Zara Indian Cusine in South Cambridgeshire

Mucked up the order AGAIN, Won’t be back Response to your comment: Hello, we did call you and drove back to the restaurant where you tried to charge us another £7. Not the best way to deal with customers after your mistake.

After a wonderful recent takeaway, I wanted to post again to say how great this place is. Lovely flavors and variety of curries. My favorite for Cambridge, it is well worth the drive to get takeaway from here.

Do not recommend at all. Food was terrible and staff were rude. I’m not quite sure why the owners replied to my review and flagged it as “suspicious”. Very strange as I’m simply sharing my opinion of my experience…

From placing the order to it being delivered was quite a long wait. The delivery time window kept changing being pushed back and then brought forward again which was a little frustrating. The food itself was nice, couldn't fault it really. Perhaps we didn't order the best thing in the menu as it was nice but I wouldn't exactly say award worthy as it wasn't anything different to a normal tikka masala. I would recommend it if you're in this area as it was good quality.

One of the best Indian meals I've had. Will definitely be returning

Cold food and bad quality not what a usual tikka masala is

Always delicious. Arrived very quickly.

Friendly and obliging staff with good quality food and a lovely environment

Zara is by far my favourite Indian restaurant in Cambridge. Don’t be phased by the fact it is by the train station, you can’t hear a thing. The food is absolutely amazing and my Mum and Dad have been taking me hear for years. When I have something to celebrate I will always choose dinner here, would recommend to anyone if you want a relaxed atmosphere with delicious curry.

tasty food 5 stars must have a try

Overall very good, the Duck was a little dry, but that was a tiny minor blip in an otherwise brilliant Indian dinner. Would recommend the Paneer, Lamb Gurkha and Pathila curry. Service was attentive, friendly and professional.

My family and I recently visited Zara for the first time, and I'm thrilled to share our experience. From the moment we stepped in, the atmosphere welcomed us with warmth and charm. The service we received was nothing short of excellent - attentive, friendly, and quick to accommodate our needs. As for the food, it was spot-on; every dish we tried was flavorful, perfectly cooked, and beautifully presented. It's rare to find a place that hits the mark on every aspect of a great dining experience, but Zara did just that. We're already looking forward to our next visit. Highly recommend!

Lovely food. Had a meal with friends in the secluded seating areas that are comfortabley big enough for 6. Good choice of drinks.

Great food & service never been let down, coffee was out of this world.

Excellent meal, friendly staff. Highly recommended

Popped for something to eat last minute on Valentine’s Day, unexpectedly received a red bag at the end of the meal with a beautiful fresh red rose and some Ferrero chocs. How lovely when businesses are struggling to still have those lovely touches. Meal was great as usual !!

A wonderful gem within Shelford where my family and I eat regularly, never disappoints!

Lovely food and very attentive staff.

Beautiful restaurant in Great Shelford. Love the decor, parking on side of restaurant and delicious food with friendly service.

Always an exceptional night at Zara! We go every month and never a bad meal. Great for veggies too :)

Fantastic food, professional service, pleasant environment. We will be back again 10/10

Friendly and efficient staff and a wide menu of excellent food. The onion bhaji’s and lamb dishes are particularly tasty!

Easy to get to, easy to park. The pick up T/Away was quick, food was still hot on arrival home, was enjoyed to last morsel by my wife and I. Will at some point dine in at this establishment to savour the friendly atmosphere and their extremely tasty food. For those people out there, this is a go to place for the best Indian Cuisine. Thank You ZARA !!

Staff very attentive, Great atmosphere. Food delicious. Will be back

One of the best Indian food I had in a restaurant. Everything was fresh and very tasty. Will go again for sure.

Top quality Asian food. Very tasty starters, I highly recommend king prawn puri. The fish dishes are amazing & the side dishes are superb

Very good (award winning) Indian restaurant. It's on the small side so I would book to ensure a table at busy times. Our meals were very tasty and they even cooked the saag without sugar in for my wife. Highly recommended.

Oh my God. I'm no expert in Indian food but this is the place for the connoisseur. All the imaginable options are hete for both the vegetarian and the meat lover. The service is quite expensive and the atmosphere has no resemblance to anything Indian because is lean and very comfortable!. Our dinner was great and we were a large group which always and issue when deciding. The only thing really is the parking, in order to park the car you have to be a very skilled driver since this restaurant is beside the Shelford train station and the space is scarce.

Was 5-star before the pandemic. But lately, all the dishes look and taste broadly similar. With a generic thick sauce, the Korma, Pasanda, even the Jhal-fry are all broadly similar and based on the same sauce base. Even the £15 King Prawn Balti, which was served lukewarm in a porcelain dish! Gone are the cloth napkins, in favour of tiny paper ones. And gone is the shot of Sheridan's at the end. At £130 for 4 people (service not included) I expect better.

