Intent

There are a very large number of restaurants, takeaways, and sources of delivery food in Cambridge, of very variable quality. Getting an idea of where to order from can be a bit of a complicated process, and sometimes goes slightly sideways. Hence, this page is intended to be use to list places, with TT members who use them adding reports, particularly of failure such as bad hygiene. This list is deliberately not exhaustive - I haven't used enough places, nor will I have thought of most of the examples or potential categories - extend it as necessary.

Format Guidelines

Clone this section for a new entry:

Name

Details, e.g. delivery charges, etc

: Report details on specific order, attached to name and date

List

Feel free to add new entries and new sections, also to put extra footnotes on places if/when you use them.

Indian

Moghul Tandoori

Does delivery for some unquoted charge - requires ringing up and asking.

: 2012/2/12 - Tea and Duckbunny ordered from here. Bunny sick within about four hours, and possibly related sickness for tea a few days later.

Saffron Brasserie, Hills Road

: My favourite Cambridge curry house overall- it has the strong benefit of consistent quality, having not disappointed me yet on any of my (many) visits. Tends to be mid-range on the spiciness scale. Friendly and competent staff. -TimB
: Seconded, my favourite curry house in Cambridge. Defiantly lower in hotness compared to others, but based on the fact that they will happily adjust your order (they have been happy to make up things that haven't been on the menu in a year for us when asked nicely) I am sure you can ask for more heat. --Drac

Curry King, Bridge Street

: My experience here has been that the same curry ordered at CK will be a bit hotter than the same curry ordered at The Saffron, so good when you crave something with a bit more bite. Very good garlic naan as well. Not quite as consistent at the Saffron (when it is really good it is arguably better, but on other days it will be weaker). -TimB

Curry Queen, Cottenham

: Since this has its own parking, it's actually easier to drive to from north Cambridge than anything central. Personally, I'd rate the food as being at least as good as anything central. Spiciness about average for the area. --I

Curry Queen, Mill Road

Food is good, reasonably priced. I find they have excellent Pashwari Naan. Although not on the menu, they said they'd be happy to make Paneer Passanda for between 7 and 8 quid. The Sunday buffet is a myth. They do deliveries, free if your order costs more than a tenner

: Early December, Alex and myself went to eat-in: it's quite small, and a bit on the noisy side (especially with football fans in the room), but we were served pretty quickly. They are happy to provide doggy-bags. -RainbowKitten
: On the two occasions that we ordered take away using the website it took between 45 and 60 minutes to arrive. Apparently this is due to the delay caused by ordering on-line; I was informed that if I call in, the food be with us in about 30 minutes (haven't investigated that yet). -RainbowKitten

Maharaja, Castle Hill

Food is fine, and service is fine for small groups, but I can't think of any large group that's been here and not found the service slow and shoddy. I'd really recommend avoiding this one if you travel in packs. --I

: Managed to poison Malselene, and while we did give bonus points for poisoning a vegetarian with curry, this has somewhat put us off. --Drac

The Curry House, Castle Street

Opposite the castle. Modern looking curry place, I remember the consensus being good curry for reasonable prices, but it took ages for the vegetarians to find things as they were not listed under the vegetarian section of the menu. -Drac

: Found this place overpriced and uninspired after it reinvented itself. Haven't been back recently, so it's possible it has improved. --I

Curry Gardens, Regeant Street

: Another fine curry house, was quite happy to accept us dripping wet and with muddy hiking boots which was a real plus at the time. -Drac

Tandoori Palace, Histon Road

: Probably poisoned Ralph, though apparently the food was OK for the rest of the group... --Pufferfish
: I've had dodgily uncooked looking meat in shish/shami kebab from there before. -Hark

Taj Tandoori, Cherry Hinton Road

: Has a website with a menu, delivery if your order totals Ł15 or more. Their "Bengal Tiger" is offensively hot for the entire digestive tract, not just both ends. --Drac

