What is it about having a Curry in Cambridge?

ok, this is a rant. Why is it so hard to go out for a curry in Cambridge and not have a really unpleasant evening? I used to go to the Maharaja fairly often as it was just next door to where i was living, but even convenience didn't win out over being treated like scum by the staff every time I went. Then there is one on Mill Road that was always really nice, the old guy who owns it is always really friendly - apart from the last time I went there and the waiter spilled a plate of rice over my lap and the table and then got really shirty because we wanted to move to a clean table (when we were the only customers in the place). Strike two. Then last night I went to the Curry King near the Mitre pub, which I haven't been to before but have had take out from fairly often. The food was really great, but as soon as we had put our forks down the plates went, the bill appeared and even though all of us had full pints of beer, we were told after 15 mins that we had to leave immediately even though we hadn't finished drinking to make room for other customers. Not even a polite 'would you mind' but a 'you have finished your food and been here too long, you have to leave now.' I really resent being forced to leave a restaurant after a pretty expensive meal when I haven't even finished it. Grrr...
anyone got any suggestions on anywhere in Cambridge where I can have a curry without feeling bullied?

taj tandoori, top of cherry hinton road. never had a bad experience there...

was it the curry queen down mill road?

tandoori palace histon road

slow but good

I second the Taj, top place. Friendly staff.
Just undergone/undergoing a refit according to Explorer magazine.

Not sure if it was the Curry Queen... I was going to say the one with all the plastic fruit and foliage hanging from the ceiling, but that doesn't narrow it down a lot...
I guess part of the problem is that a lot of the time the place is filled with huge groups of people being just as rude to the waiters as the waiters are being back. It can't be pleasant serving obnoxious drunken rugby teams of 18 year olds. (Apologies to any perfectly well behaved and polite drunken rugby teams of 18 year olds who may take offence at the stereotyping...)

I second Joosy - Tandoori Palace rocks.

ooo i think i have been there once... can't remember much about it (which probably means it was good given that the ones that stick in my mind at the moment are the really bad ones)

tandoori palace thirded, used to live round the corner from there and there tarka dall and chilli rice is *faints from hunger*

Histon Road is a bit out of town, therefore you get friendly service and cheap food wwoohoo!

It's not a restuarant but the Moghul takeaway on Sturton Street is great - lovely chicken tikka.

Yheeerr, The Tandoori Palace is cool.
The service is usually slow, but its so nice that its not a problem.

I love Pipasha on Newmarket Road. And Curry Prince (also Newmarket Road) is great - but it's closing soon i think.

Only curry place in Cambridge I've had real problems with is that one on the town centre end of Mill Road just before the bridge - it was painted green last time I looked. Might be the one you were talking about. Rude waiters; greasy, flavourless food.

http://www.stirbitch.com/curry/

thank xavier bollo for this link

Kuddles - are you refering to Golden Curry? See now, that's my favourite - they are always really friendly (perhaps because i go there so much) and I like the food.

I wasn't trying to be coy - I genuinely don't remember the name of the place. Might be the Golden Curry. In which case, maybe they were having an off-day when i went. And it was about a year ago.

There's not much hanging plastic fruit in the golden, though, is there? It's certainly more noticeable in the queen.
Moghul take away does the best samosas in town - they're cooked in chapati bread! Mmmm.
The Pipasha's my fave, though the tandoori palace is a very close second place (and in fact is only second place because it's not very local to me). The panahar used to be quite good but recently they took a long time to serve me cold food, so I've gone off it a bit.

Hey Mr Pel, great link. I am looking forward to future lovely curry expereiences... mmm, food... soooo hungry...

I think Golden does have a fair amount of hanging plastic flowers.

On a related topic, does anyone know a really good Chinese resturant in the city?

I know the one down Burley Street is supposed to be amazing (looks can be deceptive), but it's a little out of my price range.

