A village without an Indian restaurant is like a village without a post office or a pub. Sure, it is a nice place to live but the community feels like it is missing a vital organ.

For so long, Wilburton has not only been without an Indian but so have its neighbouring villages, Haddenham and Stretham (I honestly don’t know how they have coped 🤣). Now, the village has been blessed with a brand new Indian, plugging that essential service that was so sorely needed.

Located on the High Street, the building used to be a pub 5 years ago but closed during lockdown. But it is now back as a restaurant and bar.

🅿️ – There is a good sized car park in the back for people travelling from outside the village.

The menu

The menu isn’t your typical British-Bangladeshi restaurant but a traditional Indian. You’ll still be able to find many classics, like chicken tikka masala, balti, and korma but also other exciting dishes, like goan fish curry, tawa, pani puri, and the dal makhani. This is very exciting as there isn’t anything like this until you hit Cambridge, making it truly unique to the area.

There is a page on the menu dedicated to English classics, with many familiar favourites, including the jacket potato, scampi, and burgers.

A children’s menu is available, for £5.50, which I thought was a nice touch.

Papadums

You get a choice of three different papadums – masala, roasted, and fried. This is accomplished with mango chutney, a mint sauce, and tiny pickled onions. I had to request a portion of mixed pickle but they were more than happy to accommodate.

Drinks

One advantage of Wilburton Flame having a bar is that there is a good selection of alcohol, including a variety of beers on draft. We opted for a pint of Kingfisher and Beavertown. Wine and spirits were also available and prices hovered around the £5-6 a pint.

One disadvantage to the bar however was the noise. The restaurant is open plan and resulted in drunken crowds of people hanging at the bar cackling at full volume, who were only a few feet away. This really killed the ambience of the dining experience and made conversation difficult. The restaurant is a reasonable size, so I recommend requesting a table at the back, which may help mitigate the noise somewhat.

Starters

There was a lot to get excited about on the starters menu and it took me ages to narrow down what I wanted to try. In the end, I managed to reduce my list to three choices.

Tawa prawns

Tawa is a round metal dish that is used for cooking and often gives a caramelised or charred flavour to whatever it is cooking. The tawa prawns were great value at between £6-7 and were lightly spiced. Unfortunately, the dish was not served sizzling on the tawa itself, which is common in many restaurants, but instead came out on a ceramic plate, with some side salad for garnish. The prawns weren’t huge and arrived at a lukewarm temperature but they were nice and tender with a great flavour.

Pani Puri

Pani puri is a popular street food dish, often served on hot days on the side of roads in India. It is a great finger food dish, perfect for sharing between friends. It is made from a spherical crispy shell with onions, potato, chickpeas, and herbs inside, which are then filled with a lightly spiced masala before eating in one go. It is one of my favourite dishes.

I found the shell of the pani puri to be a little tough and hard, with the shell breaking up into stubborn clunky shards in your mouth. This is very different from other places I have had the dish, which manage to create a crispy bite that slowly dissolves into a crunchy yet refreshing explosion of flavour.

If anyone is particularly interested in giving the pani puri a try, then I would recommend visiting Bengal Brunch in Ely.

Flame wings

The flame wings were a worthy starter, offering four pieces of crispy fried chicken wings that were tastefully presented on a rectangle ceramic plate, along with a side sauce. The wings weren’t particularly meaty but for £6 for 4, I can hardly complain. I was particularly fond of the side sauce that added an invigorating sweetness and complexity to the flavour. My guest was very fond of these.

Mains

While looking at the mains options, there wasn’t a huge amount of choice of anything super spicy but my guest had the great idea of finding a delicious dish and simply requesting it spicy – something they were more than happy to accommodate.

I ordered the butter chicken and she had the Kashmiri lamb Rogan Josh.

Kashmiri lamb Rogan Josh

The Kashmiri Rogan Josh was a beautifully presented dish with a deep brown colour. It came swimming in a rich spicy sauce with large chunks of tender lamb plentifully portioned into it. Sampling this dish gave me immediate food envy. This is an absolute must for anyone thinking of visiting.

Butter Chicken (Makhani)

The butter chicken (or makhani) was also a well presented dish with a lovely orange colour to it. Like with the Rogan Josh, the chicken was served in large chunks of meat. It was great to be able to really sink my teeth into it, especially when it was slathered in a thick creamy sauce. The butter chicken at Wilburton Flame is a versatile and accessible dish that almost anyone can enjoy.

The venue

This was the opening night for Wilburton Flame, so I wasn’t expecting much in terms of interior decorating. The walls understandably looked a little white and bare but it is still early days. There were some nice examples of Indian art on the walls which added some colour but I am sure over time the restaurant will find its unique atmosphere and style.

The service was very warm and friendly, with the staff working really hard to make sure everything was running smoothly. The owners took the time to introduce themselves and speak to everyone dining in the restaurant part.

Conclusion

It’s great to have another Indian in these parts, especially an authentic Indian restaurant. The north of Cambridge is getting some great places to eat at the moment and Wilburton Flame is another feather in its cap. For someone who lives close by (like me), this is very exciting!

I found the starters inconsistent but this can be forgiven for opening night. With that said, the mains knocked it straight out of the park and there are some really exciting dishes that I want to revisit and try. 

The service was incredibly welcoming and the prices were competitive, which is more important than ever these days.

When booking a table, make sure to keep in mind people’s drinking habits, Thursday-Saturday evenings are likely to be noisy. I was acutely aware that this is a pub with a restaurant attached throughout the entire experience. Luckily, the restaurant is open at lunch times and throughout the week, when it is quieter.

Thanks for reading!