Good Curry Guide facts for kids

The Good Curry Guide is a regularly published guide (book) providing information about the UK’s top curry restaurants. The Good Curry Guide was first published in 1984, by Pat Chapman, founder of The Curry Club and is the only such publication currently in print. From 1991 to date Cobra Beer have been the Guide's sole sponsor.

Overview

The Good Curry Guide currently reports on over 1,000 top curry establishments. It is unique as it is completely rewritten every edition and is entirely independent — though there is advertising and sponsorship, no fees are accepted for inclusion, and all of the inspections are anonymous.

Readers are actively encouraged to submit their reviews, via the Good Curry Guide website, or by post which are then considered for prospective inclusion in the next guide. Opinions are always honest, often critical, and all contributors are listed in the Guide.

The address, phone and website details of each restaurant are listed and each is assessed for price, style and quality of food, service, the availability of dishes for vegetarians, whether the restaurant has a Bring Your Own (alcoholic drinks) policy, takeaway information, home delivery service, and more.

Background

In 1908 the Automobile Association (the AA) published its first Members' Handbook (listing the addresses of car mechanics around Britain). From 1912 the AA began inspecting hotels and restaurants, issuing the coveted AA Star to those deemed to be of sufficient quality.

Raymond Postgate first published his Good Food Guide in 1951 because he was appalled by the standard of contemporary UK catering. He recruited an army of volunteers clandestinely to visit and assess restaurants, and the notion of voluntary, unpaid reports from the public was copied by the Good Curry Guide.

The above Guides and others including the Michelin Guide, whilst definitive on restaurants in general, have only carried around one to two percent entries on restaurants in the Indian sector.

Restaurant Awards

The Good Curry Awards have been given to the top UK curry restaurants by The Good Curry Guide since 1991 to reward excellence in the sector.

Edition History

• 1984 Good Curry Guide, Curry Club — ISBN: 0-9509170-0-1
• 1987 Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN: 0-86188-523-6
• 1991 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN: 0-86188-989-4
• 1995 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN: 0-7499-1407-6
• 1998 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN: 0-340-68032-6
• 1999 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN: 0-340-68033-4
• 2000 Cobra Curryholics’ Directory, John Blake Publishing, London — ISBN: 0-9537735-0-7
• 2001 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Simon & Schuster, London — ISBN: 0-7432-0840-4
• 2004 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Curry Club, Haslemere — ISBN: 978-0-9537735-1-0
• 2007 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London — ISBN: 978-1-84454-311-3
• 2009 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London — ISBN: 1-84454-311-0
• 2010 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London — ISBN: 1-84454-311-0 New cover same text as 2009.
• 2013 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Curry Club Publisher, Haslemere — ISBN: 978-0-9537735-3-4 Complete rewrite.