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I have never been to Pakka before. I was last here in 2014 when it was a South Indian restaurant called Cocum. Back in 2021 it changed hands and rebranded to Pakka. It stayed a traditional South Indian restaurant but with a brand new look and feel.

I was kindly invited by the team to try their new menu before release, something I was more than happy to aid them with 🤣. I was accompanied by my sister, who has been helping me out with a lot of reviews lately. She has very little experience with traditional Indian food, so I was keen to find out her thoughts on it.

As expected, there are numerous south Indian dishes on the menu, especially from the Keralan region. Tandoori dishes are also available, which are generally considered north Indian, and I even spotted an Indo-Chinese dish – giving the menu a much wider variety than I was expecting. I also noticed a few classic curry dishes, such as the chicken tikka masala and korma. It was an exciting menu with something for everyone. I feel I could visit several times and still not sample everything I wanted, especially with their fish menu where every single dish sounded tempting. 

For more details on what’s on the menu, click here.

The restaurant is a million miles away from the rather basic looking Cocum restaurant. The bright green walls have been replaced with a tasteful cream and mint, with gold Indian ornaments. It feels much cleaner and modern, with a stylish Indian identity. Even though the restaurant appears small from the outside there is enough room to seat quite a few people, so hosting events shouldn’t be a problem (including our 19th Cambridge Curry Community event back in 2014!).

🅿️ Free parking across the road after 5pm outside the Sir Isaac Newton

I am absolutely addicted to masala dosas at the moment and it wouldn’t be a traditional South Indian restaurant without one. The masala dosa is a thin lentil and rice pancake wrapped in a potato masala in the middle. It’s the perfect winter comfort food and being the middle of December, there is no better time!

The dish is under the starter menu and comes to £8.95. This is almost double the price of my visit to the Seven Stars the night before but when you see it presented in front of you it becomes immediately apparent why. It was huge and has to be one of the most generously stuffed masala dosas I have ever experienced. We broke it open and the mashed potato masala almost burst out. It was easily enough for the two of us, in fact, more – making it perfect for sharing.

It was also presented with a lovely vegetable side curry along with a coconut based sauce. We both struggled to get excited for the coconut sauce but the curry complimented the masala dosa really well

For our mains and sides we ordered a erachi ularthiyatu with paratha, mutter paneer, a lamb biryani and a saag aloo.

The lamb erachi ularthiyatu or “lamb fry” is a Keralan dish spiced with pepper, coriander and chilli. Frankly, it was spectacular! The lamb was so tender and was perfectly complimented with a rich spiced sauce that added a lovely texture, perfect for scooping up with the paratha. Even though there is a lot on this menu I have ear marked to try on my next visit, I think I would struggle to come back and not order this again.

The mutter paneer is a tomato based dish served with cubes of cheese (paneer) along with peas and spices. It was my first time trying it and I must admit, I will be keeping an eye out for this in future restaurants. It is not only delicious and creamy but versatile enough to compliment everything else on the table. I found myself using it with the paratha but it also worked well with the lamb erachi ularthiyatu and saag aloo. Fantastic!

The saag aloo here is a fairly standard saag aloo that you would expect to find at most other Indian and Bangladesh restaurants (unlike my visit to Seven Stars that was served in a curry or soup style). It was executed really well and to be honest, I much prefer it this way, as it compliments the other dishes better – which is sort of the point of a side dish after all.

I really enjoyed the freshness of the spinach and also had a lovely bright colour to it. Sometimes a saag aloo can be slightly overcooked leaving the spinach a little damp and soggy but this was perfect and almost…fluffy/crispy?

My sister had the lamb biryani, a dish I know a lot of people reading will already have experience with. For those of you unfamiliar, it is a spiced rice dish served with a vegetable curry on the side. She was incredibly fond of the dish. I noticed that the lamb portions were also large as well as juicy and succulent. It was a fine take on the classic dish with no qualms what so ever.

My lamb was lovely. I received a generous portion and the lamb was also buried in the middle of the rice to keep it hot. It also had a hint of coriander that was a nice touch.

Natalie

I was disappointed to see no beer on draft but they did Cobra beer in bottle form. I ordered myself a mango lassi – a popular Indian yoghurt based drink. This rich, fruity and very sweet drink was just what the doctor ordered after a very savoury meal. I also recommend these after something spicy 🔥

And finally, we ended the meal with some kulfi. This is traditional Indian ice cream that is similar to regular ice cream but it is slightly denser and creamier. This makes it melt slower so it can be savoured over a longer period of time. It didn’t look or feel home made but both my sister and I enjoyed ours and found it a welcome addition to end the meal.

Pakka’s new menu looks great. We both enjoyed our meals and spotted a dozen dishes that we would like to try on our return – the sign of a good menu! It also offers a wide variety of options that stretch out far beyond South India, making it versatile and diverse. I really liked the restaurant itself, the service was fantastic, and it is quite easy to access from out of town with good parking options close by.

As mentioned at the start of the review, my sister has not had much experience with traditional Indian cuisine but she thoroughly enjoyed her meal and says she would definitely come back again 👍

Highlights: Erachi ularthiyatu, mutter paneer, and masala dosa.

Thanks for reading