I've been to both those mentioned above (Shimla's and Akbar's) as well as a good few in Rusholme. I would recommend Lal Qila, but they recently moved to Deansgate and I've not visited yet - the branch in Rusholme was always great - is also a bit of a long walk from the MEN.
When I was in the training dept at work I had to take groups of engineers from all over out for dinner, and the best Indian bar none (IMHO) I found in Manchester was East Z East - there are 2 in the city centre. You'd want the riverside one on Blackfriars Street:
http://www.eastzeast.com/manchester-riverside.asp
Map here
Ignore the poncy decor - Quality of food and service has always been brilliant when I've been in. Always busy and usually a good percentage of indian/pakistani diners, which is a good endorsement for me