Had a lovely meal, service excellent. Definitely will be going back for a meal

I used to love visiting this restaurant, went last night, very disapointing experience unfortunately. The waiter I gave my order to did not understand the chat starter with salad, I requested extra poori to go with it. Poori came with chicken chat but not salad to relieve the heat of spices on the pallete. I ordered tandori mixed without the sheek kebab, but extra one of other elements, waiter and I agreed would be the chicken part. Extra lamb tikka was served. In a skillet where the onions at the bottom were burnt and bitter because of that. The main chicken tandori piece was pink by the wing bone, advised couldnt eat as not cooked. The nan bread that is served with the mix grill was burnt underneath, which takes the pleasure away from the bread itself. The 3rd nan (as sent other two back) was better. My favourite dessert Ferror Roche ice cream, this arrived, the consistency on the top of it and ferror rocher itself was like freezer had or was part defrosting and was waiting to be refrozen. Not a good experience at all !! The head waiter last night argued every point, starter no its no spicy, nan no its not burnt, chicken yes that is how we cook it. So much so, I couldnt be asked to mention the stale frerror rocher dessert. VERY DISAPPOINTED. The owner and Izzi manager night off, it certainly showed. Felt quite upset when leaving £40 lighter with £7 discount, which didnt make up for the fact your chef let you down and staff should not argue their taste againgst what the customer (me) is experiencing. I booked 7pm 31st March, but I really dont feel like coming !! Thank you xxx

Great restaurant with delicious food.

Normally love this place. I visit the area infrequently but always grab a curry from this award winning restaurant. Tonight however was a big miss. Went to pick up dinner about 10 minutes later than we were told and it still wasn't ready for another 10 minutes after that. The dishes were all much spicier than normal, my friend who is a regular at this place couldn't even eat hers, a dish she regularly orders. My jalfrezi was just about manageable but the chapati was terrible. It was like a Frisbee. Rock hard. Broke like a poppadom - inedible. Nothing to mop up the sauce. Might need to find a new place, too bad. Maybe it was just a busy Friday night but they should be used to that.

Food was v good and greatly improved from previous visit. New decor also slicker. Thoroughly to be recommended

Excellent as always. We've eaten here for years and it's consistently excellent in both quality of the dishes and service

The food was rather bland and the waiters don't give you a personal touch when serving you. I was particularly troubled when the waiter took away my plate (used for my starter dish) and purposefully let the spoon slide off the plate and onto the table so I could keep it for my main dish. That was just unacceptable and unhygienic. He should have taken the spoon away and replaced it with a new spoon for my main course.

Got wrong order to start with and then when we did get main courses they were much to sweet

So ziemlich das BESTE indische Essen! Es hat uns sehr gut gefallen.

The staff were very friendly and attentive. The prices were reasonable for the quality, our first dish was a mixed grill, the chicken looked a bit pink but tasted okay and I was not I’ll, so I assume it was properly cooked. Main course was a little to hot for my liking. Overall a good visit in a handy location next to the train station. Would I return? Yes

Excellent food, beautifully prepared and presented and attentive service even when they're busy, nothing is too much trouble. Our second visit and looking forward to the next.

Great service beats any local indian five star amazing food Thank you

Excellent food well prepared and excellent staff to serve it.

What a great place for excellent food, good service and quite a nice atmosphere. We will certainly be back

Some of the best Indian food I've had.

Our favourite place when we fancy a curry. Food consistently good and can be tailored to your taste if you're not sure. Staff welcoming and friendly. Been visiting here ever since they opened.

Absolutely amazing. Lovely food, nice calm atmosphere, great service. My favourite Indian in Cambridge and areas. Highly recommend.

Lovely curry. Spicy chicken dhansak, light pilau rice, and perfect naan bread. Will definitely be back with the family.

Great service and incredible food, this restaurant hosts a huge incredible selection of currys and starters which we enjoyed. It’s a shame their poppadoms were store brought.

Great service. Very good menu choices. Delicious food. Easy to find. Parking available. Quiet atmosphere

Was looking forward to having a nice meal at Zara tonight but... The appetiser was perfect poperdoms and dips really tasty.. I ordered jalfraze chichen curry one of my favourite dishes but unfortunately it was tastless and very mild, i did ask why it seemed so mild ans was told "jalfraze is not a hot dish" sorry, I do not agree Very disappointed with all the dishes will not be returning in a hurry for a curry.

Eaten there many times, good food, average prices, friendly staff. Recommended.

