Cobra Beer founder Lord Karan Bilimoria at our Restaurant Awards Ceremony.

 

 

The Cobra Good Curry Guide

(established in 1984)

 

 

 

 

The New Edition - 2011 Good Curry Guide we are about to start writing a completely new edition of The Good Curry Guide, which will be published in the autumn 2010.  As ever, we need to hear from you.  We welcome all reports, photos, menus etc... anything to do with the current restaurant and takeaway scene.  Whether you love it or hate it, we need to know.  So, please send us your Curry House recommendations.  You can either email it to pat@patchapman.co.uk or Royal Mail it to The Good Curry Guide, PO Box 7, Haslemere, Surrey. GU27 2AP.  Simply make sure that you get your recommendations to us by April 2010.  All reporters will receive a voucher worth £3 off the new Guide's retail price.

The Current Edition - 2009 Good Curry Guide is sponsored by Cobra Beer and was published in January 2009 is AVAILABLE NOW.  Our Guide was established in 1984 and is in its 25th year.  You can order it online at our online shop, £14.95 plus £2.05 p&p (UK) or pick up a copy at all bookshops, for £14.95.  It is a super A5 Guide (210 x 150 x 20mm) 348 pages, full colour throughout with many pictures of curry and restaurants, loads of facts and fun and many new restaurants.  The Guide itself is a really good read.  ISBN: 978-1844546992

Established as the only in-print critical guide to the 1,000 best Curry Restaurants and Balti Houses in Britain. Regarded by media and the restaurants alike, as the definitive work of its kind. Each restaurant is assessed for price, style and quality of food, service, vegetarian availability, BYO, takeaway info, home delivery service, and more. 

Compiled with the help of hundreds of members of the public and of The Curry Club, whom we list in full.  (Scroll down for more on this).
Enhanced with dozens of colour pictures of restaurants up and down the country and their food. Facts and fun in the intro section, including a 25 year look-back on the Guide's history.  2009 Award-Winners and Top 100 List. Statistics. Definitive menu glossary. Where you might get a discount if you show the management your copy of the Guide. (c700 restaurants participating). Also features: alphabetical town index, county maps, contributors’ list, etc. 

 

Click to orange box top right to order a copy. If you want your book(s) author-signed, please advise to whom and Pat will be delighted.
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Who sponsors the Cobra Good Curry Guide

The highly successful Good Curry Guide is, as always, sponsored by Britain's favourite Indian beverage,  Cobra Indian Premium Beer.
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Some Background Information:

First published in 1984, The Good Curry Restaurant Guide was the pioneer in its field.
Since then it has been copied and plagiarised, especially on the web.
But like so many first-timers, it remains not only the brand-leader, but the one Guide where you get honest, often very critical opinion. And it is the only such Guide in print.
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How do we make the Guide's selection?

Curry Club Members form the national network of reporters who send in their views to The Guide.
We get some 5,000 such letters a year, some containing a single report in a life-time, others submitting 20 or more reports in one letter, and reporting several times a year. Some of our reporters visit as many as 120 restaurants a year. One has visited every one of the Top 100 restaurants in the current edition of the Guide.
It is largely this ground-roots-level knowledge which leads to the selection of the restaurants which make it to the Guide’s shortlist. This coupled with the questionnaire we send out to every restaurant each year, brings us a continuous flow of facts.
Each restaurant which does make it into the Guide, is assessed for price, food and service, vegetarian availability, BYO, home delivery service, and more.

Curry diners will be familiar with the Curry Club window sticker and restaurant quality certificate, which adorns the windows and walls of the only best curry restaurants. These are supplied free to all Guide entrants.
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How can I send you information?

You can join our band of reporters and tell us your likes and dislikes.
We don’t pay for this, and neither do we expect our reporters to request freebies from restaurants in our name.
It’s really done for the fun of it, and the love of curry. And if used, extracts of your report(s) and your name in full will appear in print.

Click e-mail pat@patchapman.co.uk and send in your info. Many thanks.
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Previous editions

• Good Curry Guide 1984 (First Edition)
• Good Curry Guide 1987
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 1991 (First Cobra Edition)
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 1995
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 1998
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 1999
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 2001
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 2004
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 2007
• Cobra Good Curry Guide 2008 (same as 2007 but specially produced for Tesco) 

Some editions of this iconic publication are hunted by collectors. They have been known to sell on ebay for big amounts.
They are available at sensible prices and , author signed, from the
Used Books. section of our Online Shop:
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Spin offs:

Extracts from the Guide appear from time to time as specially commissioned pieces for newspapers and magazines such as the Independent’s (newspaper) Top 50, Visit Britain website, GNER magazine, Highlife, etc.

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Which restaurants are the Cobra Good Curry Guide's previous Award Winners?

The first restaurant awards of any sector were given by The Good Curry Guide in 1991. Since then many outfits have commenced giving awards. However in the curry sector, ours is still the plum award. We give awards each time a Guide is published (not every year). Following 1991, we next date was 1995, then 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004 and most recently was 2007. Next will be 2009.

