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Located at The Taps in Waterbeach, Behrouz offers traditional Indian cuisine every night in their car park. They specialise in biryani but also offer an extensive menu, with the option to dine inside the pub.

The Taps pub

I grew up in Waterbeach and the Brewery Tap (the name it used to be known by) was a very dated pub and was mostly there to serve the army Barracks across the road. Since the Royal Engineers left the village, it has been in limbo, as a sleepy relic from the past that never quite managed to capture the imagination of the locals.

It has since been taken over by an Indian owner, who has breathed in some much needed life, with more colour and a friendlier atmosphere. The pool table has been replaced with more dining tables, allowing people to order from the Behrouz food van and dine in the pub.

We were treated to a bit of everything from their menu which all came served in cardboard boxes. This makes it easy to order as a takeaway or to bring into the pub to have with a pint of Cobra Beer.

Biryani

We started with two options of their traditional Indian biryani – the chicken and the lamb. Both were great takes on the classic dish, with the box being filled to the absolute brim and the meat cut into big juicy chunks.

Sheek kebab

The sheek kebabs are their biggest sellers and it is easy to see why. These bad boys were mouthwateringly succulent and very tasty. You get 6 in a box which is a great number to share between 2-4 people.

Samosa chole chat

The samosa chat has quickly become one of my favourite Indian dishes over the past few years and is popping up all over the place. It is made from a broken up samosa which is then drizzled with chutney and sweet yogurt, then garnished with pomegranates and onion, all on a bed of chole (chickpeas). Behrouz’s take had a lovely crunch, which is something many restaurants can get wrong with samosa chat, leaving it soggy and lifeless, but not here!

Portions weren’t huge and the cardboard box made it slightly awkward to eat but not enough to spoil it.

Thick and creamy goodness

I highly recommend trying the chicken tikka masala and the butter chicken, both are impossibly thick and creamy dishes that had a lovely brown colour. As with the biryani, the chicken was cut into large chunks for a bite that really makes you want to sink your teeth into it. This is clearly their style of doing meat and I love it.

The saag paneer was also a strong contender for one of my favourites of the evening and came with little cubes of paneer cheese floating in a sea of spinach. It made an excellent side without being too heavy.

Cheesy bites

I was a big fan of their chilli cheese balls that came in a portion of 4. They had a light crispy skin that was followed by an explosion of gooey cheese as you bite into it. I found these to work quite well by dipping them into the butter chicken and were a decent size.

Garlic naan

The garlic naan was a fairly ordinary example, which I found quite dry. It won’t offend anyone but you can clearly tell that it has been reheated. With the said, nobody is expecting a food van to have a tandoor, so this can be forgiven.

Another feather in the cap for Waterbeach

Waterbeach is really becoming a hot place for South Asian food, with a Bangladeshi restaurant on the A10, a Nepalese opening as the White Horse, and now an authentic Indian food van at The Taps.

Better still, The Taps is now offering other food vans on certain nights too, with Mo’s Charcoal there only last night.

I couldn’t fault any of the food this evening and though it may lack the formal dine in experience that some may want, it is the perfect option for people looking for a quick meal while having a beer or watching the football without having to fork out too much money.

Thanks for reading!