A good experience on a Saturday evening. We were warmly welcomed upon arrival to the restaurant at 6pm having reserved, hassle free online and shown to our table. The restaurant soon got busy with all but two tables full by 6.30pm so would definitely recommend booking. Polite and attentive service and the food was delicious and piping hot, though perhaps not as spicy as the menu icons suggested. If we were being picky then the mains did arrive a little too quick, we had literally only just finished our starters so next time I would ask for a little pause. We ordered 4 poppadums and the pickle tray, two mixed starters, Chicken Tikka, Onion Bhaji and Lamb Sheek followed by Chicken Pathila and Chicken Chettinad with Pehswari Nan and Pilau Rice, washed down with a large Cobra beer each. I’ve added pictures below as whilst the portions sizes were ok, some would say a little on the small side perhaps. We thought £62 was good value and would recommend this restaurant and will visit again. One last tip, if driving be aware that there is no designated car park so you have to use the residential streets around.

Great food and great service, seriously recommend!

Always great food and great service.

Good range of food, generally fresh and well packed. If a dish is off menu you can ask and they will usually make it for you.

Excellent service and very attentive. Amazing location and very well maintained. Food has been great both times I’ve been. And they can alter the spice on any main which is a plus. Will be going back soon for sure. Thank you for being so helpful 👍👌🏻

Great Indian food . Very reasonable prices. Good service.

Service was good, prompt and friendly but sadly the food was lacking, one curry was overloaded with sugar(the same as another review) and a sheek kebab which came out 30 seconds after I ordered it, zero taste and rubber like texture.

The best food all the workers were really good to us nd starters were 10/10 food was also 10/10 drink were all good nd i will be goinf to this place everytime i go to shelford

I'm really dissapointed in this restaurant. We used to love coming here back in the day as a family but Unfortunately, this is not indian food at all. We left right after eating our starters. We are Indian and love authentic food however this was really the opposite. The starters were bland and flavourless and most importantly the starters we ordered was supposed to be a chaat that this restaurant class as a curry somehow. Strange.

Absolutely amazing food, and the staff are so polite. Definitely recommend,

Both mine and my partners food was far too sweet. Not indian food at all. Just random gravy/sauce for each meal with tons of sugar. Wouldn't recommend.

Excellent and tasty food. Surprisingly light, and very nicely spiced. Impressed!

Chicken tikka masala was a knocked up chicken korma.

Ordered prawn jalfrazie and honestly the prawns was not worth eating, the rest was okay but cold… not coming back again for sure.

It's ok. We didn't get an award winning feel for the food. Served by a young man who didn't really want to be there. Papadams served with said waiter's thumb holding them down!

Perfect food, excellent service served in convivial surroundings. Truly recommendable experience and at very reasonable prices

Amazing food, very helpful and friendly staff. Cannot wait to go back !

On our way up north from the south east we stopped off here for dinner. First impressions were great as the decor is nice and the staff friendly. The food did not disappoint, I had the tasty lamb gurka dish and my wife had the chicken tikka masala. The rice that we shared was nice as was the onion bhajis. We would definitely recommend this restaurant and if we are traveling again this way then we will come back.

Beautifully decorated, lovely atmosphere, very clean, not expensive and food is fresh, flavoursome and authentic. Highly recommended!

I had as really nice meal with my son here a few weeks back. Tonights was not good at all. The mixed grill and the other meat dishes had no taste at all, in fact they faintly tasted of diluted detergent. Seriously. Really dont know what's happened.

Really loved this place. Keep coming back time and time again for takeaway. Curry flavours are exceptional, prices are very fair. They have also had the takeaway curry available within 10mins of the time slot we agree for collection. I will continue to come back for more delicious curry's.

Great decor, Amazing service and scrumptious food the Kashmiri Kaali Mirch a must try!!!

Probably the worst food I have eaten. Customer service was non existence to the extent they had come to ask for our order before menu had been given. When food arrived wrong starter was bought out and the waiter tried to say I order the wrong dish, no mate you just can't do your job properly. King prawn starter was so sweet from tomatoes that was just awful.. When second starter arrived was the same sweet taste as the prawns.. It say something when best part of the meal was the garlic Naan.

Excellent meal, was concerned by the previous reviews but no need to be. I had a King prawn Tikka and asked for extra heat, they obliged with no problem. Naan bread was lovely. Service excellent too.

We enjoyed our meal in, in July 21.

This is my local Indian and it’s still the best! Always order from here and will continue to do so. Dishes are great and so is customer service. Very lucky to have such a good takeaway so close.

We are here on holiday and we’ve just had the best Indian takeaway we’ve had in a long time. We thought our local at home was good, but we’re wrong. This was so good, the only disappointment was it was over too quick. I hesitate ordering lamb or beef because it can be as tough as old boots but this fell apart in the mouth. The rice was light and fluffy as it should be. DELICIOUS DELICIOUS DELICIOUS.

