Good Curry Guide facts for kids

The Good Curry Guide is a special book published regularly in the United Kingdom. It helps people find the best curry restaurants across the country. Pat Chapman, who also started The Curry Club, first published this guide in 1984. It's the only guide like it that is still printed today. Since 1991, Cobra Beer has helped support the guide.

Finding Great Curry Spots

The Good Curry Guide tells you about more than 1,000 top curry places. It's special because it's completely rewritten for each new edition. The guide is also fully independent. This means that even though it has ads and sponsors, no restaurant pays to be included. All the inspections are done secretly, so restaurants don't know when they are being checked.

How You Can Help

Readers are encouraged to share their own reviews. You can do this through the Good Curry Guide website or by sending a letter. These reviews are then looked at for future guides. The opinions are always honest, and sometimes they are critical. Everyone who helps by sending a review is listed in the guide.

What the Guide Tells You

For each restaurant, the guide lists its address, phone number, and website. It also checks many things about the restaurant. This includes the price, how good the food is, and the service. It also tells you if there are options for vegetarians. You can find out if you can bring your own drinks. Information about takeaway and home delivery services is also included.

The History of Food Guides

Guidebooks that help people find good places to eat have been around for a long time. In 1908, the Automobile Association (AA) published its first book. This book listed car mechanics around Britain. Later, in 1912, the AA started checking hotels and restaurants. They gave out special "AA Stars" to places that were very good.

How the Idea Started

In 1951, a writer named Raymond Postgate published his Good Food Guide. He was not happy with the quality of food in the UK at that time. So, he gathered many volunteers. These volunteers secretly visited and checked restaurants. The idea of people giving unpaid reports was later used by the Good Curry Guide.

Why the Curry Guide is Unique

Other famous guides, like the Michelin Guide, are great for general restaurants. However, they only list a very small number of Indian restaurants. The Good Curry Guide focuses only on curry restaurants. This makes it a very important guide for finding the best curry in the UK.

Awards for Top Curry Restaurants

Since 1991, The Good Curry Guide has given out the Good Curry Awards. These awards celebrate the best curry restaurants in the UK. They are given to places that show great quality and service in the curry world.

Guide Editions Over the Years

• 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.