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Ever since Spice took over from Sutton Tandoori back in 2022, the quality has improved significantly. The village finally feels like it has an Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant it deserves.
In fact, I have been raving about Spice for a while (here and here). Their vindaloo is absolutely out of this world and the service is always first class.
I decided to share my love with them during a takeaway collection and they were kind enough to invite me back to explore the menu. Being a Sutton local, I took them up on their offer immediately. No more 40 minute drives into Cambridge for a review – it almost felt like a night off! 😂
Entering the restaurant you are immediately met with a corner bar, serving Kingfisher on tap (my favourite Indian beer).
I have often felt that Sutton doesn’t really have a pub/social club that serves any decent beer or lager on tap (with the best beer I can think of being the UK produced Staropramen at the British Legion). Spice is not only a great Indian restaurant but the best place to get a pint of lager in the village.
Next Friday night expect to see me in the corner with a tower of papadums and a pint 😂
The menu is large with a wide selection of dishes available. There are sharer platters, a tandoori clay oven, and a huge specials menu. It was great to see Indian street food make an appearance with Chat Puri and Pakora, as well as dishes not exclusive to the Indian and Bangladeshi area – like shashlik (shish kebab) and Gurka. This has given me a good reason to come back and visit again.
We started off with papadums with four sides and an entire jug of mixed pickle.
The mango chutney and yogurt were both very nice, as was the onion salad. The red onion was quite refreshing but I didn’t feel like it added anything to the selection.
The mixed pickle was mild and incredibly smooth, making it easy to spread. This will divide opinions with pickle puritans who like their pickle chunky and sour but I thought it was great (and less messy).
After our papadums, we were presented with a mixed meat platter for two. This sizzling plate of joy comes with marinated lamb chops, chicken & lamb tikka, sheek kebab and chicken wings, all skewered in a tandoori clay oven.
The marinated lamb chop was absolutely divine. The marinated sauce really brought it to life and the meat was soft and tender. I couldn’t recommend it enough.
The sheek kebab looked fantastic and had a lovely texture but found the meat to be a little anemic.
The chicken/lamb tikka and the chicken wings were soft, tender and decent examples of what a tikka platter can offer.
The overall portion size is terrific, as the platter is supposed to be for two but this could have easily served three people. Keep this in mind while ordering, as my sister was nearly full after finishing this and we hadn’t even had our mains yet! 🤯
Mains
Speaking of mains, we started with a plate of king prawns from their tandoori clay oven. These are tiger king prawns that are marinated in a mixed tandoori paste and lightly spiced yogurt. This is then served on a bed of sizzling onions and pepper.
The prawns themselves were a reasonable size and came with bits of their shell still on. I wouldn’t call them meaty but they were very long. The tandoori paste gave them a delicate spicy flavour and a succulent texture that matched the beautiful red colour of the prawns.
I noticed one of my favourite dishes on the menu – the lamb Tawa. I have been a big fan of this dish for years, so I decided to venture away from their iconic vindaloo and give it a try.
These come with lovely pieces of tender lamb served with roasted garlic, pepper, onion, herbs and sweet chilli. It is then brought out on a Tawa plate sizzling at full volume.
The Tawa is a dish that is usually served medium spiced but I requested it at vindaloo temperature. I think they may have got a little too excited here as it blew my socks off!
Maybe it was the fact that since starting the Cambridge Foodies I haven’t had as many spicy curries but it felt like molten lava! This was significantly hotter than the “extra hot vindaloo” I had ordered a few weeks back.
The lamb was beautiful and the sauce was incredibly thick and rich. The spice made it hard to taste the flavours but I got exactly what I asked for 😂
Their vindaloo is still (in my opinion) one of the best around. If I was to return, I think I would choose this over the Tawa. I love everything about it from the perfect balance between flavour and fiery heat, to the lovely brown colour. It’s everything a vindaloo should be!
It wouldn’t be a proper curry without a side of saag aloo and mushroom rice. The saag aloo was a generous portion with a good balance of spinach and potato. The potatoes were soft with a slight earthy potato flavour that worked well with the spice and spinach. Both dishes were also presented beautifully. No faults with the rice.
My sister ordered the lamb biryani which came with a side vegetable curry and an omelette on top.
I didn’t feel that the egg offered much to the dish but underneath the rice was booming with flavour. My sister thought it was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed her meal. The lamb, as with the rest of the lamb this evening, was incredibly soft and tender and served in big chunks. A good example of a classic biryani.
Their garlic naan was perfect with a vivid coriander colour that added an exciting pop for the eye. This came out warm and served quite thin, which is exactly how I like it. This made it easier to scoop up chunks of tawa lamb and made me feel less bloated after eating it.
We were presented with warm wet wipes. This was duly needed after the spanking I received from that lamb Tawa. It’s always nice to get these at the end of a meal as it is becoming rarer and rarer in Indian restaurants these days. I am glad Spice are hanging on to these old traditions.
Dessert
We ended our meal with a pistachio and mango kulfi. Both were from that generic dessert menu that you often see in Indian restaurants. The ice creams were brought out in a plastic container that was placed in a dessert glass. The ice cream wasn’t home made or anything to get excited about but was nice enough to enjoy.
Conclusion
Both my sister and I enjoyed our meal at Spice. I was surprised at how large and diverse the menu is, leaving me with plenty of reason to return.
The vindaloo is their star dish but there are plenty of other options available that I recommend you try. First and foremost, their sharing platters for two, which is a great deal that offers a large portion and a diverse selection of meat.
The service is always excellent and highly attentive. You are never waiting long for anything and the team here are so warm and polite.
Spice is very much a village Indian, so don’t expect anything too edgy when compared to places in and around Cambridge. It does however, still offer a wide range of interesting and exciting dishes that you won’t be able to find at other local Indians.
I’ll be back soon to explore their vast menu with eyes firmly on the street food.
Thanks for reading.
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