Best in the UK

• 1991/4 ~ Chutney Mary, SW10
• 1995/7 ~ Bombay Brasserie, SW7
• 1998/9 ~ La Porte des Indes, W1
• 1999/2001 ~ Chutney Mary, SW10
• 2002/3 ~ Quilon's, SW1
• 2004/6 ~ Madhu's, Southall
• 2007/8 ~ Ithiaas, Birmingham

Other Awards

• Aagrah, Doncaster, Garforth, Leeds, Pudsey, Shipley Skipton, Tadcaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire - Best Restaurant Chain, 1998/99 &1999/2001,
• Agra Fort ~ Best in the North, 1999/2001
• Adil Balti Birmingham ~ Best Balti House, 1999/2001
• Ashoka Glasgow ~ Best in Scotland, 1998/9
• Bengal Dynasty, Deeside and Llanduduno ~ Best in Wales, 1995/97
• Bina, Reading ~ Best in the West, 1995/97
• Britannia Spice, Edinburgh ~ Best in the Scotland, 2001/3
• Blue Elephant ~ Special Award, 1995/97
• Brilliant Southall ~ Special Awards, 1991/4, 1995/7, 1998/99, 1999/2001, 2002/3
• Cafe Blue Cobra, Theale, Nr Reading ~ Best in the West, 1999/2001
• Cafe Spice Namaste, E1 ~ Best chef, 1991/4 & 1995/7, Culinary excellence 2002/3
• Chor Bizarre, W1 ~ Best North Indian, 2002/3
• Coconut Lagoon, Georgetown, Raffles, Birmingham, Kenilworth, Leeds, London, Nottingham, Stratford ~ Best Group 2004-6 Chutney Mary, SW10 ~ Culinary Excellence, 1995/7
• Diwana Bhel Poori, WC1 ~ Best Vegetarian, 1999/2001
• Great Nepalese, NW1 ~ Best Nepalese, 2002/3
• Gulnar's Passage to India, Leith, Scotland ~ Best in Scotland, 1999/2001
• Gurkha Kitchen, Oxted, Surrey ~ Best Nepalese, 1999/2001
• Gurhka Square, Fleet, Hampshire ~ Best Nepalese, 1998/9
• Hawelli, SW London & Surrey ~ Best Restaurant Chain, 1995/97
• India Club, WC2 ~ Special Award Winner, 1995/97
• Jaipur, Milton Keynes ~ Best in Central England, 1995/97, Best Outside London, 1998/99 & 1999/2001
• Jim Thompson's Thai Pub, N21 ~ Best curry pub, 2002/3
• Jubraj 2, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales ~ Best in Wales, 1999/2001, 2002/3
• King William IV pub, Coventry ~ Best curry pub, 1998/9
• Madhu's Brilliant ~ Special Awards, 1991/4, 1995/7, 1998/99, 1999/2001
• Maharajah, Birmingham, West Midlands ~ Best in the Midlands 1998/99 &1999/2001
• Malabar Junction, WC1 ~ Best South Indian, 1999/2001
• New Balaka Bangladeshi, St Andrews, Scotland Fife ~ Best in Scotland, 1995/7. Best Bangladeshi, 1999/2001
• Prince of Ceylon, NW4 ~ Best Sri Lankan, 2002/3
• Punjab, WC2 ~ Best North Indian, 1999/2001
• Rajdoot, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin ~ Best Restaurant Chain, 1991/4 & 1995/7
• Rani, N3 ~ Best Vegetarian, 2002/3
• Royal Niaim ~ Best Balti, 1995/97
• Sarkhel's , SW18 ~ Best Newcomer, 1999/2001. Best Indian, 2002/3 (Now bankrupt)
• Shamiana, Edinburgh, Scotland ~ Best chef, 1998/99
• Shampan, E1 ~ Best Bangladeshi, 2002/3
• Sigiri, W13 ~ Best Sri Lankan, 1998/99 & 1999/2001
• Tabaq, SW12 ~ Best Pakistani 1998/99, 1999/2001 and 2002/3
• Tabla, E14 ~ Most Promising Newcomer, 2002/3
• The Taj of Agra Fort, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire ~ Best in the North 1998/9
• Tamarind, W1 ~ Most Promising Newcomer, 1995/7, Best Chef 1999/2001
• Tamasha, Bromley, Kent (Greater London) ~ Best in the South, 1995/97
• 1998/99
• Tandoori Nights, W6 ~ Best Bangladeshi, 1995/7
• The Valley, Corbridge, Northumberland ~ Best in the North, 1995/7
• Veeraswamy, W1 ~ Best Newcomer, 1998/9
• Verandah, Edinburgh ~ Best in Scotland, 1991/95 and currently, from 2007
• Zaika, SW3 ~ Most Innovative Chef, 2002/3

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Which restaurants are the Cobra Good Curry Guide 2009 Award Winners?

BUY IT AND FIND OUT NOW.