Robbie Bow » eating out

Ahar & Cocum Curry Houses

robbiebow — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:41:10 +0000

Ahar

I’m sad to say that Ahar has gone downhill in recent months. There was a change of chef and the result has been that the curries have lost their levity, subtlety and distinction. It’s a shame, but after 3 bad meals from there over a couple of months, I have to say it’ s gone the way of many curry houses on Mill Road and I won’t be eating from there in the future.

Cocum

As one door closes another opens. Cocum is a Keralan-oriented curry house that replaced a nice but underused restaurant whose name I can’t remember. Unlike its predecessor, it caters for people with a desire for hotter dishes and red meat, whilst providing a range of drier dishes that don’t swim in turmeric-laden ghee. The Keralan dishes are great as well, meaning there’s a genuine choice for the curry fan. They also deliver (although I haven’t ordered delivery yet.) A good choice.

Ahar Bangladeshi Take-away, Mill Road

robbiebow — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:03:50 +0000

This is a new curry take-away that opened this week. I tried the chicken shakoota last night and am pleased to say it was fantastic. Delicately spiced, and cooked to perfection, and reasonably priced to boot. The Bengal paratha was very nice too: light and tasty. They did forget to give me my pilau rice (opening week jitters I guess) but I called up, explained and they sent a guy around with a portion and a couple of complimentary poppadoms. The rice was gorgeous. Light, moist, wonderful taste so well worth the wait. I hope they keep up the good work when word gets out and trade increases. For now, whilst they are relatively underused and overstaffed, I can say this is the best curry I’ve had in Cambridge so far. No doubt the Rice Boat would give them a run for their money on the quality stakes, but you get a decent meal for less than a tenner from Ahar and that’s great value for money.

Salt and Woodsmoke

robbiebow — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:10:27 +0000

This is River Farm Smokery, which is a wee bit outside of Cambridge on the way to Newmarket. I went there the other day with a hairy colleague in his fabulously retro car to get a gander of what was on offer. It was fantastic: the shop is in middle of the farm and stinks to high heavens with smoked ham, bacon, eels, kippers, cheese and assorted other bits and pieces. The ham was lovely (especially with the excellent crusty loaf) and formed the centre of a great lunch at work. I have some kippers from there to try this morning, but I am assuming they will to the same high standards as the rest of the goods.

Not cheap (but then why should food be cheap?) but not ridiculously priced, this is a nice drive in the country with the deep satisfaction of knowing your hunter-gatherer instincts will be rewarded with fine food to take home and enjoy in good, friendly fashion.

Thanks to Stray Toaster for the interlude from desk jockeying for a living to living for a living.

Curry Queen, Mill Road

robbiebow — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:42:00 +0000

Curry queen is a good, solid, old fashioned, cramped, wall-to-wall carpeted curry house. There are two floors and more often than not they are full, which says something about the place. The poppadom and condiments have always been excellent and the main dishes very good indeed, with enough bite in the jalfrezi without an indecent amount of chilli peppers. The only disappointment was the paratha, which were overdone last time I went there. Not burnt, and still totally edible, but a high quality paratha is light and pulls apart into flaky, stringy pieces (the Kerala restaurant on Castle Street does cracking ones, btw). The dhal has always been good, not shying on the essential salt needed to make it tasty.

A good middle of the road choice.

SnakAttack, Mill Road, opposite Co-op

robbiebow — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:55:18 +0000

Good little cafe this one. Does a hearty full breakfast as well as light Mediterranean dishes. Friendly staff and reasonably priced too. Sometimes the music is a bit loud for a hangover, but other than that it is a good choice.

Grill House take away, Mill Road

robbiebow — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:25:47 +0000

Now this is a friendly and pretty good all round pizza cum spicy potatoes cum kebab cum chips n burgers joint. Sometimes open incredibly late (have seen it open at 4am) and actually does a garlic sauce. Nothing amazing but nothing too bad either. Average in the world of kebabs (no way near a Dennis’ of High Wycombe or “Restaurant” on Cowley Road, Oxford, back in the 20th Century, but okay nonetheless). A drunkard’s choice of late night trans-fats.

BBQ Take Away, Mill Road

robbiebow — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:53:30 +0000

Kebabs are so so, and often out of doner after 10pm. Service is with a scowl. Prices are reasonable, but there’s no garlic sauce and it doesn’t look like there’s any intention to get any in. Okay after a slewful of ale and you’re not feeling up to walking the extra 50 yards to Grill House by the bridge.

Pipasha, CB5 8LG

robbiebow — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:48:56 +0000

This is a decent curry house. Mainly focused on the eating in side of things, but they do take away and deliveries too for a small fee. The curry has been consistently good quality and the service friendly and competent. Has quite a regular customer base, which is no surprise given the overall quality.

River Bar & Kitchen, CB5 8AB

robbiebow — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:40:40 +0000

This place is stylish and the food was great. Contemporary British / cross cultural, it’s a bar mostly. We went for a work party. I opted for the veggie dish and it was fresh, filling and tasty. Reminds me of the those Soho outfits I used to frequent in the late 90s. Good G&Ts and Long Island Iced Teas (I am old skool, FACT). Good location down by the river. Might be problematic for those of use still smoking seeing as the place is very self-contained. Still well worth a visit.

Kismet, 71 Catharine St, CB1 3AW

robbiebow — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:14:40 +0000

My local curry house. First few visits we found it fantastic: just down the road and great curry. However, the last few visits the rice has been dry and tasted like it had been sat around for a fair while, and the dhal was tasteless. The tikka lamb jalfrazi (a once favourite) was harsh the last time I tried it. I won’t be going back to Kizmet in a hurry.