Dojos is fantastic: cheap, delicious and really friendly. Related topic, there is a really good Vietnamese just past Pizza Hut on..erm.. is it Regent's street or St Andrews street when it gets past Parkers Piece? (Now I am displaying my complete ignorance of Cambridge geography, despite living here for over 6 years.) It looks really dodgy and cheap from the outside, and you would probably miss it, but the food is just fab.

Dragon boat/saigon city or whatever it's calling itself now is good (though it's on chesterton high street, so hardly in the city). The ugly duckling opposite St John's is owned by the same people as the peking on burleigh street, so similar quality?

Pho! That vietnamese place is called Pho, and is really good. Mmmmm, tasty soup things with lots of chillis in.

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Dojos is fantastic: cheap, delicious and really friendly.

If you like DOJO then try kym moy noodle bar on mill road, a little bit on the pricey side (average dish £7.50) but is the best this side of town.
Very fresh good quality ingredients cooked by people who know what they are doing.

Very quick service too (almost worryingly quick!)

yeah, now you mention that.
its almost like they allready know what you are going to order and have started making it....spooky

if you want a job doing properly.......

http://www.intotheblue.co.uk/cookery-satmorn.shtml

the only curry i can eat is from pipasha.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Panahar on Norfolk Street - I've always had good curry from them, it's not too expensive, central (easy access from Mill Rd area too, via Sturton Street) and the decor makes a change from the pink flock wallpaper and plastic plants that you seem to get elsewhere.

The mention of 'the old guy that runs it' in conjunction with 'Mill Road indian restaurant' makes me think you mean the Kohinoor - on the right, heading out of town, between Mawson Road and Tenison Road. We lived on mawson Rd for a while and were regulars in there, for takeaway mainly; the old guy was always very nice to us too.

The Peking Chinese restaurant on Burleigh St is indeed ace -- expensive but worth every penny. A bit further along (next to what used to be the Boat Race) there's a cafe that becomes a Chinese restaurant in the evenings. That's also really good an offers a lot of dishes you don't normally see on restaurant menus... braised pork stomach anyone?

There's a gap in the market for a decent curry house in Cambridge. Never found anywhere that's consistently good. A few OK ones but nowhere you can relyon.

Sam - I'm often in the Heart of France on Burleigh Street and very nice too (the cafe, not me). Their Chinese soup is fantastic. Perhaps I'm go for the 10 dollar shake and try the Peking resturant on Burleigh.

so the cafe is nice but you are not.

but why not? the question bugs me.

No, it's just the way the sentence is structured, it could read that I am refering to myself as nice.

I'm a very nice man. Oh dear, now I just sound creepy.

Hmm. Creepy but very nice. Like Salad Fingers..

how thrilling...

Ive got a Cambridge facebook group all dedicated to meeting up with new people and getting together to eat curry. Feel free to join us some time. We get together once a month and try and a different tandoori every time!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108647169176301&v=app_2373072738

Blimey this thread is a blast from the past...

^ cant be a new WANer posting surely!

Hooray for WaN's google power. It must be some kind of google magnetism from Joosy Pidgeon

Skypie, can the first meeting be a curry pot noodle at bigmal's gaff?

^ avec haggis sausages perchance .............

^ Get you with your language skills. SO cosmopolitan :)

Bigmal feeding you a curry pot noodle through a tube in your gimp mask in his lurve dungeon ;-]

^ touché OR! I am chic me ;-)

yup i found it through google. I just typed in "curry cambridge" or something...

Try the new curry house in Harston btw, its replaced the Old English Gentleman. It is fantastic! Our meal was out moments after finishing our popadums!

Your curry came out very quickly, you say?

I'm always a bit suspicious of restaurants where they bring your food out faster than it would take to actually cook something properly.

*cough*microwave*cough*

curry tastes better when it's been heating for a while though. (I was just making a diarrhoea joke)

Well i assume they had it cooking on a low temp ready for people to order. You can tell if something is microwaved and this clearly was not. Just try it douche bags.

You shouldn't microwave douche bags

You can if you prick them with a fork beforehand.

the corner stone to any stable diet