by Jonathan Greengrass

Created on: July 23, 2011   Last Updated: July 24, 2011

If one were to compare restaurants to cars, the Curry King would be a Ford Mondeo. Reasonably priced and reliable, but does not do anything to suggest anything extraordinary. 

The Curry King is one of the favourite haunts of Cambridge's student population, due to its reasonably cheap food and warm and welcoming service. It offers a slightly more refined night than some of it's competitors for the student market, and provides significantly better food. The set menu will set you back £12.50 per person, but for that you get a naan bread, poppadoms, a curry, rice and a free drink. The restaurant also allows customers to bring a bottle of wine with them for free. Whilst the food isn't going to set the culinary world on fire, it certainly beats some of the Indian food in the area. The lamb dupiaza, is well worth a try.

In terms of the service, the waiters are friendly and attentive, and always have a smile on their faces. The service is actually one of the better points of the whole experience. There is never a long delay between the ordering of food and its serving and if there ever is any problem, it is dealt with without grumbling or glaring. Even when serving relatively large parties, there are very rarely any problems with order mix-ups and the speed of service does not appreciably change.

The food itself, whilst unlikely to ever set the world on fire, is of reasonably good quality. There is a wide range of dishes to choose from, with all the household favourites included as well as a mix of lesser known dishes. The meats that are used are of a good quality, although the sauces make it difficult to discern just how good. The dishes are generally well spiced without being overly spiced to the extent that the other flavours are masked. The only slight let-down are the naan breads,  which are occasionally a bit too soggy. Overall for the price that the restaurant charges, the food is of good quality.

The only thing that really lets the restaurant down is the décor. Rather than an authentic Indian feel, the restaurant is simply decked out with white walls and mirrors. The plain nature of the decoration does not add anything to the culinary experience, it doesn't transport the customer or make them feel like they are anywhere else than in a Cambridge side street, and that in itself is slightly disappointing. However, this fault should not be considered as significant enough to dissuade anyone from eating at the restaurant given its other qualities.

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