Royal Bengal – Willingham

We had a lovely meal at the Royal Bengal in Willingham this evening, joined by guest Cambridge Foodies reviewer Daniel.

Both Daniel and I live on opposite sides of Willingham with myself being from around Sutton and him staying in Longstanton for a short while. So we both felt like Willingham was a nice middle ground to explore.

I myself know Willingham very well and come here from time to time, so I knew roughly what to expect already and was confident that The Royal Bengal would serve us well.

The service here is excellent. Friendly, attentive, and best of all the staff enjoy a bit of banter. I really couldn’t fault them as they really made you feel at home.

The menu was decent with everything you could possibly hope for from a local Indian. There was not much in terms of adventurous dishes but there was easily enough to serve the average consumer looking for a Friday night curry. Most people should be able to find what they are looking for here.

They had Kingfisher on tap, witch is always a fantastic result. This is easily one of my favourite Indian beers (as Cobra is incredibly bloating). I always hate it when they serve it in bottles too, as it never quite tastes the same. Top marks!

We ordered papadums with came out quickly. We were offered 5 sauces instead of the usual 4 which was a nice touch. I enjoyed all of them, though nothing jumped out as particularly special. If I had to choose then I’d say that I enjoyed the yogurt most.

I decided to go for the lamb vindaloo (extra hot), mushroom rice, saag aloo, and Megan had the gurka lamb.

My friend had King Prawn Korai and chicken tikka masala.

I must admit, there was not really anything to fault. Everything was done to a good standard with nothing that stood out as problematic.

Vindaloo was very hot as requested, which shows that they really listen to you here. Too many restaurants bring out your curry mild even when requested hot (and I’m not sure why?). This is not the case at Royal Bengal.

The saag aloo was on point. The lamb quality in the curry was good too. This is how you know you have a good restaurant, as lamb can be fickle! The gurka lamb was sold as medium heat but was pretty hot. This is clearly an Indian which respects the old school ways of having a hot curry.

I like their style!

The real star of the show however was the complementary spirit at the end of the meal. I decided to go for my usual favourite which was the Irish whisky (Jameson’s). This was absolutely HUGE. Honestly, this must have been a quadruple? I really couldn’t recommend this enough! It must have been nearly a quarter of a pint. You certainly get your value here.

I must admit. I’ve been here before and never had a bad meal and tonight was no exception. If you are ever in the fens then this must be a top contender. Solid, steady, and consistent, with excellent customer service.

It won’t jump out like top end restaurants you may find in Cambridge but they absolutely nail the fundamentals of what makes an Indian restaurant great. Most of all, if you just want to come in for a whisky then you’ll be in for a fantastic surprise.