Thai

Sala Thong, Queens Road

: Located conveiently close to Queens and Harvey Court, I've only tried a few items on their menu, partially because they are so tasty I want to eat them again. The chargrilled chicken with garlic, spiced carrot and sticky rice is a personal favourite and highly recommended, but their noodle dishes are also very worth a try. Amongst my regular dining companions it is a bit of a love or hate venue, with some folks finding it hard to find something they want, while I am usually desperately torn between a few things which I want to eat all of, in a manner akin to Godzilla devouring Tokyo. -TimB

Chinese

Ocean Dragon

Located in mid Arbury, convenient for the chesterton etc end of town. Does delivery within three miles for a quid on small orders, free on medium. Menu can be a poor guide to spiciness etc.

: Relatively expensive, but the quality of food has held up in my limited experience. --I
: I think I've seen people poisoned by this one, but I may be misremembering. --Jacob

Golden Crown

: Located in Arbury Court near Arbury Library, free delivery over Ł13 within 3 mile radius. The Gourmet's Recommendation and Chef's Special sections of the menu are worth a look for some more unusual and very tasty dishes. Consistently good. Alas, closed on Sundays. -- SevenSecrets

The Golden Wok, Histon Road

Very friendly and willing to mess about their menu to remove things to taste (eg cooking without onions). Certain dishes in particular are very good- I have yet to find a better lemon chicken anywhere- and IMO several orders of magnitude better than any other Chinese I've found in Cambridge yet. -TimB

: My favourite crispy duck in Cambridge area, I think. --I

Cook For You, Norfolk Street

: Another excellent Chinese in Cambridge. I can vouch for their delivery service, and consistent quality of food. The 'meal deal' is excellent if you want a large meal with no leftovers. I have Chinese acquaintances who swear by the place and cross town to buy from it. --I

Italian

Bella Italia, Newnham Road

: Chain Italian. Service has been terrible every time I have been here, so much so that I have insisted on paying by credit card so I can give the exact meal cost and no tip. -Drac

Bella Italia, Grafton Centre

: In contrast to the above service here was reasonable. -Drac

Pizza

Cherry Box Pizza http://cherryboxpizza.com take-away (plus a few little round tables) on Cherry Hinton Road. Very good, does remind me of pizzas I've had in Italy: thin crust, cooked quickly. Enthusiastic friendly owner, keen on making good quality interesting pizzas (there are some oddities on the menu). Free delivery within a certain radius. Not cheap, but two-for-one on Tuesdays. --Canashir

: Was intrigued enough by the menu to try them today, and I have to say, not disappointed. Not, as you said, cheap - but that was truly excellent pizza, and some really quite original options. Will be back. --I
: Got a menu through the door with lots of vouchers so gave it a go. Really good stuff. -- SevenSecrets

Perfect Pizza

Chain, located on Mill Road. Delivery basically free, vouchers trickier to come by but deals on website often good.

: Vouchers are easy to come by if you say you got a text message special offer of 2 for 1 or something. They send out loads of them so pretty much anything you tell them you got is likely to be either true ocr close to the truth. They'll tend to say 'we're not doing that right now but we're doing this instead' and you'll get a decent deal. --dp

Dominos

Chain, located on Hills Road and Histon Road. Delivery basically free, vouchers readily available but often rubbish if you only want some pizza

: Drac loves Dominos and orders at every opportunity, avoid ordering drinks with your takeaway, they are even more a ripoff than pizza (and promo codes do not apply to them).
: The pizza is good and consistent, the desserts are rather nice, and they're consistent. Not the cheapest, though. --I

Pubs

Cambridge

The Castle

: The TT regular pub. Food decent enough but a bit uninspiring, especially for veggies.

The Free Press

Tucked in behind Parkers Piece. Food generally seriously good. Compact and snug, though.

