish which was eggs baked with mince . All the spices were perfecta and portions generous. Overall really good service and a nice variety especially for vegans veggies .

Dammm this place is such a GEM!! Lived in Manchester for 2 years and never knew about this place. The quality of food is by far superior then any other restaurant in this area and value for money!

The two of us rocked up here early Saturday and it was heaving, we made a booking for the next available slot (an hour later) so definitely worth booking ahead. After reading various other comments previously we both went for the Sosatie (kebabs) I had chicken and my fella had meat, out of the two the meat was nicer. The chicken was drowned in what they call ‘monkey gland sauce’ too overpowering. The fries were nice but so heavily covered in piri piri seasoning I could feel my body withering under the onslaught of salt. We ordered 2 Staropramen also which were dark in colour and tasted weird, the house lager was much better, and the Shiraz (£20) was lovely. The staff are fab and the atmosphere is vibrant and warm and is what would probably make me return tbh

Food was delish. Tried the Macaroni starter and Lamb Curry main. Really good food, will def be visiting again. The drinks menu is good and reasonably priced. 2for1 Cocktail Happy Hour. Think it works out about a fiver each. Give the Amarula a try👌🏽 Is like a chocolatey Baileys. Staff here were great. Really chilled, relaxed vibe. Parking is free after 8pm right there on Oldham Street (on single yellow lines), I believe.

Great food, great vibe! Traditional South African grub with a twist. Very tasty and good selection! Edit: 4 years later and we just keep coming back! I've introduced friends here too. The closest I can come to showing a little SA food and culture in England ❤️ the staff are absolutely amazing! And of course the happy hour cocktails are to die for. My favourites are the Rooibos mar-tea-ni (try it! It's sooooooo good) and the pomegranate cocktail. Joburg sunset also gorgeous! The chakalager is a great beer too on tap and even better on a 2-4-1! This week though, for the first time in a little while, we were here and not just having drinks but food too. Half price mains from Mon-Wed each week and... Oh. My. Damn. I was gutted that they'd just run out of the beef ribs as I really wanted to try them! Oh well. Next time! I ordered the lamb bunny chow and it was absolutely GORGEOUS, and I was pleasantly surprised by the flavours! Tasted very reminiscent of traditional Durban curry! The lamb was tender and beautifully spiced and cooked. Tried a bit of hubby's wors roll and though I'm not a fan of wors (terrible South African I know!) It was actually lovely! Friend ordered the chicken sosaties and they were proper chicken sosaties - chunks of chicken with peppers and onions between. Deliciously marinated and cooked. Gorgeous! I was a little bummed when I had ordered the beef sosaties in the last and they were minced beef - closer to a shish than a sosatie. Not bad, but not an SA sosatie so made me sad 🤣 Please do the beef sosaties like your chicken ones - cubes/chunks of beef/pork/whatever - the SA way. The chicken ones were gorgeous 👌 Love love love this place!

Absolutely amazing find. 50% off mains Monday-Wednesday and 2 for £10 cocktails for happy hour. The food was incredible and the service was excellent. If I didn't live far away i would come here every week. My partner and I had 4 cocktails, starters, mains, and dessert for a combined £57 and both went home with a box thanks to the generous portions. We had ridiculous value for money (in the best possible way)!!

Went here after work midweek. 50% off mains Monday - Wednesday is great value. Had the nachos for starters and pigs n wings for main. Good sized portions of food. Service was great and very friendly. Overall good experience and good for a night of food after work for a good price.

Absolute gem. Our first time having South African and really impressed by the range of foods to try, all beautifully flavoured. Some great happy hour deals on drinks. The vibe of the place is really cool - I loved the African decor and atmosphere!

Food was absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. We came at an odd hour so it was very quiet in the restaurant however I assume in the evenings the place come alive with buzz and general chatter. It was wonderful getting to experience the cuisine and try dishes I’ve never heard of before

We had the “monkey gland” flavoured wings for a starter, consisted of 4 wings which cost £6, I don’t think this was worth £6 honestly. They were nice, 2.5 stars out of 5 but nothing spectacular. They’re literally bbq wings & they could’ve been called exactly that instead of monkey gland flavoured wings lol I had the Lamb curry for £13 + £2 extra for the lamb, it came with yellow rice that had raisins. The lamb, even though it’s literally sitting in a sauce, was so dry… but the meat was soft. The rice was undercooked and lacked flavour in all honesty. (we got this taken off the bill completely) The kebab (pork and lamb) was def nice, I think the hot sauce was unnecessary though as the meat was flavoursome. The service was slow, there was three separate tables that we arrived before, and they received their food before we did so we def had to wait quite abit. The drinks came quickly, which was good. The server with the curly hair was nice and attentive, he (-the bar man ofc) made my cocktail abit more sweeter when requested so I do appreciate that. We got the curry taken off the hill, I didn’t realise it was 50% off so when my friend had complained about my mushy rice, we were told she’d comp by 50%… but it was alreasy 50% off the entire menu, so my friend complained about that, so our bill went from £37 to £29.50 Wouldn’t come back again, also wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend

Great food, fantastic prices and the staff were really friendly and helpful. Would definitely go back!

