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Le Spice has been one of my favourite Ely restaurants for years. I visit at least once a year and in 2023 I visited three times. With New Year’s eve quickly approaching, it was the perfect way to end the year with one of their iconic lamb dishes.

I was joined by a friend of mine who has always been a big advocate of Le Spice. As a restaurant, it has a popular following in the area, particularly with people fond of their Sunday meal deal (£17.95 – papadums and chutney’s, starters, mains, and rice or naan). For me, Le Spice has always been about lamb. In my opinion, they do the best lamb in the city, as it is always a quality cut and cooked to perfection.

Amin, the owner of Le Spice, has always put a large emphasis on sourcing to make sure ingredients are quality and fresh. In fact, he gets his produce from Scott’s Farm Shop towards Sutton-In-The-Isle on the A142. This is where I get my fruit and vegetables for my weekly shop and the standards are always high.

Le Spice has one of the nicest interiors in the city with a nice wooden floor, lots of open space, an attractive bar, and big windows looking out into Fore Hill. There is a good staff ratio too, so I was never far away from service if required.

We started off with a few pappadums that were accompanied with the usual four champions – mango chutney, yogurt, onion salad, and mixed pickle. All were a good take with the yogurt and mixed pickle being the strongest out of the four.

I was delighted to not only see Kingfisher on tap but Kingfishers own brand of IPA called ‘Bombay Bicycle’. Needless to say, I had one of each. I am a big fan of Bombay Bicycle with its smooth floral flavours and bold taste. I have been seeing it pop up around Cambridgeshire more often lately but it is still comparatively rare to see – top marks! 👍

We were given a selection of starters to try, all things I have never had from Le Spice before. I was very excited, as I often have the same lamb vindaloo dish from them every time but I knew there is so much more to the menu than what I have been having.

The shimla mirch is a bell pepper stuffed with cheese and vegetables and cooked in a tandoor. I must admit, my first impressions on this weren’t that great but I was entirely wrong once I cut into it and saw the warm gooey cheesy ooze out. This was something special and a dish I will definitely be having again. Beautiful!

Another fantastic dish was the bhuna prawn puree. This consists of spiced prawns cooked in a thick gravy and served on a thin deep-fried bread. This was a favourite of my guests who frequently goes for this dish and I can completely see why. The prawns were nice and meaty with a generous portion for a starter. The bhuna sauce was gorgeous and made the prawns extra tender, as well as complimenting the deep fried bread that soaked up the sauce perfectly (without making it too soggy). I could see this being a good lunch or quick meal on the go. Either way, this is another dish I will be having again, for sure!

I think this was a shami kebab – minced lamb that is pan fried with herbs and spices. Once you cut into this you are rewarded with a deep red colour which is then accompanied with a lovely deep flavour.

That is 3/3 for the starters with each one impressing and adding something a little different each time. I can see myself visiting again in the future and ordering numerous starters instead of a mains 🤣

Mains:

We started with an absolutely killer lamb shank from their specials menu. This marinated lamb shank is slow-cooked in a tomato sauce and served with chickpeas. All I had to do was pull the lamb gently and it fell to pieces. This was absolutely beautiful.

The shank is a little small but came to a very reasonable £16. I think I prefer it this way as it makes a great dish to share and something of this quality obviously compliments any dish you have. I quite enjoyed scooping it up with some garlic naan myself. I highly recommend it!

The chicken jalfrezi was served with lovely succulent chunks of chicken. The sauce was quite mild which is always disappointing with a fiery curry like a jalfrezi. I also found it slightly watery, though not enough to spoil the dish. The peppers were lovely and crispy and the flavour of the curry was inoffensive.

The garlic chilli lamb was absolutely fantastic and one of the highlights of the evening. I haven’t had this dish in a long time, so it was hard to compare with other restaurants but I absolutely devoured it. The lamb (as always from Le Spice) was top draw and so juicy. The garlic was bold on the palate without being overpowering, which is a hard balance to achieve with garlic as it can easily ruin a dish you aren’t careful. The chef clearly respected the balance of garlic and for that I commended him as it would have been easy to play it safe.

The saag aloo was a perfectly fine and standard take on the popular potato based side dish. The spinach was generous and the potatoes were cooked well.

The mushroom rice was absolutely perfect. It was perfectly cooked in a lovely golden colour and was really tasty. The rice was accompanied with peas and pepper to give it a colourful pop and worked really well with our mains.

The garlic naan was just how I like it. Thin, crispy, and with a subtle hint of garlic. As mentioned above, I was using this to scoop up lamb from the shank to form a sort of garlic naan sandwich…it was epic!

After our meal, we were given a couple of chocolates and a hot towel to freshen up. I love seeing Indian restaurants hanging on to these traditions that are slowly disappearing in order to cut costs. Long may it last!

Conclusion:

It goes without saying that it was another successful night at Le Spice. Time and time again I have reviewed them for this blog and it is always the same – great food, a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and surprising value. The starters were all fantastic and I am glad I got a chance to explore the menu a little more. All three made a real impression on me and there is no doubt I will be having them again.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that now I know about ‘Bombay Bicycle’ that I will be coming back more often!

Make sure to order the lamb – you’ll thank me later!

Thanks for reading!