The starters were very nice, but the main course was a bit disappointing. The chicken tikka masala was very sweet, to the point of not being edible. Its a shame as this let the meal down. We've had very good food from there in the past.

Save your time this restaurant might look beautiful on the inside for customers but the living conditions are absolutely filthy. I wouldn't let a dog live in the conditions they offer. No wonder this geeza is always looking for workers. Absolutely disgusting. If the staff are happy to live in conditions like this then do you really think the food they prepare and serve is safe to eat??? Don't kill your self people choose another place to eat from!

The rice portions come in the the small tubs not in the large tubs so order appropriately.

This is by far the best Indian food I have tasted in Cambridgeshire. The food is never oily, and the naan bread is the softest I have ever eaten. I usually go for the veg balti, which is gently spiced and comes with a naan included. The onion bajhis are also delicious and very crispy.

Order on line for collection. Great service and excellent food

I recently ordered and paid for a takeaway over the phone for a Saturday at 6.45. I arrived to find a group of around 10 people waiting. Clearly there were a lot of annoyed customers waiting beyond their ordered time. Arguments broke out when some wished to tell staff they were outside. But one large male prevented anyone passing him by standing guard at the door. A fight nearly broke out... At 7pm I collected my cold food that had been standing on the counter for some considerable time. It was total chaos with the restaurant accepting no responsibility for managing the queueing process. A deplorable and potentially dangerous situation. This has never been my favourite local Indian restaurant...and when it came to eating the food I remembered why. Onion bhajis were 90% flour paste. The chicken Al Badami sauce was inedible because it was exceedingly sweet, the precooked chicken chunks tasted stale and lacked any other flavour. Chicken Balti was barely acceptable..the Nan was par-cooked and inedible....a disgrace. At point of ordering I claimed the promised £5 discount and then it was not deducted from the bill. I’m a great believer in the good use of Trip-advisor ....but NOT as a tool to complain...but this is an exception. Every aspect of this restaurant’s takeaway service was appalling and we will not be returning.

Ordered takeaway from here last night, really great food

Reliably excellent, friendly service

Very disappointed saw good reviews but did not live up to expectation food was cold 2 curries was watery and tasteless over £5 for a starter that was stale and tasteless chicken

Constantly provides really tasty dishes. Always worth a visit. COVID controls are reassuring

I have been before and the food wasn’t bad, but the takeaway today was very poor quality . Vegetable curry was watery and peppery. Chicken madras no flavour , chicken tikka masala was overly sweet. Spices badly mixed all round . Chicken chewy , sauces watery . £33 down the drain literally couldn’t eat it. My mother rang to complain , thy just said ‘tell the chef next time . Won’t be a next time . Award winning??????? I don’t think so

We had heard great things about Zara and were looking forward to trying out their takeaway for my mum's birthday. We made the order and waited for the food to arrive. After 45 minutes we enquired about the delivery, to hear that apparently our order had not been received even though it clearly said on the website that our order had been confirmed. They didn't try to solve the problem and simply stated that we must have not placed the order correctly and refused to believe it was their faulty system. Extremely disappointed especially since my mum is having to cook on her birthday, thanks a lot Zara.

We had takeaway recently from Zara and the food had no flavour! We have never even thought that was possible! Now we are apprehensive to order from them again as it is not cheap.... Such a shame.

The best Indian Restaurant in Cambridge. Been coming here for years and have continued to use their takeaway service during the lockdown. Highly recommended

Excellent food and very helpful friendly staff.

Zara has been providing takeaway throughout the lock down period. Now they have reopened for inside eating as well. All very Covid-safe. Delicious food, great service, great value. We asked for some additional chilli to spice things up, and were given a bowl of the hottest things known to man! Altogether great.

We love our local Indian restaurant so much and have had great food both dine in and take out from these guys. Saturday was way off the mark though, two bland curries! What’s happened? Really hoping this is a one off.

Best cauliflower bhaji I've ever had. The rest was excellent too

Booked in for an evening meal not knowing this area or restaurant at all. Felt very safe in these COVID times. Friendly welcome from the staff. Amazing choice from the menu. The food we had was very tasty, well presented and the right amount. Price was excellent value and we enjoyed our evening.

Lovely food, Covid safe Thank you Zara Great Shelford☺️

We have been going to Zara for takeaways for years and we have never been let down. Last night we ordered a substantial order for x6 people, the food was quick and tasted better than ever. It is NOT oily or greasy, all the currys were fresh and fragrant. I had my friend here who has never had Zara and said it was the best Indian take away he has ever had! Would highly highly recommend! ENJOY!

Excellent food, Excellent service.