The Rice Boat on Newnham Road in Cambridge was a first for me. It’s Indian, but with a difference because it specializes in foods from the state of Kerala. The staff were friendly and helpful, and gratified by our appreciative comments. Between us we started with Vada, which were fried lentil doughnuts accompanied by sambar and chutney dips, and Onion Vada, the Kerala version of Onion Bhaji. The texture of the doughnuts was surprising – slightly powdery, like that of cod roe. But it tasted great with the dips. The Onion Vada was a surprise because I’d expected pancakes, but it came looking like deep-fried onion strips. But it tasted like Onion Bhaji.
For main courses we chose pepper chicken thighs thickly coated in aromatic spices and black pepper. It was, as advertised, quite mild. It was also very good. The “fish in banana leaf” looked intriguing. It was kingfish steak fried in spicy onion mix, wrapped in a huge banana leaf and cooked on the griddle. Also good, apart from the odd bone. We had chapatis and a rather appetizing rice with it.
We drank Marktree, an Australian shiraz/cabernet blend which I think was about 14 percent. I found the place very good, with nice ambience and great food. Obviously I’ll return.
Looks like the service has improved since my last visit…
[...] The name was too good to resist. “Syrian Christian stew” was one of the main courses we chose at the Rice Boat. It was described as “chicken in a medium spicy thick coconut sauce.” No Christians then? Maybe the lions had got them first. It tasted very good, and was well with the toleration limits of spiciness. The same could not be said of the other choice, a duck masala. This was too hot for my tastes; I couldn’t actually taste the duck at all, but some people like it that way. Of the first courses the squid pepper fry was the better, nicely done and without the batter one usually encounters. The chilli fried whitebait didn’t work, though. The fish were too hard and crunchy, and didn’t really taste of fish at all. The chapattis were very good, however. The ‘05 Marktree shiraz at 14 percent was good, too, as it invariably is. Wikipedia tells us that Syrian Christian stew is a favoured dish among Kerala’s large Christian minority. I can see why; it helped make this a pretty enjoyable meal. [...]