The Cambridge Curry Community

I recently swung by one of my favourite Indian restaurants in Cambridge for a well overdue visit.  I used to eat here all the time last year when I was in the area more, but now I have moved to Ely I  have struggled to find the time to come say hello. So I was really excited to come back here after so long and pay my respects.  The Taj Tandoori is sat on Cherry Hinton Road, opposite the cinema complex and sandwiched between numerous shops and pubs, the establishment claims to be one of the oldest Indian restaurants in the city. I could be forgiven for saying that The Taj even looks a little tatty and uninspiring from the outside. This does add to its charm however as it feels like a bit of a hidden gem once you discover the food and service within the establishment. Upon entering we were seated in the waiting area near the bar while they prepared our table. We were eventually greeted and shown to our table by Amin, one of the waiters in the restaurant. I ...

When I first moved to Ely nearly 2 years ago I took it on myself to do a tour of the Indian restaurant scene around the city to find my favourite. The conclusion I came too was that Ely has a very mixed bag of restaurants with no dominant Indian restaurant, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  One of them being Le Spice, a very popular restaurant in the city, located on Fore Hill amongst numerous other restaurants and shops. The place comes highly recommended by friends, family and numerous people on  The Cambridge Curry Crew . I have been a few times before and enjoyed my time here but I still haven't managed to write a review on it.  That is, until now... I was lucky enough to be treated with a meal by my son and my good friend Joanna, which was a delightful surprise. I suggested Le Spice mainly because of their good reputation, but also because of its well known trendy and modern style. We looked online at their website  which appeared t...

Its been quite a while since my last visit to Zara. Located at the Great Shelford train station, the place absolutely blew me away last time  with its trendy modern interior, its fine Indian cuisine and all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a high end restaurant. I can see why it is currently  no1 on our Cambridge Curry Crew Facebook poll  and The English Curry Awards 2015 winner for the East Of England.  My last visit was a long time ago now  so I was keen to see if Zara was still as good as I remember.  I went with my good friend Jim, who just so happens to be a wheelchair user. This puts a new challenge on a place like this as it doesn't just have to prepare fine food and offer an excellent customer service, but it also has to be accessible for everyone.  Something which I thought might be an issue for an old building attached to the station of such a small size. Getting in proved mildly challenging for my friend....

A big farewell to the short lived Indian restaurant in Trumpington - The Zahza Grill.  Not long after my second review of the restaurant and winning the Tifin Cup, the place closed its doors on Monday 28th September. There are currently no plans to reopen it. I wish them the best of luck in the future.  How many more places will open and fail at this so called cursed tandoori? In the past several years it has been a Spice Merchant, a Bollywood Spice and now a Zahza Grill. 

After a short break from The Cambridge Curry Crew events we decided to boot up and start again. Having nearly every Curry Crew meet up in the city of Cambridge I thought it would make a refreshing change to come to the city of Ely (where I now live) and see what it has to offer in terms of Indian cuisine.  The Cambridge Curry Crew Facebook group has been getting very active lately with a lot of new members coming in. I have had quite a few suggestions from the group, Twitter , and on local sites recommending  The Sylhet  which seems to have a very popular reputation within the city. Run by a Mr Ahmed, a man clearly very passionate about his restaurant and the work he does here, its the attention to small details which clearly makes this restaurant what it is and gives it the reputation is clearly deserves from people in the city. Located on the busy road of Market Street, next door to the Montaz Indian restaurant and The Hereward pub, the place is quit...