My word, it’s been a while! I used to eat Thai food from The Wrestlers back in the early 2000s. It is absolutely criminal that I have not been back in such a long time. My return has been on the radar for a while, so I was delighted to finally visit again to find out if the quality is as good as I remember.

Located on Newmarket Road, The Wrestlers has been serving Thai food for over 30 years and they even claim to be the first pub in Cambridge to serve Thai food.

I will never forget my first visit. At the time I was young and inexperienced with Thai food but I knew immediately that the cuisine served here was something special. It clearly stood out from everywhere else in Cambridge and I was simply blown away by what was on offer. From then on, I was returning time and time again.

I hate abusing the already overused term “hidden gem” but The Wrestlers truly is. Nobody in a million years would guess that it serves Thai food just by looking at it and you could drive past it every day for years and not realise that it serves food at all. Not only that but it hides in plain sight, standing proud on Newmarket Road overlooking the traffic in front of the Tesco car park. Because of this, parking is free and plentiful, making it accessible for people from within and outside the city.

I was joined by Cambridge Foodies very own Sean Figura. Upon entering, the interior is exactly as you would expect after looking at it from the outside – A rather ordinary pub. There are some good beers and ales on tap, including a triple hop IPA by Charlie Wells. The place was packed but we were lucky enough to find a table (which is just as well, as they wouldn’t answer their phone to book a table 🤣). I noticed a lot of families with children in the pub, suggesting that it is family friendly.

The menu has all the classic Thai dishes that you would expect – Red/green Thai curry, jungle curry, noodles, stir fry and something called ‘pud Thai’ that I think is their take on the famous pad Thai. You are given the choice of different meat options, ranging from chicken, pork, beef, seafood and king prawn which all hover between the £14-15 mark. There is also a vegetarian option for £12.

Children’s portions are available for every dish. These come to £7.30 each, confirming that this is indeed a family friendly restaurant.

We ordered the red Thai beef curry which comes with a small portion of sticky rice included. For those of you who don’t already know, the red Thai curry is made with a coconut based curry paste and served here with green beans, peas, mixed peppers and garnished with basil.

This was a stunning example of what I look for in a Thai curry. It was flavorful, creamy, and had a lovely spicy kick to it. I have certainly seen worse curry portions at other Thai restaurants too, but the rice portion was disappointing. Otherwise, it was flawless.

Next up was the king prawn ‘Pud Thai’. This is stir fried noodles in a homemade pad Thai sauce with egg, cabbage, carrots, spring onion and bean sprouts. It was a visual feast with so much exciting stuff going on at once. The portion of king prawns was generous, with each prawn being individually big, meaty and so so juicy. This was perfectly complimented with the crunchy spring onion, bean sprouts, and carrots, giving it a diverse and exciting texture on the bite. This, in my opinion, goes toe to toe with some of the pad Thai dishes I had during my travels across mainland Asia (even in the more expensive restaurants in Thailand).

Both Sean and I sat there scratching our heads trying to find some sort of fault with the dish for the purpose of critiquing the dish but we left flummoxed. What an amazing dish!

Finally, we had the Kang Pa (or jungle curry). This is a stir fried curry with bamboo shoots, peas, green beans, mixed peppers and basil. The sauce is not as thick as the red Thai curry and has a much deeper, richer red colour. This had a more distinctive and earthy(?) flavour which might be an acquired taste for some but I loved it’s fiery and complex taste.

Both Sean and I were very impressed with the quality we had tonight. Not only were we in agreement that it was some of the best Thai we have ever had in Cambridge but we also thought that it was great value. It’s nice to be able to have a good pint with your food too.

Some people may want the “authentic Thai experience” that other Thai restaurants offer, with the Thai style interior decorating and music but if you are all about the food and ONLY ABOUT THE FOOD, then this, in our opinion, is the best Thai food in the city.

Thanks for reading…