: If you want food, it's really worth getting there as early as you can, because if you go there much after about 7.30, you're unlikely to get a table. Happened every time I went there later on. Best in the summer when you can eat outside. --Jim

The Carlton Arms, Carlton Way

Food here has been good each time we've visited, but the particular strength is their sunday roast, which is excellent value. Having met the chef on one occasion, he was really friendly and very proud of his work- when one of our party asked if he could do something not on the menu, he was happy to show he could. His gravy is also worthy of note as being very good. The one time we visited when he was on holiday was not so great (still alright, but nothing to write home about). Very good place for a pubmeet, if slightly out of the way. -TimB

: Used to be notable for their selection of interesting Belgian beers, for pub fare done very well, and for a good atmosphere. Longstanding camgeek favourite. Not been back since the refurbishment, but I've heard good things. --I

County Arms (opposite The Castle)

: We've used this for a few 3YGB ref meets recently (late 2011/early 2012) and they have changed their menu from the selection of stir fries they used to specialise in. Now there is a limited range, but some quite tasty things and a good selection of burgers. Quality is better than the Castle, but somewhat over priced, especially for starters. Tends to be quieter, so you you can generally get a table, but this also means a loud table of larpers frothing about demons may feel a little out of place. -TimB

The Devonshire Arms, Devonshire Rd (just off Mill Rd

: One of my favourite pubs both for quality of beer and quality of food. The food's mostly classic pub food but really nice and all home-cooked. They've had no problem adjusting it to dietary requirements, either. Milton Brewery beers, plus a selection of guest ales and real ciders. Try the Nero with the liver and bacon. Or the haggis. --Jim

The Tivoli, Mitcham's Corner

Yup, it's a Wetherspoons, doing Wetherspoons menu food. Said food is good (if pricey), a nice variety of drinks including guest beers, there's lots of seating (never failed to get a table even on Sunday lunchtime) and a nice (if rather generic) atmosphere. -- SevenSecrets

: Doorway was boarded up on Feb 15th. Didn't look definitely closed-for-ever, though. --Pufferfish

Villages

The White Heart, Fulbourn

: Little way out for the students, but a very nice pub in Fulbourn. Variety of meals, little bit pricy for pub food but you very much get what you pay for, in quality and quantity. -Drac

The Plough, Fen Ditton

: Not to be mixed up with another local pub of the same name (which is not in Fen Ditton), this is a bit more expensive than many of the usual TT haunts, as well as being more out of the way, but great for more special occasions. It can be a good destination when you want to make a bit more of a day of it, walking to the pub across country from the city centre via some pleasant meadows and footpaths (or if you just drive). Food is much higher quality than many of the central pubs, with a menu that changes quite regularly. I still have cravings for a particularly delicious tuna steak on grated potato dish they did as a special once (and keep hoping they will do it again, as it was to kill for). If you have room for dessert, the chocolate brownie is delicious, though rich, and can be good to share between two. -TimB
: Recently reinvented their food offering, and it's gone from merely well-done to actually quite inspired. Nice place to take family, or whatever - bit out of the way for social stuff. --I

The Plough, Coton

The other Plough. Can be walked to via footpaths near the Cavendish from the West Cambridge site if you want. A very nice pub with a lot of good food. It often has good specials, a fresh deli sort of counter which is good for starters and I'm told the meat dishes are good.

: Mushroom pizza was very good.

Fast food vans

Tram Stop

: Jacket potato van in the market. Their "butter" is actually cheap margarine but other than that they have always been able to sell me a quick lunch at a decent price, and the potatoes actually have crispy skins and fluffy inners. --Pufferfish

Noodle van in the market (probably has an actual name)

: Inexpensive but tasty basic noodles, spring rolls, Thai curry, etc. Warning: I saw them put small quantities of fish sauce in the "vegetarian" noodles so if you don't eat fish you may want to make sure yours are cooked separately... --Pufferfish

Takeaway/Restaurant Reports