I'm surprised you've not had some decent food somewhere Russ, though I've not visited Cambridge so I can't comment about the place. It's in a relatively prosperous area though so I'd be very surprised if you couldn't get good food around there.
I've found you can generally get a pretty good curry in practically every place I've visited in the UK. As for heat, you'll always find a Vindaloo in UK curry houses although many are pretty tasteless apart from the spiciness.
Chinese (or Cantonese to be precise) is often hit and miss but I've generally had more good/decent Chinese food on my travels than bad Chinese.
I'll agree that the quality of Italian food in the UK can tend to be a bit iffy. I can only think of a few good Italian meals I've had in restaurants - too much cheesy bland rubbish and I'd rather cook my own. I'd imagine the situation is much better in cities with larger Italian populations - I remember having a very nice (and cheap) Italian meal in Soho a few years back.
Lincolnshire sausages are the finest in the world as far as I'm concerned (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a
yellowbelly).
My sister lived in Finland for 10 years wish a Finnish boyfriend and he insisted on eating Lincolnshire sausages every day when he visited, usually taking a few pounds back with him!
You'll find that some traditional English local dishes are pretty tasty, if not particularly delicate in comparison to Continental cuisine.
A good roast dinner can be truly fantastic. You don't have to overcook the vegetables and meat, you know!