Food was tasty but for £13 i wish i had at least one more skewer. The chicken was juicy and well marinated and the veggies were nicely charred. The pap was good too! And the people were kind. Toilet clean and colorful.

Wow! Stumbled across this place as we were trying to find somewhere to eat on a Saturday night without having made a booking, they accommodated us and quickly found us a table, I had never eaten South African food before the waitress was very helpful and went through the most popular dishes I went for a Chicken kebab ( I can’t remember it’s South African name!) and it was amazing! The food arrived quickly and was very good value for money, well done would definitely go back.

I loved the pap & worse (bangers & "mash") I wish the tomato chutney that came with it was chilli. I ordered a side of fresh chillies & got mild jalapeño. Service was fantastic! All the staff was wonderful.

Nice little restaurant with a south african theme. The restaurant interior is quite interesting and unique. Not a lot of tables and most of them are for 6 people so it would be a good idea to book. I ordered a lamb bunny curry and it was really nice. had corriander on top which i forgot to ask them to remove. Decent portion sizes especially when its 50% off. My friend ordered a vegetarian meatball and it wasnt the best as it was as hard as a rock and super dry. I think there was only 3 or maybe 4 small veggie balls so it wasnt really worth it. We also ordered the meat skewers and chicken skewers and both were good. The chicken skewers were made from chicken thighs which was nice. The waitress who served us probably needs more training. When we asked her if happy hour is on right now, she replied by telling us the hours of happy hour rather than just a simple yes or no 🤷🏻‍♀️. When my friend said she doesnt eat garlic or onions (yes shes very fussy), the waitress said the sauce for the veggie balls had onions so we asked her what alternatives can we get and she told us the chakala sauce . we got the chakala sauce but when it came, there were massive chunks of onion in it and it wasnt even a sauce but more like a coselaw type of side. Overall pretty nice, just dont get the veggie balls and dont bother coming if you have any allergies or youre a fussy eater.

Sehr lautes Restaurant, man konnte sich kaum unterhalten. Das essen war okay, es wurde schnell serviert. Tisch klebrig und nicht hygienisch.

As an Afrikaner, I was very delighted to experience a delicious yet rare tasting of South Africa in the centre of Manchester. I’ve experienced a deprivation of authentic biltong for years, having to suffice with modiocre supermarket knockoffs. But we had a “biltong selection starter” consisting of chilli bites, droewors and biltong pieces and I can confirm that my tastebuds could nostalgically taste home again. Then we moved onto the mains and the term ‘Mouthwatering’ is an understatement. My partner devoured the “pigs and wings”, being the plate in the back of the photo below. We spent much of the meal in silence, savouring every bite. The monkey gland sauce and peri peri chips were impeccable and it’s wonderful to see the use of Mrs Balls chutney on every table, being such a true South African statement 😊

Will go again... BRILLIANT food friendly engaging staff, clean and blooming tasty - great food and affordable... easy to follow website and upto date menu... walking distance to the shopping areas what more do you need... (oh and dog friendly!) We will go again

Great restaurant with delicious food and wonderful service! Highly recommend!

A nice find in Northern Quarter, and I'm glad I went. Ordered the Bunny Chow which was hearty and tasty, alongside a Chakalager. Given it was a Saturday evening and packed, the service was spot on - very friendly and quick, without feeling rushed. I'd recommend booking if you're looking to go on the weekend.

I came here with some friends for a table at 7:30. The atmosphere was lovely and the staff were kind however the food took 2hrs to arrive. The starter was unexpectedly spicy, the main meal meat was too chewy and the drink I had was not the best. The cheesy fries though DELICIOUS. I wish I could have rated higher but some things u just did not agree with.

First time at Chakalaka and first time trying South African food. Food was lovely and very friendly service too. I will definitely be back.

Visited here a few weeks ago. Never thought of trying South African cuisine but it was absolutely delicious. Unique and tasty, a proper hidden gem

Great atmosphere, vibing, buzzing with youthful energy. The food is spectacular - local SouthAfrican cuisines ( lol Mac and Cheese doesn't count though). Visits on Tuesdays for Happy Hour on drinks before 8pm... .. would definitely be visiting again

Nice South African diner for some casual food out. Great service, nice vibe. Drinks were original and tasty. Biltong for starter, the thicker one wasn’t as tasty as the others. Our mains were nice and filling, although my Frikkadel portion appeared much less than my friends Bangers & Pap.

Went with my boyfriend on Wednesday and was just an amazing experience. I love southafrican food and was born there so to find a resturant that does the food so perfect is just amazing ... prices are reasonable too. People I see have complained in the reviews about the price and the time but bare this in mind, all the food is made from scratch and is made fresh .. so its not going to be very very fast like a maccies. And to make some of the food you need to import certain ingredients and spices so its authentic so it will be abit more expensive but tbh I think its really cheap for the huge portions you get and the quality of food was 10/10.